I don't get the whole "fake rich $250k" thing. We make just under 200k and are more than comfortable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Op here our mortgage is $2700 and place paid off our student loans in 2006 (we both went to state schools). Would we like a big nice house in Bethesda, sure! But we know we don't earn enough to afford it. Its just not feasible in this area... "

I make just under 200K and it is tight, but I pay $4200/mo for my mortgage because I want my kid to be in a good school . . . . I also save for college.

No, you pay $4,200 a month because you wanted THAT house in THIS area AND free public education, which -- surprise! -- is paid for by taxes.

And to all of you who complain about having to pay student loans -- Shut the front door. You chose the school, you chose to borrow money to go there, you get to pay. You all choose to live in one of the most expensive areas in the nation, so you will pay more for a house, although you still don't *have* to pay anywhere near $4,200 a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But we also live in Silver Spring, send our kids to public, chose daycare over a nanny. We also only buy used (nice) cars. I guess by some standards I would be considered cheap;
I only need 4 pairs of jeans, I refuse to pay more than $60 for each pair
I would never spend $500 on a purse
We have a cleaning lady once a week and a landscaper
We go skiing and sometimes go to Europe and the Carribean (only every few years, our yearly trip is just md beaches)
We buy organic food
Our kids go to camps in the summer (through the county) and we are members of the local pool
We fund our 401k's and our kids 529's
I'm not really sure how much more we would need.
Obviously people make different choices, but it seems to me that once you start making better $ you start thinking you deserve a certain level of things "I work very hard therefore I deserve this $800 Banana Republic jacket" etc, I have done this myself.
It just seems like if you are having trouble living on this amount of $ then maybe you need to reassess your priorities
Wants vs needs

You live in silver spring which is not desirable therefore your housing costs are low. If you lived in a cheaper area such as georgia the equivalent silver spring area would contain people of much lower income vs median in comparison to dc's income vs median.

[Anonymous]

No, housing costs are still wildly inflated in Silver Spring. This is one of the few areas where you can't buy a decent house without spending a fortune. But YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE HERE.

This is what $750K buys you in Colleyville, Texas:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1900-Stratton-Ct-Colleyville-TX-76034/83811980_zpid/

According to the US census, the median income in Colleyville is $151K. The median income in McLean, VA is $154K.

There are other places to live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, housing costs are still wildly inflated in Silver Spring. This is one of the few areas where you can't buy a decent house without spending a fortune. But YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE HERE.

This is what $750K buys you in Colleyville, Texas:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1900-Stratton-Ct-Colleyville-TX-76034/83811980_zpid/

According to the US census, the median income in Colleyville is $151K. The median income in McLean, VA is $154K.

There are other places to live.

So if it costs more why not adjust the level of who is "rich" higher than 250k

[Anonymous]

Op here, I actually find silver spring to be just what we need. We are literally minutes off the beltway, and my friends and neighbors are all very happy here as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well OP I like to buy nice things with the money I work hard for. Same goes for DH.

I prefer $150 jeans. So what, its my money.

We all make choices and just because I choose to enjoy my money and spend it on things that we can afford but are expensive, does not meanI should be taxed the hell out my earnings.

We are right under $250k and sure we are comfortable but not rich.

Listen, you are rich. No one here gives a shit that you are stupid enough to buy $150 jeans. Your desire for status items should not be part of a public policy discussion. It's amazing to me that Republicans can denigrate the poor for having "fancy cell phones" and "big screen tvs" but that I should give a shit about rich people's feelings and whether they can afford expensive junk that's made in the same factory in China as everything else. Sorry, it works both ways. If I should look down on poor people for buying fancy things, I can look down at you for being a greedy consumerist snob.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really doesn't matter if it's a "want" or a "need". If you earned it, it's YOURS. No one should be able to take that away from you.

It's also yours to give away if that's what you believe is the right thing to do. No one will stop you from writing a check out to the government in whatever amount you would like.

Should you not have to pay for national defense, roads, schools, libraries, police and fire protection, etc etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, housing costs are still wildly inflated in Silver Spring. This is one of the few areas where you can't buy a decent house without spending a fortune. But YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE HERE.

This is what $750K buys you in Colleyville, Texas:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1900-Stratton-Ct-Colleyville-TX-76034/83811980_zpid/

According to the US census, the median income in Colleyville is $151K. The median income in McLean, VA is $154K.

There are other places to live.

So if it costs more why not adjust the level of who is "rich" higher than 250k

Because one of the choices that these "rich" people make is to live in a more desirable, higher cost of living area. There should not be a tax discount for people to live in Bethesda instead of some far out suburb. One of the choices you make when you have more disposable income is to live in a more expensive area of town or of the country. That's a choice you make, but those who make far less should not have to subsidize you to do so. That's another way that the income disparity between the rich and the poor increases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well OP I like to buy nice things with the money I work hard for. Same goes for DH.

I prefer $150 jeans. So what, its my money.

We all make choices and just because I choose to enjoy my money and spend it on things that we can afford but are expensive, does not meanI should be taxed the hell out my earnings.

We are right under $250k and sure we are comfortable but not rich.

Listen, you are rich. No one here gives a shit that you are stupid enough to buy $150 jeans. Your desire for status items should not be part of a public policy discussion. It's amazing to me that Republicans can denigrate the poor for having "fancy cell phones" and "big screen tvs" but that I should give a shit about rich people's feelings and whether they can afford expensive junk that's made in the same factory in China as everything else. Sorry, it works both ways. If I should look down on poor people for buying fancy things, I can look down at you for being a greedy consumerist snob.

