31% of millionaires think they're middle class

[Anonymous]

1. 700-800K in NYC/SF so cost of living is very high. DH is about to leave his current role to start a new company so will drop to 450K for a period soon. We have $5M net worth in our mid-30s. We feel UMC.

2. Comfortable but not rich because the cost of living where we are is very high. We are making decent money but so are many, many others here and inflation has been crazy for the UMC-basket of goods and services (e.g. the $400 hotel room from 2019 that everyone in our peer group wants is now $1000). It would cost $4M+ to get the type of house you can find for $1-2M in the DMV so we are still living in a condo.

3. I would feel rich if we could support a nice UMC standard of living (house in good school district, public schools, regular travel and entertaining) based on my assets alone. I think in our ecosystem it would take $15-20M.

[Anonymous]

Most of these "millionaires" have that as housing.

Only 2% of Americans have $1 million or more in invested assets. Only 1% have more than $2 million.

[Anonymous]

1. What's your HHI and what do you consider yourself?

$500k, I know we’re umc but I feel middle class in that every dollar is budgeted for right now and emergencies, while manageable, stress us out. This year alone we had $1200 in car repairs, $500 in emergency vet bill, etc. Its crazy but even a $200 dinner just isn’t in the budget most months so we have to watch every penny.

2. Do you feel poor, comfortable or rich? Why?

Comfortable but stretched at the moment. We have a newborn and a two year old so preschool, a nanny and kid expenses are more than the mortgage on our (modest for DC) 1.3M home. I am hoping once we get out of the nanny years we will have some breathing room. We also save 25% of our income so I know the money is there, it’s just not cash we are touching.

3. What level would you need to achieve to feel "rich?"
$600k - this would allow for more savings and disposable income for things like home improvements, vacations, and enjoying life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of these "millionaires" have that as housing.

Only 2% of Americans have $1 million or more in invested assets. Only 1% have more than $2 million.

That’s interesting. We have 2.5M in investments, our house we probably have 1.5M in value in it. I definitely would not call us 1 percenters though. We feel very average among our friends. Upper middle class.

[Anonymous]

To me, being wealthy means not having to constantly make trade offs. Our income is $400k, but we shop at old navy, have to plan out car purchases, and have to pick and choose which vacations we can go on, so I don't consider us wealthy.

[Anonymous]

At a $160K HHI and $1.9M net worth as a single man, I feel upper middle class, but when I compare myself to the average Arlingtonian, I feel middle class. When I look at U.S household finances though, I'm around the 90th percentile for income and net worth.

I've finally decided to spend $500K to buy a 1,000 sq ft condo in Arlington, which will be twice the size of my current apartment. It's an all-cash offer, so it will bring my net worth down to $1.4M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As usual the people here are delusional about their wealth and privilege, would you really look the fast food worker in the face and say any of this to them? It’s insulting. Do away with the false modesty and cost of living justifiers and state the truth. You are upper middle class with a toe in the wealthy department. No wonder they want to, “eat the rich”

Fast food workers aren’t middle class. Why do we keep choosing literally the lowest paying job possible and then saying “you make more than people doing that job”?

Would I say it to someone who makes literally half of our HHI, but has no kids, and lives in a much cheaper area like the Midwest? Absolutely.

[Anonymous]

HHI 300k, and I feel rich. Net worth around 2 million. It is because our house is paid off, honestly. We have a lot of extra money and I sort of don’t know what to do with it. But we don’t spend it- the kids are in public school, no luxurious vacations, no fancy cars. We are just not into any “luxury” splurges. We were going to divorce awhile ago, that was going to be the biggest splurge of my life.

[Anonymous]

360K income, 500 equity house, 1.2 tsp, 300? Other investments

Mc/ UMC because we have an old not updated house in a meh school district. We do spend a lot on kids activities, eating out, organic food

Probably 450 would allow us to upgrade house and travel more

[Anonymous]

It is very hard to feel rich in THIS area or other similar areas. It doesn’t mean that we aren’t still rich, it just means we feel “typical” compared to those around. I still know and understand academically that I’m am rich in the scope of the US and certainly the world.

[Anonymous]

Fact is the middle class lifestyle of yesteryear has become much more expensive. Back in the 70s and 80s a family could buy a decent house in a good school district, have a couple cars and send their kids to nearly-free public colleges on one middle class salary. To replicate that same basic former middle class lifestyle will literally cost millions in the DMV today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. What's your HHI and what do you consider yourself?

$500k, I know we’re umc but I feel middle class in that every dollar is budgeted for right now and emergencies, while manageable, stress us out. This year alone we had $1200 in car repairs, $500 in emergency vet bill, etc. Its crazy but even a $200 dinner just isn’t in the budget most months so we have to watch every penny.

2. Do you feel poor, comfortable or rich? Why?

Comfortable but stretched at the moment. We have a newborn and a two year old so preschool, a nanny and kid expenses are more than the mortgage on our (modest for DC) 1.3M home. I am hoping once we get out of the nanny years we will have some breathing room. We also save 25% of our income so I know the money is there, it’s just not cash we are touching.

3. What level would you need to achieve to feel "rich?"
$600k - this would allow for more savings and disposable income for things like home improvements, vacations, and enjoying life.

Oh, the old " we don't have any money left over after we spend it" argument. You are paying for a nanny, a 1M+ mortgage, etc, and can still save a HUGE 25% of your income.

You may feel middle class, but that just means you don't understand the designation--because a true MC family could NOT afford those things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fact is the middle class lifestyle of yesteryear has become much more expensive. Back in the 70s and 80s a family could buy a decent house in a good school district, have a couple cars and send their kids to nearly-free public colleges on one middle class salary. To replicate that same basic former middle class lifestyle will literally cost millions in the DMV today.

False. People now think they need large SFH designed by Joanna Gaines, a new Suburban, and family trips to Europe to be middle class. That wasn’t the middle class a generation ago.

[Anonymous]

We make close to $1M HHI now, but it’s been slowly building. We made $200k HHI 15 years ago. We both grew up in normal MC/UMC suburbs.

Our lifestyle hasn’t changed much other than a bigger house and nicer vacations. And not fretting quite as much about grocery bills.

I know wealthier people with a very different lifestyle/mindset. We have more in common with UMC families than the truly wealthy people who have had a ton of money for a long time, some were born into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fact is the middle class lifestyle of yesteryear has become much more expensive. Back in the 70s and 80s a family could buy a decent house in a good school district, have a couple cars and send their kids to nearly-free public colleges on one middle class salary. To replicate that same basic former middle class lifestyle will literally cost millions in the DMV today.

False. People now think they need large SFH designed by Joanna Gaines, a new Suburban, and family trips to Europe to be middle class. That wasn’t the middle class a generation ago.

That was certainly UMC.