Study shows that 350k/year is barely scrapping by as middle class

[Anonymous]

You only have to look as far as the methodology this article uses to justify its premise: "He said that the numbers have been vetted by thousands of Financial Samurai readers who face raising their families in expensive cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Washington, D.C"

Oh, pleaaaaase. This is hardly a disciplined economic analysis by a respected research firm. The article is using a readership base from the very cities whose "middle class" is overspending at every turn (save for childcare, perhaps) to justify the "woe is my middle class budget and lifestyle" attidude.

If this is your budget in your late 30s/early 40s with two young children, you need to get your priorities in check, stat. If the goal is really to retire before 60, you CANNOT be spending $5,890 a month in PITI, $300 a month on charitiies (though the intent is noble), and $350 a month on baby toys (I mean really, just spare me), and so on.

Sometimes I think the late Gen X'ers (I'm one of them) are even worse than millenials in this regard. At least millenials have gotten thrifty and creative.

If you want a research-based tool for understanding where your family falls on the class hierarch, use the below link instead of some silly article that polled Financial Samurai readers. This article would probably consider me lower class; Pew Research says my family and I are upper class.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/are-you-in-the-american-middle-class/.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a real example of how 350K can be Middle Class.

I was living in a paid off house with a stay at home wife and no kids in college making that much money. I would got to Turks and Caicos on vacation, buy wife a new car, had a BMW.

Well job ended, had to get new one. Same salary, much more expensive location and had to move. Now I have mortgage and my house costs me $3,700 a year. My kid started college and I have a second one starting in Fall. My college I am doing out of non-college savings as I only have enough for youngest and may be forced in early retirement. I will pay in Fall $8,000 a month for college on ten payment plan. Now I do $2,000 a month in 401k,

So I am up to $13,700 a month. Rest of bills car insurance, kids, food, you name it around $4,000 a month. So I am at $17,7000 month budget.

I cant afford nothing, have not been on a real vacation in three years. My car is a nine year old american car overdue for an oil change. My wife a 8 year old american car.

I can afford nothing.... but 8K per month for college... Sure, dude, you are so stricken, it is insane! Ever heard of in state college? If you didn't have that stupid BMW maybe you would have had more money today? Being poor with that much money is being stupid.

Agreed. Your kids need to take out student loans. My parents didn't pay a dime for my undergrad or masters degree. I paid off nearly $150k in student loan debt in six years by good old hard work, avoiding the non-profit sector, and refusing to settle for less than I'm worth in the market. Your kids can do the same.

Your kids can finance an education; you cannot finance retirement.

[Anonymous]

This is article is so out of line it's criminal. It's like saying, "My wife and I make a combined $1.4 million a year, but we are middle class in Denver. You see, each year, we spend $1.3 million on chocolate covered bon bons, and the rest goes to things like childcare, mortgage, food, and retirement. Our budget puts us solidly in the middle class."

Budgets matter, people. You don't get to spend all that money on baby toys, McMansions, and exotic vacations and then wonder why there isn't much left over to pay for actual NEEDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crazy but true.

The mortgage isn't even that high.

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/FE54F728-D4B3-11E9-B531-3D4FB315D4ED

The PITI is $5890. He broke out principal and interest separately to snow the easily-bamboozled.

Agreed. This was very sneaky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is article is so out of line it's criminal. It's like saying, "My wife and I make a combined $1.4 million a year, but we are middle class in Denver. You see, each year, we spend $1.3 million on chocolate covered bon bons, and the rest goes to things like childcare, mortgage, food, and retirement. Our budget puts us solidly in the middle class."

Budgets matter, people. You don't get to spend all that money on baby toys, McMansions, and exotic vacations and then wonder why there isn't much left over to pay for actual NEEDS.

Except most of their expenses are not that out of line, the problem is they chose to have too many of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crazy but true.

The mortgage isn't even that high.

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/FE54F728-D4B3-11E9-B531-3D4FB315D4ED

The PITI is $5890. He broke out principal and interest separately to snow the easily-bamboozled.

Agreed. This was very sneaky.

It was sneaky and that PITI number is higher than I would be comfortable with. Though it is 20% of income which is within guidelines but 31.5% of take home pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it's so hard to make $350k and feel forced to buy close in and hire out everything because they have to work long hours...then don't.

Go get a job managing retail or teaching or driving for UPS. You can live close to work, make 1/4 of what you make now, but you won't "have" to purchase all those luxuries. Don't worry, childcare is cheaper out here in the burbs too.

