Is anyone NOT middle class?

[icebrat001]

I'm at 61%, I'm only 23, I suppose that isn't horrible.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Our financial advisor once told me that at $140K in gross earnings you become UPPER CLASS, whether you live in a rich ( Expensive ) area or not. You may not feel like you are "rich" but in technical valuations, you are.

 

[Charade]

72nd percentile overall.

45
75
84
85
72 overall

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

We measured in at the 42%. We're not rich, but we own our own home, two cars and have enough toys to keep us happy. That's all that matters to us, especially me since I came from a home that straddled the poverty line most of the time. My mother owns her house, but it is falling apart and she lives in a very, very bad neighborhood where most of the families are barely making it. One of her neighbors is raising her DD's daughter (the neighbor's DD is/was heavily involved in drugs, prostitution and worse. She ran off and left the poor kid with her mother) and recently had to have a garage sale to raise money so that the little girl could afford to have surgery on her ears--she's 75% deaf in both ears.

TOV

 

[Charade]

I'M LOW KLASS!




It's all relative!

Who is better off?
A person who makes a 100k a year and has 250k of debt?
The person who makes 75k a year with no debt & no dependants & no friends who lives in Wyoming?
The person who makes 12k a year in Honolulu and refuses to touch their 10 million dollar inheritance?
The person who makes 4 million a year, but is going to jail for corporate tax invasion???

For how long??

 

[AKLRULZ]

88th percentile for us too.

Signed,
Deluxe Snob

 

[CEDmom]

The funny thing is I have always felt a bit of disdain towards the class structure of the Disney resorts. Some people wear it like a badge! I can afford to spend more on hotels but choose NOT to, how does that define class? It might define common sense.

Nah, it just defines what's important to you and how you choose to spend your money. Some people drive a fancy car and live in a shack for others it the reverse. I need a hotel with all the amenities to have a great vacation but others just need a clean room.

 

[DISUNC]

For how long??

...About 6 years!!!!!!

 

[EeyoreFan1]

This made me laugh! That is honestly a good question..

I woould say that on the DIs we should do it by what resort you stay in, but then I'd be POOR.

 

[grinningghost]

The Disney Version:
Lower class: values
Middle class: moderates
Upper class: deluxe
Wealthy: DVC

Maybe, but then again, maybe those so-called wealthy ones got that way by staying value.

 

[MEG&MINNIE]

The funny thing is I have always felt a bit of disdain towards the class structure of the Disney resorts. Some people wear it like a badge! I can afford to spend more on hotels but choose NOT to, how does that define class? It might define common sense.

[/b][/QUOTE]
I totally agree with your statement.....one of my favorite resorts was POP , more $$$ for me to keep in my pocket !!!

 

[ChrisnSteph]

We ranked in the 78th percentile. I definitely wouldn't consider ourselves upper class. That chart doesn't take into debts into consideration! Besides, I'm cheap. Even if I had the money to spend on a deluxe hotel, I just can't justify spending obscene amounts of money for a fancy room when I can stay just as comfortably at a modest hotel. But I'm cheap like that.

 

[rie'smom]

I'M LOW KLASS!




It's all relative!

Who is better off?
A person who makes a 100k a year and has 250k of debt?
The person who makes 75k a year with no debt & no dependants & no friends who lives in Wyoming?
The person who makes 12k a year in Honolulu and refuses to touch their 10 million dollar inheritance?
The person who makes 4 million a year, but is going to jail for corporate tax invasion???

Then,when they get out of jail,they go on the lecture circuit and make tons of money!
We're @92% but live pretty modestly-I drive a Chrysler and hubby drives a Ford F150.

 

[Cass]

Wait a minute, don't the DVC'ers have to cook in their units? I think the deluxes might have one up on them.

 

[Alice28]

73%

But we will stay at Shades Of Green from now on (and have 2 of the 3 times we paid for WDW- it's just they put us up at the Contemporary= we're "pretend" rich I guess. )- where does that put us?

 

[smartestnumber5]

I'm 53, 91, 18, and 25 for an average of 47.

It is really interesting how the NYTimes tool seems to count equally occupational prestige, education level, income and wealth. One would think that wealth would really be the biggest determinant. I suppose with the former two areas they are trying to get in cultural capital type stuff--having the right accent & correct pronunciation, knowing which fork to use first, having experience with art, film, music, etc.) Except, I don't think those measures necessarily say that much about those things.

Also, one would think regarding the education measure, it would really matter what generation one is. Take my grandparent's generation (they just turned 80) my parents (50 and 54) and mine (24). I would think that a college degree would be most prestigious for those of my grandparents' generation, then my parents', then mine, since I assume the percentage of people (especially women) earning bachelors degrees has increased a lot in the last 60 years.

I think the common usage of "middle class" often applies to income and wealth alone. There is another graphic under "How Class Breaks Down" which shows income and education percentages for individuals. It seems to show that about 1/5 of people fall into each of the following five categories: 1) under 20,000, 2) 20-30,000, 3) 30-40,000, 4) 40,000-60,000 5) over 60,000. One would think, then, that technically middle income would be somewhere in the middle of category 3--i.e. $35,000 a year. Of course, since most discussions of class center around households instead of individual income--and many households have either one income or two very uneven incomes--it's hard to generalize from this.

 

[dcgrumpy]

That NYTimes thing seems silly to me.

I compared DH to my brother. DH makes about twice as much money, my brother's net worth is about 1/10th of DH's, my brother lives with his in-laws. but because my brother has his Masters and is a HS teacher he scores higher than DH who only graduated HS and is a blue collar worker.

 

[phorsenuf]

Occupation :53rd
Education: 48th
Income:91st
Wealth: 43rd
Average: 59th

Disney: Wealthy (that's why we scored low on the wealth percentage...it all goes to DVC! LOL)

 

[caitycaity]

I think the common usage of "middle class" often applies to income and wealth alone.

i don't think that is correct. i think people often are considered middle class based on education rather than salary. a lot of people in academia, for example, do not make much money (especially when first starting) but are generally considered middle class.

i don't know what proportion non monetary issues should account for, but i definitely think there is more to class than money alone. otherwise, why would we have the term nouveau riche?

ETA:

my numbers are -
occupation 71
education 97
income 38
wealth 25
average 58

based on my monetary numbers alone i would not be middle class, but my average pushes me to the middle.

 

[JVL1018]

I am DVC and definately not wealthy.

I did the NY Times thing and it said 72 percentile. ???

Ditto and ditto!