Reply to Ever seem like people in the same HHI range as you are much wealthier?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My DH and i used to discuss this about his group of college friends who all ended up in comparable salary ranges in their 30s (~$200k).  But one of his buddies was in dire financial straights compared to the rest of us - overstretched on houses, had to declare bankruptcy in the recession, having to sell things to bridge gaps, etc.  The rest of us were comfortably upper middle class without financial stress.  The financially stretched buddy was buying the same houses and cars as the rest of us, on the same salary as his buddies, but the differences?

- college debt. The rest of us had parents who paid for our (in-state) tuition
- "beginning of life help".  Again, the rest of us had parents who were upper middle class themselves and helped us with things like: down payments on the first super cheap apartment in a small town that appreciated nicely, while DH's buddy paid rent for 8 years; maybe they had a first car that their parents bought them in college.  
- wives who worked.  This seems like a "duh", but i don't know if this friend got it at first.  Another of DH's buddies wives worked very part time in a non-profit, but she probably earned $50k -- which i know her DH always said made things that little bit more comfortable in their household.  I'm an attorney and was making biglaw money at 27.  But DH's buddy saw it as a bunch of his buddies and him earned the same, so he spent the same as them.  After about 10 years of this (and bankruptcy) he finally clued in when he mentioned it would be nice if his DW worked, and it sure would take some pressure off their HHI.

So comparable incomes, but 20 years later, that friend could never get ahead because he was always spending everything he had. While the rest of us started ahead, and thus were saving early, which meant we had more cushion to spend and still save as the years went on.  [/quote]

This reminds me of the recent article about how White American households have so much more wealth than Black American households with the same income. It is a HUGE advantage to start with no debt, help with a downpayment, a safety net in case things go terribly wrong, etc.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/18/upshot/black-white-wealth-gap-perceptions.html[/quote]

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