Great aticle on how middle class is struggling and not saving enough

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't think I know anyone personally who couldn't pay $400 or even 2k for an emergency like the writer. And DH and I come from middle class families with blue collar or middle class jobs. Maybe our younger, early 20s sisters couldn't cope with emergencies, but they're just starting out and graduating.

The recipe for success in America isn't that hard. Graduate, get married and don't have kids until you're married with dual incomes.

oh yea, it is that simple. just 1, 2,3. Shit never happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We have no retirement savings, because we emptied a small 401(k) to pay for our younger daughter’s wedding.

WTF?

yeah its normal get over it rich ahole

I would die of shame if I let my middle class parents drain their savings to pay for my wedding. Holy shit.

+1000

+ a million

That's the point at which I stopped reading. So ridiculous.

New poster here. That's when I stopped reading, too. You've got to be a moron to do this, not to mention that his kids didn't have to go to private colleges (among other things). You know who I feel sorry for? The people who are working hard and still struggling to put food on the table or keep a roof over their head for whom an unexpected $400 expense would be a real problem.

[Anonymous]

Does this explain it: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did he chose to live in Brooklyn and have to pay for private schools when he could have lived in Staten Island, Queens - or the suburbs of Nassau or Suffolk county. Same thing with paying for his kid's wedding. Its keeping up with the Joneses. DH's family and my parents were poor and through our own savings we paid for a beautiful "UMC" wedding. Whatever that meant. Weddings are optional.

The first daughter went to medical school. Stanford is an extraordinarily good school but here's a dirty little secret, medical school is a different beast. You don't have to go to ivy to be a successful doctor. They care what more about your MCATs and which medical school/residency you get into. I know very successful doctors in high paying specialties that went to state schools. If you go to Stanford to do a start up that's a total different story.

They paid an inordinate amount of money for the second daughter to be a social worker. Poor choice.

Except like much of the article, bringing up the cost of college was misleading - he says his parents paid for most of their kids' education.

The article is not really an example of how the middle class is struggling - it's an example of how someone who's a spendthrift eventually runs out of money. Well, duh.

Exactly. They moved to the HAMPTONS to save money. That tells you all you need to know. And how did he lose money on a condo in Brooklyn? Was this 30 years ago? This article isn't about the struggles of the middle class, it's about the stupid decisions made by an upper-middle class person who wanted to live like a rich person. My suspicion is that he was surrounded by other people in his field with inherited wealth, and he was trying to keep up.

[Anonymous]

re: weddings: My dad told us all that he would give us each the amount allowed under the gift tax threshhold. When my siblings got married, that number was $12K, so he gave them each $12K toward their weddings. When I got pregnant at 35 and realized i was likely to never have a wedding, I asked for and got the same amount. He set us up with reasonable expectations for an amount he personally could afford without affecting his own retirement.

I told my daughter that I wouldn't pay for her wedding if she was younger than 25. I figure that gives me 3 years after she graduates college to save up. I won't give her a blank check, though - I might do what my dad did.

I hope I'm saving enough for retirement and saving enough for college. Hopefully she'll get a bit of scholarship money and not choose a crazy expensive school. Hopefully her dad will help out.

[Anonymous]

exactly, 13:29. That formula works great until...

...you have some sort of major health problem that either insurance doesn't fully cover, or that doesn't allow you to work...

...or you have a layoff that lasts a lot longer than expected....especially if you end up having to take a lesser job just to have a job.

I think it helps if you don't have a ton of kids, though, and you don't have them too early in life. I feel like every time I read about some middle class family facing unexpected hardships, they either started having kids really young or had more than a few of them. Kids are expensive, especially if the main breadwinner suddenly isn't breadwinning anymore and you didn't build wealth over time because your income was going out to the door for your kids. (and the bigger house and cars needed for the bigger family.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The author was brutally honest about the stupid things he did. Prime example of someone that's highly educated yet broke. All because he thought he should live the dream but in reality it's his nightmare.

