Reply to s/o - feeling "poor" at these ludicrously high incomes. what are they actually missing?

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Reply to "s/o - feeling "poor" at these ludicrously high incomes. what are they actually missing?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think it's because people don't "count"  having a nanny, and a $800k house, and outsourcing as their luxuries.

The $600k poster was a really good example of that, how she explained away "well we have to have a nanny since our work hours are so long and we don't have family" and justifies the student loan at $1k "because one of us is a lawyer."

Not realizing that some people would HAVE to move close to family, not a choice to have a nanny, or put their child in a high ratio daycare that is cheap but has extended hours and add an hour to their daily commute to get there, or even be up to date on their student loans without having a parent bail them out, get on a deferred payment plan, etc.

And having 2 cars instead of getting a small condo, kids share a room, and take metro.

They look at their money AFTER doing all those things.

That's the problem.[/quote]

I strongly agree with this post. The people complaining about being poor on six figure incomes are confused about why they're not rolling in cash after paying expensive mortgage (most poor people don't own houses), paying for their expensive childcare (most poor people do not pay $2k+ month in childcare), paying off their grad/law/med school student loans (most poor people do not go to grad/law/medical school), and paying their grocery bills at Whole Foods.

I also find the "$300k is middle class" argument disingenuous because posters who say "owning a home, going to college, taking vacations, etc. are middle class activities" often fail to recognize that [b]owning a $700,000 house is not middle class, going to Yale is not middle class, and flying 4 people to Disney for a week is not middle class. [/b]

I sympathize with the rich people problems. It would be nice if we all had enough money to pay for the things that we want. But there's a world of difference between choosing which utility bill to pay this month and choosing whether to go to Disney this summer or this winter.[/quote]

WTF? That is certainly middle class now and was middle class 30 years ago. My parents were certainly middle class and we went to Disney a few times. They owned a nice house (no mansion, but no dump), and sent two kids off to private universities (one Ivy). We had some student loans but mostly paid for by my parents.

[/quote]

Yeah, going to Disney is totes middle class.  [/quote]

np. I'd say going to Disney once, maybe twice in a childhood is middle class, and that often involves a big, extended family vacation with grandparents helping to foot the bill for everyone, possibly staying offsite, saving for a couple years.

"Doing Disney" pretty regularly and wringing your hands about the commercialization and inauthenticity (but assuaging your angst by ensuring that your kids also get to European museums), staying at monorail resorts, etc., etc., is NOT middle class.[/quote]

I know two teacher households that go regularly. Are you saying they aren't middle class? Your definition of "middle class" is f'ed up. 
[/quote]

A two-teacher household (I think that's what you mean; hyphens are important) is in the [b]lower regions of upper-middle class.[/b][/quote]

WTF?!

And and we getting that granular? Lower-upper-middle class?

In terms of lifestyle and expectation I think there are really only three categories: poor, middle class, rich 
[/quote]

Two teacher household is upper middle class??? That is crazy...

Disney vacation is by definition middle class vacation; yes you can upper class it with resorts or private character lunches or what not, but flying to freaking Orlando and going to Disney??

As for $700k house? That is disingenuous: housing costs have far out stripped income, so $700k gets you middle class housing if you want ok schools and not extreme commute. It's not like it can buy you a mansion on an acre unless you are in WV. Median sale price for Fairfax is $500k and that includes condos/townhouses.

Housing is the real problem here; prices way out of whack with incomes. [/quote]

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