Ok can we stop saying $300k is "rich" in DC?

[Anonymous]

I know 'couples' making $150K together living in group homes because COL plus student loans plus commute = insane expenses. What's rich in one part of this country is only surviving in D.C. A couple making 300K and a mortgage on a house with constant repairs is just middle class to me. Add kids and once more you're back to square one of surviving.

[Anonymous]

Stop with the "just surviving" stuff on $300k.

You have no idea what"just surviving" is and it's incredibly insulting to people who actually struggle to make ends meet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:300k is still high income. You don't have to be a 1 percenter to be high income.

But why get angry at dual income couples making 300k who are struggling to buy a house in a nice school district and stupid enough to post on here asking for advice (and instead get told to sit down and STFU because you're RICH) when you could get mad at all the lobbyists and political consultants and contractors making 900k plus?

Here what I hear: "I don't feel rich because I'm trying to buy a freestanding SFH with stainless steel appliances and a yard and granite countertops in a neighborhood where the schools are really good. By good I mean as few FARMS kids as possible. I can't afford that." Those are all wants, not needs.

Yep, this. "Wahh, that SFH is 50 years old so it's a tear down".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not since just before the Great Depression has the income gap between rich and poor Americans been so vast. The top 1 percent of U.S. families has an income, on average, $1,153,293 a year — about 25 times the $45,567 earned on average by the rest of American families.

Those numbers are from a report, “Income Inequality in the U.S. by State, Metropolitan Area, and County,” by the Economic Policy Institute. EPI, a nonpartisan think tank, examined state-level tax data from 1917 through 2013 (the latest year available) to report the gap, the earnings and the trends in every state.

Overall, the top 1 percent of earners took home 20.1 percent of all income in the U.S. in 2013.

Virginia: $987,607 per year

Maryland: $1,024,110 per year

https://www.moneytalksnews.com/slideshows/what-the-richest-1-percent-earns-every-state/


******

The rich are getting richer and leaving us all behind in the dust and instead of doing something about THAT, we fight with each other.

Depending on your unearned income, you are either in the top 2% or top 3% of all households. No one cares whether you personally consider that to be "rich" or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:300k is still high income. You don't have to be a 1 percenter to be high income.

But why get angry at dual income couples making 300k who are struggling to buy a house in a nice school district and stupid enough to post on here asking for advice (and instead get told to sit down and STFU because you're RICH) when you could get mad at all the lobbyists and political consultants and contractors making 900k plus?

Here what I hear: "I don't feel rich because I'm trying to buy a freestanding SFH with stainless steel appliances and a yard and granite countertops in a neighborhood where the schools are really good. By good I mean as few FARMS kids as possible. I can't afford that." Those are all wants, not needs.

Yep, this. "Wahh, that SFH is 50 years old so it's a tear down".

I totally agree with this. Our HHI is around $150,000 and I feel incredibly lucky and feel like we have a very good lifestyle. Yep the bathrooms in our house are old - so's the kitchen for that matter - but they work just fine. Yes I drive a small and somewhat battered car but it works great. I really think it is all about perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not since just before the Great Depression has the income gap between rich and poor Americans been so vast. The top 1 percent of U.S. families has an income, on average, $1,153,293 a year — about 25 times the $45,567 earned on average by the rest of American families.

Those numbers are from a report, “Income Inequality in the U.S. by State, Metropolitan Area, and County,” by the Economic Policy Institute. EPI, a nonpartisan think tank, examined state-level tax data from 1917 through 2013 (the latest year available) to report the gap, the earnings and the trends in every state.

Overall, the top 1 percent of earners took home 20.1 percent of all income in the U.S. in 2013.

Virginia: $987,607 per year

Maryland: $1,024,110 per year

https://www.moneytalksnews.com/slideshows/what-the-richest-1-percent-earns-every-state/


******

The rich are getting richer and leaving us all behind in the dust and instead of doing something about THAT, we fight with each other.

This makes sense so half of that is where wealthy start.

So 300k is middle class.

493k is rich in VA
512k is rich in MD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop with the "just surviving" stuff on $300k.

