A all the way! Doesn't matter how much you earn, if you're in debt to the armpits you're not 'rich'. Middle class is no debt, no rent. Even if your fully owned home is only worth $100k, and you only earn $50k, you're middle class. If you earn $100k but own nothing, have debts, and pay rent, you're not middle class. Simple explanation: If you're the former, then virtually every cent you make can be put to work via investments. It's actually difficult to avoid becoming wealthier. If you're the latter, then clearly you're blowing all your pay every week .. which means you may never move beyond where you are, and will likely become poorer over time as economies change, wages stagnate, and housing costs increase.
1) Buy older stuff and keep it going. 2) Use less electricity, and buy your own place so all that 'rent' money comes back to you double. Just two of the many actions which tells you a working class person will move up to middle class.
A more appropriate question would be "What Was Middle Class" The middle class of my childhood was mom, dad, two kids and a house in the suburbs. Dad worked, mom stayed home and baked cupcakes for the PTA bake sale. Dad got two weeks vacation at which time he loaded the family, the dog, and the tent in the station wagon and headed to Yellowstone or Rushmore. The middle class went down the toilet when every family decided they need two bread winners, not to make ends meet but, so they could own every modern gadget and device known to mankind. When I was a kid most families I knew had one main pastime. Now it seems people want it all. I drove by a "middle class" home in a rural area of my county the other day and I had to shake my head. It was, by today's standards, a conservative home; I would guess 3/4 bedrooms 2/3 bath. It had a two car garage AND a three bay shop. I have no idea what was in the garage or shop but it wasn't the family's toys. Off to the side of the shop was a travel trailer, a flat bed trailer with 2 ATV's, a large boat on a trailer, another trailer with jet skis, what appeared to be 2 kayaks and a canoe on sawhorses and a farm tractor. I would be willing to bet the owners of the place would tell you they are middle class. When I was a kid, if someone had owned all that in my neighborhood everyone would have assumed they were wealthy. Just wondering, I drove down the side road into this rural community and found the theme from the first home repeated time after time. In 1960 the average size home in the U.S. was 1,289sf. In 2014 that number was 2,647sf. Families are not getting bigger, so why do they need such massive homes? The middle class is no more. It destroyed itself.
Planned obscelensce ensures that people continue making money as consumers need to replace items more often. It's the same principle with housing. Everything is based on what the market will bear and we drive the prices up thereby lowering how far the USD will go.
I also can care less how much a rich person has. If I'm very lucky I may have 10 years left and I'm well covered. The happiest times of my life where when I didn't have a pot to piss in. There is a sense of pride in and gratification in building a life and raising a family. I know I'm middle class plus when it comes to accumulation of wealth but I think there is more to it than money.
totally agree, it's like when both parents started working, was a boom to the family at first, now is a requirement same would be true of killing off social security. people say, but we would have more money, I say, prices would go up to match and wages would stagnate till it caught up - then most would be just as good off as today, but with no retirement to look forward too things are often not as simple as at first they seem
I'm just a high school graduate so I have no idea what a college degree would have done for my income. I didn't want to be a Doctor, Lawyer, Cowboy or such. I do believe in education though as a building block for success. I'm a firm believer in parents having the right to demand a good education for their child and if not then school choice or home school. Billets for college shouldn't be for outstanding athletes but for outstanding students in the fields of mathematics, science, languages etc. Kids that have an interest in a trade should be directed to trade schools set up by the states. There also needs to be an understanding that failure can happen . Each to his ability to comprehend. I truly believe that culture influences attitudes outside the home. With out "tough love" I would have been a complete failure. Not physical abuse but discipline at home and from my teachers. You don't see much of that anymore. It irks me to see a child throw a temper tantrum in a store and curse their mother or father. What's even worse is the child get away with it. If they can do it at home what respect are they going to have for teachers, classmates and others?
Then why bring them up? Middle class is an measure of income and wealth, your economic standard of living, not your morality or race or education.
I cited it in total. So We don't tax wealth we tax income and they already pay 40% of the income taxes to fund the government how much more of it should just 1% pay?
Kudo, @Oh Yeah, for posting a thread that has inspired conversation and contribution from both sides of the political divide to participate with (almost) no political slagging!
That is the stated rate, but super rich have tax shelters and many loopholes to minimise the amount of tax they pay.
As a poster on here quoting Cicero said: “for the discovery of truth it is necessary to argue against all things and for all things.”
Tough love is genuine love. Hugs and puppies are not. And it's called tough love not because it's tough on the recipient, but because it's tough on the giver. That's why it's fallen by the wayside .. too much work. In the political iteration, Progressives hate it - their purpose is to make things shut up and go away so that they can remain comfortable.
How can anybody vote "Present Income" as being the prime criterion for being "Middle Class"...? You can be making a fairly nominal "Middle Class" monthly income of ~$5,000 (plus 'bennies') -- but then suddenly lose your job -- and then (if you're like way too many Americans) you're one last paycheck away from catastrophe! No, seriously, people -- the only real governing criterion is "Wealth Accumulated"! Everything else is walking a financial tightrope. Everything's just fine -- until it isn't....
Toasters and electric jugs don’t last as long as they used to. The plastic in their construction degrades with use. I haven’t been able to have a small appliance repaired in years.
Buy an old stove top kettle. As for toasters, buy the most honkingly built and pricey model you can afford. We had one for thirteen years without it missing a beat. Ended up giving it to a fellow frugal because it was too small for our offsprings' toast appetites. She's still using it three years on, and will probably get another ten years out of it. The few appliances we've ever bought new were high end for that reason alone. Brutally simple Northern European models, built like tanks.
No it was the effective rates as defined by the tax return data, you're confusing the marginal rate with effective rate. Again if they have all these loopholes and pay no taxes then explain how they the top 1% pays 40% of income taxes.
My SIL has has had her 4 slice Dualit for 20 years but I couldn’t justify $600 for a toaster. You’re right about the kettle. I suppose use of the stove equates to the electricity used by the jug.
Why are certain Universities considered upper class like the Ivy league schools? The kids that go to the community college's middle to lower class? Is education a privilege to higher learning based on income? So if it is based on income why do some complain that their child is being bused to inferior schools in the city? If moral values and culture don't count then one should not fear about letting their child be bused into the urban areas. Why do we have neighborhoods classified as rich, middle class and poor ? Is there a certain privilege to live in high end neighborhood? Is it affordability only? How about some white trash family with a history of crime winning a lottery and moving into a gated community. Would they be upper class?
