Wealthiest Americans say the poor have it easy

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20. "This report is based on Pew Research Center data collected as a part of the center’s American

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Trends Panel, a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults surveyed online and by mail. Most of this analysis is drawn from a survey conducted Sept. 9-Oct. 3 with 3,154 panelists. Rather than relying on family income – a useful but blunt measure – as a surrogate for a person’s financial situation, this survey included detailed questions about economic security and insecurity, including measures of financial hardship (such as having difficulty paying bills and receiving means-tested government benefits), as well as financial assets and tools (such as having credit cards, bank accounts and retirement savings). These measures were combined to create an index of financial security that is used throughout this report; it segments the American public into five roughly equal sized groups
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The most secure group (25% of the general public) were those who reported no financial troubles (no difficulty paying for medical care, housing, general bills or having had to borrow money from family or friends), said they had received no government food assistance or Medicaid benefits and reported that they had key financial instruments (checking, savings and a credit card), plus a retirement account of some sort beyond Social Security.

Each of the other groups reflected various combinations of financial difficulties, with the second most secure group having only one issue, the third having two or three issues, the fourth having four to five issues and the fifth and most financially stressed group having six or more financial difficulties.

The scale is strongly associated with family income, but was chosen for this analysis because it reflects the actual levels of financial comfort or discomfort, rather than a summary measure of income that may obscure the situations facing particular individuals. For example, 73% of the most financially insecure (5’s on the scale) are making less than $30,000 annually; however, 7% are making more than $50,000. On the opposite end of the spectrum, only 34% of the most financially secure individuals (according to the scale) make more than $100,000 annually, while 23% of the financially secure are making less than $50,000.
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Here.

This is the link to the report quoted above, a point Pew/USA today report, which looks like it might be a subset, but the info above is from a larger, similar PEW only report. Thought it might be good for people who ask how they might classify relative wealth or lack of it.