Why a 300-400k salary doesn't feel rich

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a household income of $250k in northern Virginia with three kids and we are unquestionably rich.

Only financial worry I have is how to pay for college when all three are in college at the same time in a few years.

Everything else in my life is free of financial worry.

Aww. A middle class wine mom pretending she's rich on her 250k.

Honey, let me tell you what rich is. Rich people don't worry about paying for college. Rich people pay 90k tuition checks without blinking or worrying about opportunity costs. That's rich. You're middle class.

Wow, what a snotty response.

It was kinda snotty, but she's not wrong.

It's impossible to reconcile how someone can think of themselves as "unquestionably rich" while at the same time worrying how to pay for college.

People post on the college and school boards all the time saying just that ("we make $250-300K and can't afford college") and get crucified for being rich and whiny.

People can't win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a household income of $250k in northern Virginia with three kids and we are unquestionably rich.

Only financial worry I have is how to pay for college when all three are in college at the same time in a few years.

Everything else in my life is free of financial worry.

Aww. A middle class wine mom pretending she's rich on her 250k.

Honey, let me tell you what rich is. Rich people don't worry about paying for college. Rich people pay 90k tuition checks without blinking or worrying about opportunity costs. That's rich. You're middle class.

It’s true. I think what’s happening is people are “counting their blessings” and thinking how truly advantaged they are compared to the poorest in our country.

Which is contentious to do, and of course compared to the average HHI (which is shockingly low) you are indeed well-off. But rich? Well. Like PP said, rich don’t worry about how to pay for college. I myself am luckier than many, but I know rich, and at 300k I am much closer to the poorest than to the wealthy. The rich in this country are loathsome on a whole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a household income of $250k in northern Virginia with three kids and we are unquestionably rich.

Only financial worry I have is how to pay for college when all three are in college at the same time in a few years.

Everything else in my life is free of financial worry.

Aww. A middle class wine mom pretending she's rich on her 250k.

Honey, let me tell you what rich is. Rich people don't worry about paying for college. Rich people pay 90k tuition checks without blinking or worrying about opportunity costs. That's rich. You're middle class.

It’s true. I think what’s happening is people are “counting their blessings” and thinking how truly advantaged they are compared to the poorest in our country.

Which is contentious to do, and of course compared to the average HHI (which is shockingly low) you are indeed well-off. But rich? Well. Like PP said, rich don’t worry about how to pay for college. I myself am luckier than many, but I know rich, and at 300k I am much closer to the poorest than to the wealthy. The rich in this country are loathsome on a whole.

Lol. That is some good pot stirring right there. Well done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Overall quality of life is decreasing for everyone, from the lower class to the upper class. Even though percentage wise this income puts you in the 97-99th, it doesn't feel that great because a top 3% lifestyle now is different from a top 3% lifestyle 50 years ago. Going down to the 90th percentile which is under 200k/yr, most families who make that are barely getting by. To really be comfortable nowadays you need to be in the top 0.5%, not even a 1% income feels that rich.

It's more simple than that. It doesn't feel rich because you have a spending problem.

I would define rich as someone who can spend a lot of money and it wouldn't make their finances bad. Most people who I've met with "spending problems" are people who grew up poor and are used to spending all of their money the moment they get it. Unfortunately, it's relatively unusual for a poor person to make it to the top 10% income, which means most people with a high income don't have a spending problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a household income of $250k in northern Virginia with three kids and we are unquestionably rich.

Only financial worry I have is how to pay for college when all three are in college at the same time in a few years.

Everything else in my life is free of financial worry.

Aww. A middle class wine mom pretending she's rich on her 250k.

Honey, let me tell you what rich is. Rich people don't worry about paying for college. Rich people pay 90k tuition checks without blinking or worrying about opportunity costs. That's rich. You're middle class.

Honey, if she feels rich and appreciates where she is in life, she is rich.

In a way you will clearly never understand. Bye, Felicia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a household income of $250k in northern Virginia with three kids and we are unquestionably rich.

Only financial worry I have is how to pay for college when all three are in college at the same time in a few years.

Everything else in my life is free of financial worry.

Aww. A middle class wine mom pretending she's rich on her 250k.

Honey, let me tell you what rich is. Rich people don't worry about paying for college. Rich people pay 90k tuition checks without blinking or worrying about opportunity costs. That's rich. You're middle class.

Honey, if she feels rich and appreciates where she is in life, she is rich.

In a way you will clearly never understand. Bye, Felicia.

another poor person trying to justify her middling life. That's not what this thread is about and you know it. A dame with 250k HHI and living in a poky split in Burke isn't rich.

Who is Felicia?

[Anonymous]

"Feeling rich" is a relative term. I could not have imagined the amount of money I have in my bank account when I was younger, and pi$$ poor. And while I no longer have to wear the ratty clothes or eat cheap boxed food like I used to, neither are we eating out a lot at pricey restaurants and buying designer clothes. I still shop at Old Navy and Target.

