[Grovenet] So, are you better off than 8 years ago!!!

[Katie Allnutt]

As 'punishment' maybe you should share your bachelor dinner recipes.
Or maybe it could be called community service...

: )

Katie


On Aug 29, 2008, at 10:44 AM, Steele, Mike wrote:

> Ha!!  Hit the wrong key...haven't done that in years.  Apologies.
>
> --Mike
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet- 
> bounces at rdrop.com] On
> Behalf Of Steele, Mike
> Sent: Friday, August 29, 2008 10:43 AM
> To: Forest Grove local interests list
> Subject: Re: [Grovenet] So, are you better off than 8 years ago!!!
>
> Have a good one!
>
>
>
> Wanna do something a little special this weekend? A movie?  Let me BBQ
> something?  Or do one of my six fabulous bachelor dinners?
>
>
>
> Love,
>
>
>
> --M
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet- 
> bounces at rdrop.com] On
> Behalf Of Bob Browning
> Sent: Friday, August 29, 2008 10:39 AM
> To: Grovenet
> Subject: [Grovenet] So, are you better off than 8 years ago!!!
>
>
>
>
> The Ranks of the Ultrawealthy Grow
>
>
> by Tom Herman
> Thursday, August 28, 2008
> provided by  <http://www.wsj.com/>
>
> One of the most exclusive clubs in the U.S. has picked up more  
> members.
>
> About 47,000 people had a net worth of $20 million or more in 2004,  
> the
> latest available year, according to new estimates by the Internal
> Revenue Service. While that was up only slightly from 46,000 in  
> 2001, it
> was up 62% from 29,000 in 1998.
>
> The IRS also reported increases in the number of people with a net  
> worth
> between $10 million and $20 million: 79,000 people qualified for this
> group in 2004, up from 77,000 in 2001 and 51,000 in 1998.
>
> California had the largest number of residents with a net worth of  
> $1.5
> million or more, with 428,000 in 2004. Florida came in second, with
> 199,000, followed by New York (168,000), Texas (108,000), Illinois
> (101,000), Pennsylvania (86,000) and Massachusetts (83,000).
>
> This new peek inside the nation's upper crust comes from IRS data  
> posted
> recently on the agency's Web site (irs.gov <http://irs.gov/> ). While
> nobody knows precisely how many millionaires or multimillionaires  
> there
> are, the IRS figures are considered an important indicator since  
> they're
> based on federal estate-tax returns, which include extensive  
> details on
> assets and debts of wealthy people who have died. IRS analysts use  
> data
> on these returns to estimate the wealth of the living.
>
> The IRS numbers also provide additional insights into wealth in the  
> U.S.
> beyond what has already been reported in several other studies. Among
> them was a Federal Reserve Board survey of consumer finances, which
> focuses on households and was published in 2006. The Fed and IRS data
> are helpful when read together, says James Poterba, professor of
> economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and president of  
> the
> National Bureau of Economic Research, the nonprofit research
> organization best known for tracking the U.S. business cycle. Both  
> sets
> of data "provide important information," Mr. Poterba says. "They  
> appear
> to track broadly similar trends in wealth distribution -- but they
> provide somewhat different perspectives."
>
>  Separate IRS data, released earlier this year, showed the nation's  
> top
> 400 taxpayers by income reported total income of $85.6 billion on  
> their
> federal income-tax returns for 2005 -- an average of nearly $214  
> million
> apiece. Just to make the cutoff to be eligible for this group of 400
> required income of at least $100.3 million, up from $74.5 million for
> 2004. Joel Slemrod, professor of economics at the Ross School of
> Business of the University of Michigan, dubbed this group "the  
> Fortunate
> 400."
>
> Some of the IRS's new personal-wealth numbers aren't directly  
> comparable
> with those in its previous studies because analysts used different
> net-worth ranges at the lower end. But the top three groups --  
> starting
> with a net worth of $5 million -- are the same in these and several
> previous IRS reports by the Statistics of Income Division. Among the
> findings in the latest report, which isn't adjusted for inflation:
>
>
>
> The total net worth of the 47,000 people in the $20 million-or-more
> category totaled $2.591 trillion in 2004. That was down from $2.756
> trillion held by the top group in 2001 but up sharply from the
> approximately $1.5 trillion held by those in the top group in 1998.
>
> About 231,000 people had a net worth between $5 million and $10  
> million
> in 2004. That was down slightly from 243,000 in 2001.
>
> Of the total income for the $20 million or more group, the biggest
> single asset category by far was publicly traded stock ($719.28
> billion). In second place was closely held stock.
>
> The IRS figures underscore the importance of stock and other business
> assets for those in the highest echelons of the super rich, says Mr.
> Poterba of MIT and the National Bureau of Economic Research.
>
> * Email: taxreport at wsj.com
>
> Copyrighted, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
>
>
>
>
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