Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been here for more than 10 years. I’m don’t think many people lie, but:

1. DCUM skews wealthy.

2. There is a community of prolific posters here, as well as occasional posters. If the prolific ones post on many different financial threads, you have the impression they’re different people.

3. Posters tend to post if they can be the outlier, usually in a good way, or sometimes in a bad day, to counter the narrative of a post. So you have examples of very wealthy posters and low-income ones. The majority of whatever the topic is usually isn’t well-represented because once a few post, the rest don’t bother, since that’s not the most interesting position. So you may have a third of posters disclosing great wealth, a third relatively modest means, and a third middle class incomes/assets. Whereas the total DCUM population is maybe 75% middle class!

I hope this makes sense.

How do you know many people don’t lie? I’ve lied and pretended to be different posters several times, and I know I’m not the only troll.

DP. If you’ve been in the Big Law/consulting/business world at all, it’s pretty easy to tell who is lying. If you don’t have experience with the income levels of people in those circles, just assume that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. That said, there are wealthy people on this board (I know because I am one).

I think there are very few wealthy people on this board because the financial IQ of so many posters is obviously, hilariously low.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I have been reading DCUM for over 10 years, and have gained a lot of valuable knowledge/perspectives on many topics, especially financial and college admissions.

I have posted questions several times over the years, and have consistently received valuable and insightful feedback (along with some haters). Some of the feedback was critical of me, and that was OK because I am open to constructive criticism.

As a lawyer, I spend a lot of time at my computer reading and writing. Sometimes, when I need a little mental break, I will go over to DCUM. So I think that a lot of the posters on DCUM are lawyers. (For example, medical professionals are no doubt under-represented on DCUM because they are not sitting at a computer all day.) Whenever I read the BigLaw-related questions in the Jobs/Careers forum, I learn a lot. There are some people out there who are willing to share anonymous helpful info.

So it skews wealthier, because those people tend to be their own boss or have a lot of unsupervised time to read/post on DCUM.

I have always thought it was odd when people accuse other posters of lying about their income/wealth. Why would someone lie on an anonymous board? What is the point? If anything, DCUM helped me to realize that my DH and I (both lawyers) would kind of underpaid, and should seek raises or move jobs to get better pay.

And to the poster who is surprised that Jeff does not better monetize DCUM, I am surprised as well! (BTW, I read in one of Jeff's recent posts that more people have discovered DCUM in recent years - perhaps thanks to some Google algorithm? -- and therefore it is skewing slightly less wealthy than it once was, now that more people have discovered it.)

Do you not catch all of the posts made by supposed lawyers -- about law school, about working in BigLaw, about the future of the law as a career, about different specialties, opining on supreme court decisions, giving actual legal advice, etc etc etc -- that don't make sense if coming from an actual lawyer?

Also, you are a lawyer -- and you are surprised that people lie about income/wealth? What? How long have you been practicing? Five minutes? Do you not know that lots of people just lie?

DP: To be fair, I've known lawyers in real life who opine in ways that don't make sense on these topics too. Once you step outside your specialty, or if you aren't putting a lot of attention, crap can spew out of real lawyers mouths just as easily as those who play one on the internet.

Anonymous wrote:I think most people are posing on here. If I were earning $500k plus, I wouldn't be lurking around here.

We make more than this and I definitely think there are folks with high HHI on the money and finances. Where else and who else are you able to discuss these topics from private school, to nannies, to savings rate? These aren't topics we can discuss with friends or family. And we don't call our financial advisor every time we think we need make a smaller financial decision.

I found this board when looking for a forum focused on infertility, but stayed because there were a decent number of people who (claimed to) have similar finances and I found discussions much more relevant to my life than other forums. My husband and I are urban professionals with a HHI in the high 7 figures, and I can find discussions here about private schools, higher end fashion brands, choosing to work versus staying home with kids when finances aren’t a big concern, and other topics that don’t come up in forums that skew lower income. I imagine there are others like me, resulting in wealthier people being attracted to this forum in particular.

Anonymous wrote:
I have been reading DCUM for over 10 years, and have gained a lot of valuable knowledge/perspectives on many topics, especially financial and college admissions.

I have posted questions several times over the years, and have consistently received valuable and insightful feedback (along with some haters). Some of the feedback was critical of me, and that was OK because I am open to constructive criticism.

As a lawyer, I spend a lot of time at my computer reading and writing. Sometimes, when I need a little mental break, I will go over to DCUM. So I think that a lot of the posters on DCUM are lawyers. (For example, medical professionals are no doubt under-represented on DCUM because they are not sitting at a computer all day.) Whenever I read the BigLaw-related questions in the Jobs/Careers forum, I learn a lot. There are some people out there who are willing to share anonymous helpful info.

So it skews wealthier, because those people tend to be their own boss or have a lot of unsupervised time to read/post on DCUM.

I have always thought it was odd when people accuse other posters of lying about their income/wealth. Why would someone lie on an anonymous board? What is the point? If anything, DCUM helped me to realize that my DH and I (both lawyers) would kind of underpaid, and should seek raises or move jobs to get better pay.

And to the poster who is surprised that Jeff does not better monetize DCUM, I am surprised as well! (BTW, I read in one of Jeff's recent posts that more people have discovered DCUM in recent years - perhaps thanks to some Google algorithm? -- and therefore it is skewing slightly less wealthy than it once was, now that more people have discovered it.)

Do you not catch all of the posts made by supposed lawyers -- about law school, about working in BigLaw, about the future of the law as a career, about different specialties, opining on supreme court decisions, giving actual legal advice, etc etc etc -- that don't make sense if coming from an actual lawyer?