After saving for retirement (maxing out; we're in our 50s) and college (two kids in HS/college), plus tax, our net income is less than half the $300K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a household income of $250k in northern Virginia with three kids and we are unquestionably rich.

Only financial worry I have is how to pay for college when all three are in college at the same time in a few years.

Everything else in my life is free of financial worry.

Aww. A middle class wine mom pretending she's rich on her 250k.

Honey, let me tell you what rich is. Rich people don't worry about paying for college. Rich people pay 90k tuition checks without blinking or worrying about opportunity costs. That's rich. You're middle class.

Honey, if she feels rich and appreciates where she is in life, she is rich.

In a way you will clearly never understand. Bye, Felicia.

another poor person trying to justify her middling life. That's not what this thread is about and you know it. A dame with 250k HHI and living in a poky split in Burke isn't rich.

Who is Felicia?

"Middling life"?

Anyone who would say this about people with a 250k salary who is CONTENT is poor in all the ways that really count. You are a truly sad individual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a household income of $250k in northern Virginia with three kids and we are unquestionably rich.

Only financial worry I have is how to pay for college when all three are in college at the same time in a few years.

Everything else in my life is free of financial worry.

Aww. A middle class wine mom pretending she's rich on her 250k.

Honey, let me tell you what rich is. Rich people don't worry about paying for college. Rich people pay 90k tuition checks without blinking or worrying about opportunity costs. That's rich. You're middle class.

Honey, if she feels rich and appreciates where she is in life, she is rich.

In a way you will clearly never understand. Bye, Felicia.

another poor person trying to justify her middling life. That's not what this thread is about and you know it. A dame with 250k HHI and living in a poky split in Burke isn't rich.

Who is Felicia?

No one has to justify their life to anyone else. Especially not to someone like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is what we make, and after taxes, health care, and maxing retirement (grateful we can do that) we take home just over half. No way can we float private colleges for 2 kids out of cash flow. Are we comfortable? Yes. Rich? No.

If you had told me 20 years ago that would be our income I would have thought we'd be living the high life!

I should add- my parents never made close to what we make, and they live in near-by Potomac. My father retired at 55 after 30 years as a government employee, and they are totally fine.

Things have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a household income of $250k in northern Virginia with three kids and we are unquestionably rich.

Only financial worry I have is how to pay for college when all three are in college at the same time in a few years.

Everything else in my life is free of financial worry.

Aww. A middle class wine mom pretending she's rich on her 250k.

Honey, let me tell you what rich is. Rich people don't worry about paying for college. Rich people pay 90k tuition checks without blinking or worrying about opportunity costs. That's rich. You're middle class.

Honey, if she feels rich and appreciates where she is in life, she is rich.

In a way you will clearly never understand. Bye, Felicia.

another poor person trying to justify her middling life. That's not what this thread is about and you know it. A dame with 250k HHI and living in a poky split in Burke isn't rich.

Who is Felicia?

A+ pot stirring. But ppl, pls stop feeding the troll. He’s just a douche sitting in his group house with his unemployed buddies.

[Anonymous]

Feeling has nothing to do with actual. $400K all in is GREAT! But if you are an individual making $400K, you're around all these other $400K earners who may have partners who also make $400K+. In order to attain that $400K role, you probably went through a lot of parenting & higher level schooling. You may be around peers who have more family money to start.

Comparison is the thief of joy. As much as I'd like to say stick your head in the sand, its not so easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why? Because you never learned to budget and save. I feel very comfortable on half of that.

So. Much. This. We are headed in that direction and already talked about not selling the house, not getting fancy cars. First step is upping the kids 529s and our retirement. We will take nicer trips, fix the house one piece at a time. But if we upgrade all the big things there won't be the nice cushion left so we never have to stress about money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uh.

We make $450ish (more like $410 last year) and it's pretty rich.

We live in a $1m+ house.
We do not typically think about, nor do we have to, groceries or gas or coffee or takeout or summer camp.
We haven't prioritized college savings, but we could pay cash, yes, even for a $70K school (we don't want to but we'll see).
We get new cars when we want them.
If we want to renovate or something, we would just pay cash or take a HELOC or stop contributing to one of the many many investment or savings accounts we have temporarily. This would feel BAD but it is a blessing.
If we aren't going to Europe this summer it's because it's our choice and we want to prioritize cash savings. It's not because we can't.

We are lucky and relatively, rich. In the upper-middle class no worries relative to others sense. And there are MANY families richer than us at our W school.

Get some perspective if you think 400K isn't well off. Unless you have 7 kids and 3 parents in assisted living that you pay for, you should be more than OK.

Is a 1 million dollar house a bragging feature? Seems really cheap to me. I live in Toronto and 1 million doesn't go far.

You have lost perspective.

No $1M is barebones in any major
Metro area

[Anonymous]

My husband just had an extraction on lower front tooth and reconstruction to hopefully graft bone to enable an implant. The flipper thing our dentist made isn't going to work. Surgeon was apologetic because spouse may need different spacer. Spouse said don't worry we are rich.
It's not having to hesitate for medical expenses. That's what rich is.
PS under $400k but lots of savings and a paid for house.