Smart:Wealth and Religion:Wealth
David sent me this article:
Scientific American - A Wealth of Smarts Does Not Guarantee Actual Wealth The smarter you are, the more income you have," explains economist Jay Zagorsky of Ohio State University, who analyzed the data. "For wealth, there is no relationship."... "Why don't smart people do financially better is the next question to answer," he says.
Which led me to wonder about the relationship between religion and wealth, considering the Jews reputation as being thrifty but also well-off. Which led me here:
Religion Helps Shape Wealth Of Americans, Study Finds - 2003
"A new national study shows that religious affiliation plays a powerful role in how much wealth Americans accumulate, with Jews amassing the most wealth and conservative Protestants the least. Mainline Protestants and Catholics fall in between and are about average with the rest of the population in terms of overall wealth."
Lisa Keister, author of the study and associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University, found that the median net worth of Jewish people in the survey was $150,890, more than three times the median for the entire sample ($48,200). “What I’m finding is that families have a powerful influence on how people learn to save, and religion is often an important part of family life,” Keister said. “The things children are taught in Jewish homes are very different than those that are taught in conservative Protestant homes.” For example, "Jews... don’t have a strong orientation to the afterlife, but encourage pursuits that will lead to wealth accumulation, such as high-income careers and investing."
Also "the study found that people who regularly attended religious services tended to be more wealthy." "Going to religious services may be another opportunity, especially for Jews, to be indoctrinated with beliefs that help build wealth." said Keister.
1. "Only 1 percent of Jewish people remained asset poor throughout life, compared to 15 percent of conservative Protestants. About 9 percent of mainline Protestants and 7 percent of Catholics followed this trajectory."
2. "About 35 percent of Jews [buy a home relatively early in life and then accumulate other assets, such as stocks and bonds, later], compared to 3 percent of conservative Protestants, 22 percent of mainline Protestants and 20 percent of Catholics."
3. "About one-third of Jews [invest early in life in high-risk, high-return assets such as stocks and bonds and build wealth quickly while putting less emphasis on homeownership], compared to no conservative Protestants, 7 percent of mainline Protestants and 4 percent of Catholics."
"Keister emphasized that religion is only one among many factors that influence wealth. This research is part of a larger series of studies Keister is doing to explain why some people accumulate more wealth than others. She said that once she began studying wealth, the impact of religion stood out plainly... “There are lessons to be learned here,” she said. “For example, we can take what we see happening in Jewish families and translate that into ways to help others teach their children about building wealth.”"
I wanted to learn more about Keister's research and found out that she wrote a book "Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way" with the following chapters: 1. I’d rather be rich; 2. Trends in wealth mobility; 3. The new rich; 4. Getting rich; Part II: 5. Family background: parents, structure, and siblings; 6. Family background: culture and religion; 7. Individuals: foundations and occupations; 8. Individuals: adult family; 9. Conclusion.
I'd like to check it out sometime later, when I have time. ^_^*
Scientific American - A Wealth of Smarts Does Not Guarantee Actual Wealth The smarter you are, the more income you have," explains economist Jay Zagorsky of Ohio State University, who analyzed the data. "For wealth, there is no relationship."... "Why don't smart people do financially better is the next question to answer," he says.
Which led me to wonder about the relationship between religion and wealth, considering the Jews reputation as being thrifty but also well-off. Which led me here:
Religion Helps Shape Wealth Of Americans, Study Finds - 2003
"A new national study shows that religious affiliation plays a powerful role in how much wealth Americans accumulate, with Jews amassing the most wealth and conservative Protestants the least. Mainline Protestants and Catholics fall in between and are about average with the rest of the population in terms of overall wealth."
Lisa Keister, author of the study and associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University, found that the median net worth of Jewish people in the survey was $150,890, more than three times the median for the entire sample ($48,200). “What I’m finding is that families have a powerful influence on how people learn to save, and religion is often an important part of family life,” Keister said. “The things children are taught in Jewish homes are very different than those that are taught in conservative Protestant homes.” For example, "Jews... don’t have a strong orientation to the afterlife, but encourage pursuits that will lead to wealth accumulation, such as high-income careers and investing."
Also "the study found that people who regularly attended religious services tended to be more wealthy." "Going to religious services may be another opportunity, especially for Jews, to be indoctrinated with beliefs that help build wealth." said Keister.
1. "Only 1 percent of Jewish people remained asset poor throughout life, compared to 15 percent of conservative Protestants. About 9 percent of mainline Protestants and 7 percent of Catholics followed this trajectory."
2. "About 35 percent of Jews [buy a home relatively early in life and then accumulate other assets, such as stocks and bonds, later], compared to 3 percent of conservative Protestants, 22 percent of mainline Protestants and 20 percent of Catholics."
3. "About one-third of Jews [invest early in life in high-risk, high-return assets such as stocks and bonds and build wealth quickly while putting less emphasis on homeownership], compared to no conservative Protestants, 7 percent of mainline Protestants and 4 percent of Catholics."
"Keister emphasized that religion is only one among many factors that influence wealth. This research is part of a larger series of studies Keister is doing to explain why some people accumulate more wealth than others. She said that once she began studying wealth, the impact of religion stood out plainly... “There are lessons to be learned here,” she said. “For example, we can take what we see happening in Jewish families and translate that into ways to help others teach their children about building wealth.”"
I wanted to learn more about Keister's research and found out that she wrote a book "Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way" with the following chapters: 1. I’d rather be rich; 2. Trends in wealth mobility; 3. The new rich; 4. Getting rich; Part II: 5. Family background: parents, structure, and siblings; 6. Family background: culture and religion; 7. Individuals: foundations and occupations; 8. Individuals: adult family; 9. Conclusion.
I'd like to check it out sometime later, when I have time. ^_^*