You have no idea what"just surviving" is and it's incredibly insulting to people who actually struggle to make ends meet

Tell the poor people in America to say that to the poor people in Africa

[Anonymous]

Why are you distorting the facts OP?

Entry level for the top 1% in MD is $421,188/year. In VA it's $406,412/year. In DC it's $554,719/year.

I'd say if you're ANYWHERE in the top 1% you're rich.

If you're not rich when you make more than 99% of your fellow citizens I don't what planet you live on. You don't have to be in the top .01% to be "rich".

[Anonymous]

previous poster,
Oops--meant to type:
"You don't have to be in the top .001% to be rich".

I'd say that being in the top .01% will suffice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:300k is still high income. You don't have to be a 1 percenter to be high income.

But why get angry at dual income couples making 300k who are struggling to buy a house in a nice school district and stupid enough to post on here asking for advice (and instead get told to sit down and STFU because you're RICH) when you could get mad at all the lobbyists and political consultants and contractors making 900k plus?

Here what I hear: "I don't feel rich because I'm trying to buy a freestanding SFH with stainless steel appliances and a yard and granite countertops in a neighborhood where the schools are really good. By good I mean as few FARMS kids as possible. I can't afford that." Those are all wants, not needs.

Yep, this. "Wahh, that SFH is 50 years old so it's a tear down".

Numbers don't lie

"“Our cost of living has increased faster than the national average,” Chapman said.

Chapman’s report, based on figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, shows price levels in the D.C. metro area are more than 19 percent higher than the national average. Among the largest metro areas, only two others have higher prices. They include New York and San Francisco.

Around the District, rent prices are especially significant." http://wtop.com/dc/2017/06/dc-regions-wealth-held-back-by-high-cost-of-living/slide/1/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:300k is still high income. You don't have to be a 1 percenter to be high income.

But why get angry at dual income couples making 300k who are struggling to buy a house in a nice school district and stupid enough to post on here asking for advice (and instead get told to sit down and STFU because you're RICH) when you could get mad at all the lobbyists and political consultants and contractors making 900k plus?

Here what I hear: "I don't feel rich because I'm trying to buy a freestanding SFH with stainless steel appliances and a yard and granite countertops in a neighborhood where the schools are really good. By good I mean as few FARMS kids as possible. I can't afford that." Those are all wants, not needs.

Yep, this. "Wahh, that SFH is 50 years old so it's a tear down".

I totally agree with this. Our HHI is around $150,000 and I feel incredibly lucky and feel like we have a very good lifestyle. Yep the bathrooms in our house are old - so's the kitchen for that matter - but they work just fine. Yes I drive a small and somewhat battered car but it works great. I really think it is all about perspective.

How much is your mortgage?
How much is going to retirement?
How much are you saving for college for kid(s)?

[Anonymous]

"middle class" is in . . . .wait . . . THE MIDDLE!

300k is way, way above the middle. It is rich. Just because the top 1% earns a mere 3 times more does not somehow magically make 300k "not rich".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:300k is still high income. You don't have to be a 1 percenter to be high income.

But why get angry at dual income couples making 300k who are struggling to buy a house in a nice school district and stupid enough to post on here asking for advice (and instead get told to sit down and STFU because you're RICH) when you could get mad at all the lobbyists and political consultants and contractors making 900k plus?

That's exactly correct. I don't care who's saying it, we make 200k a year and we're rich.

Eh, no, you're not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you distorting the facts OP?

Entry level for the top 1% in MD is $421,188/year. In VA it's $406,412/year. In DC it's $554,719/year.

I'd say if you're ANYWHERE in the top 1% you're rich.

If you're not rich when you make more than 99% of your fellow citizens I don't what planet you live on. You don't have to be in the top .01% to be "rich".

Wow, where did you get such specific numbers? Genuinely curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know 'couples' making $150K together living in group homes because COL plus student loans plus commute = insane expenses. What's rich in one part of this country is only surviving in D.C. A couple making 300K and a mortgage on a house with constant repairs is just middle class to me. Add kids and once more you're back to square one of surviving.

Agree, PP. We're DINK not for the financial aspect, but because we don't want kids. But if we wanted them, we would move somewhere other than DC or DMV for sure.