Are you considered part of the upper class of the US? New article may surprise

61 comments

• JamesSD

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  5 years ago

  Depends where you live, but for a single dude that sounds like top quintile for sure.
  
  One huge issue in the US is the rich don't feel rich.
• san_jose_guy

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  5 years ago

  Your link is just about buying homes. So by that standard, every extra $ helps.
  
  In a more general sense, no I don't think more money makes one of an upper class.
  
  SJG
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  The video at the bottom of the linked article says household income Greer than $78,281 you are considered upper class. Seems way too low of a standard. I'm still trying to save money to have enough for a down payment and closing costs etc for a new place.
  
  Maybe someone should put our a video saying anyone who routinely visits strips clubs is living upper class. We might be all upper class lifestyle and dirt poor Outside the strip club and mortgage payments.
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  Greater not greer
• JamesSD

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  5 years ago

  You live in the Carolinas, make over 80k a year and can't afford a house?
  
  You are shitty with money.
• Daddillac

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  5 years ago

  Hey James no matter how much money you have you will still be an asshole.... What a dick thing to say
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  Well trying to buy a house in an expensive area without selling first one in a dirt poor area. Could buy one but prices seem outrageous and seems like I'm overpaying for stuff I don't care for. More of a I don't dare for that crap at that price. Can't seem to find a house like my tiny one until I get to twice the selling price of my existing house with twice the square footage. Thinking about buying land and telling a builder how I want it.
  
  Anyway still don't consider myself upper class. Maybe I'm out of touch with reality.
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  Don't care for the crap at the prices I see that is, stupid auto correct
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  I was making a lot less just last year so that might be part of it.
• Icey

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  5 years ago

  Even in an expensive area, in today's economy.....low paying jobs, etc...yeah. In some cities having your own place is a sign of making it now...
• san_jose_guy

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  5 years ago

  Housing costs vary greatly across the country.
  
  But as far as being "upper class", no I don't think like that.
  
  SJG
• blahblahblah23

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  5 years ago

  I think 78k is good in most parts of the US, but wouldn't call it upper class... But it is probably a very opinionated subject. I didn't read the article, but maybe they come up with this figure based on the fact the vast majority of people don't make a whole lot of money in general for one reason or another lol.
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  I always thought upper class, I'd be swimming in money, maybe making over 150k a year or more,far above anything I'm making now.
• Daddillac

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  5 years ago

  I think it is a factor of the median income, at least according to the article
• Papi_Chulo

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  5 years ago

  Yeah - $80k doesn't feel like upper class but kinda fits when compared to middle class - I guess it can be considered"entry-level upper-class"
  
  Makes me wonder what a doctor making $250K is considered - wealthy? "Upper" upper-class?
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  I think they simply used twice the medium income which is probably around half the 78k number for one person to count one person as upper class. 38k seems like close to poverty levels where you get Income assistance for health care etc.
• Papi_Chulo

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  5 years ago

  $80k kinda feels more like upper middle-class vs upper-class
• Daddillac

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  5 years ago

  Household income from 2017 census
  
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_…
• blahblahblah23

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  5 years ago

  I mean idk... In some areas a 78k income would be fucking baller because everything is so damn dirt cheap. In other areas 78k is terribly low based on cost of living... I would assume most of the geographic US 78k is an awesome income. But I don't think this applies to most of the high populated metro areas?
• Daddillac

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  5 years ago

  The aggregate income measures the combined income earned by all persons in a particular income group. In 2007, all households in the United States earned roughly $7.723 trillion.[28] One half, 49.98%, of all income in the US was earned by households with an income over $100,000, the top twenty percent. Over one quarter, 28.5%, of all income was earned by the top 8%, those households earning more than $150,000 a year. The top 3.65%, with incomes over $200,000, earned 17.5%. Households with annual incomes from $50,000 to $75,000, 18.2% of households, earned 16.5% of all income. Households with annual incomes from $50,000 to $95,000, 28.1% of households, earned 28.8% of all income. The bottom 10.3% earned 1.06% of all income.[29]
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  There are probably some cash poor upper income people with all their cash tied up in mortgage payments and other payments. I remember my younger brother who was married probably making as much or probably more than me asking his wife if he could spend $25. I thought woahh, that is like being broke or letting your wife control all the money.
  
  I'd hate to see new socialist democrats call me upper class. If I am, just a little bit of inflation without indexing and those making 38k a year can get there too. Then watch out. I don't consider myself upper class even though I'm saving a lot right now.
• Daddillac

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  5 years ago

  Never thought me and txtittyfag would agree on anything..... mark this day down in history, Thanks txtitty
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  On the other hand if you go to a strip club and convince a stripper you have lots of cash, you will be upper class as far as she is concerned.
• Papi_Chulo

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  5 years ago

  My older brother and his wife together make a bit 2x more than I do - I've had to help them with some financial emergencies a time or two - but they have a big-mortgage, 2 leased cars one of them being a Mercedes E350, and both kids in private school
• TFP

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  5 years ago

  Meanwhile, that same amount of earnings per year in the SF Bay Area will have you almost qualifying for food stamps.
• nicespice

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  5 years ago

  https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/20…
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  Prices in California and New York would make me feel poor.
  
