[quote=flyer]AN, I, of course, truly don’t have the answer to the ultimate solution–wish I did.
That said, some of the friends I mentioned who were literally “at the top,” have now fallen into the “silent wealth gap,” and I increasingly hear stories like that everyday. The fact is, they could have done something about it before it got away from them, via more conservative planning, etc. (i.e. keep the million+ rather than spend it all.)
I think the real point I’m making is that, virtually anyone of us can fall into the “wealth gap” regardless of which quintile in which we may currently abide.[/quote]If your friends who were “at the top”, how can they fall into the “silent wealth gap” if they have proper insurance? That’s the whole point of insurance, isn’t it? For exactly unforeseen situations. So, if they were at the top, then they should have plenty of money to pay for the proper amount of insurance to maintain their life style.
As for keeping millions rather spending it, I totally agree. Net worth is very fluid and can change dramatically. Just look at all the sport stars and movie stars. There are many of them who were millionaires who end up being broke after their career end, because they spend like their millions in income will keep on rolling in indefinitely. But I think this problem apply to all quintile, not just the top 5%. If you spend like your income is indefinite, you will be broke when your income stop coming in. If you spend more than you make, you will be broke sooner than that.