Maybe you should take a xanex.

[Anonymous]

I love this line: "Sure, it's an objectively large sum of money," they say. "But it is far smaller after I spend it."

DC is so full of these people, as exemplified by this thread. BigLaw is the perfect example: law firm partners running around talking about how it's hard to make ends meet, what with sending all the kids to private school, vacations, the expensive cars, mortgage, etc. That line just about sums it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well OP I like to buy nice things with the money I work hard for. Same goes for DH.

I prefer $150 jeans. So what, its my money.

We all make choices and just because I choose to enjoy my money and spend it on things that we can afford but are expensive, does not meanI should be taxed the hell out my earnings.

We are right under $250k and sure we are comfortable but not rich.

Listen, you are rich. No one here gives a shit that you are stupid enough to buy $150 jeans. Your desire for status items should not be part of a public policy discussion. It's amazing to me that Republicans can denigrate the poor for having "fancy cell phones" and "big screen tvs" but that I should give a shit about rich people's feelings and whether they can afford expensive junk that's made in the same factory in China as everything else. Sorry, it works both ways. If I should look down on poor people for buying fancy things, I can look down at you for being a greedy consumerist snob.

Maybe you should take a xanex.

I, too, find that implying that someone is crazy is a good way to distract from my inability to refute their point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well OP I like to buy nice things with the money I work hard for. Same goes for DH.

I prefer $150 jeans. So what, its my money.

We all make choices and just because I choose to enjoy my money and spend it on things that we can afford but are expensive, does not meanI should be taxed the hell out my earnings.

We are right under $250k and sure we are comfortable but not rich.

Listen, you are rich. No one here gives a shit that you are stupid enough to buy $150 jeans. Your desire for status items should not be part of a public policy discussion. It's amazing to me that Republicans can denigrate the poor for having "fancy cell phones" and "big screen tvs" but that I should give a shit about rich people's feelings and whether they can afford expensive junk that's made in the same factory in China as everything else. Sorry, it works both ways. If I should look down on poor people for buying fancy things, I can look down at you for being a greedy consumerist snob.

Maybe you should take a xanex.

I, too, find that implying that someone is crazy is a good way to distract from my inability to refute their point.

Guess you have never heard the phrase "cannot argue with crazy."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well OP I like to buy nice things with the money I work hard for. Same goes for DH.

I prefer $150 jeans. So what, its my money.

We all make choices and just because I choose to enjoy my money and spend it on things that we can afford but are expensive, does not meanI should be taxed the hell out my earnings.

We are right under $250k and sure we are comfortable but not rich.

Listen, you are rich. No one here gives a shit that you are stupid enough to buy $150 jeans. Your desire for status items should not be part of a public policy discussion. It's amazing to me that Republicans can denigrate the poor for having "fancy cell phones" and "big screen tvs" but that I should give a shit about rich people's feelings and whether they can afford expensive junk that's made in the same factory in China as everything else. Sorry, it works both ways. If I should look down on poor people for buying fancy things, I can look down at you for being a greedy consumerist snob.

Maybe you should take a xanex.

I, too, find that implying that someone is crazy is a good way to distract from my inability to refute their point.

Guess you have never heard the phrase "cannot argue with crazy."

Are you able to articulate what is crazy about pointing out that rich people who don't want to pay taxes are just greedy slobs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, housing costs are still wildly inflated in Silver Spring. This is one of the few areas where you can't buy a decent house without spending a fortune. But YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE HERE.

This is what $750K buys you in Colleyville, Texas:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1900-Stratton-Ct-Colleyville-TX-76034/83811980_zpid/

According to the US census, the median income in Colleyville is $151K. The median income in McLean, VA is $154K.

There are other places to live.

So if it costs more why not adjust the level of who is "rich" higher than 250k

Because one of the choices that these "rich" people make is to live in a more desirable, higher cost of living area. There should not be a tax discount for people to live in Bethesda instead of some far out suburb. One of the choices you make when you have more disposable income is to live in a more expensive area of town or of the country. That's a choice you make, but those who make far less should not have to subsidize you to do so. That's another way that the income disparity between the rich and the poor increases.

Why should there be a gs pay schedule difference based on locality

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, housing costs are still wildly inflated in Silver Spring. This is one of the few areas where you can't buy a decent house without spending a fortune. But YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE HERE.

This is what $750K buys you in Colleyville, Texas:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1900-Stratton-Ct-Colleyville-TX-76034/83811980_zpid/

According to the US census, the median income in Colleyville is $151K. The median income in McLean, VA is $154K.

There are other places to live.

So if it costs more why not adjust the level of who is "rich" higher than 250k

Because one of the choices that these "rich" people make is to live in a more desirable, higher cost of living area. There should not be a tax discount for people to live in Bethesda instead of some far out suburb. One of the choices you make when you have more disposable income is to live in a more expensive area of town or of the country. That's a choice you make, but those who make far less should not have to subsidize you to do so. That's another way that the income disparity between the rich and the poor increases.

Why should there be a gs pay schedule difference based on locality

Have you ever actually looked at the pay scale? The differences are incredibly minute. And the DC area is not even close to the top - well below Houston and Alaska, for example.