Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class

Re:Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by graeme on Saturday September 24, 2016 @05:08PM (#12572658)

1% in the US is about $200,000. So, you have a household income of $400,000 and are struggling?

I'm curious, what are your main expenses?

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Re:Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by zzalpha on Saturday September 24, 2016 @05:42PM (#12572777)

I'm curious, what are your main expenses?

Living in the Bay area?

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Re:Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by runamok on Monday September 26, 2016 @03:14AM (#12579888)

It varies quite a bit by the city you live in: http://www.businessinsider.com/income-top-one-percent-us-cit...

I am guessing they are are going by national numbers rather than regional.

In SF household income percentiles are these: Top 5%: $349,693 Top 1%: $558,046

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Re:Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by whamlastxmas on Saturday September 24, 2016 @07:11PM (#12573047)

Probably $6000-10,000 a month in mortgage payments. And he said combined they're 1%. So after tax, probably more than half of his money going to mortgage.

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Re:Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by xapata on Sunday September 25, 2016 @08:06AM (#12574975)

That still doesn't add up in my mind. A 1%-er household would have $240k+ post-tax annual income, more if they're deducting hefty mortgage interest payments.

    $100 in food daily ~ $36k
    $500 weekly domestic help ~ $25k
    $500 monthly utilities ~ $6k
    $2k monthly transportation ~ $24k
    $2k monthly misc ~ $24k
    $10,000 monthly mortgage ~ $120k

That hits around $235k post-tax. I think that's a nice lifestyle. Eating out less would allow for different "fun" activities.

Oh, I guess I forgot savings. Doh! I'd aim for savings about 10% annual pre-tax income for a household bringing in $400k+ pre-tax. I'm not sure how much of the mortgage principal payments I'd count towards that amount.

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Re:Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by pfarnsworth on Sunday September 25, 2016 @11:56PM (#12579121)

Private school for two children is ~$4000/month.

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Re:Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by xapata on Monday September 26, 2016 @04:30AM (#12580184)

Well, I guess we're not eating out every day anymore.

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Re:Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by handedness on Sunday September 25, 2016 @04:08AM (#12574412)

What's the source for that? Everything I've seen puts the US natinoal average for 1%-by-income in the low to mid $400K (AGI), and ~$30K globally.

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Re:Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by staticint on Sunday September 25, 2016 @09:46AM (#12575283)

~$400k is the threshold for household[1] income. ~$200k is the threshold for individual[2] income.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_Unit...

[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_Unite...

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Re:Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by okaram on Sunday September 25, 2016 @11:05PM (#12578951)

actually, it seems 200k is 95% (well, in 2014)

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