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By your definitions, a family at the poverty level who manages with their meager income would be classified as working class. Meanwhile, a family with $300,000/yr that lives from paycheck to paycheck would also be classified as working class.
Sorry, your definitions don't work for me.
A family that lives paycheck to paycheck is working class regardless of income because they are dependent on that next paycheck. You could make $300k per year and be working class very easily. You have a $4000 mortgage, $1500 in car payments and 3 kids in college will cost a bundle, etc, etc.
But in the end, the definition is whatever you want it to be.
A family that lives paycheck to paycheck is working class regardless of income because they are dependent on that next paycheck. You could make $300k per year and be working class very easily. You have a $4000 mortgage, $1500 in car payments and 3 kids in college will cost a bundle, etc, etc.
But in the end, the definition is whatever you want it to be.
Poverty level income....$300,000/yr are NOT the same economic class, no matter how you spin your definitions.
Wealthy: You have enough assets or income that you don't have to work to continue your current standard of living.
Rich: You have lived within your means and saved for a rainy day. You have enough assets that if you were unemployed for 6 - 12 months, you could still meet your obligations such as house payment, etc. until you found another job. You don't plan around paydays or even know when they happen because you manage your expenses to be lower than your income and keep enough liquid assets that you don't worry about spikes in expenses.
Working class: You have no extra cash. You spend everything you make, and your paycheck is mostly spent before it arrives. You plan purchases around paydays because you have little or no liquid assets. But you do meet your obligations, at least as long as you are employed.
Comments ?
Your 'working class' is just the definition of people who are moronic with their cash.
Wealthy: You have enough assets or income that you don't have to work to continue your current standard of living.
Rich: You have lived within your means and saved for a rainy day. You have enough assets that if you were unemployed for 6 - 12 months, you could still meet your obligations such as house payment, etc. until you found another job. You don't plan around paydays or even know when they happen because you manage your expenses to be lower than your income and keep enough liquid assets that you don't worry about spikes in expenses.
Working class: You have no extra cash. You spend everything you make, and your paycheck is mostly spent before it arrives. You plan purchases around paydays because you have little or no liquid assets. But you do meet your obligations, at least as long as you are employed.
Poor: You don't make enough to pay your bills without help from someone else (parents, government, charities, etc). This could be due to your lack of financial discipline, a personal tragedy, or you have physical or mental disabilities that prohibit you from earning enough money to take care of yourself.
Notice that my definitions have NO NUMBERS. That's because I think you could have high income people in any of the four categories, and low income people in any of the four categories.
Comments ?
I guess your definitions are pretty much on point.
I have to agree. If you have the money to waste on all that, then you're likely rich.
In the 50's when I began with my first wife I earned about $5,500 per year. I had benefits...hospitalization, vacation, pension guaranteed if I stayed with the company, etc. When I retired in 1993 I was earning about $50,000. I educated my three children and began saving as much as I could in the mid eighties as they finished college. We live in a nice house on the lake and have considerable money in two investment accounts which we rolled over from our 401K's. I've always thought of myself as working class...or what used to be called the middle class.
If you can afford to put kids through college on your own dime, you're rich.
Working class/middle class people live paycheck to paycheck, there's nothing left for "savings".
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