Context:
Wealth is usually not used for daily expenditures or factored into household budgets, but combined with income it comprises the family's total opportunity "to secure a desired stature and standard of living, or pass their
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_States along to one's children".
[7] Moreover, "wealth provides for both short- and long-term financial security, bestows social prestige, and contributes to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_power, and can be used to produce more wealth."
[8] Hence, wealth possesses a
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological element that awards people
the feeling of agency, or the ability to act. The accumulation of wealth grants more options and eliminates restrictions about how one can live life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Gilbert asserts that the standard of living of the working and middle classes is dependent upon income and wages, while the rich tend to rely on wealth, distinguishing them from the vast majority of Americans.
[9]