Post-Recession, the Rich Are Different

Below are some excerpts from a good article found at the WSJ.com.  

Ask yourself why you shouldn't apply this new thinking to all of your investments.  We know how to save millions of investors tens of billions of dollars in annual cost savings.  That is real value every investor can participate in and, grouped with other investors, exercise tremendous influence.

Article link follows graphic:  

"Bentleys and Hermès bags are selling again. Yet the wealthiest Americans are emerging from the financial downturn as different consumers than they were...

new selectiveness is widespread among the wealthiest Americans. Though many of these people might seem unscathed by the financial crisis—they didn't lose their homes, jobs or retirement savings—they were deeply affected by what took place around them. "If you're conscious at all, it just seeps in"...

What's showing up in the latest research is a broad-based caution—a sudden aversion to salespeople, a tepid response to ads focused on brand images, and a new interest in price-shopping. In Harrison Group's first-quarter survey of consumers with a median income of $275,000, 38% said they wait for items to go on sale, versus 31% in 2010..."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576317202215630540.html