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I have a very close friend who is an IT “head hunter”. I would say that your experience is pretty much the same experience of others here in the Bay Area.
My daughter's childhood friend (26) is an IT headhunter in the Bay Area; her W-2 Box 1 is over $265K -- which is somewhat amusing because she can barely spell IT.
About 20 years ago I worked for a global investments company in Boston. We had already planned for this bifurcation of the former American Middle Class.
The upper part of it was renamed the Mass Affluent -- those earning 100k household income in the 1990s(probably more now), and with one or more professional jobs in the household. These people would account for about 40% of the citizen households by population and represented the new "Middle Class." This group constituted our primary target market.
The only other group we would ever discuss was the "Top Tier," comprising High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth households. About 10% of the population.
I remember asking about the other 50% of America -- were we going to market our goods and services to them? No one ever answered. Crickets.
This problem has been well known to the leadership class in the US for decades. Half of the population would be living a Just-Scraping-By lifestyle. IMHO this represents a fundamental change from the America I knew in the 1970s and 1980s. In those decades and back to WW2, what I would have called the Working Class and the Poor totaled closer to 20%, perhaps 30% at worst.
Unfortunately, I think 50% is the new normal.
I live in a small metropolitan area.
The median household income here is below $40,000. We do have a lot of seniors, but incomes here are just plain low, any way you slice it.
There aren't enough households even making $60,000 - $70,000 to get any sort of critical mass of middle class amenities going.
no idea what the answers are . the gov't does not pay me enough to figure out what they have to solve .
i don't deal the hands , i only learn to play what the dealer hands me
And I can accept that. What I can't accept are grand pronouncements made by a small percentage of people who are wealthy that "everyone else could be just like me if they would work a little harder".
I think most people who knew my net worth would consider me at least borderline wealthy. Yet, I regard my position as at least half due to luck and being in the right place at the right time than anything else.
What I'm seeing more and more of in this country are people who work hard, play by the rules, and often even get a college education and have little to show for it by their mid-fifties or sixties. And, everything I see going on in Washington right now is just going to make it worse.
I question the long term viability of such a system.
And I can accept that. What I can't accept are grand pronouncements made by a small percentage of people who are wealthy that "everyone else could be just like me if they would work a little harder".
I think most people who knew my net worth would consider me at least borderline wealthy. Yet, I regard my position as at least half due to luck and being in the right place at the right time than anything else.
What I'm seeing more and more of in this country are people who work hard, play by the rules, and often even get a college education and have little to show for it by their mid-fifties or sixties. And, everything I see going on in Washington right now is just going to make it worse.
I question the long term viability of such a system.
This is spot on! I know many who make over $100k and can barely save a cent after paying the mortgage and normal everyday living expenses such as heat, water, food, etc. They are doing fine as they can pay the bills, but with a few kids, rising cost of healthcare, etc. forget saving!
We started to get in that rut and did something about it. Moved from a high COL area to a lower COL area. We were able to keep our same jobs so pay didn't decrease. With all the extra money we are saving on our home and taxes we are now able to beef up our retirement accounts and college saving for the kids. Obviously this scenario won't work for all, but my point to all of this is to look at the big picture and see what you can do to change the situation!
My daughter's childhood friend (26) is an IT headhunter in the Bay Area; her W-2 Box 1 is over $265K -- which is somewhat amusing because she can barely spell IT.
It’s really a sales job. The few at the top of the sales food chain make great money.
And I can accept that. What I can't accept are grand pronouncements made by a small percentage of people who are wealthy that "everyone else could be just like me if they would work a little harder".
I think most people who knew my net worth would consider me at least borderline wealthy. Yet, I regard my position as at least half due to luck and being in the right place at the right time than anything else.
What I'm seeing more and more of in this country are people who work hard, play by the rules, and often even get a college education and have little to show for it by their mid-fifties or sixties. And, everything I see going on in Washington right now is just going to make it worse.
I question the long term viability of such a system.
in the company i retired from we had picker packers strive to learn the technical end , make it in to sales and make over 200k on commissions .
A retired friend of mine went that path with Grainger (business supply, everything from cleaning products & toilet paper to tools, equipment, motors, ...). The guy has the extrovert gift of gab and a pretty good work ethic. He went from packing boxes to sales. The way he tells the story in the bar is "Wait! You're going to pay me to drive around and talk to people?" He became their best metro Boston salesman with the giant commission checks from repeatedly growing little accounts with huge companies into large accounts. He early retired at 55 with pretty high net worth, skis every day, and blows his mad money on fast cars.
Of course, the reason he could retire at 55 was he had a high savings rate. He and his wife maxed out their 401(k) and got a good company match. He sold his metro Boston house for pretty good money and retired to his modest Vermont ski place. He saved and invested faithfully. He gave me a great line on early retirement once. "Can you sit down and write a check for a million dollars? If you can't, you can't early retire." Yep.
And I can accept that. What I can't accept are grand pronouncements made by a small percentage of people who are wealthy that "everyone else could be just like me if they would work a little harder".
I think most people who knew my net worth would consider me at least borderline wealthy. Yet, I regard my position as at least half due to luck and being in the right place at the right time than anything else.
What I'm seeing more and more of in this country are people who work hard, play by the rules, and often even get a college education and have little to show for it by their mid-fifties or sixties. And, everything I see going on in Washington right now is just going to make it worse.
I question the long term viability of such a system.
I attribute my economic outcome pretty much 100% to my parents. Maybe 80% environment and 20% genetic. From birth, I was programmed to succeed. I've made plenty of bad decisions along the way but I had the intellect, education, and decision making framework to overcome them. If you grow up being fed intellectual rocket fuel, you're probably going to do pretty well. If you're parked in front of a television and you're never taught the decision making framework to be successful, you're on that path to being the C student who gets the glorified certificate of attendance from the community college and the 3rd tier state school.
Personally, I think the issue is a system that allows parents to park their children in front of a television set or video game console. By the time they hit public school age, they're already tough to salvage. Accepting mediocrity is a bad thing. So my "grand pronouncement" is that we shouldn't tolerate lousy parenting.
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