Wealth inequality in the United States, also known as the “wealth gap”, refers to the unequal distribution of financial assets among residents of the United States. Wealth includes the values of homes, automobiles, businesses, savings, and investments.^[1] Those who acquire a great deal of financial wealth do so primarily through the appreciation of fiscal portfolios. For this reason, financial wealth involves only stocks and mutual funds, and other investments. Hence, there is greater financial inequality than simple net worth disparities. Various sociological statistics suggest the severity of wealth inequality “with the top 10% possessing 80% of all financial assets [and] the bottom 90% holding only 20% of all financial wealth.”^[2] Although different from income inequality, the two are often interrelated.

Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro propose that wealth signifies the opportunity to “make it” in life; wealth is not used for daily expenditures or factored into a budget but when coupled with income it comprises the family’s total opportunity “to secure a desired stature and standard of living, or pass their class status along to one’s children”.^[3]Moreover, “wealth provides for both short- and long-term financial security, bestows social prestige, and contributes to political power, and can be used to produce more wealth.”^[4] Hence, wealth possesses a psychological element that awards people the feeling of agency, or the ability to act. The accumulation of wealth grants more options and eliminates restrictions about how one can live life. Dennis Gilbert asserts that the standard of living of the working and middle classes is dependent upon income and wages, while the rich tend to rely on wealth, distinguishing them from the vast majority of Americans.^[5]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States