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I voted Upper Class for a number of reasons. One is that the young man, Mark, doesn't flaunt his wealth with a flashy car or extravagant lifestyle. Truly upper class people seldom do. They live modestly and drive well-maintained older cars. Middle and upper middles tend to be more obsessed with what others think of them and will go into debt for luxury cars, big houses and lavish vacations.
Secondly, Mark has a good income but no debt. This is a sign that he has learned from his (presumably wealthy) parents how to manage money well. The fact that he has chosen the finance industry as a career and is already a serious investor indicates that he is sophisticated about money matters, which middle classes and below tend not to be. His long work hours also suggest that he is passionate about what he does, another trait that sets him apart from someone who punches a clock. He may not be earning a huge salary now, but his dedication to his career is a good sign that he has the potential to be a power player. He has a master's degree, which is another indicator that he is upper middle class or higher. The one missing puzzle piece is what school he attended. Having attended a prestigious school such as Harvard or Yale would put him firmly in the upper class.
Third, Mark rents a room in a mansion. Now on the face of it you wouldn't associate renting a room with wealth, but -- it's a mansion. This suggests that he feels at ease in the upper class realm. People feel most comfortable associating with others of their class, so this is further evidence that he is one the elites. Mark's income is enough that he could have bought a modest house of his own already, but if he continues saving a good chunk of his salary and living below his means, within a few years he might be able to buy the mansion he's only renting a room in now.
Does it matter what we think when it is obvious that Mark doesn't care what class the rest of us think he is in? He's figured something out very early on, something that most people never figure out.
Yes, but marketers who want to sell products to him care. Demographers who are interested in social change care. Etc. etc. etc.
Am I only one sitting here thinking that $100K a year is pretty damn good in this thread (maybe it's because I live in a lower COL area than say New York or California)? Mark eerily sounds somewhat like me except I don't work 80 hours a week and I make a little less than he does. I would definitely say upper middle class because he sure has a hell of a lot saved up for someone his age and with his masters degree and work ethic he is well on his way to making a lot more than $100K in the coming years.
He has no family and hardly ever spends his hard-earned cash. He is also young and assuming he has no bigger health issues to deal with he's not going to have to worry about that for a long time either. So he is really in the green in my books.
The upper class doesn't have to work for a living, although they might choose to as a family tradition or business. "We don't work for our money, we *have* our money."
If the upper class loses its money say through stock market crash or something, the world view and outlook is still there, at least of old money (old money to the U.S., anyway). Americans tend to view class by amount of money and stuff.
Am I only one sitting here thinking that $100K a year is pretty damn good in this thread (maybe it's because I live in a lower COL area than say New York or California)? Mark eerily sounds somewhat like me except I don't work 80 hours a week and I make a little less than he does. I would definitely say upper middle class because he sure has a hell of a lot saved up for someone his age and with his masters degree and work ethic he is well on his way to making a lot more than $100K in the coming years.
He has no family and hardly ever spends his hard-earned cash. He is also young and assuming he has no bigger health issues to deal with he's not going to have to worry about that for a long time either. So he is really in the green in my books.
I agree. The young man the OP is talking about is going to be extremely wealthy if he keeps making these smart decisions.
The people that like to act rich and high class are the ones that are perpetually broke. Any moron with a credit card in his/her pocket can do that.
Or he could snap one day when he realizes life is passing him by and he will never get back the days and nights he slaved at his desk when he could have been dating or in relationship that would lead to a happy marriage and the rest of his life. The person in this example lives to work right now. He may have a serious mid life crisis and blow it all.
I'd also say it depends on where he lives. if he's in New York or a Coastal CA metro area, I'd say he's middle class/borderline upper middle. If he's in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, or some other reasonable cost place, I'd say he's upper middle class.
this makes sense to me as well. Even in New York, unless he lives IN manhattan, he's still probably upper middle. but he's walking that fine line in higher cost areas, where in the rest of the country, he's solidly upper middle.
That's middle class on the coasts and upper middle in many other parts of the United States where a nice house doesn't cost you 500k with a 15k a year property tax bill.
That is a *crud load* of money for a young guy to make living somewhere like Omaha, KC, Indy and so forth.
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