The Investor Class’s New Partner: Why a Post-Work Society Needs Everyday Investors

By Shael Riley

The K-Shaped Economy

The world’s economy increasingly resembles a K-shape, split between those soaring to new prosperity and those sinking down. In this pattern, the affluent few hold a disproportionate share of wealth and drive a huge share of spending. For example, a recent global report found the richest 10% of people own about 75% of all wealth, while the poorest half hold just 2%. In the United States, the top 10% of households have come to account for roughly half of all consumer spending. In other words, a small elite now commands an outsized chunk of economic power. This divergence is the essence of the K-shaped economy: one line of the “K” shooting up for the top tier, and the other line declining for the majority. The top 10% dominate not only wealth but also the direction of the market itself, as their investments and consumption prop up what the data deceptively show as overall “resilient” growth.

Why has this happened? One big reason is that traditional labor’s role has shrunk in creating wealth for the elite. Over the past few decades, income from work has been weakened in favor of income from capital. Policies and trends since the 1980s—globalization, the decline of unions, tech automation, and investor-friendly tax codes—have shifted the balance. As economist Mark Zandi explains, the share of national income going to workers has trended downward since the Reagan era, while the share going to owners of capital has risen. The wealthy increasingly make their fortunes from investments, assets, and technology rather than large workforces. A modern tech firm can reach a billion-dollar valuation with a fraction of the employees an old industrial giant needed. In short, capital now scales faster than labor. This means the most affluent can grow richer with less reliance on hiring masses of workers. While that’s efficient for them, it leaves a growing portion of the population economically disconnected, setting the stage for the challenges we face in a post-work society.

The Risk of Isolation at the Top

When wealth circulates only among elites, economic stagnation looms. Healthy economies depend on broad demand: millions of people buying goods and services. Extreme inequality undercuts that engine; high inequality essentially redistributes income from lower and middle classes (who tend to spend most of it) to the rich (who save or invest most of it). This creates a drag on consumption. In fact, analysts have estimated that rising U.S. inequality has been reducing overall consumer spending so much that it shaves 2 to 4 percentage points off GDP growth each year. That is a huge lost opportunity. When only the top echelon has disposable income, businesses can’t expand beyond catering to that niche. We see signs of this “rich-only” economy already; luxury markets boom, while budget retailers struggle. The problem is that the wealthy, no matter how extravagant, can only consume so much. A yacht or third vacation home purchase by a billionaire doesn’t stimulate the economy like millions of families buying refrigerators and cars. Isolation at the top leads to an economy that grows feebly, prone to asset bubbles instead of real innovation, because money is swapping among the rich rather than flowing into broad productive use.

Equally concerning is the missing dynamism when the majority are shut out of economic participation. Broad participation in the economy has historically been a source of stability, innovation, and growth. When more people have a stake and a say, you get a wider range of ideas and a larger consumer base to validate them. By contrast, extreme concentration of wealth saps the system of its creative energy. Fewer people can afford education or to take risks on new ventures, meaning fewer entrepreneurs and inventors emerge from outside the elite circle. Economic elites might find themselves investing in the same safe, narrow set of opportunities, without the fresh competition and demand that comes from the ground up. Even the resilience of economies and democracies is at stake; researchers warn that today’s gaping divides are “no longer sustainable for societies” and that reducing inequality is essential for economic stability. In a very real sense, an economy that works only for the top 1% is a brittle economy. It lacks the competitive churn and consumer diversity that make markets adaptive. The investor class should worry that an economy on such a narrow base will eventually falter, if not from political upheaval, then from simply running out of customers. To avoid a future of stagnation, the top must find ways to reconnect with the broad base of people who have been left behind.

