( CNN ) -- A pair of gaffes by Vice President Biden and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton illustrate just how hard it is to explain how vast the gaps of income and wealth in America have become -- including the significant but seldom-discussed difference between being merely rich and being super-rich . When Biden recently told an audience -- inaccurately , it turned out -- `` I do n't own a single stock or bond ... I have no savings accounts , '' he was widely seen as responding to earlier comments by Clinton that she and her multimillionaire husband , ex-President Bill Clinton , would not be seen by voters as part of the economic elite who crashed the economy because `` we pay ordinary income tax , unlike a lot of people who are truly well off . '' Both statements were widely seen as hopelessly off-key and out of touch , especially coming from politicians whose not-so-secret hopes for a shot at running for president in 2016 depend on connecting with average Americans . If they expect to make it through the coming campaign without further ridicule , Biden and Clinton will have to figure out a better way to discuss -- or not discuss -- their personal finances . Let 's start with a reality check . Biden and his wife do , indeed , own multiple savings and stock accounts , but most have less than $ 15,000 in them . That makes Biden relatively poor , compared with his former colleagues in the U.S. Senate , whose average wealth is nearly $ 1 million . But the vice president is much better off than the typical U.S. family , which has a savings account balance of only $ 3,800 . More than half of all Americans own no stock at all , and only one-third have stock accounts worth more than $ 5,000 . Clinton suffers a similar problem of perspective . It 's true that she and her husband ended the Clinton presidency facing $ 5 million in legal bills and no place to live ( they 'd spent more than a decade living in the Arkansas governor 's mansion and then the White House ) . But Hillary Clinton 's $ 8 million advance for her autobiography instantly moved the family into the 1 % , and both she and her husband can command $ 200,000 per speech . Bill Clinton 's net worth is estimated at $ 55 million . Even with all that wealth , Clinton 's underlying point -- that she and Bill earn their money and pay taxes on it every year -- is valid . The rarified company the former first couple keeps put them in touch with the super-rich -- heirs to great fortunes and owners of vast companies who do n't need to write books or give speeches to rake in their millions . It 's the difference between life in the top 1 % -- which requires household earnings of about $ 394,000 a year -- and the top .01 % , where the money zooms into the stratosphere and , more important , comes mostly from stocks and other investments rather than work . When merely rich people like Biden and Clinton look around within the 1 % , they ca n't help but notice -- perhaps with a touch of envy -- that the top 0.1 % crowd is living a very different lifestyle . It 's one thing to fly first class ( or even Air Force One ) and quite another to pal around with people who command their own personal fleets of private jets . But if Biden and Clinton are serious about a 2016 foray into the vote-getting business , they must suppress the very real urge to present themselves as `` just plain folks '' in a country where they are , by any measure , among the most fortunate . According to Census Bureau figures , half of all U.S. households earn less than $ 53,000 a year . Those voters are n't likely to extend much sympathy to a vice president crying the blues about saving nothing while earning a federal salary of $ 233,000 a year or an ex-Cabinet member , ex-senator who commands $ 200,000 per speech . The surest cure for seeming out of touch is to hit the campaign trail , with its endless string of town hall meetings and county fairs , its trips to diners , bowling alleys and factories during shift changes . It will take Biden and Clinton back to their own working-class roots , and remind them what real economic struggle looks like .
Errol Louis : Biden , Hillary gaffes show how wide America 's wealth gap has become . He says if they want to be president , they should find less tone-deaf way to discuss money . Louis : Both may feel poorer than super-rich they know , but median U.S. income is $ 53,000 . Louis : They 're not `` just plain folks , '' they 're among country 's most fortunate ; should own it .