[oh8eleven]

I was using the author’s chosen income level

The author's strawman is 65 years old and earns $115,000 per year.
That is not elitist by any stretch.

[Don W]

Our friend's strawman was supposed to be some sort of average Joe. At least that was the way I read the article. I know folks that retired with a full pension from the military and are working full time skilled labor jobs that don't make that kind of money.

I suppose I must live in some impoverished backwater where $70K is a pretty good living.

Nice to know there are folks making that kind of money. To me that's the upper end of what could be considered any sort of "average". BTW, according to the WIKI article HERE, (which uses US gov't figures) over 90 % of American's income is UNDER 100K, so while "elitist" might be a trigger word for some, it's not wholly inaccurate.