A New Role for Average People

How can we reconnect the economic links? Part of the answer is redefining what “work” means in a post-work society. As automation and AI advance, it’s clear that fewer traditional jobs will be needed to produce the goods and services we need. But that doesn’t mean humans have no role; it means the role of average people is shifting from pure labor to something new. We’re already seeing hints of this: millions of ordinary individuals have entered the financial markets in recent years as micro-investors. Empowered by apps and online platforms, small retail investors have become a force that even Wall Street can’t ignore. In fact, retail investors have shown they have strength in numbers to rival big institutions; witness how a swarm of online traders caused the notorious GameStop stock frenzy, outplaying Wall Street pros with sheer numbers. This trend suggests a future where everyday people participate in the economy not by earning wages, but by owning shares, funding projects, and guiding innovation with their investment choices. Instead of being only consumers or employees, they can become stakeholders. We should imagine a society where being an active economic citizen (a micro-angel investor, a crowdfunder, a cooperative member) is as common as having a day job was in the 20th century. In a post-work world, investing may well become the new working for many.

Crucially, this new role isn’t possible if people are barely scraping by. That’s why basic income can serve as seed capital for innovation at the personal level. A universal basic income (UBI) would provide everyone with a baseline financial security, enough to cover needs and give breathing room to think beyond the next paycheck. Far from encouraging idleness, evidence shows that a stable basic income spurs more productivity and creativity. In one long-term trial in India, giving families a modest universal income led to higher nutrition, better health and schooling, and notably, more labor and self-employment as people started small businesses. Other studies have found that safety-net programs make entrepreneurship more likely, by reducing the personal risk of failure. It makes sense: if your basic needs are met, you can take a chance on a startup idea, invest in the stock market or a friend’s private venture, learn a new skill, or even explore cryptocurrency. You have a small cushion to innovate. Think of a UBI as venture capital distributed at the grassroots level. Each person becomes a mini-investor in themselves, able to allocate time or a bit of money to try something new. Over a whole society, that’s millions of experiments; some will fail, yes, but many will succeed or at least generate valuable activity. The next great investor, inventor or app developer might be a single parent or a young student who, thanks to a basic income, finally has the time and seed money to create something. For the investor class of today, this means an explosion of potential projects and startups to invest in down the road. Basic income is not a handout; it’s an investment in human capital that can pay dividends in the form of a more dynamic, inventive economy.

Everyday Investment, Everyday Returns

Consider how a mass of small investors can create new markets. Crowdfunding is a perfect example. Over the last decade, platforms like Kickstarter have enabled tens of millions of regular people to collectively fund ideas they believe in. The result? Over $8.5 billion pledged to nearly 300,000 projects on Kickstarter alone, from about 24 million backers worldwide. That’s an entire innovation ecosystem financed not by banks or billionaire venture capitalists, but by teachers, Uber drivers, retirees: everyday folks pooling their $20 or $50 contributions. This model has launched products and companies that likely would have been overlooked by traditional gatekeepers. It turns consumers into investors and creators. Each successful project also creates jobs, services, or cultural value that wouldn’t exist otherwise. And the phenomenon isn’t limited to high-tech gadgets in rich countries. In developing regions, microfinance demonstrates the power of small capital at the grassroots. As of 2019, roughly 140 million low-income borrowers, 80% of them women, have taken micro-loans to start tiny enterprises or improve their farms. These modest investments (often under $200) have empowered people in villages and slums to become entrepreneurs, feeding their families and boosting local economies. The takeaway is that there is vast untapped potential locked up in people who lack access to capital. When given even a little financial agency, they can and do participate in markets, and often in ways that create new niches and opportunities. For the global elite looking for the next growth market: it’s among the billions of people currently excluded. Enabling those people to invest, spend, and create will open up business avenues that today’s isolated economy doesn’t even see.

