Anonymous wrote:Lots of responsible people here.

Seriously. These threads always fill me with anxiety because my husband and I were both pretty feckless people in our younger days. We are in our mid-40s and finally have about $150k in retirement savings between us - but we both only started saving maybe seven years ago. We have about $5k in emergency savings - but that'll likely get eaten up by taxes this year. I still owe nearly $50k in student loans.

And yet we still are feeling like we are doing better than a lot of people out there. I expect there's plenty of people who were even more feckless than we were, who just aren't posting here. Anyway, we feel very grateful that between the two of us we're climbing into responsibility, even later than might be ideal. We had fun youths, anyway!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:39 and 41. HHI 230k. Military officer and nonprofit executive. $850k in retirement (no match), $120k in saving, $110k in other investments, $180k in 529s, and $550k in equity.

How did you save so much money?!?!?!

Before kids, we lived off one salary and saved the other (still had plenty of money to travel the world). We’ve also made money in real estate and “flipped” our primary residences over 5+ moves. We would buy in transitional neighborhoods near public transportation, contract out renovations (DH not handy) and would make $75-$140k after taxes, renovations, etc. I’ve also had great employers who allowed me to work remotely as we’ve moved—most military spouses are not so lucky. We’ve been very fortunate as most military families are unable to build wealth.

Both 31, HHI 190k. Saved like crazy in our 20s (lived off of one salary for years). 1 infant, 1 toddler, live in VA.

401k- 210k (I max it out, DH doesn't)
House- 650k, we owe 300k (flipped and sold our previous house for a lot and rolled lots of equity in. This is our insurance policy in case one of us loses our jobs. Either of us can afford the mortgage on one salary- it's $1600 a month)
No debt, paid off old cars, 160k cash in our money market as we plan on buying a rental this spring.

Married, 35 and 36, HHI just hit 190.

Combined 401k Savings: $250,000
Other Savings: About 3-5k (depending on what emergencies crop up that month)
Home Equity: Around $120,000

Debt: (Some CC, Mostly Student Loans): 60k
Outstanding Mortgage:$480,000

I go between being confident with our 401k savings rate and thinking we are not doing great... based on our debt and small amount of available savings. This year our goal is to Save More/Spend Less and to beef up the Debt payments. Fortunately, I just got a promotion so we have a bit more to throw at these things. Mostly.. I just think we are ok. We could be better... but we could be worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Single, just started earning.

Monthly salary after taxes and maxing 401k: $7000
Rent: $2800
Loans: $2000
Living expenses: $1000
Savings: $1200

Basically, I Expect to save roughly $15k/year in addition to the 401k. Comfortable, but saving for a down payment will take a while.

So your salary is around $150-160k as a single person? I don't think people here would consider you middle class based on the previous posts. Most likely they will consider you UMC or even wealthy.

But she has $2000/month in student loans. I doubt she'll actually be able to save $1200/month because stuff comes up and living expenses of only $1000 seems low (if it includes utilities, phone bill, along with groceries, clothes and going out)

Anonymous wrote:Single, just started earning.

Monthly salary after taxes and maxing 401k: $7000
Rent: $2800
Loans: $2000
Living expenses: $1000
Savings: $1200

Basically, I Expect to save roughly $15k/year in addition to the 401k. Comfortable, but saving for a down payment will take a while.

So your salary is around $150-160k as a single person? I don't think people here would consider you middle class based on the previous posts. Most likely they will consider you UMC or even wealthy.

Anonymous wrote:42 yo, 3 dc, HHI of 165k, our retirement savings is pitiful (less than 100k). Our mortgage is relatively low (2100 all in) but we spend @ $1000 on therapies for our SN dc that aren't covered by insurance and I can't work b/c of his issues so no way to really boost our income/savings right now. I honestly try not to think about it. Probably not the recommended strategy.

We save around $1200 each month in theory outside the 401k but in reality there are a lot of expenses that just pop up (appliance or car repairs etc) so it comes out as less than that or even in the hole for the month.

Found the legit middle class family!

Anonymous wrote:Well I feel behind now. Both 30, HHI 145k. 1 kid in daycare and 1 on the way. 70k in 401k, 15k emergency fund, no college savings. No student loans or cc debt, small car loan on a used car, own a 2 br condo. How do you all do it?

I posted earlier with an HHI of $230k. We are 38/40; here is a comparison of where we were then v. now:

Stats: then/now

HHI: $120k/$230k(ish)
401ks: 27k/510k
IRAs: 11k/46k
Taxable: 0/50k
529s: $10k/130k
Homes: TH w. 30k equity/SFH w. $265k equity

This tread makes me feel better
We're 41/42, HHI ~$210K
401k - ~$400k, no college savings, emergency fund ~$20k
we don't max it out as of yet - 3 kids, 1 in college (we paying in-state tuition out of pocket). No debts other than mortgage.
Started our careers later in life, earning at this level only for the last couple of years.

Well I feel behind now. Both 30, HHI 145k. 1 kid in daycare and 1 on the way. 70k in 401k, 15k emergency fund, no college savings. No student loans or cc debt, small car loan on a used car, own a 2 br condo. How do you all do it?

Anonymous wrote:39 and 41. HHI 230k. Military officer and nonprofit executive. $850k in retirement (no match), $120k in saving, $110k in other investments, $180k in 529s, and $550k in equity.

How did you save so much money?!?!?!

42 yo, 3 dc, HHI of 165k, our retirement savings is pitiful (less than 100k). Our mortgage is relatively low (2100 all in) but we spend @ $1000 on therapies for our SN dc that aren't covered by insurance and I can't work b/c of his issues so no way to really boost our income/savings right now. I honestly try not to think about it. Probably not the recommended strategy.

We save around $1200 each month in theory outside the 401k but in reality there are a lot of expenses that just pop up (appliance or car repairs etc) so it comes out as less than that or even in the hole for the month.

Single, just started earning.

Monthly salary after taxes and maxing 401k: $7000
Rent: $2800
Loans: $2000
Living expenses: $1000
Savings: $1200

Basically, I Expect to save roughly $15k/year in addition to the 401k. Comfortable, but saving for a down payment will take a while.

OP here. Thanks for the replies. I do agree that middle class for purposes of this discussion on this board should be around $170k-$220k for a family of 4.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 37/35 and our HHI is close to 400k. We both have student loans, her more so than me, which sucks because I generate more than 3/4 of our income. We have about $250k in home equity, $350k combined in 401k assets, $85k in cash, and about another $100k in other investments. I also have some other liquid collectible stuff, like a vintage Porsche I could sell for probably $125-150k.

I agree with the PP that student loans are a gigantic difference. The other difference is my employer (a law firm) has never matched my 401k contributions, which has limited the growth of those accounts. Also, housing here is expensive, and we paid premium to have a decent sized house within close driving distance of downtown.

Thanks for your input but if you are a 400k HHI please don’t respond as “middle class”

What is the middle class cut off?

Excellent question! DCUM iis made up of highly educated and affluent liberals with little sense of reality. According to this study, which gives the middle-class range in all 50 states and DC, the middle class in DC is......drum roll....

...between $49,000 and $149,000 (HH of three)

This does sound a bit low to me, though, but certainly....$400k is in the upper 2 or 3% and is far from middle class. I earn slightly less than $100,000 and am quite comfortable.

https://nypost.com/2017/12/29/mayor-tragic-fire-likely-sparked-by-child-playing-with-stove/