Back in 1994, I got a job from Fidelity Investments to ask people around the country (men and women on the streets) what they thought about their savings, investments, their future, security, Wall Street and the stock market, bonds, real estate, etc. At the time, I didn't know much about investing and wasn't in the stock market. Looking back on it, things seemed brighter and more optimistic when these folks looked at the future, then things seem today. I'd love to ask all of these people (the releases have been lost) in the present what happened to their hopes and dreams and investments and faith in the markets. I remember that Peter Lynch who appears in this documentary was considered a great investment manager during that time and helped build the Fidelity Investments brand.

Looking back, in 1994 the USA was in a period of economic growth following a recession in the early 1990s. The time was characterized by a shift towards a more service-oriented economy, with the growth of technology and the internet driving innovation and job creation.

The rise of the internet and e-commerce created opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs, leading to the creation of many new jobs in technology and related industries.

Despite the overall economic growth, there were significant disparities in income and wealth. The gap between the rich and the poor had been growing since the 1980s and this trend continued through the 1990s. Many workers struggled with stagnant wages and job insecurity.

The Americans who were making the most money back then were those in executive positions at large corporations, especially in the financial and technology sectors. At the time the stock market was booming so those who held high-level positions saw significant increases in their compensation packages. According to the US Census Bureau, the median household income in 1994 was $34,076. However the top 1% of earners took home over 14% of all US income. In 2021 the top 1% of income earners in the United States received approximately 16% of the country's total income.

During this period, the 1% were often in the financial sector with top earners in investment banking, private equity and hedge fund management. Top executives in tech companies such as Microsoft, IBM, and Intel were also among the highest-paid Americans.

In 1994, Fidelity Investments was one of the largest mutual fund companies in the United States with assets under management of over $200 billion. During that decade Fidelity continued to expand. In late 1994 (when they hired me to make this film) they launched their first online trading platform, Fidelity OnlineXpress, one of the first online trading platforms available to retail investors.

Although I never worked for them again Fidelity remains one of the largest investment management companies in the world. Their offerings now include not only mutual funds, but also ETFs, managed accounts, retirement planning services and other investment products. Fidelity is also a major player in the online brokerage industry with its Fidelity.com platform serving millions of individual investors.