Study shows that 350k/year is barely scrapping by as middle class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not a “stupid article.” It was vetted by FIRE proponents and they agreed with the estimates. As a family with HHI around $320K in NW DC, these estimates are spot on.

The trick is to get a job in DC or Boston, and then move to a LCOL area while continuing to telecommute with the same job. I have a few colleagues doing this and they are very happy, especially in the young kid years.

What "middle class" neighborhood has a median home price of 1.6 million? It's definitely not Silver Spring, which is my definition of middle class in the DC area.

No that is low class, bad schools and a high proportion of low income people (more than 10%)

Dont be fooled by realtors and other cheerleaders of real estate, Bethesda is middle class, it's just not as affordable as it was in the past.

Nope, and your comment shows why you are out of touch and why claiming this budget is middle class is ridiculous. I live in Silver Spring in a comfortable renovated 2200 sq ft home and send my kids to decent schools. We are not "low class." We have advanced degrees and solid jobs. On my block are people with Ph.Ds, law degrees, MBA's, with well over half the people in professional careers. Everyone looks out for one another, we keep our houses and lawns up, the older kids that I know in the neighborhood have grown up to go off to college or the military. That is not "low class." Just because we have immigrants and people of color in much higher proportions to Bethesda does not mean we are low-income. We make 200k and if I had to guess I'd say my neighbors make anywhere from 80-250k.

I grew up struggling middle class in the 70s and we now have a much higher standard of living than I did as a child.

Just because you make an ok income and live in silver spring doesn't account for the fact your perceived income is supposed to be rich. You should be in bethesda, CC or potomac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people do not live in SFH in upper NW DC, Bethesda, or N Arlington unless they bought a long time ago. If that’s your point of reference you are at least Upper Middle and made choices that spend all of your money.

unless they bought a long time ago the decimation of the middle class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not a “stupid article.” It was vetted by FIRE proponents and they agreed with the estimates. As a family with HHI around $320K in NW DC, these estimates are spot on.

The trick is to get a job in DC or Boston, and then move to a LCOL area while continuing to telecommute with the same job. I have a few colleagues doing this and they are very happy, especially in the young kid years.

What "middle class" neighborhood has a median home price of 1.6 million? It's definitely not Silver Spring, which is my definition of middle class in the DC area.

No that is low class, bad schools and a high proportion of low income people (more than 10%)

Dont be fooled by realtors and other cheerleaders of real estate, Bethesda is middle class, it's just not as affordable as it was in the past.

Nope, and your comment shows why you are out of touch and why claiming this budget is middle class is ridiculous. I live in Silver Spring in a comfortable renovated 2200 sq ft home and send my kids to decent schools. We are not "low class." We have advanced degrees and solid jobs. On my block are people with Ph.Ds, law degrees, MBA's, with well over half the people in professional careers. Everyone looks out for one another, we keep our houses and lawns up, the older kids that I know in the neighborhood have grown up to go off to college or the military. That is not "low class." Just because we have immigrants and people of color in much higher proportions to Bethesda does not mean we are low-income. We make 200k and if I had to guess I'd say my neighbors make anywhere from 80-250k.

I grew up struggling middle class in the 70s and we now have a much higher standard of living than I did as a child.

Just because you make an ok income and live in silver spring doesn't account for the fact your perceived income is supposed to be rich. You should be in bethesda, CC or potomac.

You are hopeless and so out of touch.

[Anonymous]

OP - where is the study? I just see a crazy budget for rich people.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't surprise me. We make double that and I do consider ourselves to be UMC.

I know that will be unpopular but whatever. Reality is reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These people are estimating $70 a day for FOOD, and $22,000 for their clothes, vacation, entertainment, and baby items.

That's...not high for ALL of those things???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle class people do not live in SFH in upper NW DC, Bethesda, or N Arlington unless they bought a long time ago. If that’s your point of reference you are at least Upper Middle and made choices that spend all of your money.

unless they bought a long time ago the decimation of the middle class

No. Places change. NW DC, Bethesda and Arlington used to be middle class places but they are not anymore because the area has grown and living inside the beltway has become a luxury. Gaithersburg, Silver Spring, Burke, and Springfield are some examples of middle class places now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These people are estimating $70 a day for FOOD, and $22,000 for their clothes, vacation, entertainment, and baby items.

That's...not high for ALL of those things???

It is if you are actually middle class and not delusional UMC.

[Anonymous]

OMG this is hopelessly out of touch. Saving huge amounts of money, spending $500/month on weekend getaways and theater tickets, and living in a $1.8 million house does not make someone "barely middle class," no matter where one lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy but true.

The mortgage isn't even that high.

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/FE54F728-D4B3-11E9-B531-3D4FB315D4ED

The PITI is $5890. He broke out principal and interest separately to snow the easily-bamboozled.

[Anonymous]

Have we mentioned yet that they save 50k per year off the bat? And yes, they stretched to far on housing once you consider PITI.

[Anonymous]

These posts are showing why people are sick of wealthy people. Surviving? Barely making it? While owning a 1.8M home? At first, any normal person would think that article was a joke, but it isn't a joke. Disconnect from wealthy people about their reality and their snide attitude towards MC and poor is one of the reasons this society will be taken down. Probably in a violent revolution, or an uprising of the poor people fed up with being told by the rich to just work, "look I am struggling too! in my 1.8M home." I kind of hope it happens, like a full on violent take over. Like invading your privileged 1.8 M houses, you know like the revolution in Tsarist Russia where all the greedy, self serving morons like OP are taken down by the real people that live in a real world. I think Trump is one of the steps in this process of bringing down the U.S. empire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have we mentioned yet that they save 50k per year off the bat? And yes, they stretched to far on housing once you consider PITI.

Everybody ignored that because of the scraping by comment.

38k - 401k
12k - 529

50k off the top of 350k - 14.3% savings rate

[Anonymous]

The point is that $350k should be a comfortable UMC income. Many people would even consider that rich. But it doesn’t go nearly as far as one would expect. That’s our exact income before bonuses. We spend more on some things, less on others, but this isn’t too far off. We have a lot of expenses to make life as two working parents, with long hours and travel, work. We spent more on a house closer in vs having long commutes. One of our kids requires expensive therapy and tutors. We eat takeout way too often bc we get home too late to cook. We have an after-school nanny to shuttle the kids to appointments and activities. Sure, we could get rid of some of these “luxuries” but then one of us would have to cut back at work and our income would decrease. It would be a different ballgame if one of us made $350k and the other SAH. But there is a high cost associated with having both parents work at relatively high paying but not very flexible job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These posts are showing why people are sick of wealthy people. Surviving? Barely making it? While owning a 1.8M home? At first, any normal person would think that article was a joke, but it isn't a joke. Disconnect from wealthy people about their reality and their snide attitude towards MC and poor is one of the reasons this society will be taken down. Probably in a violent revolution, or an uprising of the poor people fed up with being told by the rich to just work, "look I am struggling too! in my 1.8M home." I kind of hope it happens, like a full on violent take over. Like invading your privileged 1.8 M houses, you know like the revolution in Tsarist Russia where all the greedy, self serving morons like OP are taken down by the real people that live in a real world. I think Trump is one of the steps in this process of bringing down the U.S. empire.

Really? You wish violence on these people? What do you think would happen to this country if this were to happen? Look at what happened to Russia.