What Do You Consider Rich?

[arminnie]

I have many friends who started out as working poor and working class who are now solidly middle class, or vice versa, but I don't know of people who have moved from those classes to the classes of the wealthy.

I do. I could probably name 50 (uber wealthy) that I know personally. Of course I am in my 60s so those in my generation have had time to accumulate a lot.

But I also know a young man (early 20s) who literally was born in a mud hut in rural china who is making almost $200,000 a year (legally). He is VERY smart. I wouldn't consider him wealthy YET - as he probably owes a lot for his education, and he is helping a lot of extended family. But I'd bet on his future.

I went to a top business school - and I lived in Silicon Valley (home of Apple, Hewlett Packard, etc.) for most of my adult life. Lots of real wealth created there. Plus I now live in Arkansas - home of Walmart. Many individuals rose from extremely humble beginnings to great wealth.

Sure there are people who have inherited great wealth - but there are still people out there creating new wealth.

 

[Charade]

Those who cannot afford the basics of a comfortable life: food, insurance, a vehicle, or privacy, even at the lowest prices for your area.

I would agree with food but not a car or privacy.

 

[ophelia]

There are three different financial "classes" in America - Rich, Middle Class, Poor. Escaping poverty does not make one financially rich. I have escaped poverty, but I will work until I die. Am I financially rich?

As for the "class divide", it exists, but not in the way that it did throughout history. There used to be only 2 classes, and one had no way, no matter how talented they might be, to escape the lower class. In that respect, we do not have true "classes" anymore. Through hard work, and with a little luck, anyone can strike it rich (financially) in America...

Anybody may be able to make it in the USA BUT there are definite class seperations. Here, in Chattanooga, all of the people with lots of money live on Signal and Lookout mountains and send their children to private schools. Here, class division has a lot to do with race. Ther are poor white people here, but most of those without are people of color, be they black or hispanic. There is an undercurrent resentnent here towards the well to do, and the fact that those white people with a lot of money run this area in terms of politics.

Chattanooga in general(I'm painting with a wide brush):

-poor not trusting the rich
-blacks not trusting whites and whites not trusting blacks
-the rich looking down upon the poor
-everybody not trusting the hispanic immigrants here (it's pathetic really)

You wouldn't see any of this if just visiting the area, but once you live here things start coming to the surface. Race and money create class divisions here.

 

[Planogirl]

I would agree with food but not a car or privacy.

I think that this could be dependent on area too. In our town, you do not exist without a car. There is no public transit and in Texas, things tend to be spread out. You can move of course but I can see a person at least feeling poor in this case.

Privacy? I'd have to know how this is defined in this case before I understand why it would be a necessity.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Anybody may be able to make it in the USA BUT there are definite class seperations. Here, in Chattanooga, all of the people with lots of money live on Signal and Lookout mountains and send their children to private schools. Here, class division has a lot to do with race. Ther are poor white people here, but most of those without are people of color, be they black or hispanic. There is an undercurrent resentnent here towards the well to do, and the fact that those white people with a lot of money run this area in terms of politics.

Chattanooga in general(I'm painting with a wide brush):

-poor not trusting the rich
-blacks not trusting whites and whites not trusting blacks
-the rich looking down upon the poor
-everybody not trusting the hispanic immigrants here (it's pathetic really)

You wouldn't see any of this if just visiting the area, but once you live here things start coming to the surface. Race and money create class divisions here.

Don't confuse human nature with the existence of societal "classes". If you haven't done so, read a few historical novels. They are more fun that history books (which I also love), but they give a very accurate representation of the classism that existed all over the world - REAL classism. That still exists in very small circles in America (the OLD wealth), but not in most areas.

No matter your race, religion, or other social or financial standing, you can succeed in America. THAT is an amazing thing - even if it isn't perfect...

 

[ConcKahuna]

Actually, I visited some of the rather large vacation homes and they were not multi-million dollar homes, but around $500,000 for 3000 square feet.

That kind of proves my point though. The median income for Florida is only $41,171. Trying to buy a half million dollar home at that pay rate would be difficult if not impossible (and is probably one of the reasons FL has one of the top foreclosure rates in the nation).

 

[ConcKahuna]

Privacy? I'd have to know how this is defined in this case before I understand why it would be a necessity.

I meant privacy as having your own living space, and not having to share it with others (like multiple adult members of the family sharing rooms).

 

[ophelia]

Don't confuse human nature with the existence of societal "classes". If you haven't done so, read a few historical novels. They are more fun that history books (which I also love), but they give a very accurate representation of the classism that existed all over the world - REAL classism. That still exists in very small circles in America (the OLD wealth), but not in most areas.

No matter your race, religion, or other social or financial standing, you can succeed in America. THAT is an amazing thing - even if it isn't perfect...

What I was trying to say is that in the South things are a bit different from the rest of the country. Unless you live here you can't understand how things are. When I would eear Southerners say that before I moved here I didn't believe them, but now I feel different.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

What I was trying to say is that in the South things are a bit different from the rest of the country. Unless you live here you can't understand how things are. When I would eear Southerners say that before I moved here I didn't believe them, but now I feel different.

I grew up in Alabama, so I get it. I don't see it as classism as much as prejudice. Human nature tied to centuries of racism...

 

[Planogirl]

I meant privacy as having your own living space, and not having to share it with others (like multiple adult members of the family sharing rooms).

I would definitely consider that a need! Frankly, I'm horrified when I hear about families living in one room and sharing facilities with many others.

