Pollster John Zogby has an interesting piece in Forbes about people who consider themselves to be "investors." Here are results from an online poll of 24,000 people:
59% of self-identified investors have household incomes below $100,000 and 44% don't have a college degree. Blue-collar workers make up 15% of the Investor Class, a number that becomes more impressive when you consider that the total percentage of blue collars in this online sample is only 21%. There is no significant difference on matters such as religion, whether they live in urban, suburban or rural areas, union membership, or even how often they shop at Wal-Mart. As for race, African-Americans and Hispanics combined make up 15% of the Investor Class, which isn't so far off their representation in the nation.... [T]he Investor Class is more likely than non-investors to:
- Say they are political conservatives (41% to 26%)
- Have voted for John McCain (57% to 39%)
- Believe they and their families can achieve the American dream (81% to 58%)
- Believe that affirmative action programs reward some at the expense of others (69% to 56%)
On the whole, Zogby found the "investor class" to be "more politically conservative and optimistic" than the general population. He concludes:
[W]hile Democrats may certainly be in the ascendancy after the 2008 election, there may still be an appeal down the road for the "ownership society." There is a significant pocket of Americans who are inclined toward conservative values based on how they see their world and from where they see their world: Namely, their investment portfolios, regardless of how big or small the investments may be.
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This post is used with permission of Sound Mind Investing, America's best-selling Christian financial newsletter. SMI, published by investment advisor Austin Pryor, has been Crown's primary investing resource for nearly 20 years. More than 14,000 families rely monthly on SMI's step-by-step investment advice. Visit Sound Mind Investing to learn more.
