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You aren't even Middle class if you live in a McMansion, think of yourself as having "made it" have no equity or are upside down on your mortgage have two fancy cars that you don't own that you have stupid car loans on. You probably also have revolving credit cards you can't pay off and student loans you haven't paid off. You are married and both of you need to work to cover your payments on all your debt. Rather you are slave to your debt and the banksters and are another statistic waiting to happen.
There is absolutely nothing middle class about 250k. I don't care if you live in manhattan, it is still far outside middle class.
Which way? Too low or too high?
According to a document on the University of New Mexico Bureau of Business and Economic Research's website, the total of all incomes in the U.S. in 2010 came to an aggregate of $12,530,101,184,000.
According to an average of several U.S. Government Agencies (none of whom reported the same figure for 2010) there were about 87,246,000 full-time, year-round workers in the U.S. in 2010.
This comes to $143,618/yr per person if everyone made their fair share of the aggregate $12.5 trillion.
As I see it, making one's fair share should be the middle of middle class, economically speaking.
You don't get where the 250k/yr come from? I give you a hint, look at the salary of our politicians. Beside the president, maybe the VP too, all are just under $250,000. So they want to tell you, they are middle class and represent you.
If politicians salary are 100k, you bet the new rich definition will be $100,001
LOL. Actually, $250,000 is a "magic" number when it comes to debating certain tax initiatives because the CSR (Congressional Research Service), which provides legislators with background information about pending bills and such and their related supporting data, has concluded (about 8 yrs. ago) that $250,000 is the nominal point where income earners behave more like the top wealthy than the bottom poor...in essence, politically, $250,000 is the dividing line between poor and rich...in other words, "the middle of the middle class".
It's just that people are so poor, compared to the top 5%, that don't recognize it this way unless they make this much.
How does America measure class? In the UK it's easier because of our old structures of aristocracy etc.
I attended Ealing College (England). While there I noted the education structure seems to help define class in England.
While we have a similar structure in the U.S. our lack of qualification exams at 16-17 yrs. means both the University and the Trade options are open to all, indefinitely. And one can get a University degree either before or after getting a Trade certification. I'm not sure if this is common in the U.K.
In America, there's very little understanding of income, wealth, or class unless that's what one studied in university or employ for an occupation. For the most part, pride (being judged based on income) and the belief in the "American dream" (chances of becoming wealthy) are insurmountable obstacles for understanding class in America.
Americans usually like to claim there is no class structure in America...as if the civil rights movement for black equality never happened because it wasn't necessary to have happen; that recent immigrants are treated no differently; that poor areas don't exist; etc.
But it seems to me a personal/family income of $250,001/yr shouldn't be counsidered similar to those with a personal/family income of $10,000,000/yr.
".
The problem is that people don't differentiate between personal and family income.
An individual who makes $250,000 is without a doubt upper class. My grandparents had 10 kids, if their income were 250K it they would not in the same predicament as the 250k individual
- Most people seem to identify themselves as being in the "middle class".
- But even the federal government doesn't define what the middle class is.
- The U.S. Census' highest income category simply states "$250,001 and above" which results in a unfair amount of ambiguity about how high incomes go. It also makes it easier for us to believe $250,000/yr. is about as high as it gets and, therefore, we might not be so bad off financially.
But it seems to me a personal/family income of $250,001/yr shouldn't be counsidered similar to those with a personal/family income of $10,000,000/yr.
To do so would be to say a person/family with an income of $25,000/yr. is similar to an income of $1,000,000/yr. and we know this is not the case.
So, given that there are people/families which make $10-$100 million/yr (and have net worths of over $1 billion) what do you think should be considered "middle class".
Elizabeth Warren is the expert on this. She says the middle class is more of a perception and an aspiration of how one sees themselves as opposed to a certain income level. She says education --a college education-- and lifestyle--owning a home in a decent neighborhood-- plays a big part. However many who see themselves as "middle class" may not be able to live the lifestyle if they've lost their job and their home which she says is due to the Banksters encouraging people to live beyond their means and use credit when they should be living a more modest lifestyle and paying cash.
LOL. Actually, $250,000 is a "magic" number when it comes to debating certain tax initiatives because the CSR (Congressional Research Service), which provides legislators with background information about pending bills and such and their related supporting data, has concluded (about 8 yrs. ago) that $250,000 is the nominal point where income earners behave more like the top wealthy than the bottom poor...in essence, politically, $250,000 is the dividing line between poor and rich...in other words, "the middle of the middle class".
It's just that people are so poor, compared to the top 5%, that don't recognize it this way unless they make this much.
Not really. You're assuming that when one speaks of $250K in income, they're speaking of a flat tax rate above that income and a flat tax rate below it. Progressive taxation demands a tiered structure, with additional income taxed at tiered higher rate. So, someone making $10M would have the same tax rate on first $250K as someone making $250K, and marginally more for any additional income above that.
But why $250K and not $150K or $50K or $500K? Well, one must draw the line somewhere, and doing so will have people complain on any line. $250K happens to be about 4-5 times the average income of a typical household. Would you prefer 2 times? Or, would you prefer 10 times or more? Sure, that can be subjective. But it can also be objectively derived.
The dollar cutoff for AGI for the top 5% in 2008 tax returns was $160K. I was well over that limit but saw no reason to complain about the $250K limit on as household income (for single people, like me, the limit was actually $200K). The effect on my tax contribution between Clinton era and Bush era was barely $0.25 for every additional $100 in income. I thought politicians pushing to save me a quarter or so on every $100 were merely playing political game. Now while I don't live in a high cost city like NYC, I still don't see how I would have been affected by it.
But if we must define borders, for poor, middle and rich, then we should start with average household income, which must be somewhere between $50-60K right now. That would be right smack in the middle of a middle-class to me.
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