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Voices of Wealth and Poverty: Better than Most
Jean Cotis and Rob Wininger both earn in the top 25 percent. They reflect on their economic choices and reasons for income disparity in the U.S.
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Rob Wininger of Los Angeles, with his wife and business partner Sandra. Even though income from the business can vary month to month, Rob calls himself upper middle class.
Jean Cotis of Sparta, N.J. owns a hair salon. She considers herself middle class because her income can vary greatly month to month.
Kai Ryssdal: To launch our new Wealth and Poverty desk this week -- our project about the causes and consequences of the growing economic divide in the United States -- we've been hearing stories of people; of how they live their economic lives depending on their place in the economy. Today, two who are comparatively well off. Both of them small business owners in the top 15 to 20 percent of American households.
Rob Wininger: My name is Rob Wininger. I'm 51 years old. I live in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Jean Cotis: My name is Jean Cotis. I own Designer Jeans Salon in Sparta, N.J.
Wininger: I am the owner, with my wife, of F & R Interiors. We specialize in window treatments -- shades, blinds, draperies, shutters.
Cotis: What I do in the salon is I do cuts and colors.
Wininger: Just when I look at the world around us, we're probably more in the upper middle class. Although when we see some of our friends or the people that our kids hang out with, they're much wealthier than we are.
Cotis: I wouldn't put myself in upper middle class because my income goes up and down.
Wininger: We've been carrying on this private school sort of culture.
Cotis: My children, I pay tuition to go to Catholic school.
Wininger: So it's been a huge, huge aspect of our budget.
Cotis: I have no investments. I have no retirement accounts. I've invested in my children.
Wininger: We try to save when we can. But we have maybe $8-10,000 in the savings account, that would be for emergencies. So we're worried.
Cotis: Oh, my neighborhood. It's a small town. There's a lake. It's mostly a family town.
Wininger: Definitely safe.
Cotis: Mothers usually stay home with the kids. The husbands are out working.
Wininger: I have four children. None of them have really had a job like we had. So I don't know if I'm helping them or if I'm hurting them. There's never been a society -- ever -- where you don't have a gap between the wealthy and the poor.
Cotis: The wealthy people have always been the people that have taken care of the poor -- whether it be by employing them or donating their time, donating their money.
Wininger: There's someone who is working harder or who is smarter or who has created something, should be given more than someone who's not. Yes, I think they deserve to be rewarded for their labors and their activity.
Cotis: So I'll make as much as I make depending on how good I am.
Ryssdal: That was Jean Cotis from Sparta, N.J., and Rob Wininger from Los Angeles. We're gonna need your help to tell this story of Wealth and Poverty in America -- in words, sound, and pictures. Click here to find out how you can help.
Our Voices of Wealth and Poverty were produced by Fiona Ng and Gina Delvac.
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The top 1% shouldn't have to take care of the lower classes because they make more money then the other 99%. They worked hard for their money, they should be able to keep it. Individuals should not rely on others to give them financial need.
I found it interesting how both of these people, who are obviously pretty well off, feel stretched in the financial situation because of what they decide to spend their money on. Both are luck. They have jobs and live in good neighborhoods, but neither feels totally safe with their income. The difference between the upper class and the middle class seems to be that the upper class has money to spend, savings in the bank, while the middle class must choose to give their children a good education or have financial backing for the future.
I agree with this and how the poorhave to choose between a good education for their children or have some money for emergency and other money to back them up. I thought it was interesting how one of them had 8-10000dollars for emergencies and still didnt feel safe in his financial situation. he chose his childs education over other stuff he could have had.
"I have four children. None of them have really had a job like we had. So I don't know if I'm helping them or if I'm hurting them" - Wininger. In a way, he is definitely hurting his children because they don't have the same drive and determination that sons of stuggling families have to succeed. These children already have everthing they need because of their family's wealth, so they're using their time unwisely, rather than preparing themselves for when they can't depend on their parents anymore.
I feel as if it would be harder for Ryssdal to save up as much as possible when tying to give four kids a good education. And I do agree that someone who has worked hard and payed their dues should be rewarded for it, so long as they do in fact work for the money earn.
The problem now, as opposed to 20 years ago, is too much government involvement which promulgates who has more and less based primarily on luck; think firefighters, teachers, nurses, police officers - people I'm sick of hearing about their layoffs-, and most unionized labor whose pay is dictated rather than realistic. Right now, if your not working either directly or indirectly for the government, your probably not making much and the people that are in these jobs are insulated from reality that will eventually hit them...and probably hit them so hard they will never recover.