  Relatives in California looking at house that is less than 900 sq ft. I think that's like a garage and a room in the Carolinas unless you buy a shed.
• Mate27

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  5 years ago

  No car payments and housing expenses less than 25% of your income, means you can out save most people and retire upper middle class quicker than those currently categorized as upper middle class.
  
  In other words? If you’re willing to do the things that other people won’t, then you’ll be able to do things those other people can’t. It’s a simple mindset, spend way less than you make. It’s also a simple formula.
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  There should be are you a stripper making upper class income with no taxes calculator too.
  I bet the income level drops low if you pay little to no income tax.
• nicespice

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  5 years ago

  At a couple of clubs I’ve worked at, we have to claim how much we made at the end of the night. We write it down next to our name.
  
  It seems like most of us make about $60/night on average.
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  $60 a night? Isn't that close to minimum wage? Considering I've known strippers who only work 3 or 4 nights a week, doesn't seem like much.
• TFP

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  5 years ago

  Maybe she means $60/hour. $60/night sounds like a mistake.
• nicespice

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  5 years ago

  What could you possibly mean??
  
  Why would a stripper want to lie?
• TFP

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  5 years ago

  Oh yeah actually FLF is probably right. They just put $60 so the club won't get a big cut or something like that.
• Nidan111

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  5 years ago

  Holy shit. I am almost embarrassed that I do not feel like “upper class”. By those numbers, i am fucking loaded. Seriously, i give a lot of my income to the less fortunate. Our household income is about $300,000 per year. However, We do give away approximately $40,000 per year to people who need it. We are unable to claim it as charity because we give it to real individuals who need it and not to CEOs claiming to be charitable organizations. My circle of friends make on average, $40,000 per year. I can’t stand hanging around people who are not fun and many in my area who make similar income as I simply bore the shit out of me. All they like to do is talk about all the shit they have. I prefer fun over shit. AND STRIPPERS ARE DAMN FUN!!!!
• captainfun

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  5 years ago

  Papi, nice of you to help out your bro in times of need, especially when he should be able to take care of his own stuff. I’m not a fan of when people stretch themselves financially and then need an assist but happens everyday
• jackslash

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  5 years ago

  How you FEEL about your financial situation is, I think, a function of your disposable income. Before retirement, I had a much larger income, but I had to support a family, pay a mortgage, and save for retirement. Today I have less income but more disposable income. I'm single, my house is paid for, my car is paid for, and I'm taking money out of savings and investments instead of putting money in. I don't have any financial worries, and I should be able to live comfortably for the rest of my life--unless I squander all my retirement funds on some busty blonde stripper.
• skibum609

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  5 years ago

  Ahhhh $60 a night declared on taxes. That works out to SSI if you get disabled and $600 a month in social security when you retire. Cheating on taxes only works for the wealthy and those who die young. 78k a year in the Boston area is not wealthy and is barely middle class whcich requires 68k in this area to qualify. When we retire we plan on living cheaply. We did life upside down by enjoying it now and planning on being poorer when we retire.
• twentyfive

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  5 years ago

  When I was young I made a conscious decision that I would live within my means, and I saved 25% of my income every month, it paid off for me by the time I was 32 I had an opportunity to go into business with an older contractor, by the time I was 40 I had no debt and a substantial nest egg. I don’t think most folks realize how much money 78K is and I know that some places the COL is quite high, having grown up and prospered in a fairly high COL area NY suburbs, I think making educated financial decisions is the key to success and I believe being poor, middle, or upper class is more a state of mind than what you actually have.
• Daddillac

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  5 years ago

  @25. Bullshit, you should take all available money and buy JNJ....lol
  
  Sincerely
  AZ420
• twentyfive

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  5 years ago

  ^ I had considered JNJ but it makes too much money, I’m afraid it might go to my head ;)
• ATACdawg

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  5 years ago

  Huh. I thought $350K was the TUSCL standard for being upper class..... ;-)
• Clubber

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  5 years ago

  Isn't just money that makes one rich! We had great children that are doing just fine. THAT, to me, can't have a value placed on it!
• mark94

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  5 years ago

  Defining a term by an income level is just circular reasoning. In this example “ upper income” becomes code for income over $78,000. It has no meaning beyond that.
• JamesSD

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  5 years ago

  If you're considering buying a new home without selling your current home, congratulations, you're rich.
  
