Where do you draw the line between upper middle class and upper class?

[Anonymous]

Private jets and yachts vs commercial air travel and cruises

[Anonymous]

Upper class you stay in the ritz or equivalent on vacations. UMC, you're staying at the JW Marriott or maybe a nice Westin. Upper class you regularly fly business or first class on your European vacation. UMC you're going to Europe but you're flying coach (maybe you cc points will upgrade you if you're lucky). Upper class you have a vacation home someplace nice like the hamptons or its equivalent. UMC, you vacation at the hamptons, but you stay in a nice air bnb.
Upper class-you bought your house in the nicest neighborhood that gets you into the best public schools, but your kid is going to private. UMC, you live near the upper class neighborhood and are zoned for the same great public schools, but private would be a stretch and if you swing for private, you're going to be staying the Courtyard Marriott on your local vacays from now on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private jets and yachts vs commercial air travel and cruises

So basically upper class = 0.1% and upper middle class = the next 19.9%?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are absolutely upper class by economic standards (hhi @$1M) but we don’t live an extremely upper class lifestyle. We live in nyc and own our home and a second home and pay for private school but we don’t take super luxury vacations and don’t fly first class with our kids, don’t buy or wear designer clothing etc. We budget and make choices about how we spend our money because it isn’t unlimited.
I think that’s the reality for a lot of UMC and UC families. There’s a big difference between $1M hhi and $10 or $100m.

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am from England where we have a real class system, based on birth, education, profession rather than just finances.

Here in the US the "class" system is a joke.

Who cares about “real class system”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Upper class you stay in the ritz or equivalent on vacations. UMC, you're staying at the JW Marriott or maybe a nice Westin. Upper class you regularly fly business or first class on your European vacation. UMC you're going to Europe but you're flying coach (maybe you cc points will upgrade you if you're lucky). Upper class you have a vacation home someplace nice like the hamptons or its equivalent. UMC, you vacation at the hamptons, but you stay in a nice air bnb.
Upper class-you bought your house in the nicest neighborhood that gets you into the best public schools, but your kid is going to private. UMC, you live near the upper class neighborhood and are zoned for the same great public schools, but private would be a stretch and if you swing for private, you're going to be staying the Courtyard Marriott on your local vacays from now on.

This is silly. I have stayed in both. My preference is usually boutique hotels (Amangiri, Hotel Athénée, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private jets and yachts vs commercial air travel and cruises

So basically upper class = 0.1% and upper middle class = the next 19.9%?

Agreed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am from England where we have a real class system, based on birth, education, profession rather than just finances.

Here in the US the "class" system is a joke.

Who cares about “real class system”.

People with class do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am from England where we have a real class system, based on birth, education, profession rather than just finances.

Here in the US the "class" system is a joke.

This. Americans strive so hard.

Not really. Everyone wants to be middle class. Just rich.

[Anonymous]

Upper class is old money. They can be poor, blew all the family money But we don’t really need to concern ourselves or keep track of that. Only they do, amongst their kind.
UMC is the people in your community who live very comfortably, maybe have a second home, maybe kids are in private.
The jet setters are the new rich. Tech billionaires and the like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Upper class you stay in the ritz or equivalent on vacations. UMC, you're staying at the JW Marriott or maybe a nice Westin. Upper class you regularly fly business or first class on your European vacation. UMC you're going to Europe but you're flying coach (maybe you cc points will upgrade you if you're lucky). Upper class you have a vacation home someplace nice like the hamptons or its equivalent. UMC, you vacation at the hamptons, but you stay in a nice air bnb.
Upper class-you bought your house in the nicest neighborhood that gets you into the best public schools, but your kid is going to private. UMC, you live near the upper class neighborhood and are zoned for the same great public schools, but private would be a stretch and if you swing for private, you're going to be staying the Courtyard Marriott on your local vacays from now on.

This is silly. I have stayed in both. My preference is usually boutique hotels (Amangiri, Hotel Athénée, etc).

These are RICH people hotels, very exclusive and expensive. You have to know this...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Upper class is old money. They can be poor, blew all the family money But we don’t really need to concern ourselves or keep track of that. Only they do, amongst their kind.
UMC is the people in your community who live very comfortably, maybe have a second home, maybe kids are in private.
The jet setters are the new rich. Tech billionaires and the like.

At what point was the old money lost though? I doubt people with rich great grandparents call themselves upper class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private jets and yachts vs commercial air travel and cruises

So basically upper class = 0.1% and upper middle class = the next 19.9%?

Agreed

See, I disagree. There's a huge difference between say the 80th percentile and the 97th percentile. 20% (or any double digit percentage) is too large to be called in any sense "elite" in any sense, but 0.1% or even 1% is too restrictive. There's definitely a more elite professional segment that isn't quite 1% but very high cultural capital, cosmopolitan, may have some social ties to the wealthy and a fair amount of capital even without being a "capitalist." Think of an Ivy League educated tenured professor/lawyer couple vs. say a high school teacher/registered nurse couple who went to nonflagship state schools.

[Anonymous]

I don't think about it at all. Why would you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Upper class you stay in the ritz or equivalent on vacations. UMC, you're staying at the JW Marriott or maybe a nice Westin. Upper class you regularly fly business or first class on your European vacation. UMC you're going to Europe but you're flying coach (maybe you cc points will upgrade you if you're lucky). Upper class you have a vacation home someplace nice like the hamptons or its equivalent. UMC, you vacation at the hamptons, but you stay in a nice air bnb.
Upper class-you bought your house in the nicest neighborhood that gets you into the best public schools, but your kid is going to private. UMC, you live near the upper class neighborhood and are zoned for the same great public schools, but private would be a stretch and if you swing for private, you're going to be staying the Courtyard Marriott on your local vacays from now on.

Nope. All this is still UMC. Upper class is private jets, yachts, and the ability to spend money at Chanel if you want.