The 1% doesn't stay the 1% for long

Economist Thomas Sowell talks about this at length in his book economic facts as fallacies. He points out its foolish to make policy decisions based on what % of the national income each economic quintile made, because the people within those quintiles are constantly moving from one to another. A person who made 500k/year for 40 years drops down into the lowest quintile when retired, though that person is by no means poor.

Is anyone else just getting sent to CNN Money's Home Page? I can't seem to reach the article.

>They may have a bad year on their investments and claim losses, which can offset their capital gains.

They hired an account and learned how to hide the majority of their income?

"Indeed, the federal tax return offers no clue to a person's net worth."

Kind of takes the wind out of what the title is getting at

This link works. http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/26/pf/taxes/high-income-taxpaye...

Closing remarks:

...there's a lot less fluctuation in the top ranks of the wealthy than there is among the highest income households.

Bill Gates' income in any given year may be topped by that of a hedge fund manager, Williams noted. But his wealth remains vast enough to keep him among the world's richest for a very long time.