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Except what’s being described as “old money” is just “normal families with two married parents.” Note that the $120k figure I cited above isn’t for college educ
by rayiner 2y ago
Except what’s being described as “old money” is just “normal families with two married parents.” Note that the $120k figure I cited above isn’t for college educated people or something like that. Just households where the parents are married and have kids. There’s 62 million such households.
The article is taking an extremely common thing and making it seem like a rare or unusual thing.
- outer_web 2y ago> wealth is not the marker of the comfort class. Security is. An emergency expense—say a $1,200 medical bill—would send most Americans into a fiscal tailspin; for the comfort class, a text to Mom and Dad can render “emergencies” nonexistent.
- fragmede 2y agoThe comfort class wouldn't need to text mom or dad for that, they've got a credit card that mom and dad just pay off for them.
- rayiner 2y agoAgain, the median income for a married family with kids is $120,000 year. Such families absolutely can cover a $1,200 surprise medical expense for their kids. The article is presenting a totally mistaken view of how insecure “most Americans” are.
- outer_web 2y agoVarious sources report that most Americans (with some margin) report that they live paycheck to paycheck. That would include people who aren't married with children, of course, but they certainly would not be able to absorb a random four-digit bill without a second thought. I certainly wouldn't characterize it as a 'totally mistaken' view on 'most Americans', even if it's overstating the scope of the problem.