  Most of this board is rich. Not 1% rich, but upper class.
  
  If you don't feel rich and aren't in the 0.1%, you can probably thank regressive tax policies designed to protect wealth.
• Clubber

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  5 years ago

  James,
  
  In my case, I decide I didn't wish to work any longer.
• san_jose_guy

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  5 years ago

  The inflation of the real estate and stock markets is entire the result of regressive tax code changes, designed to politically undermine the progressive sector.
  
  SJG
• san_jose_guy

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  5 years ago

  ^^^^^^ These bubble strategies do not work, they are destroying our economy.
  
  The regressive tax code changes started in the 1980's
  
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/083627…
  
  SJG
• Cashman1234

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  5 years ago

  This must be one of those basic national averages. It is possible to live a decent life in possibly many parts of the country on a salary near $80,000.
  
  There is a significant emphasis on both coasts - especially the areas of concentrated wealth. But, there are many areas with considerably lower costs of living.
  
  When considering the average retirement savings is $10,000 - a salary near $80,000 might be in the upper - or beginning - of upper class?
• minnow

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  5 years ago

  I'd say that $78K annual income would be a notch up from mid-middle class in much of flyover country, big coastal cities not so much.
  
  @James SD- What makes you so sure that most of board is rich ? Did you secretly examine our tax returns ?
  
  @Daddillac- Do you have a link to where those income/wealth share statistics came from ?
• Daddillac

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  5 years ago

  @minnow
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_…
  
  That is where I got those stats..... I figure wikipedia is fairly accurate in this case
• theDirkDiggler

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  5 years ago

  I think it depends on what you consider upper class and if you're talking about individual income or household income. If you consider upper class to be the top 1% (i don't), than $78k won't even sniff that. If you consider upper class to be the top quintile, than yes, $78k will get you there as long as it's individual and not household income. Of course, if you're single, than you're probably paying over 25% of that to your favorite uncle(s) leaving less than $60k to work with, which comes out to less than $5k per month, which now decidedly doesn't sound very upper class. Certainly not bougie...
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  I will need to sell my house to reduce mortgage payments. Just trying to figure out which loan companies work with you if you buy first then sell. I could sell first and store all my furniture but that costs money. One company said they could rework the loan for $100 but they likely charge more in interest. Considering I used up a lot of my life savings while unemployed and might only have 18 years before being forced to retire, and spending a lot on hotels, gas, etc, feel kind of poor trying to move to a much higher cost of living area.
  Started off making only 26k a year graduating college in a recession. I'm used to low cost of living areas and not spending much.
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  In high school, I worked a job cutting grass on a whole city block that took about 4 hours working fast and got paid $18 for the job. Nowadays, a relatives old homeowners association charges about 100 residents 120 a quarter to pay a company $900 a week to cut grass on a lot less land. They occasionally trim bushes and put out some pine straw. Sounds like a rip off to me. I was seriously underpaid though years ago.
• san_jose_guy

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  5 years ago

  ^^^^^ Condo association fees can be a real problem.
  
  Too few of the benefits of ownership, with too many of the costs and responsibilities of ownership.
  
  SJG
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  Tx you are a dumbass, I didn't mention how many decades ago that was. If you weren't referring to my post, just forget it. Minimum wage back then was about $3 an hour so it was still good money for a high school student. Back then we weren't given anything by our parents. We had to work for anything we wanted, plus do work around the house for no money. Young people today are spoiled.
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  Never mind I see SGJ posting stupid crap all over the discussion board. Even says he's under educated in one thread. I thought he said he was a lawyer in another thread back when I was just lurking here.
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  It's ok, I don't have him on ignore. I Just ignore anything with lots of text usually. I try to ignore anything a lawyer wrote if it looks like a waste of time. Most of what SGJ posts here. I have no idea why he seems to enjoy posting crap only he reads unless he really enjoys it when one person reads his stuff. I usually drop a topic real quick if no one is interested.
• orionsmith

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  5 years ago

  Sometimes I drink and post. Sometimes I only get a few hours of sleep. My reasons for occasionally posting crap here.
  
  I do plan on visiting strip clubs again and it's probably only been a month but by some people's standards, I don't spend hardly anything in clubs anymore.
• Icey

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  5 years ago

  If I made the same money in some bum fuck red state I'd live like a king. The problem is that the low cost of living there comes with even more depressed earnings.
  
  We're getting to a point where having your own place and parking spot is considered a luxury.
  
  And prices.... I bought some bread, peanut butter and jelly yesterday. Came out to like $22.
• san_jose_guy

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  5 years ago

  ^^^^^ Point well made about living costs. I think grocery costs could be lower.
  
  Need to got to UBI, Universal Medicare, Universal Housing, Free College.
  
  Massive benefit for your whole country when we do this!
  
  SJG