$350000 barely middle class

[ohehlo]

Interesting short read. I think this is true these days and this looks remarkably similar to our budget. Definitely areas that can be trimmed back but not by much.
Thoughts?

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-budget-shows-how-a-350000-salary-barely-qualifies-as-middle-class-2019-09-11

[Lordosis]

In a high cost of living area then yes.

I believe that those are there expenses but some do seem high.

$70 a day for food?

$400 a month for clothes??? I do not think I spent this much in a year.

$500 a month for entertainment.  That is a lot of subscriptions.

Baby items $350 a month also seems like a lot.  With an older child there should be some re usability

They pay a lot for childcare but that is location dependent.  I pay about 30K for all 4 of my kids rather then the 1 kid in this example.

Private preschool is not cheap at another 2K a month

 

Does anyone else find this statement odd?

“We all deserve to live a middle-class lifestyle,” he wrote on CNBC.

[VagabondMD]

I think that this article is sensationalized and the budget not realistic in the long term. For example, the couple now pays $53k per year for daycare and preschool, for the two and four year old, respectively. Within a few years, that expense goes away when the children go to school. There may be piano lessons and martial arts classes and such, but these do not come close to $53k.

The $1.8M house might be excessive, but that also means that the family is buying a $1.8M asset. Years down the road, that can be monetized into a nice home and a bucket of cash somewhere else.

[Peds]

Very easy to waste 350,000.

[Tim]

I shudder when I see the wages paid on the coastal cities. Interesting read. Noticed a lot of physicians would now slip into middle class, not upper middle class.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/you-need-to-make-350000-a-year-to-live-a-middle-class-lifestyle-today-heres-why.html

[CordMcNally]

Vagabond MD wrote:

Within a few years, that expense goes away when the children go to school. There may be piano lessons and martial arts classes and such, but these do not come close to $53k.

Click to expand...

I bet that family finds something else they must have that will ironically equal around $53k/year.

[dayman]

Author's premise is that owning a nice house in one of the most expensive cities in the US and sending your kids to an expensive private school is "middle class". Hard to take that seriously.

[q-school]

dayman wrote:

Author’s premise is that owning a nice house in one of the most expensive cities in the US and sending your kids to an expensive private school is “middle class”. Hard to take that seriously.

Click to expand...

Also interesting that marketwatch is basically consuming and spreading an article instead of actually writing an article or doing research.

 

[Kamban]

What I found interesting was that a SF Transit janitor and elevator technician were making $250K per year each.

How much do those transit rides cost?. Or do the taxpayers shoulder the cost?

[Panscan]

I don't think grown adults use the word deserve. Wtf does that even mean? You don't deserve anything.

Middle class is maxing your 401k, 529 contributions, a 4k a month mortgage?

Peoples perspectives are so far out of wack. Why in the world would they have the same costs in retirement or need the same income?

Also newsflash, no one forces you to live coastally. Who knew there would be sacrifices?

[Scarftheverb]

Looks pretty similar to my budget except I have a $4k/mo student loan payment and my house is 1/3 theirs. I’m not on the coasts, but still feel like I lead a middle class (though perfectly comfortable) life.

[Tim]

If one reads the fine print and the link, coastal has a definition.

Start at Maine, go down to Fla, keep going to Texas and then hop over to San Diego and head north to you reach the Canadian border.
Now back to the San Francisco narrative.

[Craigy]

Most folks seem to want to identify as middle-class or "upper middle class" no matter their actual income.

Most definitions that float around would put $350k, or anywhere near it, into the upper class of income.  Regardless of what you spend it on.  

But really whether you're low, middle or upper class, doesn't mean you actually have any class.

[Lordosis]

I think you can live in multiple classes all at once.

My income in upper middle class.

My house is upper middle class, about twice the local median home price

My car is middle class, Subaru outback and Chrysler minivan

My kids go to daycare with other mostly middle and lower middle class family's.

Vacations are inexpensive because most are to visit family and it is hard to travel with little children.

Based on the phones I see my patients with in my office mine is lower then lower class.

 

[ITEngineer]

What great timing. The US Census just released facts two days ago about income distribution in the USA.

Facts trump feelings If you make more than $100k you're income is higher than 70% of Americans. You are no longer middle class. At $350k you are above top 5%.

Here is a summary of income levels:

10% <$14,600

20% <$25,600

30% <$37,000

40% <$50,000

50% <$63,200

60% <$79,500

70% <$100k

80% <$130k

90% <$185k

95% <$249k