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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Eh. I'm really not surprised that a seemingly rational and sane person puts himself in a precarious financial state keeping up with the Joneses. This is very similar to my family's story. My dad was a high ranking government official and because of whom we grew up and mingled with the world elite. The government perks made it so we were able to keep up with the Joneses and the prestige his title afforded us more than made up for our lack of actual funds. We wined and dined like the rich and lived like rich even though we had no savings no college funds no home. Ultimately dad retired and his pension isn't enough to keep us afloat. My younger siblings work part time in retail and attend NOVA. I have developed very elite tastes and find it hard to live a "normal" MC life. My parents have no retirement savings and no home. Its awful.[/quote]

+  1 I struggle with the same. It's a form of child abuse in my opinion to grow up with pictures that just don't represent the real world in any way. 
Good luck to you, don't let the anger eat you up. Jump over your pride. I dug myself out slowly but still feel like a fish out of water. 
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But what are you all doing as adults? OK, there are reasons to resent parents, but you, yourselves what are you doing to achieve the lifestyle that you want to have?[/quote]

Well, I do not resent my parents. My parents went broke trying to provide for us the best of everything they had access to-at their own expense. Today they don't even have a home. I am forever grateful to them for introducing me to that world. Even now, people mistake me for an upper class person due to how I naturally carry myself and dress myself. I like to joke about how I am a kind of a white elephant. I relate more to the rich but cannot afford their life. I had to majorly downgrade my lifestyle upon my dad's retirement 5 years ago.

Part of being from that world was...I didn't go to college to earn a living. I studied Literature and am today a very poorly paid admin at a non profit in the area. My parents encouraged me to study what I wanted and to cultivate my mind and tastes and I had no idea that the rug would be pulled out of my feet upon graduation. I have tried to hold on to my old life by attempting to marry rich. HAHA. That did not pan out as my dh, although raised in a similar UC life growing up, also now has to fend for himself because his MC parents went broke financing his very expensive private education and vacations in France.  We are both kind of confused, earning a MC living but living among and around the truly rich. I'd go back to school and earn a profitable degree but I have no money and do not want to get into debt. Its really quite a sick joke.
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How old are you?  Were your parents supporting you after college?

My parents were diplomats and we got to see a little of the lifestyle of the very wealthy.  We definitely splurged on some things (vacations and restaurants, on occasion) and I was also encouraged to go to college and study whatever appealed to me.  But my parents definitely saved and are in a good retirement situation now.  It was a little bit of an awakening for me when I'd graduated from college and still had no idea what to do and realized the jobs I could get with my skills were admin-level work.  I went back to grad school and got some hard skills and am in a better position now.  [/quote]

I am 27 years old. What did you go back to school for? I want to go back as well however, I really don't want to go into debt.[/quote]

Was there NEVER any money talk in your home growing  up? Or when you were going to college? Or when you were graduating? Your parents really NEVER said -- this home and vacations are awesome but they're a perk of dad's job and dad retires in 3 yrs, so you will have to fend for yourself? Did the rug really get pulled out in such a way that one day he retired and you were stunned that the wealthy lifestyle ended? Or did you know these things and have signs and signals but decided you "should" be able to study what you wanted since that's what all your rich friends were doing and thus you got a literature degree?

What's your plan now? What do you WANT to go to school for - if anything? Do you look at salary ranges of various professions when considering future education plans, or will you again get a degree in something you want whether it's marketable or not?[/quote]

Money was talked about constantly, especially how despite what it looks like, we don't actually have much. My parents started to encourage me to go to medical school but soon realized that wasn't where my strengths lay. They then encouraged me to do whatever I wanted. Also, growing up in that bubble, I did not quite understand the logistics of not having money. I thought it meant not being able to buy $1000 shoes. It did not compute that it would also mean, no vacations, no house, small wedding etc. Later on, I made a half hearted attempt to marry rich but that didn't pan out as I realized my BF/Fiance/now DH was very solidly MC but like me appears UC due to his mannerisms and habits because of how he was raised. We are kind of a perfect match in that sense haha.

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