Anonymous wrote:I'm the 76 percenter. ha ha ha I love that I am at the bottom of the DCUM financial pecking order! Damn, there are some rich folk here!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 76%. I am pretty disgusted by all the people moaning about how hard it is to live in DC in the 90%+. If you feel that way, I would suggest that you are living above your means and there are plenty of ways to adjust that. Buy a less expensive house in a less desirable neighborhood. Send your child to public school. Buy used cars. And most importantly, stop trying to keep up with your neighbors. Change your social circle.

Don't complain about making that amount of money. I don't complain about our HHI. I feel fortunate to live in city with jobs, free museums, and some of the best public schools in the country. And we make a lot less than you but a lot more than most people in the country, even considering the cost of living here. Between my husband and I we have 5 degrees (2 undergrads, 2 masters, and a doctorate). We just made the decision to go into a field we love (the arts) knowing it wouldn't be financially rewarding, but would be emotionally rewarding.

Grow up. And volunteer (don't just donate money) - maybe you will get a little perspective.

boooo-yaaaaa! I loved the way you just dished that out!

Anonymous wrote:We are 76%. I am pretty disgusted by all the people moaning about how hard it is to live in DC in the 90%+. If you feel that way, I would suggest that you are living above your means and there are plenty of ways to adjust that. Buy a less expensive house in a less desirable neighborhood. Send your child to public school. Buy used cars. And most importantly, stop trying to keep up with your neighbors. Change your social circle.

Don't complain about making that amount of money. I don't complain about our HHI. I feel fortunate to live in city with jobs, free museums, and some of the best public schools in the country. And we make a lot less than you but a lot more than most people in the country, even considering the cost of living here. Between my husband and I we have 5 degrees (2 undergrads, 2 masters, and a doctorate). We just made the decision to go into a field we love (the arts) knowing it wouldn't be financially rewarding, but would be emotionally rewarding.

Grow up. And volunteer (don't just donate money) - maybe you will get a little perspective.

Anonymous wrote:Does this calculator base it on pure gross income or Adjusted income?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Teachers, nurses, firemen, nannies, biologists, editors, reporters, web designers, librarians, daycare workers, social workers even garbage collectors are all useful to society."

society rewards different montary amount to an individual based on his or her skillset and usefullness to the society

Obviously pay is based on supply and demand. Teachers are incredibly valuable but the possible supply of good teachers outstrips the demand so the pay is not that high.

You are not a very good labor economist: supply-demand determines only a part of pay.

Anonymous wrote:"Teachers, nurses, firemen, nannies, biologists, editors, reporters, web designers, librarians, daycare workers, social workers even garbage collectors are all useful to society."

society rewards different montary amount to an individual based on his or her skillset and usefullness to the society

SAM2 wrote:Here are a couple recent items on why the rich often feel poor.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hidden-motives/201103/why-do-the-rich-feel-poor

Such judgments depend on context. .... "Wealthy" compared with what? The relevant context here is the growing gap between the rich and the poor. That makes the poor feel poorer, but it also makes the rich at the bottom end of the spectrum feel poor as well.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/why-so-many-rich-people-dont-feel-very-rich/

Why don’t people at the 90th percentile of the income distribution feel particularly rich? The answer is simple: because any Americans who are richer than this cohort are so much richer. ... Those in the middle earn a little less than people a few percentiles up from them, whereas those at the top earn a lot less than their counterparts in nearby, higher percentiles. ... In other words, at least in dollar terms, there is much greater inequality at the very top of the income scale than at the bottom or in the middle. ... when evaluating their own incomes, most families are trying to keep up with the Joneses: they envy the wealthier neighbor whose lifestyle they aim to match. And in dollar terms, the rich are falling far shorter of their respective Joneses than the middle-income and lower-income are. ... It is perhaps no wonder, then, that so many people who are statistically rich call themselves “upper middle” or even “middle class.” They are much, much richer than lots of poor people, but also much, much poorer than some very visibly rich people. From their perspective, they truly are in the middle.

If you want to feel rich, I guess the solution is to hang out with people who earn less than you do.

Anonymous wrote:This thread has officially jumped the shark.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Teachers, nurses, firemen, nannies, biologists, editors, reporters, web designers, librarians, daycare workers, social workers even garbage collectors are all useful to society."

society rewards different montary amount to an individual based on his or her skillset and usefullness to the society

Obviously pay is based on supply and demand. Teachers are incredibly valuable but the possible supply of good teachers outstrips the demand so the pay is not that high.

You are not a very good labor economist: supply-demand determines only a part of pay.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Teachers, nurses, firemen, nannies, biologists, editors, reporters, web designers, librarians, daycare workers, social workers even garbage collectors are all useful to society."

society rewards different montary amount to an individual based on his or her skillset and usefullness to the society

Obviously pay is based on supply and demand. Teachers are incredibly valuable but the possible supply of good teachers outstrips the demand so the pay is not that high.