Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


It's a disease: people strenously denying they're rich in the face of all available evidence, including publicly available data regarding median and average incomes and net worth, even after factoring high cost of living areas (of which the DC area is NOT, by far, the highest)

So they can go blue in the face all they want, we know they're rich.

what percent of the country would you classify as rich? the top ____ percent?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rich = high income w/o the assets. They still work for their money.

You didn't ask, but wealthy = high assets + high net worth. They make their money on passive income.

so you wouldn't consider an heiress rich?

Anonymous wrote:I’m so tired of everyone saying they are middle class. And then, everyone saying - No! You are not.

**** Let’s get to the bottom of this ****
What is Rich? When do you exit middle class?
What HHI do you have & what worries do you NOT have?
Do you roll in your money?

Be proud. I’m listening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make $400k a year and are definitely not rich. Pretty laughable to say that we are.

this might be the most out of touch thing I've read all day

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 200k is rich. I don't care if that means you can't afford 40k per year private school. You have choices, you are not struggling, none of your bills should be a struggle. So what you cannot afford vacations in Aspen and EU. That doesn't qualify you for middle class.

Any HHI can be on a budget.

There is no 300k middle class. I don't care where you live. You chose your home and your mortgage.

This used to be the definition of middle class. Now it's rich?

Yes. Lots of middle class Americans still struggle with paying bills. Middle class is going on vacation one state over, in a cheap motel, staying with family, or even camping in a tent. They are not on government assistance, but when that $500 medical bill comes in, they have to make a payment plan or struggle to pay it off. If you do not feel that dread of an unforeseen expense, because you have savings, a good career, and plenty of options, then you are not really middle class. Sure you aren't Bill Gates, but you are incredibly wealthy in many ways.

Someone who is struggling to pay bills is either lower class or lower middle class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 200k is rich. I don't care if that means you can't afford 40k per year private school. You have choices, you are not struggling, none of your bills should be a struggle. So what you cannot afford vacations in Aspen and EU. That doesn't qualify you for middle class.

Any HHI can be on a budget.

There is no 300k middle class. I don't care where you live. You chose your home and your mortgage.

This used to be the definition of middle class. Now it's rich?

Yes. Lots of middle class Americans still struggle with paying bills. Middle class is going on vacation one state over, in a cheap motel, staying with family, or even camping in a tent. They are not on government assistance, but when that $500 medical bill comes in, they have to make a payment plan or struggle to pay it off. If you do not feel that dread of an unforeseen expense, because you have savings, a good career, and plenty of options, then you are not really middle class. Sure you aren't Bill Gates, but you are incredibly wealthy in many ways.

So I could walk down the Main Street of Magic Kingdom in Disney World and every single person (non-"cast member") I see must be rich because they obviously have the discretionary funds to spend on a fairly pricey vacation that goes beyond staying in a cheap motel one state over.

...yes, except for local Floridians. When I was a kid only rich families went to Disney. The DCUM bubble is such a trip.

OK, I think that's a bit ridiculous to say that every guest at Disney World who is not a resident of Florida is rich.

There are two things you need to consider. One is that when you were a kid, you were actually poorer than you realized. That's not a bad thing, in fact, it says a lot for your parents that you never felt like you were missing out.

Second, and more importantly, standards change. Travel is cheaper now than it's ever been. People have more disposable income. The U.S. standard of living is higher than it was when we were kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 200k is rich. I don't care if that means you can't afford 40k per year private school. You have choices, you are not struggling, none of your bills should be a struggle. So what you cannot afford vacations in Aspen and EU. That doesn't qualify you for middle class.

Any HHI can be on a budget.

There is no 300k middle class. I don't care where you live. You chose your home and your mortgage.

This used to be the definition of middle class. Now it's rich?

Yes. Lots of middle class Americans still struggle with paying bills. Middle class is going on vacation one state over, in a cheap motel, staying with family, or even camping in a tent. They are not on government assistance, but when that $500 medical bill comes in, they have to make a payment plan or struggle to pay it off. If you do not feel that dread of an unforeseen expense, because you have savings, a good career, and plenty of options, then you are not really middle class. Sure you aren't Bill Gates, but you are incredibly wealthy in many ways.

So I could walk down the Main Street of Magic Kingdom in Disney World and every single person (non-"cast member") I see must be rich because they obviously have the discretionary funds to spend on a fairly pricey vacation that goes beyond staying in a cheap motel one state over.

