The only true middle class that remains is government workers.
Except they’re not middle class they’re privileged Government Class.
ML/NJ
Even high end toys / endeavors are in danger. General Aviation is dying, no new pilots. New aircraft are un-afforable and have been so since the late 60’s as Burt Rutan has noted in his forum. Used aircraft sometimes are less expensive than a Harley or Muscle Car, but maintenance and hangar fees etc are killers. It does not bode well for those that will want to go on vacation in 10 years, as professional pilots will be in short supply.
So what are the 10 things?
Interesting how they don’t mention housing costs.
Housing costs in some parts of the country are absorbing bigger and bigger percentages of income.
Housing is the biggest single expense most of us have, yet, it’s not mentioned in this article about the middle class financial squeeze. Interesting omission.
Wow there are whole multi-billion dollar industries disproving basically every entry on the list. Pure hokum.
For a number of those, I’d bet over 50% of the consumer cost is because of
* government regulations
* government-protected monopolies
If you throw in government-mandated taxes and insurance needed for out of control law suites you can probably get to 70-80% for a couple (and the government won’t allow competitors to do it for less because the want to protect the monopolies and collect taxes).
Add to that the government-required costs of having an employee keeping salaries down and it’s no wonder so many things are hard to afford.
And the liberal solution is “more government”.
1. Vacations
2. New vehicles
3. Student loans
4. Emergency savings
5. Retirement savings
6. Medical care
7. Dental work
8. Skipped paychecks
9. Child care
10. Going to the movies
Big time kudos to the website for posting them all on one page instead of making you click through ten pages of ads.
Thieves have ruined it.
Now, you just steal if you want something.
They can afford them, they just have to budget for them the same as everyone else who is not "Richie Rich".
This is like the "Hunger in America" nonsense where they ask if you have ever had to not eat something you wanted because of price. Well duh! Surf and Turf every night is out because of price. So I must be starving.
depressing
If they can’t afford them, they are no longer middle class. They are poor.
One reason we can’t afford the middle class lifestyle most of our parents had is the government. Quantitative easing and huge cash infusions by Obama in 2009 and 2010 more than tripled the money supply. There is nothing we can do about that, other than not vote Democrat. However, there are things that the average person can do but many would never consider.
In my area, you can purchase a doublewide on acreage for about half the cost of equivalent floor space on a tiny lot in a subdivision of traditional homes. The schools in my rural county are all A and B rated and it’s a quick drive for many of the people working in the capital city. Finding a good school in Tallahassee means living in the most expensive area in the county. The rest of the schools resemble prisons and many are failing or close to it.
The next highest cost item many people buy is a car. Many of the low end renters I have, who live paycheck to paycheck, have better cars than I do. To suggest they repair the old present car or buy a less expensive car or even a used car will net you a bad look. People have the view that they must have the best of whatever they buy. I know a man who, while well employed, is living too close to the edge. He found a sale on TV’s at Walmart and purchased a huge screen TV to replace the perfectly functional 54 inch TV he had been watching. I didn’t ask how much it cost, but I noticed he had many movie channels. My internet only connection is what I consider a staggering $54/ month. I am guessing his internet costs what would have been a car payment ten years ago. Does he have any savings? Absolutely not.
Then there are discretionary costs like eating out. One day I calculated what I spent at work on coffee and lunches. I stopped buying both as the number added up to WAY more than I wanted to spend. Thirty years of savings later and I am buying rentals to make up the income I lost because I got cheated out of my retirement by circumstances.
Most of the people I know will never be able to retire. I worked my whole life and discovered that if I live to the age my parents achieved, I will have nothing to live on. So, here I am working even though I am living in pain.
I would suggest people think about their future rather than just arriving there as if by accident. And, remember, a time may come when even though you need to work, you can’t really work.
It would be interesting to track the prices of things, compared to what proportion of income it takes to make the purchase.
For example, we’ve all heard stories from our elders how they bought a house for $10,000 and that was a lot of money back then. But what proportion of grandpa’s paycheck was needed to pay the mortgage back then?
And, what proportion of grandpa’s pay went to pay taxes back then? What percentage of income was needed to buy movie tickets and vacations and all the rest of the items on the list in 1948, vs. how much people are spending today for the same items? That would probably be an eye opener.
And then talk about how some items, such as the student loans, were a non issue decades ago, but are a huge burden for some people today.
Prior to 2008, when I was well able to take vacations, I really didn’t because I had a business to run. My “vacations” were a day here and there tacked onto business travel, no taking a week off let alone two. New cars were depreciated through that business and although even then they were too much money, the depreciation offset sufficient income that it was honestly a deal so I did it. Now, I buy used. I watch the market for cars that interest me to see how well they age, how reliable they are, I keep a short list. I can’t afford the depreciation hit now that I’m no longer able to use it to offset business income. Planes? Had a customer that both imported and manufactured LSA’s and was bartering for seat time to get a license, does that count? The planes cost then what an SUV costs now so it seemed within reach, then. Not now. I could go on and on, but the most galling thing is dentistry. I’m at the age where the need for root canals starts rearing it’s ugly head, and even if I had dental insurance the first $2,500.00 is not covered and does not roll over year to year. Guess what a root canal costs? Most of that, but not all so it’s out of pocket.
I lay the blame on globalization. Top executives receive higher and higher salaries because they have achieved higher profits by exporting jobs to lower wage countries. And it is not only lower skilled jobs that are being exported. Many higher paying jobs are being exported or being replaced by robots. People are complaining about the disparity of wages but rarely if ever do they connect globalization and disparity of wages.
...and the Top Ten list from the Home Office in Fargo:
10) Taxes
9) Democrats
8) Immigration
7) Green Energy
6) Obamaphones
5) Section 8 vouchers
4) Pointless, stupid academic study grants
3) Ethanol subsidies
2) Public Employee Pensions
1) Transgender surgery for incarcerated prisoners
Vacation is one. We take very few vacations anymore it has grown so expensive.
#10 is irrelevant. There is NOTHING worth paying the money to see at a movie theater. Plus, having to deal with all the a-holes who go there too.
Have you priced a new pickup truck lately? How about a bass boat?