Posted on 08/31/2017 7:30:43 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
Middle class benefits are being revoked in the name of affordability. Because of several factors including stagnant wages, rising costs, and politics, being a member of the American middle class is quickly losing what little prestige it has remaining.
Are you middle class? In its discussion of historical middle class societies, The Economist reports, “Their members are neither rich nor poor but somewhere in-between…’Middle-class’ describes an income category but also a set of attitudes … An essential characteristic is the possession of a reasonable amount of discretionary income. Middle-class people do not live from hand to mouth, job to job, season to season, as the poor do.”
Some argue that the most sensible income amount to attach to the middle class would be the median household income, around $54,000. Perhaps, anyone who earns between the 25th percentile and 75th percentile is a member of the middle class.
Diana Farrell, once Deputy Director of America’s National Economic Council, told The Economist she thinks a middle class income begins at the point where a person (or family) has one-third of their income left over for discretionary purposes after they’ve provided themselves with food and shelter. In other words, someone who earns $3,000 per month would have $1,000 left after they’ve paid their mortgage or rent, utilities, and grocery bills.
Discretionary income is not so easy to find. We’ve created a list of ten things the middle class can no longer really afford. We’re not talking about lavish luxuries, like private jets and yachts. The items on this list are a bit more basic, and some are even necessities.
(Excerpt) Read more at cheatsheet.com ...
Concerts are too expensive today.
depressing
If they can’t afford them, they are no longer middle class. They are poor.
The can buy maybe 3 things on that list in any given year. The point is the middle class in the past, say the 1960's, bought all 10(well maybe not anew car every year) of those things every year. I can verify that. My parents did that in the 1960's.
Except they’re not middle class they’re privileged Government Class.
Exactly!
Good on ya!
You will find a way, go for it!
One reason we can’t afford the middle class lifestyle most of our parents had is the government. Quantitative easing and huge cash infusions by Obama in 2009 and 2010 more than tripled the money supply. There is nothing we can do about that, other than not vote Democrat. However, there are things that the average person can do but many would never consider.
In my area, you can purchase a doublewide on acreage for about half the cost of equivalent floor space on a tiny lot in a subdivision of traditional homes. The schools in my rural county are all A and B rated and it’s a quick drive for many of the people working in the capital city. Finding a good school in Tallahassee means living in the most expensive area in the county. The rest of the schools resemble prisons and many are failing or close to it.
The next highest cost item many people buy is a car. Many of the low end renters I have, who live paycheck to paycheck, have better cars than I do. To suggest they repair the old present car or buy a less expensive car or even a used car will net you a bad look. People have the view that they must have the best of whatever they buy. I know a man who, while well employed, is living too close to the edge. He found a sale on TV’s at Walmart and purchased a huge screen TV to replace the perfectly functional 54 inch TV he had been watching. I didn’t ask how much it cost, but I noticed he had many movie channels. My internet only connection is what I consider a staggering $54/ month. I am guessing his internet costs what would have been a car payment ten years ago. Does he have any savings? Absolutely not.
Then there are discretionary costs like eating out. One day I calculated what I spent at work on coffee and lunches. I stopped buying both as the number added up to WAY more than I wanted to spend. Thirty years of savings later and I am buying rentals to make up the income I lost because I got cheated out of my retirement by circumstances.
Most of the people I know will never be able to retire. I worked my whole life and discovered that if I live to the age my parents achieved, I will have nothing to live on. So, here I am working even though I am living in pain.
I would suggest people think about their future rather than just arriving there as if by accident. And, remember, a time may come when even though you need to work, you can’t really work.
New cars aren’t as terribly expensive as they appear at first glance. Most any daily commuter car is so much better made nowadays than 10 or 20 years ago. Gone are the days when 100k miles was considered junk status. I have a Hyundai Sonta that is five years old. I just checked the price and this one hasn’t gone up too much since 2012. You can buy the base model for $21,300. It will have things in the base model that were options 20 years ago. No reason that car won’t last 200k miles if you treat it well. Not terrible imo for a sedan for five.
They can’t afford them but they do them anyway. My sister makes $22k a year and her car payment is $450 a month and her cell phone is $300.
If you can’t afford a movie, you can’t afford a data plan for a phone.
It would be interesting to track the prices of things, compared to what proportion of income it takes to make the purchase.
For example, we’ve all heard stories from our elders how they bought a house for $10,000 and that was a lot of money back then. But what proportion of grandpa’s paycheck was needed to pay the mortgage back then?
And, what proportion of grandpa’s pay went to pay taxes back then? What percentage of income was needed to buy movie tickets and vacations and all the rest of the items on the list in 1948, vs. how much people are spending today for the same items? That would probably be an eye opener.
And then talk about how some items, such as the student loans, were a non issue decades ago, but are a huge burden for some people today.
More lies. They can afford ALL of them in a year. And claiming they can’t is just silly.
I’ve never had an auto trans last longer than 175K.
Afluenza at Free Republic.
Prior to 2008, when I was well able to take vacations, I really didn’t because I had a business to run. My “vacations” were a day here and there tacked onto business travel, no taking a week off let alone two. New cars were depreciated through that business and although even then they were too much money, the depreciation offset sufficient income that it was honestly a deal so I did it. Now, I buy used. I watch the market for cars that interest me to see how well they age, how reliable they are, I keep a short list. I can’t afford the depreciation hit now that I’m no longer able to use it to offset business income. Planes? Had a customer that both imported and manufactured LSA’s and was bartering for seat time to get a license, does that count? The planes cost then what an SUV costs now so it seemed within reach, then. Not now. I could go on and on, but the most galling thing is dentistry. I’m at the age where the need for root canals starts rearing it’s ugly head, and even if I had dental insurance the first $2,500.00 is not covered and does not roll over year to year. Guess what a root canal costs? Most of that, but not all so it’s out of pocket.
$1500 to $2000 for a new trans is much more affordable than buying a new car. If you take a $20k car with $10k of maint over 2000k miles, that’s pretty cheap per mile.
Ability to do math. Sorry you can’t. But the article is a lie.
I lay the blame on globalization. Top executives receive higher and higher salaries because they have achieved higher profits by exporting jobs to lower wage countries. And it is not only lower skilled jobs that are being exported. Many higher paying jobs are being exported or being replaced by robots. People are complaining about the disparity of wages but rarely if ever do they connect globalization and disparity of wages.
My wife is looking at houses in the next county and one of the houses on her list is selling for $63k. The mortgage would be like $250 a month
...and the Top Ten list from the Home Office in Fargo:
10) Taxes
9) Democrats
8) Immigration
7) Green Energy
6) Obamaphones
5) Section 8 vouchers
4) Pointless, stupid academic study grants
3) Ethanol subsidies
2) Public Employee Pensions
1) Transgender surgery for incarcerated prisoners
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.