Proud to live in the World’s Riches Country
Education and wealth
Americans have among the highest living standards in the world and have enjoyed rising living standards for decades. Median household income in the United States in 2015 was $56,516, up from $49,276 in 2010.2 However, gains in household income have not been evenly distributed across all income groups. Income inequality has been increasing in the United States since the 1970s, peaking in 20133 (Figure 1). A 2015 Gallup poll found that 63 percent of Americans feel that the distribution of U.S. money and wealth is unfair.4 While many factors contribute to income and wealth inequality, the role of education is a key piece of the puzzle.
Research indicates that the level of education is strongly related to both income and wealth. Households with higher levels of education tend to have more liquid assets to withstand financial storms, diversify their savings (investments), and maintain low levels of debt relative to assets.
“By some estimates, income and wealth are near their highest levels in the past hundred years, much higher than the average during that time span and probably higher than for much of American history before then.”
—Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair
Wealth is ownership of Assets
When people earn income, they use that income to do three things: pay taxes, buy goods and services (consume), and save. Saving is not spending on current consumption or taxes and involves giving up some current consumption for future consumption. The accumulation of money set aside for future spending and consumption is known as savings. Americans don’t save as much as those in other industrialized nations. The U.S. personal saving rate has dropped substantially over the past 50 years (Figure 2). As of September 2016, the U.S. personal saving rate was 5.7 percent, whereas it has historically averaged 8.4 percent (since 1959).5 By comparison, German households saved 16.7 percent, on average, in 2015.6
Saving is an essential component of building wealth. Wealth, also called net worth, is the total value of a person’s assets, such as liquid assets (cash or something you can easily turn into cash), real estate, businesses, and cars, minus any liabilities (money owed; debt). Saving to build wealth is an important part of financial planning. And debt is not necessarily a bad thing. Because income tends to start low at younger ages, borrowing (taking on debt) allows people to have things now and pay for them over time. In economic terms, this is called smoothing consumption. Income then tends to increase in middle age and decrease when people retire. Economists often use the life cycle theory of consumption and saving to explain this phenomenon. As shown in the model (Figure 3), people tend to borrow to purchase homes, cars, or an education when they are young, pay down debt and save a portion of their income during their peak working and earning years, and finally spend their saved money during retirement. Within this pattern of planned borrowing and saving, the hump-shaped pattern of income (the curved line) allows for smooth consumption (the horizontal line) across the lifecycle. Thus, saving—to build wealth—is essential for a higher quality of life during retirement.
From many we become one
The relationship between education and income is strong. Education is often referred to as an investment in human capital. People invest in human capital for similar reasons people invest in financial assets, including to make money. In general, those with more education earn higher incomes (see the table). The higher income that results from a college degree is sometimes referred to as the “college wage premium.” Research shows that this premium has grown over time.7 In addition, in general, the more skills people have, the more employable they are. As a result, workers with more education have a lower average unemployment rate than those with less education (Figure 4).
https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/page1-econ/2017/01/03/education-income-and-wealth/