Do I believe the statistics in the piece ? Yes I do. This is America in the real. Pockets of wealth here and there but not everywhere and the struggle is real.

I see people living beyond their means daily. Priorities screwed up. Gotta front that wealth.

If you don't take care of you, no one else will.

I believe the statistics, but I find it offensive that he is trying to use them to justify his situation. He made plenty of money to live on, and live well. Just not the live in the Hamptons, pay full freight to Stanford, host a big wedding kind of definition of "well." He is shocked to discover that a non-best-selling writer can't live like that? Hint: if your neighbors are billionaires and you're not, you might need to think about whether it's smart to try to keep up with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't think I know anyone personally who couldn't pay $400 or even 2k for an emergency like the writer. And DH and I come from middle class families with blue collar or middle class jobs. Maybe our younger, early 20s sisters couldn't cope with emergencies, but they're just starting out and graduating.

The recipe for success in America isn't that hard. Graduate, get married and don't have kids until you're married with dual incomes.

oh yea, it is that simple. just 1, 2,3. Shit never happens.

seriously. easy for some people, but not others. I feel I'm pretty successful as a single mother. This is not how I intended my life to go - but life happens!

[Anonymous]

Well that article strangely made me feel better about my middle class existence and the conservative choices I've made on housing and choosing jobs. We don't have a ton - but we have way more than that guy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We have no retirement savings, because we emptied a small 401(k) to pay for our younger daughter’s wedding.

WTF?

yeah its normal get over it rich ahole

Rich ahole here. You know how much my wedding cost? Less than $300. My wife and I got married in a community center room, and hired a "civil marriage celebrant" to perform the ceremony. I got a new pair of black pants at Gap down the street, from the clearance rack. In attendance were the parents and a couple of close friends, one of whom took us out to dinner afterwards on her dime.

You know why we did that? Because we were piss poor and did not want to spend our parents money on things that we should have been paying for ourselves, since both of us at that point had been living as an adult for quite some time.

Live for the moment - if you can afford it. Otherwise, be an adult and make good life choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/my-secret-shame/476415/

What do you think? Is this you? Why or why not?

They should ask reparations from the Roman Empire.

One of DCUM's over-used words

[Anonymous]

Well that article strangely made me feel better about my middle class existence and the conservative choices I've made on housing and choosing jobs. We don't have a ton - but we have way more than that guy.

I know, right? I'm afraid there are a lot of these "fake wealthy" people out there.

[Anonymous]

I believe the statistics, but I find it offensive that he is trying to use them to justify his situation. He made plenty of money to live on, and live well. Just not the live in the Hamptons, pay full freight to Stanford, host a big wedding kind of definition of "well." He is shocked to discover that a non-best-selling writer can't live like that? Hint: if your neighbors are billionaires and you're not, you might need to think about whether it's smart to try to keep up with them.

Bingo. He even admits what you say.

This article is for the " through no fault of their own crowd". It was and is his fault so I don't feel sorry for them. He is what's wrong with America today. He lived for the moment/experience and now he will pay dearly.

BTW, it would be a cold day in HELL before I'd ask my kids for heating oil money. Sounds like a Bernie supporter. I spent all my money so give me some of yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't think I know anyone personally who couldn't pay $400 or even 2k for an emergency like the writer. And DH and I come from middle class families with blue collar or middle class jobs. Maybe our younger, early 20s sisters couldn't cope with emergencies, but they're just starting out and graduating.

The recipe for success in America isn't that hard. Graduate, get married and don't have kids until you're married with dual incomes.

oh yea, it is that simple. just 1, 2,3. Shit never happens.

shit does happen, but you're better prepared if you have a plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We have no retirement savings, because we emptied a small 401(k) to pay for our younger daughter’s wedding.

WTF?

yeah its normal get over it rich ahole

No it isn't. WTF. I'm a daughter and I would be ashamed if I found out my parents emptied their retirement account for my wedding.