Who Are the One Percent?

This video is part of our Kite & Key Shorts series — easy to understand ... but hard to forget.

What kind of people make it into “The Top One Percent”?

Tech CEOs?

Wall Street titans?

The reality … might surprise you.

The amount of income it takes for an individual to make it into the top one percent is a little over $360,000 a year.ⁱ

In fact, about one out of every nine Americans spends at least one year of their lives in the one percent.ⁱⁱ And nearly 70% of Americans spend at least one year in the top 20%.ⁱⁱⁱ

The reason?

Many people’s highest-income years are the result of one-time events,^iv like selling a house or cashing out investments — which means that most people in the top one percent don’t stay there for long.

Of the people who make it into the top one percent in any given year, around 60% don’t make it back the next year.^v

So, whether you love or hate the top one percent, they’ve probably got less money than you think.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1. It takes a little over $360,000 in annual income to put an individual in the top one percent.
2. One in nine Americans will spend at least one year of their lives in the top one percent.
3. Around 60% of the people who make it into the top one percent fall out of the category within a year.