Believe It or Not Wall Street Doesn’t Dominate the Top 1%

@Robin - you got it wrong. Not 14% Finance professionals are in top 1%. The top1% is made of several professionals of whom Finance folks make up 14%.

I didn't see professional athletes or the hollywood elite on that list.

What do we care what the rich make or pay in taxes. We should only care about what we ourselves make and pay in taxes. Those things are determined by the policies our elected officials implement. This President is wrong putting one group of Americans against another group of Americans. Making it seem that if they did more everything would be fine. We could take all the money the rich have and it won't change a thing. When I look at a Banker I think they are rich. I am sure when my Gardner looks at me he thinks I am rich and someone unempolyed thinks he is well off. We don't make enough because we are taxed to much and charged too many fees. We pay to much for our energy use which filters down into everything else we pay for. We are spending hundreds of billions of dollars importing oil from countries that use the money to try and kill us. This is insanity. Start drilling for more oil and gas and digging for more coal here. Drive the cost of energy down and we all reap an instant stimulus by having more money to spend each month and it won't increase our debt. Let all energy sources compete on an equal footing and the market place will deliver the cheapest form to us. Lower our taxes and allow us to determine how we spend that money and sustainable jobs will be created. Elect representatives that start thinking of making a larger pie for us all to share in not trying to get a bigger piece of an ever shrinking one.

Remember, median is not the same as average. For something like salary, most people will make less than average.

As I was listening to the radio while in the car, the person on the talk show gave the numbers
of who are the 1% or millionaire etc. It was not surprising but it was Washington DC. I'm
sure no one is surprised. Well all our politicians and aids and in government job &
federal jobs are doing very well. They receive over 30% more than if working in private
sector. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that is why anyone who goes to DC usually
becomes a career politician. On the same show, it was brought up that insider
trading is legal in DC. So Washington certainly will not want to level the playing
field for you and I, but for themself, it is a perfect arrangement.

Reportable income is not the same as wealth. I can't tell if anyone in the media has a clue about wealth vs income, or earned vs unearned income. "Rich" would normally refer to wealth, but the whole world seems to think it focuses on income. Are people really this clueless? Let's first decide what we're talking about exactly, then talk about it.

Add all those underpaid basketball players to the unemployment rolls...life is just so cruel.

The whole OWS thing is a joke - in my citythere is ONE person left occupying. No one knows what they are about. Crime and filth abound

I have no problem with exceptional people making exceptional amounts of money. I have a major problem with criminal people defrauding less-fortunate people out of their money. That starts with "well-meaning" politicians that push people into homes they can't afford, mortgate companies exploiting bad policies to extract huge sums of money from ill-informed investors, etc.

Comparing people's incomes misses the point - look for fraud and prosecute! I'm still waiting for some justice. Hey Boston - would you PLEASE fire Barney Frank? What ever happened to Franklin Raines?

Am I the only one who doesn't know what "The average salary financial services employee" means? Do they mean "The average salary of a financial services employee?" If so, what in the world does that mean? Bank tellers don't average $300k. Please proofread first.

Strange that pro sports and hollywood types are not mentioned. Since 1999, 67 % of all NEW households making over $1,000,000 were involved in these 2 "businesses". And they contribute what to the welfare of the average American. ZERO.

That $311,000 average for the financial services industry sure seems high. There are a lot of sales assistants, compliance professionals, and support staff that are grossly underpaid working for the likes of Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, etc. These are the people that do all of the real work after your financial advisor sells you a bunch of high commission crap. Many of these people also get end of the year bonuses...but unlike the huge, six figure bonuses that are always portrayed, these people are just hoping for the $10-15k to supplement their income and payoff debt like the rest of us (full disclosure, I have a close relative in the industry...financial advisors and upper management are grossly overpaid, but the rank and file employees out working the branches that clients have contact with...vastly underpaid for what they do. There's a lot of pay discrepancies within the financial industry itself.) I heard a story of one sales assistant being caught stealing money...the firm didn't prosecute her because they didn't want the publicity that would result when people found out she was stealing to support her family because the firm didn't pay enough.

It took 30 yrs of 60 to 70 hr work wks to incidentally get into the top 1%. I started out with nothing and have worked for my children, society and a happy retirement with my spouse. I cannot be forced to work as hard as I do. If hard workers are singled out (profiled) for exhorbitant taxes they'll work less, produce less goods and services for society and pay less taxes. I refuse to be a slave whose burden disproportionately increases the harder she works. There are serious ramifications to income profiling...it's clear to see that repayment of our national debt will be undermined.

Why does OWS assume they represent 99% of the population? Who the hell came up with the arbitrary 99/1 divide? I may not be in the top 1%, but I am in the top 3% and OWS doesn't speak for me. And no, I am nowhere near the Finance industry.

LOL, none of the criminals have been jailed. In fact the criminals have been bailed out and given huge bonuses. Fraud and white collar criminal behavior pays!!!!

Yep, not so much fun protesting Dr offices and hospitals.

This is a misguided and misleading article. The OCCUPY movement is focused on corporate greed as a whole, of which Wall Street is the prime example. It is not focused only on the finance sector, as the article states. This article is mis-stating the facts.

The salaries of professional athletes and hollywood are much higher.

This is what makes your cable bill so high! Lets protest them.

Whiners, crybabies, finger pointers and blamers! Americans should be accountable for their own choices and actions before they start demanding accountability for everyone else

Nick - thats the problem - Wall Street did not make it for the top 1%, THEY MADE IF FOR THEMSELVES - that is why they are the top 1%. If you took the entire wealth of the US and distributed it equally to the +/-300M citizens, inside of 5 years you would have a 1% that had "too much" all over again. While others would squander or waste theirs, these people would figure out how to thrive in the new setting. They would work harder and smarter than the average person, take risk those people were not willing to take, and PROFIT from it. DOnt hate them because they do things you can not.