We already have success stories proving that everyday people can fund disruptive innovation. One famous example is Oculus VR, the virtual reality startup founded by a 21-year-old enthusiast. In 2012, instead of seeking money from a few big investors, Oculus turned to the crowd for support. Small backers on Kickstarter eagerly pledged nearly $2.5 million to make the VR headset a reality. Their belief and early adoption validated the concept. Just two years later, Oculus was acquired by Facebook for about $2 billion. In effect, a community of regular people helped launch a revolutionary tech product that caught the attention of one of the world’s largest companies. And they did it before traditional investors caught on. There are many other instances, from independent artists whose fan-funded projects went viral, to gadget makers and game designers whose crowdfunding campaigns created entire product categories. Everyday investors have even shown they can shake up high finance when united, as seen in the retail trading boom. But the goal is not to pitch small investors against big ones, it’s to partner them. The more we see broad participation in funding and owning new enterprises, the more robust and diverse those enterprises can be. Disruption can come from anywhere, and by welcoming the everyman and everywoman into the investor pool, the elite gain early insight into ground-level trends and access to a much wider innovation pipeline. Instead of a few venture capitalists in Silicon Valley deciding the next big thing, the crowd can signal what they want to see in the market, and often they’re right. Embracing these signals can lead to win-win outcomes, where everyday people share in the returns of success, and the professionals have a richer landscape of opportunities to grow their wealth as well.

The Win-Win: Stability and Growth

Bringing everyone into the economic fold is a win-win strategy for stability and growth that benefits even the top 1%. One immediate advantage is a broader consumer base. If billions of people have more disposable income (either through basic income directly or the higher earnings unlocked via investments initially seeded with basic income), that means billions of new customers for goods and services. Companies large and small can sell more, innovate more, and expand into markets that were previously too impoverished to bother with. History shows that a thriving middle class powered the great economic expansions of the 20th century; similarly, a new financially empowered class of everyday investors and consumers could drive the 21st century economy. Basic income would act like a constant stimulus, funneling money into local businesses and global markets alike. In small-town America, for instance, economists note that UBI checks would quickly boost local spending, just as past payroll tax cuts and food stamp programs did during recessions. Now imagine that effect multiplied globally: more people buying appliances, paying for education, investing in home improvements, subscribing to online services; it’s fuel for sustained growth. For elite-owned corporations, this means higher revenues and a more reliable demand curve not solely tied to ultra-luxury or ultra-competitive segments.

Long-term, everyone participating in growth means greater stability. Societies where prosperity is widely shared tend to be more politically stable and peaceful, which is ultimately good for business and investment. Conversely, societies that concentrate wealth at the top court disaster, which is a point even some billionaires now candidly acknowledge. Nick Hanauer, a wealthy entrepreneur, warned his fellow rich that “no society can sustain this kind of rising inequality. In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out.” His colorful metaphor highlights a genuine threat: extreme inequality can lead to social unrest, populist backlash, or worse. For the investor class, that could mean higher taxes, confiscations, or instability that destroys the value of their assets. By contrast, a world where people feel they have a stake is a safer place to own property and invest for the future. Broad-based growth also creates a more innovative and adaptable economy, as discussed, which reduces the risk of financial crises. It’s telling that an authoritative international report argued that closing inequality gaps is “not only about fairness, but essential for the resilience of economies” and the stability of our societies. In practical terms, a post-work society with universal basic income would act like an insurance policy for capitalism itself: it ensures that the consumers, entrepreneurs, and taxpayers of tomorrow will be there, educated and solvent, rather than angry in the streets or trapped in poverty. Stability breeds confidence, and confidence breeds long-term investments that further drive growth. This is the virtuous cycle we can achieve if we invite everyone to partake in the wealth of the modern world.

A Call to Action for the Elite

It’s time for the investor elite to embrace this post-work vision not as a charitable sacrifice, but as a forward-looking partnership that benefits you as much as everyone else. The world is moving toward a future where traditional employment may play a smaller role in generating wealth. Rather than resisting this shift, savvy investors should get ahead of it by championing policies and models that turn today’s economically sidelined populations into active participants. Support the idea of a universal basic income; yes, it sounds radical, but even some of the savviest business minds have concluded it will be necessary. Tech pioneer Elon Musk bluntly stated, “Ultimately we will have to have some kind of universal basic income. I don’t think we’re going to have a choice.” He’s recognizing that automation will upend the labor market, and without a new solution, inequality will explode further. By backing UBI, the elite can ensure the transition to a post-work economy is smooth rather than chaotic. Think of it as investing in the human infrastructure of your future market. When you help provide that safety net or springboard for the masses, you are effectively creating the conditions for your own enterprises to have stable growth and your investments to yield returns in a decade or two. This global perspective is crucial; many of you conduct business across continents and have seen how instability or desperation in one region can spill over and disrupt markets worldwide. Embracing a post-work society means advocating for global solutions: things like basic income, universal healthcare, and equitable access to technology: policies that raise the floor for humanity. It’s a bold agenda, but it is in your strategic interest. Far from being a zero-sum game, bringing up the bottom is a way to expand the economic pie for everyone.

