At what HHI did you stop feeling middle class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I put my bills on autopay and didn’t have to check my balance when they were due.

That is my definition of rich

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you say “middle class” do you mean old days middle class, or nowadays middle class? There’s a difference. Nowadays middle class are actually pretty poor…struggling to pay bills and clipping coupons and forgoing college and health care because both are astronomical. In the old days middle class had the Subaru and took a summer vacation and so forth. Anyway, I agree with around $400k.

If the are poor, they are not middle class. Middle class is not the middle of the income spectrum. It is the middle of the lifestyle spectrum and that varies a lot by location. In fact, some people get stuck in a location because they can't afford to live as great a life style elsewhere; whereas, people who work in high COL areas, live a middle class style because of it, but manage to save a lot, can move almost anywhere and be instantly top of the lifestyle ladder and change social class by moving.

Cool, you're inventing your own definition. That's not house this works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The answer is "X + 100k", with X being whatever your HHI is now.

I had to make sure this wasn’t an earlier post that I posted. This is so true!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make a combined 300k and feel middle class, but know we are definitely upper middle class. We have two kids in private school and are paying full tuition, own our house, just bought a new car and don’t really have a grocery budget (buy whatever we want). No way a middle class person could do that comfortably.

This is us, too, except at $260k and only one kid in private.

[Anonymous]

HHI is $230 which I know is peanuts to DCUM but it very much feels UMC to me and DH because we grew up LMC. Pre-pandemic we were frugal and had a middle class lifestyle aside from lengthy, frequent international vacations. Now we have a baby, a big house, a new $40k car, and a nanny. We are no longer maxing out both retirement plans, but I think saving $35k/yr is good since we already have a nice nest egg. Our CFP says we can retire in our mid 50s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I put my bills on autopay and didn’t have to check my balance when they were due.

That is my definition of rich

I was doing this when my wife and I were entry level workers at nonprofits making $30K apiece. This doesn't make you rich, just responsible.

We had (and still do) have a bank account just for bills. We added up all our monthly expenses and set up a direct deposit for that amount plus a small buffer, then set up auto billpay on all our monthly expenses. Set it and forget it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HHI is $230 which I know is peanuts to DCUM but it very much feels UMC to me and DH because we grew up LMC. Pre-pandemic we were frugal and had a middle class lifestyle aside from lengthy, frequent international vacations. Now we have a baby, a big house, a new $40k car, and a nanny. We are no longer maxing out both retirement plans, but I think saving $35k/yr is good since we already have a nice nest egg. Our CFP says we can retire in our mid 50s.

These bolder statements definitely put you in UMC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HHI is $230 which I know is peanuts to DCUM but it very much feels UMC to me and DH because we grew up LMC. Pre-pandemic we were frugal and had a middle class lifestyle aside from lengthy, frequent international vacations. Now we have a baby, a big house, a new $40k car, and a nanny. We are no longer maxing out both retirement plans, but I think saving $35k/yr is good since we already have a nice nest egg. Our CFP says we can retire in our mid 50s.

Wow, you have a spending issue if you feel middle class given your lifestyle. You have a spending issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI is $230 which I know is peanuts to DCUM but it very much feels UMC to me and DH because we grew up LMC. Pre-pandemic we were frugal and had a middle class lifestyle aside from lengthy, frequent international vacations. Now we have a baby, a big house, a new $40k car, and a nanny. We are no longer maxing out both retirement plans, but I think saving $35k/yr is good since we already have a nice nest egg. Our CFP says we can retire in our mid 50s.

These bolder statements definitely put you in UMC.

UMC don't have a nanny, big house, new $40K car and lengthy frequent international vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So for us, it was less about an actual dollar amount and more about not worrying about money.

If my kids need something for school or sports, I'll pay to have it overnighted. However, I won't spend more than $50 on sunglasses because I break or lose them.

I spend money on what I value and save on what I don't value.

My husband makes about $375,000 - $425,000 and I make $30,000-$2000,000 depending on how my investments do that year. All of my money goes into retirement and college savings so I never really feel like I'm earning anything. I never see it. I don't even have an ATM card or checkbook for my accounts because we don't touch them. I have family money that I haven't touched except for a down payment on our house but it's there as a cushion and helped us relax in lean years. My husband didn't come from money but has about $8million in a bank account from selling a company he owned.

I have a healthy bank account but I don't feel rich. I feel like there are always people around here with much, much more.

Family money
Investments
8m from sale of company
HHI of 400-600k

You don’t have “lean” years. You are rich. Good lord, y’all are the dumbest people I’ve ever encountered.

Seriously, won't spend more than $50 on sunglasses? THAT means you are frugal? LOL

[Anonymous]

In my family, the two generations before mine were solidly middle class. Expenses they didn’t have:

5+years of daycare
Student loan payments
Second car payments
Self funded retirement savings
Child enrichment spending
Child college savings
Unplanned shopping excursions
Interesting, varied diet

Nothing on that list, when added onto a modern dual income household budget, is going to make you feel Upper Class, but it’s bloody expensive all the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI is $230 which I know is peanuts to DCUM but it very much feels UMC to me and DH because we grew up LMC. Pre-pandemic we were frugal and had a middle class lifestyle aside from lengthy, frequent international vacations. Now we have a baby, a big house, a new $40k car, and a nanny. We are no longer maxing out both retirement plans, but I think saving $35k/yr is good since we already have a nice nest egg. Our CFP says we can retire in our mid 50s.

These bolder statements definitely put you in UMC.

UMC don't have a nanny, big house, new $40K car and lengthy frequent international vacations.

Sure they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI is $230 which I know is peanuts to DCUM but it very much feels UMC to me and DH because we grew up LMC. Pre-pandemic we were frugal and had a middle class lifestyle aside from lengthy, frequent international vacations. Now we have a baby, a big house, a new $40k car, and a nanny. We are no longer maxing out both retirement plans, but I think saving $35k/yr is good since we already have a nice nest egg. Our CFP says we can retire in our mid 50s.

These bolder statements definitely put you in UMC.

UMC don't have a nanny, big house, new $40K car and lengthy frequent international vacations.

Sure they do.

No, wealthy people do.

[Anonymous]

When I got engaged to my husband and merged finances. We were each making $75k. All of a sudden, we had a HHI of $150k and our living expenses went down. All of a sudden, we were able to easily save $1500 a month towards a house! Certainly by $200k we were well off.

You people saying $400-$600k live in a freaking fantasy land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought if my couch touches a wall I am middle class. I moved my couch off the wall and now i'm UMC

We make 700k but still feel broke. Leases on Range Rovers are so much more expensive than they used to be! And since when did St Albans start charging $50k a year. UGH! We had to stop 401k contributions..oh well

Honestly what are your ages and networth.