The middle class got richer but feels poorer
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Anonymous
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Article in Fortune:
https://fortune.com/2026/04/12/did-middle-class-shrink-or-get-richer-feel-poorer/
Article also mentions the social media affect and that people no longer are just keeping up with their neighbors. But the reason people feel poorer is competition.
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Anonymous
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Yes, we are on the bottom end of that range (around 155k HHI, both work, neither of us is from any kind of money, one kid) and I don't feel UMC. I don't feel poor, that's ridiculous, but our economic position feels tenuous. I feel like we need another 100k in income, at least, to buy a house in this area (we own a condo).
We are considering moving to a much lower COL area to see if we could just get a little breathing room. It's tricky because our incomes might go down somewhat. But I also think living in a less affluent area could make it especially easier to raise a kid. I think it's hard to be the poorest kid in an UMC school. |
Anonymous
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We are also on the bottom end of that range (for 4 people), but since we've always lived a frugal lifestyle, we don't complain.
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Anonymous
| This is a high cost of lining region. |
Anonymous
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They’re being tricky with the data. Most of the people in that “upper middle class” cohort are closer to $133,000 than $400,000.
It’s easy to manipulate data for clickbait. |
Anonymous
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We do okay but I just can’t justify random discretionary spending - Starbucks every day, restaurants frequently, multiple vacations per year. I am still baffled by the people we see online who seem to have an unlimited budget for this kind of random spending.
The lady who brags about how much her ten year old loves Starbucks. The other day I was doing the math - twice a week is fifteen bucks, 60 per month, 720 a year. By the time the kid goes to college you will have spent 7000 dollars in Starbucks. People with teenagers where the 3 teens seem to spent 100 a month on random stuff or 1200 a month, 14,000 a year in “nothing in particular “. That’s what I can’t figure out how people are affording things. People whose kids are spending the equivalent of a mortgage payment monthly on nails, highlights, coffee, makeup. Yeah it makes you feel poor. |
Anonymous
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There is no reason to compare yourself to others. I compare myself to my younger self.
I also compare 19-year old to DS me at 19. There is no comparison. DS is years ahead of me with college paid, car paid, being able to work, low rent, investment account, Roth IRA. He will be ready to ready to buy a house at 30 if he wants to. Seems like an earliest time as people live longer now. |
Anonymous
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We are at the mid upper of that range dual income and I know we are way better off then most. But I do see that my parents made much less then us but were able to do so much more. Every home they were able to purchase was new, they added a pool, a screened porch, and took a family of four skiing once a year and one time a trip to Disney.
We paid off our school loans first. Then thankfully were able to buy a home, but it’s a fixer upper from 80s. No way can we swing any big add ons like a pool or deck. We can’t even afford new floors or needed updating. Our vacations are in-state attractions we can drive to. Disney will never happen for our kids. We are doing okay but with the income number I see on the paper it’s remarkable that our “lifestyle” is “less” comfortable then how I grew up in the 80s with my parents much lower income level. |
Anonymous
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This is why the thread on generational wealth draws interest. While the numbers in the report may be factually accurate many will be at the lower end and just hanging on. One unplanned expense or job loss/drop in earnings or unplanned expense and the drop out never to return.
At this point we are headed to a have or have not society where those in the UMC continue the upward trend and become part of the haves or fall into the have nots. |
Anonymous
Yep. I thought the same thing. And a lifestyle off $133k is markedly different than a lifestyle with $400k. #Kids involved to boot. |
Anonymous
How did he attain low rent? |
Anonymous
And who, and how, are they big life-expenses already paid for at age 19? |
Anonymous
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These income comparisons always fail to account for the radical rise in costs for housing, education, and health care. Inflation is calculated as a basket of goods, and things like clothing and electronics are much cheaper in real terms than they used to be. So it under reports.
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Anonymous
| The range makes no sense. $133k is barely middle class for a family of 3 unless you’re living in bumblef*ck. It should start at $250K. |
Anonymous
No but everyone unmarried under 30 has always had roommates it’s a little ridiculous that young adults don’t expect that. Obviously rents have still gone up but the young adults that complain today seem to think they are entitled to their own apartment at 25 are ridiculous and entitled that’s never been the case for most people. |