Rich and Sort of Rich

[dtotire]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/weekinreview/15tax250copy.html?_r=1&ref=politics

[Donnachaidh]

1. Cry me a river -- 'I make a quarter of a million dollars a year but I don't *feel* wealthy

Part of the upper 2% whining about being picked on in the tax debate... :shrug:

FAIL.

[Igel]

2. Odd.

I quite happily lived on perhaps $10k a year in Los Angeles. I was single, so that helped. Then again, I still paid a couple thousand on educational fees and insurance, and perhaps $400 on books. That left under $9000/year for surviving, with well over 1/2 of my income going to rent. I did just fine right at the poverty cut-off point--I was even able to swing some $600 to go to a conference without dipping into savings.

Yet I heard people at twice the poverty level--nearly middle class--complaining just as loudly as people at the poverty level were back then.

A lot of it depends on standards. My neighbors now complain that they're barely making ends meet, with two late model cars, mortgage payments, two or three kids, and HDTV. They're living rather luxurious lives and can't accept it, much less be content. Instead, they would rather be envious of those making more, living in a nicer neighborhood (the problem being that the neighborhood is "nice" or "not nice" depending mostly on who's living there, not the actual buildings), having bigger cars, etc. If they had bought smaller houses--you know, under 2000 sq ft--or if they didn't leave their AC set at 68 in the summer so they had $400 electricity bills, or if they actually bought food that needed preparation instead of eating out or mostly pre-prepared food, they'd make ends meet more easily. But they have their lifestyle to support. They're owed their lifestyle. No, they're owed a much better lifestyle.

Sad, really.

Those making $250k are no different from my neighbors, with their average household income around $45k. The same for those making $500k or $1M a year.

[Populist_Prole]

3. Yes it is

I notice the same dynamic with some friends and co-workers as you note with some of your neighbors. If they didn't insist on having so much of the latest and greatest stuff all bought on credit, and lived in a sensible home, they'd really be fairly solvent.

When I hear what they're paying for their mortgage payments I about crapped my pants...and surely would if I had a payment like that.

You simply can't expect to have a well-stocked 450K house on a 55-60K/yr income, but they are doing their damnedest to try.

Up the income to a quarter mil, and I can easily see this same perverse dynamic on a grander scale; with all the bitching and moaning about making ends meet to boot.