In a recent article for the The Wall Street Journal, Robert Frank reported that the threshold to be among America's top 1% of earners has more than quadrupled since 1980. While the cut-off fell slightly in 2008-about 7% owing to recession and global financial crisis-it will likely resumes its steady rise in 2009 or 2010. Frank said that the increase is attributable to inflation and to the rising salaries of executives and business owners. The rising salaries have increased the share of income going to the One Percent Club: in 2008, the top earners accounted for 22.8% of the nation's reported income, up from 8.46% in 1980. Below is a chart listing the historical AGIs necessary to land in the Once Percent Club:
1980 -- $80,580
1985 -- $108,134
1990 -- $167,421
1995 -- $209,406
2000 -- $313,469
2005 -- $364,657
2007 -- $410,096
2008 -- $380,354
Posted by Joshua Hock, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal
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