The "average" American worker earns about $44,000 per year and saves around 4% of his income. And the "average" household has a net worth of approximately $710,000, including the value of homes, investments, bank accounts and so on. But many Americans, needless to say, fall well below those benchmarks, which fail to capture widespread financial distress.
The gargantuan fortunes of the rich have become a cause célèbre scrutinized by, among others, French economist Thomas Piketty in his surprise bestseller, Capital in the 21st Century. Now, the growing gap between the rich and the rest may be distorting numbers long used to gauge the health of the middle class.
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