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Are You Really Middle Class?
#6
(10-27-2017, 12:40 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I have a couple problems with this article, the primary one being the idea that you have to be saving money in order to be middle class. That somehow middle class can't be paycheck-to-paycheck.

Look at NFL players. They make $500k-25m/yr and when there was a holdout some of them were lasting only WEEKS after taking out million dollar loans. They still made millions of dollars though, so how are they ineligible to even be middle class?

I know that's an extreme example with the NFL, but I really just don't see how saving money determines what your income class is. If a person makes $100k/yr, but blows it on a huge downpayment for an Aston Martin, that shouldn't take away from the fact that they make $100k/yr and have an Aston Martin.

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A smaller problem is the requirement of a vehicle in that calculation. If you live in a big enough city, a vehicle simply might not be needed between walking distance and public transportation. There's plenty of people who make a lot of money in a city like New York who don't own a car.

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And finally the other problem I would want to point out is mortgage and property tax are ridiculously different in different parts of the country.

$7k in property taxes in Ohio at it's 1.532% tax would mean a $457,000 home, which is a really large and nice home if you live even slightly rural.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2208-Van-Blaricum-Rd_Cincinnati_OH_45233_M41464-59061 (6 bedroom, 3 full/1 half bath, 4,758 sq ft, 2.5 acres of land, $450k

As you go further away from the city, your money goes further as well.

I think what you're missing in your reading of the article, is that the author is not saying that having those things is necessary to be middle-class. What he is saying is that these are the things that defined the middle-class before, and being able to afford them (not necessarily having them) is what should continue to define them. You can be stupid with your money, but could you afford to save the money if you weren't blowing it on stupid shit?

As for the area differences, that is true of any attempted definition of the middle-class, or any socio-economic classification. There is always going to be the problem of regional variation. His point is that basing it on income alone is more problematic than looking at these other factors. Also, you talk about the vehicle thing and then the mortgage costs, when looking at the issue as a whole, those are tradeoffs. If you live in a urban setting, you may spend less on transportation, but more on housing. Rural would be the opposite.





Messages In This Thread
Are You Really Middle Class? - Belsnickel - 10-27-2017, 09:47 AM
RE: Are You Really Middle Class? - Yojimbo - 10-27-2017, 11:55 AM
RE: Are You Really Middle Class? - Belsnickel - 10-27-2017, 12:48 PM
RE: Are You Really Middle Class? - bfine32 - 10-27-2017, 02:06 PM

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