But seriously. Our household income is half what's in the budget, and we feel like we have plenty of extra money each month. We are early 30s, young kids, so no excuse of "you bought years ago". We didn't.

Yes, this. So much. SO much of it has to do with perception. I grew up working in my family business after school, during holidays and summers from college, and after I graduated. Many years were very hard for our retail business. I remember making a sale once, right before closing for the evening, for $38 and thinking, We can go grab what we need at the grocery store with this!

I now live in the DMV area and make six figures. We certainly don't make enough to afford the $1.8m home, but we have absolutely everything we need. Every time I get a promotion, I thank my lucky stars that life gets a little more comfortable for me and my family. There will always be tradeoffs. But compared to what most people in this country and in this world have, I have few complaints.

[Anonymous]

A lot of people that cry poor with these high incomes have the wrong mindset. I honestly see how they think they are middle class and that's mainly because they are spending ALL of their money. Many people today could choose to live a nice life in an average neighborhood with average schools, but they would rather live in 1 million dollar homes with schools that are a 10. Nothing wrong with that at all. It's all about choices. So, many of the people on these salaries today have upgraded their lives in ways that are so ridiculous. I don't feel bad at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crazy but true.

The mortgage isn't even that high.

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/FE54F728-D4B3-11E9-B531-3D4FB315D4ED

The PITI is $5890. He broke out principal and interest separately to snow the easily-bamboozled.

Agreed. This was very sneaky.

It was sneaky and that PITI number is higher than I would be comfortable with. Though it is 20% of income which is within guidelines but 31.5% of take home pay.

PP here. I agree with you and this is true, but with over $4k a month in childcare and the other unnecessary monthly expenses, something has to give.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is article is so out of line it's criminal. It's like saying, "My wife and I make a combined $1.4 million a year, but we are middle class in Denver. You see, each year, we spend $1.3 million on chocolate covered bon bons, and the rest goes to things like childcare, mortgage, food, and retirement. Our budget puts us solidly in the middle class."

Budgets matter, people. You don't get to spend all that money on baby toys, McMansions, and exotic vacations and then wonder why there isn't much left over to pay for actual NEEDS.

Except most of their expenses are not that out of line, the problem is they chose to have too many of them.

Um, choosing to have too many expenses is the same thing as having expenses be out of line, right?

[Anonymous]

If you spend all the money, there won't be any left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You only have to look as far as the methodology this article uses to justify its premise: "He said that the numbers have been vetted by thousands of Financial Samurai readers who face raising their families in expensive cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Washington, D.C"

Oh, pleaaaaase. This is hardly a disciplined economic analysis by a respected research firm. The article is using a readership base from the very cities whose "middle class" is overspending at every turn (save for childcare, perhaps) to justify the "woe is my middle class budget and lifestyle" attidude.

If this is your budget in your late 30s/early 40s with two young children, you need to get your priorities in check, stat. If the goal is really to retire before 60, you CANNOT be spending $5,890 a month in PITI, $300 a month on charitiies (though the intent is noble), and $350 a month on baby toys (I mean really, just spare me), and so on.

Sometimes I think the late Gen X'ers (I'm one of them) are even worse than millenials in this regard. At least millenials have gotten thrifty and creative.

If you want a research-based tool for understanding where your family falls on the class hierarch, use the below link instead of some silly article that polled Financial Samurai readers. This article would probably consider me lower class; Pew Research says my family and I are upper class.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/are-you-in-the-american-middle-class/.

Yes. Every single word in this.

[Anonymous]

If you ask foreigners what is middle class it's McMansion 1.5m in a good public school. Rich is private school with home that is 3m.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you ask foreigners what is middle class it's McMansion 1.5m in a good public school. Rich is private school with home that is 3m.

I’m foreign and that’s BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is article is so out of line it's criminal. It's like saying, "My wife and I make a combined $1.4 million a year, but we are middle class in Denver. You see, each year, we spend $1.3 million on chocolate covered bon bons, and the rest goes to things like childcare, mortgage, food, and retirement. Our budget puts us solidly in the middle class."

Budgets matter, people. You don't get to spend all that money on baby toys, McMansions, and exotic vacations and then wonder why there isn't much left over to pay for actual NEEDS.

This. And it’s wildly insulting to actual middle class and lower class Americans. Does he just assume that they are all starving and homeless?? I can’t believe it was published. It really does make the media seem like elitist blind idiots as the fringe conspiracists claim.