Where Do You Stand on America's Wealth Spectrum?

Yahoo ^ | 6 November 2007 | Lee Eisenberg

[bobsatwork]

As you see, there's a massive disparity between the haves and have-nots...... Horsepoop. The most massive disparity is likely age. I have been in every one of those "wealth" brackets at some stage in my life. A lifelong accumulated wealth of $860k does NOT have you rubbing shoulders with those who make $25Mil per movie. Those "wealth" categories are working-class categories.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

We’re above average in both and I still don’t feel rich. I’m not rich.

[petercooper]

It’s not how much you make, but what you do with it.

[RockinRight]

Because everything costs so damn much.

[Designer]

"It's you and me brother."

My word! Who are the ones making LESS than $40,000?

Me and my spousal unit combined earn quite a bit more than that, but there is no way I feel like we're wealthy.

I can't imagine trying to get by on less than 40k.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Most people around here live in Jackson county Michigan due to the lower cost of living here but work in Washtenaw county where pay is better.

We have more-or-less the same dynamic around here. Pay is better in Boston, but the cost of living is astronomical, so people tend to live in the surrounding suburbs and exburbs. And now the cost of living in those places is celestial as well. One has to drive at least an hour from Boston to find anything affordable.

[cajungirl]

Damn! I am rich! Who knew!

[cajungirl]

They say if you have assets over 800 plus thousand you are in the top tier. That may be so but that is a long way fro wealthy in my opinion.

[cajungirl]

Right. Wealthy people spend 860 thou a year old their hobbies.

[SoldierMedic]

Wow. I don’t feel so poor now.

[Tenacious 1]

I remember thinking when all of this SCHIP nonsense started last month how crazy the left's thinking was. If you are a family of four making $80K a year, you are "rich" enough to afford a tax increase, yet you are too "poor" to afford health insurance for your kids.

I have often noted the same things. When raising taxes, there are an awful lot of people that liberals think "can afford it." But when doling out entitlements, there are too many to be paid.

Let's see the democrats tax net worth. Let's see how that goes over. Oh yea, the death tax.

By the way, why don't we ever see the stats officially labeling the "middle class"?

Consequently, these statistics are always way off for income levels. There is a large group of workers in the 17 - 23 age range that have very low wage jobs while in school that are included in the stats as "poor." There is also a lot of 60 - 90 age range that is included. They switch back and forth from "house hold" incomes to individual incomes when it fits the story they are selling.

[Designer]

"And I'm sure cats who live in Manhattan, LA, and San Fran have it even worse."

They have higher wages, but expenses are higher there, so it all works out. They are fundamentally no better off than we here in the heartland who are paid less.

Both my sons make more than I do, (both more education as well), but both also live in some high-priced areas.

[jrp]

If you're a teacher married to a policeman, your combined household income puts you in the top 25 percent of all households in the nation.

That's funny. Police and teachers (unions) here in Cali are always whining about how poor and underpaid they are.

[RockinRight]

My wife and I are also well above “average” nationally...but only slightly above locally.

Either way we don’t feel rich, either.

[Mad Dawg]

It’s not how much you make, but what you do with it.

It's not how much you make, it's how you make it much?

[Mad Dawg]

fro wealthy

'fro wealthy?"

But yeah, "wealthy" is a noise that liberals make when they want to raise taxes. It conveys no specific meaning.

[Graybeard58]

I was a Union member for only 2 years; back in 1968 and 1969

It's not real popular around here (understatement) but I was a union member for 31 years and I don't try to keep it a secret, nor do I keep secret the fact that I have never voted for a democrat in my life.

.

[Mad Dawg]

See there? I bet you feel richer already!

[Paratrooper]

I thought it interesting when Britney Spears and her husband Kevin went to court and had to declare earnings. The press focused on Britney and not her husband...he earned over $500,000 but after deductions his gross pay was around $7,000. I guess Hollywood knows how to avoid paying taxes, makes it easier to support a candidate who is going to raise taxes.

[Graybeard58]

I can't imagine trying to get by on less than 40k.

A lot depends on where you live, how many people in your family, is your house paid for etc. Many people get by on a lot less than 40k per year.