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.
Many wealthy folks do not “own” real estate at all—at least not in their own name.
They play by totally different rules.