Snakeboy is winning this thread like I am poor.
Not sure how accurate this calculator this is but in 1980 that 24k would basically be the same as what Drachen was describing today.
Snakeboy is winning this thread like I am poor.
I remember we had some tough times when I was a kid and I don't think my mom could possibly have been making more than 12-15k on her ty jobs. But I never lacked for food and clothes. She has described times back in Mexico where her and my aunts uncles and grandparents had a few tortillas and a few tomatoes between them for meals. THAT is ing poor.
Its all relative, though. To people starving in eastern Africa I'm sure that sounds like the high life.
It isn't accurate. Median income was over $40k in the 80's which according to the calculator virtually everyone was rich according Drachen's view of what rich is.
Well you just keep defining middle class as where someone is at. I'll keep defining it as where someone is going. We can see who was right when we both reach retirement age.
also, this makes no sense.
That's ok. You just keep financing those cars & motorcyles and tucking away that 6% and believing you're doing great. I'm sure everything will be just fine for you.
Hey Drachen since I apparently have no perspective of the middle class can you tell me what you pay in federal income tax.
Just when I think no one can miss a point as badly as WC, in walks boutons.
man, buy a clue.
Median income converted to today's dollars was probable between $45k and $50k. However, that's adjusted to 2012 dollars. The real dollars back in the 80's for median income ranged from $16,523 in 1980 to $27,388 in 1989. That's if you trust this source. I didn't take the time to look past finding one source, and it looks accurate to me.
Why is it you have it in for me anyway? Are you making bad beer these days that's screwing with your mind?
TODAY's household median is $50K, so 30 years ago is was under $25K.
Well I'll see my dad tomorrow and I'll ask him if he remembers what he made back then, maybe I'm mistaken on what he made back then. We lived in a small 3 bedroom rental, single vehicle, and they struggled to make ends meet. Things got alot better for them in the late 80's as they did for everyone, so maybe that the salary I'm remembering.
personal anecdotes are meaningless in the big picture. It's the broad, population-wide numbers that tell the true tale.
Between 1978 and 1981, I made ~$8.50/hr and paid $200/month rent for a 2 bedroom house. I could have raised a family on that without struggling. Cable was something like $12, and I forget what the utilities were, but they were cheap too. Car insurance cost me something like $30/month.
Huffpo
During a campaign event in Burlington, Iowa, Biden mocked Romney for saying Obama is out of touch with average Americans when Romney is the one with Swiss bank accounts and millions of dollars tucked away in the Cayman Islands.
"He thinks the middle class is $200,000 to $250,000. Whoa! Whoa!" Biden said to cheers. "Don't you all wish you were in that middle class? Whoa!"
In an interview last week on ABC's "Good Morning America," Romney said he would define "middle-income" as between $200,000 to $250,000 a year and less.
"He's totally out of touch with the reality of what ordinary Americans deal with every day," Biden said about Romney. "He does not get it. He does not understand."
But for months, Obama has been urging Congress to extend the "middle-class" Bush-era tax cuts on the first $250,000 of people's income.
"Pass a bill extending the tax cuts for the middle class, I will sign it tomorrow," Obama said in July. "I just believe that anybody making over $250,000 should go back to the income tax rates we were paying under Bill Clinton."
"But for months, Obama has been urging Congress to extend the "middle-class" Bush-era tax cuts on the first $250,000 of people's income.
"Pass a bill extending the tax cuts for the middle class, I will sign it tomorrow," Obama said in July. "I just believe that anybody making over $250,000 should go back to the income tax rates we were paying under Bill Clinton." "
Just more Repug/Fox "You Didn't Build That" lying. "Up to" 250 includes the bottom and middle, while over 250 is obviously upper class, like the top 5%.
Hey, you have been factually put down in this thread so why not start making things up.
I have only financed one of those three vehicles (it is the one which has financing on it). Also, I never said I was doing great. I stated that I was comfortable, but squeezing. In fact, I specifically stated that 6% was not enough, but I made a decision that my daughter's education comes first. I am not saying this to try to sound noble only to state that, for me, that is the priority. I could also take that money from SSI and boost my retirement account, but I choose not to for the reasons noted. I never said that I was done either. Middle class is not a destination, it is a stop (hopefully). I didn't respond last night because I was in class...
I will tell you exactly the answer you want to hear. I was a net reciever when I filed my income taxes. I am not sure exactly what this proves, however.
are you trying to argue just for arguments sake? He specifically said that med income in 1980 was 16k. Just like it says in the link I posted above.
Both Obama and Romney agree that the upper end of middle class is $250k and is not rich, I haven't been "factually" put down on that. My view is middle class starts around $100k and you are working class. It's subjective but your description of your own financial situation furthers my position imo.
I think that middle class starts really about where Obamacare defined it...4X poverty level or around $80,000 and goes to $250,000. Under 4X poverty level insurance will be subsidized...over 4X poverty level (middle class) it wont.
It proves a number of things but you're getting pretty offended by someone questioning you're percieved status in life so I'll let it go. Good luck to you.
FWIW, our household income has been over $200k for 12 years, I own a comparable sized home (paid $227k), I drive a yr 2000 pickup with 343K miles, my wife a 2003 pathfinder with over 200K miles on it, I also have 3 rescue dogs...I'm living high on the hog.
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