The "Jones" family simply cannot afford the mortgage on 80% of the $750k house. Housing prices are way out of whack with what people can truly afford. When we bought our house, it was about $750k, but our mortgage was for a little over $400k.

I happen to agree that $250k is not the right threshold for the highest tax bracket though, at least not in this region.

People are not rich because other people who also want to be rich have found good ways to get them to part with their money.

Growing up we were rich but 3/4 of the things that people spend their money on just were not relevant. We had a big house but my mother certainly did not spend 50K on a kitchen remodel to get the latest designer dishwasher or concrete counter top. Her big expenses were things like new drapes or wallpaper (yuck I know). We had a really nice TV in the family room but it would have never occurred to anyone to put one in several rooms and spend a few thousand on each so they were plasma screens.

College and graduate school did not cost hundreds of thousands of dollars so no one walked away with massive debt.

250k is rich no matter how you try to whine otherwise. If you have enough money to cover all of your expenses (which includes your "wants"), private school, savings and have money for your kid's college, then yes you are rich. Where I am from people rarely make enough to pay for college outright. Go back and read the thread about people not even having 25k saved for retirement. That is where the majority of America is at. Many of you are making 5x the average American family. Yes you are the upper class, whether you own it or not. I've lived in other high cost of living parts of the country and salaries are not nearly as high.

Millionaires declare bankruptcy all of the time. Why, because they can't manage their money and make bad investments, not because they aren't "rich".

Anonymous wrote:Agree that it's probably not "down-and-out" - but it does shed a lot of light on the fact that folks who have worked hard, trying to do the right things - like educating themselves (resulting in student loans), saving for retirement, kids' college expenses, and both parents working to make it happen - aren't "rich" by any standard, particularly in this area.

Since when does "doing the right thing" = rich?

Agree that it's probably not "down-and-out" - but it does shed a lot of light on the fact that folks who have worked hard, trying to do the right things - like educating themselves (resulting in student loans), saving for retirement, kids' college expenses, and both parents working to make it happen - aren't "rich" by any standard, particularly in this area.

The subject has been thrashed out ad nauseam on these boards.

Given that my family of four lives happily on $100K (and not even that until quite recently), I certainly would not mind being "down and out" on $250K .

this calculation tabs in $5000k/annum in housekeeper pay in a 'down and out' scenario....that's BS. We're high 200s and it's an insult to others to call these brackets down and out. What are sub-100k, gutter scum. Some of these folks should be sent out to live on social assistance in SE for a month...then they can chat about down and out. Why are people so out of touch.

$250k probably puts you in the top 10% in just about any hood, except maybe parts of Georgetown and Great Falls. But even there, I suspect you're above the median.

Or is this another, "poor suffering rich people" thread, so we can justify squashing the workplace rights of teachers making $60k a year?

"Down and Out"? Hardly. The hypothetical couple described in the article was in the red AFTER saving for college for their kids, saving for retirements, and living a "middle of the road" lifestyle. It's not like they are standing in soup kitchen lines on 250K.

The Post did an interesting piece on this in Dec:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/12/11/ST2010121100365.html?sid=ST2010121100365

Chart here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2010/12/11/GR2010121100050.html?sid=ST2010121100365

Anonymous wrote:Breaking news - "You're not rich if you spend all your money!!"

But you might still be WINNING!

Breaking news - "You're not rich if you spend all your money!!"

There is a huge gap between "making ends meet" and being "rich."

If you can't "make ends meet" on $250K, you're doing something wrong. I don't care where you live.

http://money.msn.com/tax-planning/down-and-out-on-250000-dollars-a-year-fiscal-times.aspx

Interesting article - especially because it identifies this region as one where $250K/yr doesn't make you "rich" by any stretch!