Also, you are a lawyer -- and you are surprised that people lie about income/wealth? What? How long have you been practicing? Five minutes? Do you not know that lots of people just lie?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people I know in DC earn at least $300K+ HHI, many $500K+, and lots with some or a lot of family help. The area is just too expensive for families who don't earn a lot.

Plenty of people in DC earn less than 300k. For example, Walmart workers, Postal workers, gas station workers, school teachers, nurses etc.

Hell, we are both JDs and we make less than 300k total.

Anonymous wrote:Most people I know in DC earn at least $300K+ HHI, many $500K+, and lots with some or a lot of family help. The area is just too expensive for families who don't earn a lot.

Most people I know in DC do not.

No one gets excited to hear about someone trying to plan budget vacation, and people making under $100K/yr don't join in pissing contests about HHI, and are often busy at working jobs, not sitting on the couch jobs.

I have been reading DCUM for over 10 years, and have gained a lot of valuable knowledge/perspectives on many topics, especially financial and college admissions.

I have posted questions several times over the years, and have consistently received valuable and insightful feedback (along with some haters). Some of the feedback was critical of me, and that was OK because I am open to constructive criticism.

As a lawyer, I spend a lot of time at my computer reading and writing. Sometimes, when I need a little mental break, I will go over to DCUM. So I think that a lot of the posters on DCUM are lawyers. (For example, medical professionals are no doubt under-represented on DCUM because they are not sitting at a computer all day.) Whenever I read the BigLaw-related questions in the Jobs/Careers forum, I learn a lot. There are some people out there who are willing to share anonymous helpful info.

So it skews wealthier, because those people tend to be their own boss or have a lot of unsupervised time to read/post on DCUM.

I have always thought it was odd when people accuse other posters of lying about their income/wealth. Why would someone lie on an anonymous board? What is the point? If anything, DCUM helped me to realize that my DH and I (both lawyers) would kind of underpaid, and should seek raises or move jobs to get better pay.

And to the poster who is surprised that Jeff does not better monetize DCUM, I am surprised as well! (BTW, I read in one of Jeff's recent posts that more people have discovered DCUM in recent years - perhaps thanks to some Google algorithm? -- and therefore it is skewing slightly less wealthy than it once was, now that more people have discovered it.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been here for more than 10 years. I’m don’t think many people lie, but:

1. DCUM skews wealthy.

2. There is a community of prolific posters here, as well as occasional posters. If the prolific ones post on many different financial threads, you have the impression they’re different people.

3. Posters tend to post if they can be the outlier, usually in a good way, or sometimes in a bad day, to counter the narrative of a post. So you have examples of very wealthy posters and low-income ones. The majority of whatever the topic is usually isn’t well-represented because once a few post, the rest don’t bother, since that’s not the most interesting position. So you may have a third of posters disclosing great wealth, a third relatively modest means, and a third middle class incomes/assets. Whereas the total DCUM population is maybe 75% middle class!

I hope this makes sense.

How do you know many people don’t lie? I’ve lied and pretended to be different posters several times, and I know I’m not the only troll.

DP. If you’ve been in the Big Law/consulting/business world at all, it’s pretty easy to tell who is lying. If you don’t have experience with the income levels of people in those circles, just assume that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. That said, there are wealthy people on this board (I know because I am one).

+1 I've caught some incorrect info about my field too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been here for more than 10 years. I’m don’t think many people lie, but:

1. DCUM skews wealthy.

2. There is a community of prolific posters here, as well as occasional posters. If the prolific ones post on many different financial threads, you have the impression they’re different people.

3. Posters tend to post if they can be the outlier, usually in a good way, or sometimes in a bad day, to counter the narrative of a post. So you have examples of very wealthy posters and low-income ones. The majority of whatever the topic is usually isn’t well-represented because once a few post, the rest don’t bother, since that’s not the most interesting position. So you may have a third of posters disclosing great wealth, a third relatively modest means, and a third middle class incomes/assets. Whereas the total DCUM population is maybe 75% middle class!

I hope this makes sense.

How do you know many people don’t lie? I’ve lied and pretended to be different posters several times, and I know I’m not the only troll.

DP. If you’ve been in the Big Law/consulting/business world at all, it’s pretty easy to tell who is lying. If you don’t have experience with the income levels of people in those circles, just assume that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. That said, there are wealthy people on this board (I know because I am one).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM does not skew wealthy.
All the good folks here making $500k+ annual incomes keep adamantly insisting that they are middle-class.

That's because it's a different middle class than other place's middle class.

+1

Middle class is a huge range from LMC to UMC: people who can put food on the table but aren't wealthy enough to never work.

This. UMC is better off than LMC, but it's not UC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM does not skew wealthy.
All the good folks here making $500k+ annual incomes keep adamantly insisting that they are middle-class.

That's because it's a different middle class than other place's middle class.

Yeah, the clueless and out of touch “middle-class.”

I am not wealthy and I don't even know any wealthy people. If the people of DCUM are super wealthy or even just regular wealthy the facts we have about them are that they have lots of time on their hands to sit around yakking on a message board a whole lot, opining about anything and everything, the epitome of the idle rich. It's not really a good look, especially for those who are doing it at work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM does not skew wealthy.
All the good folks here making $500k+ annual incomes keep adamantly insisting that they are middle-class.

That's because it's a different middle class than other place's middle class.

+1

Middle class is a huge range from LMC to UMC: people who can put food on the table but aren't wealthy enough to never work.