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Over $169K is the top of "middle class" in Suffolk County New York..so I guess I'm not.
Sure don't feel wealthy. Maybe once kids are out of day care.
2/3 -2x median isn't really good measure of middle class in the first place.
Beyond that, median also includes all the twenty-somethings living in a bedroom in a shared apartment, people without kids more generally, retirees with very little income, students, disabled, all the folks living in subsidized/public housing, etc. Median for the area versus amount needed to support a family can be very different, esp. with kids in daycare and esp. in the NYC suburbs where cost of living is so high.
I make much less than $170K, but at the same time have more money available for disposable income / savings than someone trying to raise a family in the NYC area decently on $170K.
Anyway, different people have different income needs and at the end of the day it's wealth that makes you wealthy, not income -- if you have a very high income and live below your means you can become wealthy, but the income alone doesn't do the trick.
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Originally Posted by ohhwanderlust
Same here, but in San Francisco county.
Certainly explains why I pay so much in taxes though.
Now if only we could get the *actually* wealthy people (not just people who are a few tens of thousands out of middle class) to also pay the same % in taxes rather than hire lawyers to continuously scour for loopholes.
The only way to do that is to radically simplify the tax code and put labor and capital on equal footing -- no separate income tax, capital gains, payroll, AMT, etc. No thousand loopholes and exemptions, no legislating through the tax code, just a simple single income tax regardless of source and with no more exemptions or add-ons than can be fit into a single page of paper. Of course, that'll never happen, but that's how you'd do it.
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Originally Posted by J.Thomas
Wow!!
I thought it'd pay more
Business accounting is heavily automated, and as a result pay is pretty bifurcated. If you are highly adept with the systems used by larger companies - especially if you can program and/or configure them - you're doing better as a result of that. If you never got the chance to develop those skills (generally due to opportunity rather than ability sadly, this isn't stuff the average person couldn't learn given the chance) you're working at a company too small or cash poor to afford good, custom-configured automated systems (and thus likely not well paid) or out of a job (in that field, at least) entirely.
I would be a bit more marketable with a degree and I could make a bit more doing the same job, but at my age, I just am not sure the cost to benefit ratio would be worth it - plus, I struggle in school, I am not sure I could achieve a college degree.
I got upper class! I feel so special lol. I was only upper class though by about $5k in my area.
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Originally Posted by Eeko156
Not at all. I just want to know how you got there - your level of education, how many years you had to work, etc.
Not that it matters, I am too old to follow in your footsteps.
FWIW, I am mid 30s. I have a bachelor's degree, toyed around with Masters and still am but I never thought it was worth the ROI (return on investment - school costs too much now a days).
I have worked in the field I'm in for 10 years. I do procurement, purchasing, and strategic sourcing. It is a hot field and is only now getting a focus in regards to college programming within the past 5-8 years. I was trained to do my job by a former co-worker and I have always made decent money in this field.
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Originally Posted by Podo944
Nope, but I would like for you go out to eat in restaurants more and tip your servers generously!
Cause that's what I do for work, and I luuuuvs me some upper middle class peeps!
On the bold, I ALWAYS tip 20% or more. My husband used to be a waiter back when we were "working poor" and so I know how important tips are to servers and I always tip them well.
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