Reply to If you make <36,000 or >81,000, You Aren't Middle Class. Or "Upper" Middle Class.

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Reply to "If you make <36,000 or >81,000, You Aren't Middle Class. Or "Upper" Middle Class. "

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Cost of living plays a huge role in this.  For the same consumer basket (your weekly grocery cart, for example, plus utilities, housing etc.) you pay a lot less in some parts of the country and a lot more in others. [/quote]

There are COL adjusters for every part of the country. I live in Illinois. We make 100k a year and live like kings here. In DC, that's equivalent to 168k. It's not middle class in Illinois and it's not middle class in DC either. http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/index.html[/quote]

Are we talking about a single person or a family?  Well, you can speak for Illinois, but nobody with a family of 4 is living like a king in DC on $168K.  Between housing, groceries and daycare, you'd be lucky to be able to fund your 401K.[/quote]

Daycare is temporary, and there are alternatives like SAH parenting--I know; we just finished 2 years of SAH. Groceries are highly flexible. Housing can be solved by simply moving farther away from the most expensive parts of a city. None of this is magic, but it does require making sacrifices. Living like a king to me doesn't mean flying around in my private helicopter while eating caviar; it simply means being able to afford anything we *need* while being able to spend money on fun within the borders of our income. If your definition requires more income than you have, then no, you'll never feel like a king, but perpetually like a pauper.[/quote]

I am the PP you've responded to.  SAH is not a viable option for everybody.  People may not be able to afford their mortgage, healthcare and saving for retirement and college on one salary.  People may have jobs in the field that's not easy to re-enter, or in positions do not come up frequently.  Or in this area - feds with the older version of the pension plan that's a lot more advantageous than the one currently offered. You forego not just your salary, but also raises, 401K matches and years of pensionable service in some jobs.

SAH is not free, as one of PPs mentioned. Your opportunity costs may outweigh the seemingly "free" option. Even if you run the numbers and they work out that SAH is better - you still need a significant amount of emergency fund (some financial planners say ~6 mo of all expenses) saved.  Because when only one person is working (and it requires to live far out, clip coupons, etc. in order for the family to pull it off), if the working spouse suddenly loses their job it can be a total financial ruin w/o emergency savings.  [/quote]

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