...yes, except for local Floridians. When I was a kid only rich families went to Disney. The DCUM bubble is such a trip.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 200k is rich. I don't care if that means you can't afford 40k per year private school. You have choices, you are not struggling, none of your bills should be a struggle. So what you cannot afford vacations in Aspen and EU. That doesn't qualify you for middle class.

Any HHI can be on a budget.

There is no 300k middle class. I don't care where you live. You chose your home and your mortgage.

This used to be the definition of middle class. Now it's rich?

Yes. Lots of middle class Americans still struggle with paying bills. Middle class is going on vacation one state over, in a cheap motel, staying with family, or even camping in a tent. They are not on government assistance, but when that $500 medical bill comes in, they have to make a payment plan or struggle to pay it off. If you do not feel that dread of an unforeseen expense, because you have savings, a good career, and plenty of options, then you are not really middle class. Sure you aren't Bill Gates, but you are incredibly wealthy in many ways.

So I could walk down the Main Street of Magic Kingdom in Disney World and every single person (non-"cast member") I see must be rich because they obviously have the discretionary funds to spend on a fairly pricey vacation that goes beyond staying in a cheap motel one state over.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 200k is rich. I don't care if that means you can't afford 40k per year private school. You have choices, you are not struggling, none of your bills should be a struggle. So what you cannot afford vacations in Aspen and EU. That doesn't qualify you for middle class.

Any HHI can be on a budget.

There is no 300k middle class. I don't care where you live. You chose your home and your mortgage.

This used to be the definition of middle class. Now it's rich?

Yes. Lots of middle class Americans still struggle with paying bills. Middle class is going on vacation one state over, in a cheap motel, staying with family, or even camping in a tent. They are not on government assistance, but when that $500 medical bill comes in, they have to make a payment plan or struggle to pay it off. If you do not feel that dread of an unforeseen expense, because you have savings, a good career, and plenty of options, then you are not really middle class. Sure you aren't Bill Gates, but you are incredibly wealthy in many ways.

Someone who is struggling to pay bills is either lower class or lower middle class.

Anonymous wrote:We make $400k a year and are definitely not rich. Pretty laughable to say that we are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You exit middle class at 400k

what are you considered at this HHI?

Yes, but this isn’t rich. We’ll surpass this HHI this year, yet our net worth is under $1M. Our retirement and kids’ college funds are woefully underfunded. We’re in our late 40s, so we have some time to catch up but not so much time that we’ll retire rich. It would have been a game-changer if we made this income 10 years ago, but we didn’t.

Just curious, what are your jobs, and what were you making 10 or 15 years ago?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 200k is rich. I don't care if that means you can't afford 40k per year private school. You have choices, you are not struggling, none of your bills should be a struggle. So what you cannot afford vacations in Aspen and EU. That doesn't qualify you for middle class.

Any HHI can be on a budget.

There is no 300k middle class. I don't care where you live. You chose your home and your mortgage.

This used to be the definition of middle class. Now it's rich?

Yes. Lots of middle class Americans still struggle with paying bills. Middle class is going on vacation one state over, in a cheap motel, staying with family, or even camping in a tent. They are not on government assistance, but when that $500 medical bill comes in, they have to make a payment plan or struggle to pay it off. If you do not feel that dread of an unforeseen expense, because you have savings, a good career, and plenty of options, then you are not really middle class. Sure you aren't Bill Gates, but you are incredibly wealthy in many ways.

But this is insane. According to this definition, I was "rich" when I was in grad school making $9000/year because I had expenses low enough that I could still save money. This definition of "middle class" doesn't make sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 200k is rich. I don't care if that means you can't afford 40k per year private school. You have choices, you are not struggling, none of your bills should be a struggle. So what you cannot afford vacations in Aspen and EU. That doesn't qualify you for middle class.

Any HHI can be on a budget.

There is no 300k middle class. I don't care where you live. You chose your home and your mortgage.

This used to be the definition of middle class. Now it's rich?

Yes. Lots of middle class Americans still struggle with paying bills. Middle class is going on vacation one state over, in a cheap motel, staying with family, or even camping in a tent. They are not on government assistance, but when that $500 medical bill comes in, they have to make a payment plan or struggle to pay it off. If you do not feel that dread of an unforeseen expense, because you have savings, a good career, and plenty of options, then you are not really middle class. Sure you aren't Bill Gates, but you are incredibly wealthy in many ways.