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US Stockowners fearful (not greedy)
?
In the year 2016, according to a poll of over 1,000 American adults, even with the Dow Jones industrial average near its record high, only slightly more than half of Americans (52%) say they currently have money in the stock market,...
...matching the lowest ownership rate in Gallup's 19-year trend.
The current figure is down slightly from 2014 and 2015, and continues a secular decline that started in 2007. Gallup's conclusion: "Fewer Americans - particularly those in middle-income families - are benefiting from the recent gains in stock values than would have been the case a decade ago."
Just Over Half of Americans Own Stocks, Matching Record Low
In 2007, nearly two in three American adults (65%) reported investing in the stock market, the high in Gallup's selected trend on this question for April of each year. But this percentage shrank each year from 2008 to 2013 as the effects of the Great Recession and big market losses took their toll on Americans' sense of job security, confidence in the economy and financial means to invest - as well as their general confidence in stocks as a place to invest their money.
Nearly three in four middle-class Americans, with annual household incomes ranging from USD 30,000 to USD 74,999 said they invested money in the stock market in 2007.
Bottom Line
While a slight majority of Americans report investing their money in the stock market, it's a far cry from pre-recession levels that spanned 58% to 65%. Confidence in the stock market and levels of financial literacy (!) have clearly suffered in recent years, and investment rates lag significantly behind the overall rebound the market has made.
Fewer Americans - particularly those in middle-income families - are benefiting from the recent gains in stock values than would have been the case a decade ago.
Info on Survey Methods
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted from 6th April until 10th April, 2016, on the Gallup U.S. Daily tracking survey, with a random sample of 1,015 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
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