Or maybe I m the one who don’t understand it because it is not my native language XD
The definition of middle class should also include the effort required to get there. A nuerosurgeon who earns $300k by working 11 hours a day does not enjoy the same quality of life as a celebrity who earns roughly the same amount for 3 hours a month!
I have always felt that we are solidly in the middle class where money gets tight. That survey did not change my mind, even though we make 60k more than the higher amount listed for middle class for my area. We do not qualify for financial aid. We will have to take out loans & our sons will as well. On paper we may look rich, but we are far from it.
I"m starting to hate the word “class.” We are definitely upper income these days, even for our high income metro area, but I don’t think we’re upper class at all. We’re not rich, we’re not powerful; we’re just doing well and have gone a while without being hit with any disasters. And “low class” has some nasty connotations as well.
There is something very un-American about acknowledging “class”, and it’s really gauche and declasse (see what I did there?) to ever admit you are anything but “middle class” (unless you happen to be a philanthropist and are donating your billions to charity).
I must be tired today, @FCCDad. I thought you said we were donating our “bills” to charity and I couldn’t figure out which charity could possibly want them.
My issue - some regions have a middle class range of 80k or more! IMHO, that is a HUGE range. What a family of 4 with 50k income can save vs $130k is very different.
And honestly, our personal issues are based upon the fact college aid assumes we have always earned what we earn now. DH was underemployed for a number of years and not only did we eat away our savings, we accumulated debt.
I think of middle class as a state of mind. You work hard and you may earn a lot of money but the money is going out quickly to pay bills and taxes. You don’t have any extravagant spending on cars, vacations, etc. You may have savings but it isn’t a lot.
One misstep and everything you have worked so hard to accomplish can be gone just that fast.
The last few years, my salary has fluctuated a lot but I always felt the same no matter what my wife and I were earning.
Remember the Cosby show was about a middle class family where the parents were a doctor and a lawyer. They never said they were rich.
Middle class in
Broward County, Florida is
$39,822—$63,895
Seems about right.
@dadoftwingirls: Actually, in one episode, one of the parents confers with one of the kids and makes plain that the parents may be rich, but the kids are not rich. The parents earned the money and accumulated the wealth, and the kids merely were privileged to be born into the rewards of the hard work.
I found the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO35dhxNjYI
At about 1:58 you’ll see the particulars of the exchange.
@Waiting2exhale and @dadoftwingirls can both claim to be right about The Cosby Show, In that clip, Cliff says they are rich, but a few seconds later Claire says they are NOT rich-- “Rich is when your money works for you, not for when you work for the money, and we work hard for the money”. Which also gives us yet another definition and more food for thought.
“Class” refers to lifestyle. Whereas, “income” refers to what’s initially deposited in the bank.
All respects, ClaremontMom, when you spend $100,000 for a painting…well, I don’t know what that looks like upstate, but everywhere I’ve lived and visited, that makes you rich. Claire would probably never fill out a FAFSA form for her kids.
@Waiting2exhale I agree — I never said I agreed with her statement that they weren’t rich. I would definitely have put them in the rich category. But I found her reasoning to be food for thought.
Yes, I find Claire’s perspective prudent, judicious and with an eye toward instilling a fiscally conservative mindset to her kids. (And that’s how they became rich!) :-* No, I hear you, ClaremontMom. There is obviously room for her statement to hold real validity, especially considering the range of household incomes that have been listed in this thread that qualify as middle class. How about UpperMiddleClass/MoneyHealthy as a category?
“Middle” class is what’s supposed to define most people… and these are ambiguous definitions set by whoever’s using them. My family has a household income of what in the area is considered the top 25% bracket, but we live a lifestyle others in our income range would consider lower middle class. 10+ old Toyotas etc.
Read the “Millionaire Next Door,” and you’ll be surrpised how many who are very high income and high net worth families drive very old cars. We are high income, high net value and drive a 16 year old van, 17 year old sedan and also a 6 year old sedan. Have not bought a new car since 1999 and prior to that only in 1986.
Priorities of the individual and family affect how assets and income are spent. Many do NOT choose to spend on new or expensive vehicles. We have always been willing to spend on medical care and education and our expenditures have reflected that.
I agree with those who felt that middle class was more of a state of mind than a number. If you grew up perceiving that you were middle class, you tend to default to the same identity, assuming no major financial boons or blows force you to change your perception. Our family income is above the high range for S. Florida, but we don’t feel all that affluent. Okay, son’s college is paid for (actually, he got a full ride so the money can go to his PhD) retirement funds are on track, the house is paid off. But… we have substantial debt for parental care. Our cars are old, the the house needs some updates and we clip coupons.Having seen in our parents the results of poor (or no) retirement planning, we don’t take financial stability for granted. At age 60+, you become acutely aware of how quickly things change. Maybe it’s that bit of paranoia that separates the middle class from the upper echelons.
Generally, PhD programs worth attending should be funded – tuition waiver plus living expense stipend either as a fellowship or as pay for employment as a research assistant and/or teaching assistant.
However, if he goes for professional school (e.g. MD, JD, MBA), that can be very expensive.
The wealthier, suburban school districts offer an awful lot of extracurriculars, AP classes, etc. which the more modest ones can’t even dream of. So regardless of income in a family, you can look at another school and realize belatedly that they offer test prep and yours is not so focused.
In college admissions terms, “middle class” refers to anyone who is not a URM.