Since "the stock market" drives things like college endowments, pension returns, company hiring/layoffs, increase/decrease what you get "for free" (more like "included in the price"), more people than just "the rich" should be interested in what's going on in "the stock market."
Also, with fewer employers offering pensions and more companies offering 401ks with matching funds, it behooves all of us to understand how an investment every paycheck + matching + time can grow so that at some point, we have enough money to not have to work for pay. If you're prudent, that can happen long before social security eligibility. But, each of us better have *something*, and regarding the stock market as a "rich people's" concern will cause us to not have saved enough or grown the savings enough to be financially independent.
PLUS, even if you *want* to work into your mid-60s, health and layoffs may prevent that.
Also, with fewer employers offering pensions and more companies offering 401ks with matching funds, it behooves all of us to understand how an investment every paycheck + matching + time can grow so that at some point, we have enough money to not have to work for pay. If you're prudent, that can happen long before social security eligibility. But, each of us better have *something*, and regarding the stock market as a "rich people's" concern will cause us to not have saved enough or grown the savings enough to be financially independent.
PLUS, even if you *want* to work into your mid-60s, health and layoffs may prevent that.