The best way to give people a sense of where they stand is to lay out some data. Every three years the Federal Reserve Board conducts a national survey that tracks the financial health of American households.
The Fed slices and dices this stuff with the vigor of an Iron Chef; the result is a rich, if dry, array of offerings on household net worth, pension and income levels, plus other demographic side dishes.
Whenever I slip these tidbits into cocktail party chatter, people are surprised to realize how little money it takes to win a gold star from the Fed. If you and yours are bringing in $40,000 a year, you’re doing better than half the households in America.
Interesting article. There is a big disconnect between perceptions and reality when it comes to income. I have heard lots of people pulling in $200 K state that they were middle class. This affects politics with tax cuts for the “middle class” extending to income ranges on the upper parking decks, to use the descriptive language of the article.
Because I have been a student/apprentice for greater than 30 years of my life, I have known poverty (Level I income). As a physician I am now making a little more than middle class wages. My [i]poor[/i] children suffer so because I still have the mindset developed in my leaner years, e.g., I embarrass them when I shop at discount stores beneath my social stature. Oh well. Such is life.
RR,
I have been all over that spectrum, ranging from 5 years in graduate school and another 5 in the Air Force long before they kicked up the pay to something livable, to a couple of very respectable professional careers. Now in early retirement I find myself easily in the highest levels of both income and net worth. And it certainly doesn’t feel wealthy! Very secure, but not remotely “stinking rich.” I still clip coupons from the Sunday paper, shop at K-Mart, live in a 2000 square foot house, and drive a great 1996 Honda Accord. Perception is indeed everything.
APB
One key point the article missed is geography, which drives things like city-county-state taxes, cost-of-living (esp, housing). If you’re living in NYC, national medians and percentiles don’t matter nearly as much as the local conditions. Would also be nice to see some age-range slices: a 33 year-old with a net worth of $300K and 2 kids under 3 is in a very different position than a 53 year-old with the same net worth and 2 kids in college.
From a Christian perspective (and that of a parent), I wonder how (or if) children growing up as part of a particular decile form identifiably similar patterns of thought about wealth, money, etc. Also, what happens when families move through the deciles – robroy’s point above is apt: his attitudes were formulated earlier in different economic circumstances, while his children have a different set. As someone who grew up in a family that had to make some considerable economic tradeoffs, I catch myself saying, “I don’t want my kids to worry about money..”. But am I implicitly saying, “I don’t want my kids to appreciate constraints, thrift, etc)”? Food for thought.
Having lived all of my life on the lower levels and often looking for the parking space, I usually remember two things: I have never slept out of doors unwillingly and I have never gone without a meal unwillingly. That just serves to remind me how rich I really am.
That said, it is very hard to give up the wish to have more and better. Maybe Powerball will hit, right? (or it might if I played)