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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this what you are saying?

Below $50k= Poor

Between $50 and $100k = Middle class

Above $100k = rich

Middle class is roughly the 25th to 75th percentile. You know, the middle 50% of the earning curve. Nationwide the average HHI is around $60K, but in the DC metro region, it is closer to $90K. The 25th to 75th percentiles for this area are around $60-150K so that is essentially middle class. Over $150K you pass out of middle class and are affluent/upper class, but not rich/whatever you want to call it.

So over $150k is rich? Wow, I wish I could feel this way too. Unfortunately I've had glimpses behind the curtain and have seen of real wealth. It ruins you once you see it. Hedge fund wealth, executive wealth, small business owner wealth, etc. But keep telling yourself that $300k a year is rich. It makes getting through the day a lot easier not knowing the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this what you are saying?

Below $50k= Poor

Between $50 and $100k = Middle class

Above $100k = rich

Middle class is roughly the 25th to 75th percentile. You know, the middle 50% of the earning curve. Nationwide the average HHI is around $60K, but in the DC metro region, it is closer to $90K. The 25th to 75th percentiles for this area are around $60-150K so that is essentially middle class. Over $150K you pass out of middle class and are affluent/upper class, but not rich/whatever you want to call it.

So over $150k is rich? Wow, I wish I could feel this way too. Unfortunately I've had glimpses behind the curtain and have seen of real wealth. It ruins you once you see it. Hedge fund wealth, executive wealth, small business owner wealth, etc. But keep telling yourself that $300k a year is rich. It makes getting through the day a lot easier not knowing the truth.

The truth is that you are in the upper 2%. Amazing that the DCUM elitists make more money than 98% of families! and yet "look behind the curtain" at the people in the 0.1%, and tell themselves they aren't rich.

[Anonymous]

Rich is having enough food to eat, clothes to wear, a safe place to sleep , decent medical care, being able send your children (especially female children) to school AND having enough leftover to save for tomorrow, go on an occasional vacation to visit family, eat at a restaurant once in a while or buying anything on a whim.

[Anonymous]

I suggest we call you Uber rich, not uber rich, but still rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rich is having enough food to eat, clothes to wear, a safe place to sleep , decent medical care, being able send your children (especially female children) to school AND having enough leftover to save for tomorrow, go on an occasional vacation to visit family, eat at a restaurant once in a while or buying anything on a whim.

That's not rich. That's called doing okay or getting by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rich is having enough food to eat, clothes to wear, a safe place to sleep , decent medical care, being able send your children (especially female children) to school AND having enough leftover to save for tomorrow, go on an occasional vacation to visit family, eat at a restaurant once in a while or buying anything on a whim.

That's not rich. That's called doing okay or getting by.

Yes it is

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rich is having enough food to eat, clothes to wear, a safe place to sleep , decent medical care, being able send your children (especially female children) to school AND having enough leftover to save for tomorrow, go on an occasional vacation to visit family, eat at a restaurant once in a while or buying anything on a whim.

Especially "female children?" What are you blabbering about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Id be interested to know what job that requires a college education pays less than $100k.

Literally most of them. Let me guess, you're a lawyer.

Browse a very long list of professions here: http://www1.salary.com Note that $80k and up are considered "high income" on Salary.com

These are not averages in DC. Legal secretaries with not even high school educations earn $80k plus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Id be interested to know what job that requires a college education pays less than $100k.

Literally most of them. Let me guess, you're a lawyer.

Browse a very long list of professions here: http://www1.salary.com Note that $80k and up are considered "high income" on Salary.com

These are not averages in DC. Legal secretaries with not even high school educations earn $80k plus.

Legal secretaries who have spent 20 years being desk monkeys earn 80k+. There's something to be said for gaining experience, but I couldn't be a legal secretary/paralegal in my 40s. I refuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Id be interested to know what job that requires a college education pays less than $100k.

Literally most of them. Let me guess, you're a lawyer.

Browse a very long list of professions here: http://www1.salary.com Note that $80k and up are considered "high income" on Salary.com

These are not averages in DC. Legal secretaries with not even high school educations earn $80k plus.