 

[Charade]

I meant privacy as having your own living space, and not having to share it with others (like multiple adult members of the family sharing rooms).

While I would probably find that uncomfortable, I wouldn't consider that something the government (tax payer) should subsidize. Hopefully at some point they'd be able to afford to move out on their own.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

While I would probably find that uncomfortable, I wouldn't consider that something the government (tax payer) should subsidize. Hopefully at some point they'd be able to afford to move out on their own.

Agreed!

 

[Charade]

Agreed!

And actually, I would applaud people who do this so they don't have to get government subsidies.

 

[JimmyPicker]

I don't believe that the Cost Of Living in a certain area should dictate what classifies someone as "rich" or "poor."

The OP says she makes six figures but lives in a high COL area, so she isn't rich. I disagree. You choose to live in a high COL area. You choose that lifestyle.

You could choose to take your six figure salary and buy a home that's not in the Northern Virginia area. Just like you choose not to buy a multi-million dollar home in Great Falls because you couldn't afford it on your salary. I know the area, and I also know that you could choose to live 45 miles away to purchase a much cheaper house (we're talking hundreds of thousands in difference), and just commute to your job like many other Americans do.

You can't say you aren't rich because of what you choose to do with your money.

For example, I worked in Alexandria, because that's where the money was at the time. I lived three hours away, because that's where my house was. You know, the waterfront 3 bedroom, 2 bath house I paid a whopping $55k for?

I fixed my schedule so I worked 4 days a week, staying at a friends house three nights a week to make it possible.

Your six figure salary is much more than I was making. But according to you, I can't call you rich because of the lifestyle choices you make. That's bogus.

If you (general you) make $100 grand and buy a $1.2 million dollar house and drive a brand new beamer, but have little to no spending money, you aren't rich because your COL is high.

But if I make $50 grand a year, buy a $55k house and paid only $10 grand for a used car, I'm richer than you because I have a nest egg or retirement plan or college savings for my kid?

What you do with your money is your own decision. Spend it wisely, save it, blow it, it makes no difference to me. But you can't classify someone who makes a lot of money as "not rich" just because they've made unwise decisions about how to spend that money.

And one of the decisions we all make in our life is whether or not to live in a high COL area. That's a decision you make, it doesn't affect your "richness" or "poorness."

JMHO of course.

 

[CowboyCO]

My definition of rich is when you make more from your investments than you do from your job.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I don't believe that the Cost Of Living in a certain area should dictate what classifies someone as "rich" or "poor."

The OP says she makes six figures but lives in a high COL area, so she isn't rich. I disagree. You choose to live in a high COL area. You choose that lifestyle...

Having lived and worked all over the country, I can say with complete certainty that you are wrong. If I held the same job that I hold in NJ in Alabama, I would make half as much - if even that much, and if the job even existed.

Now, if you mean that a person might choose to live in a more expensive neighborhood near the general area that they work, I agree - but that would only impact their housing costs. EVERYTHING costs more in NJ than Alabama...

 

[ReneeA]

The median household income in 2007 in America was $50,000/yr.

That's almost to the penny what we live on, and we are comfortable. We buy a car about once every 5 years and drive them until they die. We live in a tiny house in a Detroit suburb - in a good school district. I am able to put a meal on the table every evening. My kids wear cute clothes that fit, as do my DH and I.

When I am done with my degree in Dec, we will be just over the 6 figure mark, and 6-8 months from then I will have all but our mortgage paid off. Considering that my DH grew up very, very, VERY poor - they did not have food to eat, a car to drive and his parents worried about losing the roof over their heads (and they lived in a very poor neighborhood in Detroit), and I lived a very lower-middle class lifestyle in a rural northern MI town, I will feel rich at that point.

 

[JimmyPicker]

Having lived and worked all over the country, I can say with complete certainty that you are wrong. If I held the same job that I hold in NJ in Alabama, I would make half as much - if even that much, and if the job even existed.

Now, if you mean that a person might choose to live in a more expensive neighborhood near the general area that they work, I agree - but that would only impact their housing costs. EVERYTHING costs more in NJ than Alabama...

I get what you're saying and I totally understand where you're coming from.

The point I'm actually making is that I've worked in the OP's area. And you can live an hour away and not have to pay as much for a house or as much for groceries or as much for childcare or as much in property taxes and many other things.

I've done it. I've been there. I've worked in Northern Virginia because I would make more money there, more money than any business was offering locally. But I actually lived quite a distance away because I could take my Northern Virgina salary and live in a little known Maryland suburb which has an extremely low COL.

So, what I'm saying is that because the OP chooses to live 15 minutes away from her job for convenience sake instead of living an hour away, she's not "rich" when she could be.

 

[ConcKahuna]

While I would probably find that uncomfortable, I wouldn't consider that something the government (tax payer) should subsidize. Hopefully at some point they'd be able to afford to move out on their own.

I never said they should be government subsidized, I just said they were poor.

The median household income in 2007 in America was $50,000/yr.

And as the median income, that is the perfect definition of middle class. If you're making more than twice what the middle class is, you are rich.

Median incomes may be higher in some states, but I can garuntee no state has a median income of 100k +.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

...And as the median income, that is the perfect definition of middle class. If you're making more than twice what the middle class is, you are rich.

Median incomes may be higher in some states, but I can garuntee no state has a median income of 100k +.

As long as you base your median on the area where a person lives, I would agree. This cannot be determined nationally. Salaries and cost of living vary greatly. In other words, there is no "pat" answer that applies across the country...