Can we stop referring to households making $200 or 300K a year as "middle class"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my HHI is about $500K. I consider myself on the upper end of middle class, but certainly nowhere close to upper class. I drive 10+ year old cars, agonize over repair bills, give my wife a hard time for ordering a $6.00 home video rental tonight, etc.

You will actually be wealthy someday.

PP w the $500k salary,
What is your net worth?

HH net worth? Prob $350K in home equity, $250K in other real estate equity, approx $450-$500K in retirement accounts and approx $120K in accessible savings. Not sure what my property is worth (jewelry, cars, etc, but not a ton, nothing fancy). I've got little saved for my kids college. So, I don't think I am comfortable enough to blow money on cars or anything else.

[Anonymous]

Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

[Anonymous]

Or at least the home you think you "deserve."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Or at least the home you think you "deserve."

I think this is it. There are SFH in Wheaton Md available for $350. They may not be renovated or have granite counters but they probably have real hardwoods. They are zoned for Northwood. They are small--2 or 3 bed with 1 or 1.5 bath. It's affordable but most people on DCUM don't think it's acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

X1000 there s your biggest financial mistake. You need to reassess your wants vs needs lists. Or you will never get rid of that debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

That's want vs need. You don't NEED an office. You want walk ability. You pay for those luxuries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or at least the home you think you "deserve."

I think this is it. There are SFH in Wheaton Md available for $350. They may not be renovated or have granite counters but they probably have real hardwoods. They are zoned for Northwood. They are small--2 or 3 bed with 1 or 1.5 bath. It's affordable but most people on DCUM don't think it's acceptable.

The problem is, we don't have car and have no desire to live in the burbs. Also, we have no aspirations to buy a home at all time highs in an over saturated/priced market. If anything, we will get out of the DC area if we really had a desire to own a place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

The following things are luxuries:

1) A room just for the baby (middle class babies often share with their parents)

2) A home office (many middle class people have an office set up in the corner of their bedroom, or in the living room)

3) Being in NW (middle class people are more likely to live in Rockville, or Takoma Park, or Hyattsville)

Now, you can choose those things, of course, not saying you can't, but you have to recognize that if your budget is tight because you chose substantial luxuries that are usually reserved for wealthy people, that's not the same thing as having a budget that's tight because you can't afford the basics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

That's want vs need. You don't NEED an office. You want walk ability. You pay for those luxuries.

An office is needed as one of us works from home everyday. Pay for walk ability or pay for a car...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

You are living outside your means if you have any desire to get rid of your debt and eventually retire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

That's want vs need. You don't NEED an office. You want walk ability. You pay for those luxuries.

An office is needed as one of us works from home everyday. Pay for walk ability or pay for a car...

"Office" becomes a desk in a corner of a bedroom, the living room, or the dining room. You can buy an inexpensive used car for $8-10k. Move to a less desirable area and you'll save that in a year. The has now paid for itself and the following year it's all savings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

That's want vs need. You don't NEED an office. You want walk ability. You pay for those luxuries.

An office is needed as one of us works from home everyday. Pay for walk ability or pay for a car...

Or live on a metro line.

DW works from home. She goes into the kids room where her desk is while kids are up and about. She moves to the kitchen table at nap time. You can buy a cheap car for $10k and use it for commuting for years. You will never get the extra$1k you ay every month for rent.

It can be done. You are choosing not to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently you lose common sense for every 50k increase. 200k is not middle class in any US neighborhood.

We make 290 k in Silver Spring. In some ways we feel rich, especially bc we see so many people who have so much less. But we still can't afford fancy cars or vacations. We also don't think we can afford a fancier neighborhood. We think we are upper middle class.

We're in SS too and have a similar income - median household income in our area is a little over $100K. We had enough money to send our children to LACs without financial aids or student loans, and have taken wonderful trips. We live within our means, paid off our mortgage years ago and have no debt. However this is a wealthy area and this skews your perspective. We probably could have afforded to have moved into Bethesda, Chevy Chase or Potomac at some point, but we were happy where we are and we didn't want our children to grow up in a snobby area and to live in an area with a more diverse mix of people. We consider ourselves very fortunate.

Yes, fortunate. But are you wealthy or upper middle class?