4 ms·

THe problem is we still believe america has a middle class. It really doesn't. Even the people I know with household incomes in the bay exceeding 250k a year ar

THe problem is we still believe america has a middle class. It really doesn't. Even the people I know with household incomes in the bay exceeding 250k a year aren't really saving any money. Easy access to debt has confused access to capital with savings in america. I'm just glad I'm rich

moron4hire 10y ago
Bullshit. There is no place in the United States where $250K means you're living paycheck to paycheck. You know people who don't know how to manage their money.
- cobookman 10y ago
  People are just spending too much of their money and lack fiscal disaplin. 250k/year is more than enough for the bay area. But you'll not be able to live like a king.
- wott 10y ago
  On this forum, there are plenty of people who are totally out of touch with reality when it comes to salaries, doubled by the fact they they believe they are so above everyone else that they should earn 10 times average Joe's salary and live like kings, hence everything else is a failure. Very recently, there were the 'unworthy' Japanese salaries. They were 50%-80% higher that what I am used to see around me for equivalent qualifications, but no, the general opinion here was that they were outrageously low (without consideration for any other factor). I also remember one guy saying he was earning 150k$/year and that leaving in France was with that salary OK but barely so. Truth is that's 3 to 4 times what most mid-career engineer earn, and their salary allows them to have an easy life. That's 6 times the median salary, which means that half of the population can live 6 years or more with a single year of his salary. That's 8 times the minimum wage, and lots of people live with it, some without any problem, some with difficulties, depending on the family situation, the location and the spending habits, but they all make do. Finally that's 20 times the amount of welfare, which is enough to live a poor and simple life. So the guy could have lived, say 10 years with a single year of his income, and yet he was whining. My jaw regularly falls when I read money/salary related posts on this forum.
mjfl 10y ago
I grew up in a suburb outside of Manchester, New Hampshire. You can get a pretty sizable house there for $300k, rent a nice apartment for $700/month. I'd consider my upbringing middle class. It was cheap but wholesome, with access to an excellent New England education, mountains, the ocean, Boston, and enough social connections that I've never ever felt isolated. I think living in the Bay Area heavily distorts your view of what things are like in the rest of the country. Some people insist on living near Silicon Valley as if everywhere else is filled with bumpkins and barbarians, the uncool, but then can't make the connection that they must pay dearly for that inflexibility. I say, if you are poor in San Francisco, there are plenty of beautiful, cool, places to live that are much cheaper and culturally interesting.
tekromancr 10y ago
What are you talking about. I make 60k a year in NYC. I manage to make it between paychecks, and save a little each month.

moron4hire 10y ago

Bullshit. There is no place in the United States where $250K means you're living paycheck to paycheck. You know people who don't know how to manage their money.

cobookman 10y ago
People are just spending too much of their money and lack fiscal disaplin. 250k/year is more than enough for the bay area. But you'll not be able to live like a king.
wott 10y ago
On this forum, there are plenty of people who are totally out of touch with reality when it comes to salaries, doubled by the fact they they believe they are so above everyone else that they should earn 10 times average Joe's salary and live like kings, hence everything else is a failure. Very recently, there were the 'unworthy' Japanese salaries. They were 50%-80% higher that what I am used to see around me for equivalent qualifications, but no, the general opinion here was that they were outrageously low (without consideration for any other factor). I also remember one guy saying he was earning 150k$/year and that leaving in France was with that salary OK but barely so. Truth is that's 3 to 4 times what most mid-career engineer earn, and their salary allows them to have an easy life. That's 6 times the median salary, which means that half of the population can live 6 years or more with a single year of his salary. That's 8 times the minimum wage, and lots of people live with it, some without any problem, some with difficulties, depending on the family situation, the location and the spending habits, but they all make do. Finally that's 20 times the amount of welfare, which is enough to live a poor and simple life. So the guy could have lived, say 10 years with a single year of his income, and yet he was whining. My jaw regularly falls when I read money/salary related posts on this forum.

mjfl 10y ago

I grew up in a suburb outside of Manchester, New Hampshire. You can get a pretty sizable house there for $300k, rent a nice apartment for $700/month. I'd consider my upbringing middle class. It was cheap but wholesome, with access to an excellent New England education, mountains, the ocean, Boston, and enough social connections that I've never ever felt isolated. I think living in the Bay Area heavily distorts your view of what things are like in the rest of the country. Some people insist on living near Silicon Valley as if everywhere else is filled with bumpkins and barbarians, the uncool, but then can't make the connection that they must pay dearly for that inflexibility. I say, if you are poor in San Francisco, there are plenty of beautiful, cool, places to live that are much cheaper and culturally interesting.

tekromancr 10y ago

What are you talking about. I make 60k a year in NYC. I manage to make it between paychecks, and save a little each month.