As an atheist who made all their own money and formerly owned a house in Chevy Chase, I vote no on this question

There is still an older generation in Bethesda who were/are middle class and have owned their older homes for decades. Younger folks, especially younger folks with kids, tend to be high-income professionals (lawyers, physicians, dentists, consultants, etc.), though not all are WASPy (in both groups).

what exactly is old money?

i do not consider myself old money. my grandpa was middle management for a large company went to a state school, never earned much, will die with $4mm+, will pass on $1mm to 4 grandchildren. parents are from the south, went to state schools, sent me to private school then ivy, they're worth about $10mm, will pass on $5mm to two children. we are a two career family, make $500K in our 30's and live in one of the above cities, should eventually be quite wealthy

I've never belonged to a country club, my ancestors didn't come on the mayflower, and if you go back a generation beyond the grandparents, you'll get small time farmers and such. so yea, defintely not old money. I am a white anglo saxon protestant. i've enjoyed loads of privilege, but not old money.

assuming i don't screw things up or death duties don't become too severe, each generation should get wealthier over time. this should continue and eventually maybe some generation (my future grandkids???) will be considered old money? but is old money measured in generations (ie you're old money if your family has been wealthy for 5 generations) or is it measured by some absolute unmoving metric that is unattainable (ie you're old money if your family was wealthy in 1800/1900/1950). is it some absolute dollar number maintained over a number of generations (you're old money if you have $10mm for 10 generations?)

Maybe it once was but it seems like all of my neighbors here in CC are either Catholic (the BSS crew) or Jewish. All of the old-money WASPs I know in the area live in DC, mostly in Spring Valley and Kent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I notice that a lot of my Bethesda neighbors are two-lawyer households who attended prestigious colleges and law schools. So they are working in high-paying jobs and want to live somewhat close to downtown DC (which Bethesda can offer).

This is a huge portion of my Bethesda neighborhood - two earner (not necessarily lawyer) where at least one person works in DC, and where proximity is very important/convenient.

I agree. I think this might be even more prominent in the areas away from downtown that are expensive, but relatively less insanely so. You've got tons of "working wealthy" folks, but not a ton of old money.

Anonymous wrote:I notice that a lot of my Bethesda neighbors are two-lawyer households who attended prestigious colleges and law schools. So they are working in high-paying jobs and want to live somewhat close to downtown DC (which Bethesda can offer).

This is a huge portion of my Bethesda neighborhood - two earner (not necessarily lawyer) where at least one person works in DC, and where proximity is very important/convenient.

White flight? LOL! Have you been there lately. I mean, it was overrun by all of those brown people.

I notice that a lot of my Bethesda neighbors are two-lawyer households who attended prestigious colleges and law schools. So they are working in high-paying jobs and want to live somewhat close to downtown DC (which Bethesda can offer).

Bethesda historically was not. It was more middle glass government workers. That’s all the 20th century “shit shacks” that are being torn down now. The money was in CC or, at some point, Potomac. Fewer tear downs in CC because the houses were fancier to start with.

I've lived in Bethesda for 18 years, and I think there is family money here (in the sense that people get help from their parents with down payments and possibly vacations and second homes).

Help with the down payment seems pretty common these days, and is a staple of families that have at least a little bit of money. I think it's nice to be able to do that for your kids, and I hope to do the same.

Not necessarily all "WASPs".\ per se. There is a good-sized Jewish community. And a lot of World Bank employees from different parts of the world (a lot from Europe).

living here, i conclude that the money is of varying vintages.

Many Catholics live in the Blessed Sacrament parish, which is a good chunk of Chevy Chase on both sides of the DC line, and have for generations.

Anonymous wrote:It depends. What do you think WASP and old money mean?

White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) are upper-class white American Protestants, usually of British descent. WASP elites dominated American society, culture, and politics for most of the history of the United States, maintaining a monopoly through intermarriage, inheritance, and nepotism.

It depends. What do you think WASP and old money mean?

Is CC and BETHESDA consider as old money and if not when did that end?

At one point I thought those two areas back in the eighties and seventies were primarily WASP