There is certainly a wealth gap in the US that has greatly increased during my lifetime. I consider myself to be upper middle class, however, I live a solidly middle class lifestyle. Unlike the individuals profiled as upper middle class, without savings for retirement or emergencies, I realized early in life the importance of saving. I didn't take fancy vacations. I drive a car with over 200K miles. Living below my means allowed me to save in 401K, and other additional savings each and every paycheck. I also live debt free - no mortgage, no auto loans, and no credit card debt. Yes, I can certainly understand the economic struggles for those lower and middle class wager earners. I don't really see an excuse for those claiming to be upper middle class to not have saved - excepting the lifestyle that they are living. Drive a car a little bit longer. Buy a house (or rent) not based upon what you can qualify for, but below that. Enjoy home cooked meals. Use the library. Walk or ride a bicycle, instead of joining a health club.
It would be a great benefit to many Americans if our educational system required basic financial literacy courses starting in elementary school.
To: S_From_Colorado
Wow, someone else that gets it....
EP of Eastern Washington State and part of the middle class...
WHAT THE TOP 1%, 5%, 10%, 25% and 50% MAKE IN AMERICA
Based on the Internal Revenue Service’s 2010 database below, here’s how much the top Americans make:
Top 1%: $380,354
Top 5%: $159,619
Top 10%: $113,799
Top 25%: $67,280
Top 50%: >$33,048
Here's a different perspective on what it takes to be among the rich:
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/02/shame-on-the-rich.html?ref=hp
Wininger was appalling - Cotis was only slightly better.
Wininger is among the wealthy and has only 8-10k in savings? Who dug him up for the interview? I wonder if Wininger and Cotis drive SUVs?
Neither of them is all that well off and yet they're both apologists for the system.
The tone of this series seems to imply that everyone who has achieved financial success is somehow greedy, malevolent, uncaring and obligated to share their wealth in a manner dictated by government. Based on personal experience, I think your focus is misdirected. From my perspective much of this disparity is caused by the growing sense of entitlement within our society.
Having grown up in a family with 4 kids and a stay at home Mom, while living on Dad's non-union policeman's salary, I feel proud and fortunate that our family is now in a position to be in the top 20% of wage earners in the country. How did my wife and I make the journey? By WORKING HARD in public schools to earn partial scholarships to college, WORKING many MINIMUM WAGE jobs while in college to make ends meet, SACRIFICING lifestyle after college to FULLY repay student loans and learn the critical skills of our respective industries in order to EARN the opportunity to provide more value to our clients and colleagues and most importantly SAVING for the inevitable rainy day (I have been unemployed twice). Never through these years did we feel entitled to any support from our parents, the government or the 1%, although we were fortunate to have some family financial support and lots of non-financial support from our friends - yes it does take a village to raise 3 children with both parents working. Since I already work from January until mid May each year to earn enough to pay my federal, state, local taxes - how much more of my earnings should be confiscated for redistribution to those who have not been willing to work hard and sacrifice for their own financial security.
The entrepreneurial and self reliant attitudes that made this country great are being eaten away by the growing entitlement mentality in our country. Our politicians make the situation worse by structuring tax codes allowing 50% of taxpayers to avoid paying any income tax so they have no personal stake in reducing unsustainable levels of entitlements because, after all ,the top 20% of taxpayers are providing 80% of the federal government revenues from income taxes.
Everyone in this country should have an equal opportunity for education and laws that protect our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. However government forced redistribution of wealth through taxes or other means is a ruinous substitute for personal responsibility, hard work and ambition. Want to learn how responsible American families are dealing with the financial challenges of today's economy and preparing to achieve their dreams? Listen to the Dave Ramsey Show on Fridays where folks from all backgrounds call in to share their personal stories of sacrifice to get out of debt and budgeting to live within their means is paving the path to personal success - without government intervention!!! Most of the 1% worked hard to achieve their financial success and they have not rigged the system to keep others from succeeding, America is still a land of opportunity for those who are intelligent and willing to work hard.
P.S> Violet - Valid studies of personal behavior such as the report you reference typically require peer review and multiple series of tests which are unbiased. I would be highly suspect of the validity of this study conducted by a professor from UC Berkley which apparently has not been independently validated and appears to be released in an attempt to make a political statement in support of the Occupy Movement.
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