The Gap Between The Haves And The Have-Nots Is Widening -- CNN Money -- December 17, 2014

This is a good article for data points.

It appears the rich are defined as having a median household net worth of $650,000.

It appears the middle class is defined as having a median household net worth of $100,000.

The poor: median net worth, $10,000.

Maybe for a 30-second soundbite: $1,000,000 (one million); $100,000; and, $10,000. Nice round numbers.

That's net worth. Not annual income. That's according to CNN Money:

The median household net worth of middle-income Americans remained at $96,500 between 2010 and 2013, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center, which looked at Federal Reserve Bank data.

Upper-income households, however, saw their wealth grow to $639,400 last year, up from $595,300.

I've been saying the same thing -- the widening gap -- ever since I began blogging.

But I think the story is much worse than the writer is suggesting. 

First, my hunch is the middle of the middle class is being pushed into the lower middle class.

And the "lower" middle class is being pushed into the poor class. That hunch is corroborated by the government's statistics showing the number of people on food stamps or having an income below the poverty line is increasing.

Second, the huge immigration/amnesty order will keep hourly wages. That's probably one of the reasons there was such a movement to raise the minimum wage. I don't hear much about raising the minimum wage now; that hue and cry reached its apogee just as President Obama was signaling his intent to offer amnesty to as many as 11 million undocumented folks already living here.

It is not mentioned in the article, but these are the realities and the stressors for the middle of the middle class and for those in the lower middle class:

• these groups rely on equities much less than those in the upper middle and rich classes; although risks are greater, rewards are better for those invested inquities
• that part of the middle class relying on savings account to increase net worth will find that their savings accounts are earning well less than 1%
• ObamaCare is not all it was promised to be, and, in fact, will cost the lower/middle classes more than those below them and those above them (as a percentage of their income); ObamaCare is the 800-lb gorilla in all these stories and when it is not mentioned, it's a red flag
• wagers and salaries are stagnant
• utility bills are skyrocketing in some of the largest urban centers in the US, namely the northeast

By the way, other other definitions, from Pew, for a family of four:

• middle income: a household income between $44,000 and $132,000 (46% of American families)
• upper-income: a household income more than $132,000 

Of course, even these definitions are lacking. An income of $100,000 means a lot more in Pierre, South Dakota, than it does in downtown New York City.