I know someone who is a legal secretary and earns $60k, with a high school degree. And I seriously doubt that lawyers are hiring high-school dropouts very often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Id be interested to know what job that requires a college education pays less than $100k.

Literally most of them. Let me guess, you're a lawyer.

Browse a very long list of professions here: http://www1.salary.com Note that $80k and up are considered "high income" on Salary.com

These are not averages in DC. Legal secretaries with not even high school educations earn $80k plus.

I know someone who is a legal secretary and earns $60k, with a high school degree. And I seriously doubt that lawyers are hiring high-school dropouts very often.

I know dental assistants in DC with no degree that earn $85k. When i hear these so-called professionals say they top out in their career at 80k, me thinks it more to do with them than the career path. A modest DC gov job doing nothing will pay $75k easily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Id be interested to know what job that requires a college education pays less than $100k.

Literally most of them. Let me guess, you're a lawyer.

Browse a very long list of professions here: http://www1.salary.com Note that $80k and up are considered "high income" on Salary.com

These are not averages in DC. Legal secretaries with not even high school educations earn $80k plus.

I know someone who is a legal secretary and earns $60k, with a high school degree. And I seriously doubt that lawyers are hiring high-school dropouts very often.

I know dental assistants in DC with no degree that earn $85k. When i hear these so-called professionals say they top out in their career at 80k, me thinks it more to do with them than the career path. A modest DC gov job doing nothing will pay $75k easily.

Professors, teachers, nurses, social workers...I wouldn't say they all max out at 85k, but many earn at/below this number. Many professionals do not earn enough to keep up with COL. Nurses in the D.C. Metro area are paid crap compared to other high COL areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rich is having enough food to eat, clothes to wear, a safe place to sleep , decent medical care, being able send your children (especially female children) to school AND having enough leftover to save for tomorrow, go on an occasional vacation to visit family, eat at a restaurant once in a while or buying anything on a whim.

That's not rich. That's called doing okay or getting by.

Yes it is

I agree. Also, I'd add it's not having to worry at all at a significant unexpected expense. My car got broken into last week and the repair (my deductible) was $500 plus I had to pay for a rental car for a week. It was a hassle but in no way a worry from a $$ perspective. If an appliance dies we can buy a new one for cash and get the model we want. I give no thought to the cost of a field trip or replacing kids clothes because even though we put a lot of money in savings each month these expenses are also easily met.

HHI is $265K, which goes farther than most because we have a pre-boom house in a nice part of Arlington with a mortgage of $2K. I know we aren't 'rich' like a 2-lawyer-partner family or hedge fund people but I can also see that we are in relation to my working class relatives. BIL has worked as a mechanic for 30 years and still makes only $45K. Those who feel they are just middle class at $300K might look down the income ladder for their reference point once in a while instead of just looking up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rich is having enough food to eat, clothes to wear, a safe place to sleep , decent medical care, being able send your children (especially female children) to school AND having enough leftover to save for tomorrow, go on an occasional vacation to visit family, eat at a restaurant once in a while or buying anything on a whim.

That's the minimum standard for lower middle class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Id be interested to know what job that requires a college education pays less than $100k.

Literally most of them. Let me guess, you're a lawyer.

Browse a very long list of professions here: http://www1.salary.com Note that $80k and up are considered "high income" on Salary.com

These are not averages in DC. Legal secretaries with not even high school educations earn $80k plus.

I know someone who is a legal secretary and earns $60k, with a high school degree. And I seriously doubt that lawyers are hiring high-school dropouts very often.

I know dental assistants in DC with no degree that earn $85k. When i hear these so-called professionals say they top out in their career at 80k, me thinks it more to do with them than the career path. A modest DC gov job doing nothing will pay $75k easily.

The modest government jobs are overpaid.

And the fact that you keep coming up with exceptions - the high-school droput earning $80k - tells me you are one of the out-of-touch liberal elitists that the working class rebelled against. The average salary for a college graduate in the DC area is less than $100,000.