[End Times Sentinel]

I’ve been a continuously employed LEO for 18 years.
My wife has been continuously employed as an ICU Nurse for 23 years.
We’ve received 2-3% raises the last two years but have faced 30% inflation over that same period of time.
We make a nice living, through years of toil and sacrifice. We talk to co-workers and they’re embarrassed to admit they’re now struggling.
How are folks who have a husband who’s an assistant manager at the Rite Aid and a wife who drives a school bus part time and have three children supposed to survive?
I guess President Double Scoop would suggest they put one of their 3 mansions up on AirbNb?

[wardaddy]

All depends where you live

[Reno89519]

Middle Class? I think $150K income and above.

No public assistance.

Have insurance (funny the 2012 note on phantom coverage in that article as that is all most of us can get nowadays)

Reliable transportation and money to pay for fuel

Able to spend on day-to-day necessities without counting pennies

I guess having retirement funds, homes/equity, etc.

Reality check. I'm not middle class. I'm not poor either. I can check off most boxes.

[metmom]

7. If a household requires government assistance (SNAP, Medicaid, rent subsidies, etc.) to maintain the family lifestyle, their middle class status is in doubt.

And therein lies part of the problem. It's defining that lifestyle.

Lots of people live beyond their means because they spend a lot of their income on luxury items and then complain that they cannot manage the basics but are unwilling to give up the luxuries.

[sauropod]

/

[KarlInOhio]

Meaningful healthcare insurance (i.e. not phantom coverage that only kicks in after thousands of dollars are paid in cash).

Insurance pays for the unexpected and extreme. Car insurance pays for crashes, not gas and oil changes. If it does pay for gas and oil changes, then your premium would have to pay for your gas and oil plus handling fees. In most cases, health insurance is to get your employer to pay for your healthcare from the first dollar. That's not insurance.

 A percentage of non-financial hard assets such as family heirlooms, precious metals, business equity, rental income property, land, etc. that can be transferred to the next generation, i.e. generational wealth.

So the family home, savings and a 401k don't count. I think this requirement is pushing the "middle" class requirements well into the wealthy.

Significant equity (25%-50%) in a home or other real estate.

So it is impossible to be middle class in a rental? Even if you buy with 10% down on a 30 year mortgage, it will take 10 years to hit 25% equity and about 20 years to hit 50% without inflation driving up the value. That means you can't be middle class for your apartment years or at least the first ten years of home ownership.

I think a lot if this article is not about a shrinking middle class, but rather a redefinition upward for political purposes.

[TBP]

It takes more to be middle class than the middle class can afford, and that is a purposeful, deliberate policy choice by the Democrats.

[Vaduz]

What Does It Take To Be Middle Class Now?

Learn to do with out the best of things and do your best besides the more things you have the more to worry about.

[Graybeard58]

10. Leisure time devoted to the maintenance of physical/spiritual/mental fitness.

~~~~~~~~~~>>>>THIS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I need more of. I only have 24 hours of leisure time in a day and have been that way for 24 years now and loving it.

[cgbg]

CHS has many great discussions—he is excellent at “systems thinking”, a lost art these days.