How can the elite build partnerships with this new everyday investor class? Start by acknowledging them as partners in growth, not just as workers or consumers. This could mean creating more inclusive investment opportunities and platforms. For instance, businesses can make room for customer-shareholders in their models, allowing loyal users to own a tiny piece of the companies they support. Large investors might collaborate with crowdfunding communities, co-investing in promising ideas that bubble up from below. Public-private partnerships could allocate venture funds that match crowdfunded contributions, effectively doubling down on ideas with grassroots support. If you’re a venture capitalist or executive, consider mentorship and education programs for first-time investors and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds; you’ll widen your deal flow and discover talent that others overlook. On a policy level, the investor class should lend its influence to push for financial inclusion: support regulations that make stock ownership, startup funding, and banking accessible to lower-income families around the world. Even within corporations, you can promote profit-sharing or employee stock ownership plans that turn employees into co-investors, aligning everyone’s incentives. The overarching principle is to treat broad economic empowerment as the next great investment opportunity. Instead of fearing dilution of wealth, realize that enabling millions to build wealth creates more prosperity overall, and you will still get your ample share of it, with the bonus of a more harmonious society. In the end, partnering with the everyday investor class is not about charity or appeasement; it’s about intelligently shaping a future economy that is dynamic, resilient, and profitable for generations. The post-work society is coming, and those at the top have a choice: fight to preserve a narrow status quo until it cracks, or lead the way in building a new inclusive prosperity. For the investor class that chooses to lead, the rewards, financial and beyond, will be well worth it.

Works Cited

1. Sasha Rogelberg, Eva Roytburg, and Nick Lichtenberg. "Economists agree: You're not crazy for feeling like the rich get richer, and the poor are doing worse. Welcome to the 'K-shaped economy'." Fortune. November 7, 2025. https://fortune.com/2025/11/07/what-is-the-k-shaped-economy-wealth-inequality-explainer/

2. Jon Henley. "Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds." The Guardian. December 10, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2025/dec/10/just-0001-hold-three-times-the-wealth-of-poorest-half-of-humanity-report-finds

3. Josh Bivens. "Inequality is slowing U.S. economic growth: Faster wage growth for low- and middle-wage workers is the solution." Economic Policy Institute. December 12, 2017. https://www.epi.org/publication/secular-stagnation/

4. Eleanor Pringle. "Gen Zers are six times as likely to be investing now as in 2015, driven by economic optimism and 'social media investment fads,' says JPMorgan." Fortune. August 28, 2025. https://fortune.com/2025/08/28/gen-z-retail-investing-jpmorgan-study-lower-income-gender-investment-gap/

5. Sebastion Johnson. "Could a Universal Basic Income Make Small Town America Great Again?" Economic Security Project. October 11, 2017. https://economicsecurityproject.org/news/could-a-universal-basic-income-make-small-town-america-great-again/

6. "Elon Musk on why the world needs a universal basic income." World Government Summit Observer. March 12, 2017. https://www.worldgovernmentssummit.org/observer/articles/detail/elon-musk-on-why-the-world-needs-a-universal-basic-income

7. Jemima Kiss. "Oculus: Facebook buys virtual reality gaming firm for $2bn." The Guardian. March 25, 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/25/facebook-buys-virtual-reality-gaming-firm-oculus

8. "Press." Kickstarter. Accessed February 10, 2026. https://www.kickstarter.com/press

9. Eric Petroff. "Whatever Happened to Microfinance? A Cautionary Tale." AFSA. Accessed February 10, 2026. https://afsa.org/whatever-happened-microfinance-cautionary-tale

10. Nick Hanauer. "The Pitchforks Are Coming... For Us Plutocrats." Politico Magazine. 2014. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014/