Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Americans Say $150,000 a Year is ‘Rich’.
The Wall Street Journal's The Wealth Report ^ | December 9, 2011 | Robert Frank

Posted on 12/09/2011 1:11:16 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

President Obama was criticized by conservatives for suggesting that an income of $250,000 a year made people rich.

If anything, however, Mr. Obama may have been aiming too high.

A new Gallup poll shows that Americans say they would need to earn a median of $150,000, or have $1 million in total net worth, to consider themselves rich. The $150,000 in income puts you roughly in the top 10%.

On the income side, 30% said they would need to earn less than $100,000. And another 18% said $60,000 a year would make them rich. Fully 15% said they would need to earn $1 million or more a year to think of themselves as rich.

Those who lived in cities said they would need twice as much ($200,000) than what those who live in towns or rural areas said they needed ($100,000).

Men also say they need more than women: $150,000 compared with $100,000...

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: obama; polls; rich; taxes; therich; wealth
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-31 next last

1 posted on 12/09/2011 1:11:21 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Hell, I be rich too, on Payday.


2 posted on 12/09/2011 1:15:30 PM PST by Sans-Culotte ( Pray for Obama- Psalm 109:8)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Four more years and $6,200 per year will be rich.


3 posted on 12/09/2011 1:16:23 PM PST by blackdog (And justice for all.....(Offer not valid in all locations, and prices vary))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Is that 150k before or after taxes and which state do these people want to live in?


4 posted on 12/09/2011 1:18:31 PM PST by dragonblustar (Allah Ain't So Akbar!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Anybody who makes more money than I do is RICH and we should tax them into homelessness.

(Evil 8a$turds!)


5 posted on 12/09/2011 1:24:40 PM PST by Tenacious 1 (Government can only be a consumer of wealth, it can not create wealth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blackdog

When the communists took over China, they knew that according to Mao’s theory, about 10% of people were “landlords and wealthy capitalists” who had to be eliminated.

So the cut-off was - if you owned a pig, you were clearly “wealthy” and therefore were shot.


6 posted on 12/09/2011 1:24:58 PM PST by PGR88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: dragonblustar

No kidding. 150k after taxes in MA or RI is barely eeking by.


7 posted on 12/09/2011 1:25:46 PM PST by GreatRoad (O < 0)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

BS. Who was interviewed/polled?


8 posted on 12/09/2011 1:28:53 PM PST by Paladin2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
The $150,000 in income puts you roughly in the top 10%.

That's roughly true of household income. That means a married schoolteacher couple with 20 years seniority, each earning $85,000 (not hard in major metro areas), is "rich."

GIGO poll.

9 posted on 12/09/2011 1:29:38 PM PST by sphinx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

In this Obamaconomy, if you have a job, you’re rich.


10 posted on 12/09/2011 1:32:19 PM PST by Daveinyork
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dragonblustar
When I left the Air Force in 1976, I was making about 600/month in pay and allowances. I used to think that if I could make $10K I'd be sh!tting in tall cotton.

I got a job for $150/week...the same basic thing I was making in the height of Jimmah's economy. GI-bill, college and years later, my maxed out SS is larger than what I made back then (at least for the years Obama hasn't given his constituents an extra $2K/year). My fed taxes lately have been on the order of $50K/year....yet, I still do not consider myself rich. It's all just a matter a perspective. But, more importantly, it IS a matter of what you do with what you make.

11 posted on 12/09/2011 1:35:04 PM PST by Gaffer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

We are almost to the point where, if you have a job, you are rich.


12 posted on 12/09/2011 1:35:52 PM PST by FrogMom (There is no such thing as an honest democrat!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Paladin2

ACORN members?


13 posted on 12/09/2011 1:35:51 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (You can't invade the US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass.~Admiral Yamamoto)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

$150,000 isn’t squat. There are few tax breaks after $109,000; student loans, mortgage points, etc.


14 posted on 12/09/2011 1:37:31 PM PST by CodeToad (Islam needs to be banned in the US and treated as a criminal enterprise.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
President Obama was criticized by conservatives for suggesting that an income of $250,000 a year made people rich inciting class warfare, as part of his Marxist agenda.

= =

Sorry, both this story and Obama's previous position are part of the same goal...class warfare...an essential component to Marxism.

This story tries to paint the picture of "see this you silly Americans, Obama's opinion wasn't so extreme, it was right in line with mainstream America!"

The story ignores the fact that people are compensated for the value that they provide. It scares the heck out of me to see this country slide into 1930s type politics, where socialism and marxism were widely accepted.

15 posted on 12/09/2011 1:37:31 PM PST by kidd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Nobody who depends on a paycheck is rich. If you’re rich, you don’t need a paycheck. If you’re rich, even a 100% income tax is meaningless because you don’t need any income.

Think John Kerry or Nancy Pelosi. It’s why they love to “tax the rich” because they know the truly rich won’t be touched and they will still contribute to democRATS.


16 posted on 12/09/2011 1:37:37 PM PST by Da Bilge Troll (Defeatism is not a winning strategy!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

In one sense, they are right. Look around the world. Anyone making the equivalent of $100K is incredibly rich in comparison to the rest of the world population. So is someone making $40K. The real question is what conclusion do you draw from this question.

Do you conclude that government should tax the s**t out of anyone making $150K to provide more government benes to the middle class and fund more government jobs?

Or do you conclude that our country has an economic model that produces fabulous wealth for most of its citizens and worry that all the Socialism and Class Envy are going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg and drive us all back to living in one room shacks like the rest of the world?


17 posted on 12/09/2011 1:43:23 PM PST by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gaffer
My fed taxes lately have been on the order of $50K/year....yet, I still do not consider myself rich.

And that's just to the Fed. You left out what the state and city take from you, then there are all those little taxes, sales/gas/phone/cable tv/ etc......

18 posted on 12/09/2011 1:45:40 PM PST by dragonblustar (Allah Ain't So Akbar!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Da Bilge Troll
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
19 posted on 12/09/2011 1:46:48 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (You can't invade the US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass.~Admiral Yamamoto)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Paladin2
BS. Who was interviewed/polled?

From the Gallup site:

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 2011, with a random sample of 1,012 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia...

Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking.

The problem with polling "adults" is that you could be getting resident foreigners who can't vote, illegals from Mexico who don't care, etc.

-PJ

20 posted on 12/09/2011 1:51:57 PM PST by Political Junkie Too (If you can vote for President, then your children can run for President.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-31 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson