Does DCUM skew super wealthy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading this board, I feel way "behind" and it actually stresses me out to the point I brought it up to my therapist, who told me that people often lie on such boards (no shock but still). Seems like everyone here rakes in 500k and calls it middle-class. Is this the new normal? Is this board comprised of like a dozen big law people? What the heck?

Yes. But when you say a dozen biglaw people you really mean a couple of thousand partners in the DC area. Add to that lobbying, consulting, and accountants and you are like 7500 plus people. And that is not counting the execs at area companies. This is a wealthy area.

Np. Agreed. Im not jealous of these uber wealthy posters because I would hate to do those jobs. Boring! Small business owners sound interesting/aspirational to me. Im a nonprofit drone myself, but like that my work is easy and does good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take it with a spoon of salt.

A liter of salt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Skews wealthy. That brought me here. I was on forums like babycenter where people were in a very different income bracket than we. HHI of $1M and I post here a lot. I like this board because there are some others like me and can be an interesting discussion about things that matter to me. Still get some snark here but enough of my peer group that I enjoy and get value. I don’t talk about money and my income IRL and I live in a small town not near DC. I don’t think I know anyone my age at my income. Could be wrong but here is where I come to commiserate. Not to brag. It’s an anonymous board that’s silly.

I don’t think there are many people with seven figure incomes here at all. Probably a lot of double incomes that add up to a very good household income. I just find it hard to believe men especially who are making CEO money are reading this forum.

I have plenty of time because I’m a stay at home mother. I don’t know, I would think the people with salaries of $1 million plus are discussing their issues with each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take it with a spoon of salt.

The saying is: Take it with a grain of salt.

Not if you are lying big.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I make up stuff to mess with certain people's minds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been here for more than 10 years. I’m don’t think many people lie, but:

1. DCUM skews wealthy.

2. There is a community of prolific posters here, as well as occasional posters. If the prolific ones post on many different financial threads, you have the impression they’re different people.

3. Posters tend to post if they can be the outlier, usually in a good way, or sometimes in a bad day, to counter the narrative of a post. So you have examples of very wealthy posters and low-income ones. The majority of whatever the topic is usually isn’t well-represented because once a few post, the rest don’t bother, since that’s not the most interesting position. So you may have a third of posters disclosing great wealth, a third relatively modest means, and a third middle class incomes/assets. Whereas the total DCUM population is maybe 75% middle class!

I hope this makes sense.

How do you know many people don’t lie? I’ve lied and pretended to be different posters several times, and I know I’m not the only troll.

PP you replied to. You are in a very small minority. Most people don't.

Agreed. Most people are mature adults with lives. That means they aren’t trolling a parenting site. I’ll never understand it. It seems so sad that this is something that brings joy to a person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading this board, I feel way "behind" and it actually stresses me out to the point I brought it up to my therapist, who told me that people often lie on such boards (no shock but still). Seems like everyone here rakes in 500k and calls it middle-class. Is this the new normal? Is this board comprised of like a dozen big law people? What the heck?

As has been mentioned countless times on this board, a lot of it is dual income. Take two capped out GS-15s and you have a HHI of $350k with great benefits and two pensions.

In our family, my DW is a capped 15 and I am a senior exec in financial services, making $500k-ish. We both went to top 10 schools, and whenever I meet new neighbors in McLean, they inevitably went to Dartmouth, Columbia, U of Chicago, etc.

Amongst our local friend group, we’re solidly middle-of-the-pack. There are some CEOs, some pharma folks, lawyers (of course), lobbyists, other corporate and government people like us, and some consulting partners.

The big thing is almost everyone is dual income, which creates high HHIs. However, the flip side is that many of us are time poor and stressed out. I don’t hate my job (I like lots about it), but I work long hours, am constantly put into stressful situations, and have to constantly play the professional game of thrones to keep from being laid off.

Take all that, add in 3 kids, a nanny, college savings, braces, multiple travel soccer teams, aging parents who live thousands of miles away, and the money goes quickly. That’s not because we’re pissing it away on Porsches, Gucci bags and Prada clothes, but because much of our life is spent paying others to do things many families do themselves (watch our kids, cook our meals, clean our house, maintain our yard), because one / both of us is working outside of core hours / traveling internationally for work.

Golden handcuffs and all that jazz.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been here for more than 10 years. I’m don’t think many people lie, but:

1. DCUM skews wealthy.

2. There is a community of prolific posters here, as well as occasional posters. If the prolific ones post on many different financial threads, you have the impression they’re different people.

3. Posters tend to post if they can be the outlier, usually in a good way, or sometimes in a bad day, to counter the narrative of a post. So you have examples of very wealthy posters and low-income ones. The majority of whatever the topic is usually isn’t well-represented because once a few post, the rest don’t bother, since that’s not the most interesting position. So you may have a third of posters disclosing great wealth, a third relatively modest means, and a third middle class incomes/assets. Whereas the total DCUM population is maybe 75% middle class!

I hope this makes sense.

How do you know many people don’t lie? I’ve lied and pretended to be different posters several times, and I know I’m not the only troll.

PP you replied to. You are in a very small minority. Most people don't.

And you know this how?

I don't know how often people lie on DCUM, but I do believe it skews wealthy, just by the lack of questions like "How do I make it to my next paycheck?" and "My car is being repossessed - what can I do?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As has been mentioned countless times on this board, a lot of it is dual income. Take two capped out GS-15s and you have a HHI of $350k with great benefits and two pensions.

Duel + HIGH income. A GS-15 step 1 salary ($155,000) is high income anywhere in the US where the median salary is $55,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everything I write is a lie

I don’t post too frequently, but conversely, this is the only place I’m truthful about money and wealth. I don’t talk about this stuff in real life ever and no one close to me knows my family’s situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been here for more than 10 years. I’m don’t think many people lie, but:

1. DCUM skews wealthy.

2. There is a community of prolific posters here, as well as occasional posters. If the prolific ones post on many different financial threads, you have the impression they’re different people.

3. Posters tend to post if they can be the outlier, usually in a good way, or sometimes in a bad day, to counter the narrative of a post. So you have examples of very wealthy posters and low-income ones. The majority of whatever the topic is usually isn’t well-represented because once a few post, the rest don’t bother, since that’s not the most interesting position. So you may have a third of posters disclosing great wealth, a third relatively modest means, and a third middle class incomes/assets. Whereas the total DCUM population is maybe 75% middle class!

I hope this makes sense.

How do you know many people don’t lie? I’ve lied and pretended to be different posters several times, and I know I’m not the only troll.

PP you replied to. You are in a very small minority. Most people don't.

And you know this how?

I don't know how often people lie on DCUM, but I do believe it skews wealthy, just by the lack of questions like "How do I make it to my next paycheck?" and "My car is being repossessed - what can I do?"

Also the extreme judgment whenever anyone admits a mistake. "Why is your car being repossessed? Why didn't you have an emergency fund? Why are you living paycheck to paycheck? Why don't you just get a higher paying job?"

[Anonymous]

I think this board skews wealthier than average but I also think a lot of people lie. There is so much bad, and honestly dumb, advice dolled out of this board and I refuse to believe so many people with mid-high 6 figure incomes are that stupid about money.

FWIW, I think there is also some great advice handed out. But it’s still unbelievable that someone making mid 6 figures is as dumb as sometimes presented here (especially when they actually disclose their HHI as part of their advice).

[Anonymous]

Most people I know in DC earn at least $300K+ HHI, many $500K+, and lots with some or a lot of family help. The area is just too expensive for families who don't earn a lot.

[Anonymous]

I don't lie about HHI if responding, which I hope is in a helpful way, but I mix up identifiers. I might mention my 3 children, 2, 1, or none. Maybe one is in an OOS flagship, 2 are in private and 1 in MS, we might live in Potomac or Fairfax. You get the gist

And, current income is about $400k (2 of us working), but it hasn't been that way very long. We've always been good savers, and have about 3.2 million in retirement and brokerage accounts. Plan to retire with that amount in 1-3 years, depending on a few things, but retirement is definitely immenent.

By DCUM standards, up until about 5 years ago, we were in the high $200s, and felt very poor compared to many here. However, we consider ourselves very blessed, and lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people I know in DC earn at least $300K+ HHI, many $500K+, and lots with some or a lot of family help. The area is just too expensive for families who don't earn a lot.

I think this is just people you know, since the median household income here is much lower.