Why don't rich people realize that they are rich?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know it depends on your point of view but I really don't think of a 250k income in this area as rich. I think maybe a million is rich, maybe even 500k. 250k is absolutely well off but not rich by any means.

If people are capable of living on $50k in this area, then $250K is rich. What do you consider your nanny, or hairdresser, or mechanic to be?

I consider them to be poor.

How charming you must be.

And you are equally charming. But you asked a stupid question, so I gave you a stupid answer.

[Anonymous]

The median household income in Wasington DC in 2007 was $54,812. If you are making 4.56 times what the middle of the pack makes, you are rich to them. That doesn't mean that your standard of living meets with what you call rich, but think of it in reverse. If you are living what you consider a modest lifestyle, how do you think someone earning 21% of what you do is living?

It comes down to this being a board for people who don't spend much time outside of their own circles. People in the top 5% of wage earners are by definition not in the "middle."

Ask your secretary if you're rich.

[Anonymous]

The median household income in Wasington DC in 2007 was $54,812. If you are making 4.56 times what the middle of the pack makes, you are rich to them. That doesn't mean that your standard of living meets with what you call rich, but think of it in reverse. If you are living what you consider a modest lifestyle, how do you think someone earning 21% of what you do is living?

It comes down to this being a board for people who don't spend much time outside of their own circles. People in the top 5% of wage earners are by definition not in the "middle."

Indeed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The median household income in Wasington DC in 2007 was $54,812. If you are making 4.56 times what the middle of the pack makes, you are rich to them. That doesn't mean that your standard of living meets with what you call rich, but think of it in reverse. If you are living what you consider a modest lifestyle, how do you think someone earning 21% of what you do is living?

It comes down to this being a board for people who don't spend much time outside of their own circles. People in the top 5% of wage earners are by definition not in the "middle."

Ask your secretary if you're rich.

That's the median income, I'd love to know what the average is. I bet much much higher.

[Anonymous]

This link (no idea how accurate, just Googled it) says that the average income is $54,840.

http://smogr.com/2008/05/comparing_nyc_washington_dc_-_area_population_density_average_income.html

[Anonymous]

Median household income last yr ($) (2000) $40,127

Average household income last yr ($) (2000) $64,355


Nine years outdated but.... http://www.dataplace.org/area_overview/?place=x124794

[Anonymous]

HUD publishes "Area Median Income" limits every year. For the Washington DC MSA, it was $99,000.

Meaning, that a household earning just under $80,000 is eligible for public housing (though unlikely to get it).

https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/refmaterials/hudmedinc/hudincomeresults.jsp?STATE=DC&choice=msa&CITY=&FormsButton1=Search

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The median household income in Wasington DC in 2007 was $54,812. If you are making 4.56 times what the middle of the pack makes, you are rich to them. That doesn't mean that your standard of living meets with what you call rich, but think of it in reverse. If you are living what you consider a modest lifestyle, how do you think someone earning 21% of what you do is living?

It comes down to this being a board for people who don't spend much time outside of their own circles. People in the top 5% of wage earners are by definition not in the "middle."

Ask your secretary if you're rich.

That's kind of a demeaning comment...I'm a secretary and make six figures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HUD publishes "Area Median Income" limits every year. For the Washington DC MSA, it was $99,000.

Meaning, that a household earning just under $80,000 is eligible for public housing (though unlikely to get it).

https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/refmaterials/hudmedinc/hudincomeresults.jsp?STATE=DC&choice=msa&CITY=&FormsButton1=Search

Ok, you do realize this the median income for people using HUD PRODUCTS, not the median income of all people with incomes in DC, right?

HUD Area Median Income Search
The 2008 HUD Area Median Incomes (AMIs) that were provided to Fannie Mae by HUD are available to determine eligibility for Fannie Mae Community Lending products. Please note the 2008 HUD AMIs may differ from those posted on www.huduser.org. The 2008 HUD AMIs are used to determine Fannie Mae's performance on its 2008 regulatory housing goals.

[Anonymous]

I should have used the HUD web site, not fannie mae's. Regardless, HUD takes the median of all incomes in order to determine eligiblity limits.

DC MSA AMI for a family of four in 2009 is $102,700.


http://www.huduser.org/datasets/il/il2009/2009summary.odn?INPUTNAME=METRO47900M47900*1100199999%2BDistrict+of+Columbia&selection_type=county&stname=District+of+Columbia&statefp=11&year=2009

[Anonymous]

The answer to the original question is simple. In DC, high earners don't get to live like they are rich.

Just like in DC midddle earners don't get to live like they're middle class (ever seen how the middle class lives in Wisconsin, Ohio, or Nevada? Way better than us, shorter commutes, bigger houses, less stress, shorter grocery lines...)

The high earners in DC don't get big houses or live in servants. They have to compete for spots at the best schools and wait on long country club waitlists, etc. It's not a bad life, but it's not as fun as it it to be rich in Raleigh or Nashville, or Santa Cruz.

[Anonymous]

Being rich means having choices. We choose to live in an expensive city. Most of us choose to buy a house we can afford (or not), send our kids to private school (or not), buy fancy cars (or not). When our choices exceed our income, we feel poor. If we don't like this we can make different choices.

Those who are truly poor do not have the opportunity to make such choices. Their choices are about buying food or paying the electric bill, taking a job that barely covers the cost of child care or applying for assistance.

Middle class means. . . I don't really know, although apparently most of us feel that's where we are.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Wow, the thread really grew! Really, I don't hate rich people. I don't think they are all deluded. I was just reading a lot of money posts the other day and was bored 1, because I couldn't go to the park on such a wet day, and 2, too broke to go to the movies or shopping. I'm not obsessed or frustrated if you think you are rich or not, but on Saturday the question just popped in my head after reading other posts.

If I made $250K or even $150K, I would probably keep my current lifestyle for the most part. But I would enjoy the extra cash to go the movies or something like that. It would be nice to have a cushion and go somewhere else besides OBX for vacation. I would probably consider myself rich, but, that's just me.

Carry on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The answer to the original question is simple. In DC, high earners don't get to live like they are rich.

Just like in DC midddle earners don't get to live like they're middle class (ever seen how the middle class lives in Wisconsin, Ohio, or Nevada? Way better than us, shorter commutes, bigger houses, less stress, shorter grocery lines...)

The high earners in DC don't get big houses or live in servants. They have to compete for spots at the best schools and wait on long country club waitlists, etc. It's not a bad life, but it's not as fun as it it to be rich in Raleigh or Nashville, or Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz CA?? It's way more expensive to live in Santa Cruz.

And really, DC isn't that expensive. It's cost of living is about average for the country. It's just that most of the people on this board only consider "DC" to be parts of NW and a few small areas of MD and VA which are more expensive due to housing costs.

[Anonymous]

When you look at median or avg incomes you need to consider household size. What percentage of D.C. households are single people? A single adult living on $50K or $100K is vastly different from a family of 4 on the same income.