Posted on 11/06/2007 5:49:23 AM PST by shrinkermd
This article is a compilation of income and wealth statistics by percentile. It is fairly comprehensive.
Among the quotes are:
Or, as a Washington think tank recently pointed out: If you're a teacher married to a policeman, your combined household income puts you in the top 25 percent of all households in the nation.
"...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.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Oh, no problem, I didn’t take offense or anything. I’m still somewhat early career, so I will probably be moving up the ladder eventually.
As well as being in the 50s or 60s.
They will be on the brink of retirement - in the middle class. They are, by and large, the Baby Boomers expecting to match that net worth with SS for the rest of their lives (minus supplemental odd jobs).
This is not unusual in the tax schemes of today. When ever there is a "tax code revision" they play the shell game. Take more here and allow another deduction there. It truly divides the tax payers and earners.
I am one of those, by victim of circumstance, that does not pay my fair share of taxes. Why? I have a rental house that loses money. You would be surprised by the deduction amounts I get to take and thus lower our household taxable income. It's the same for those that can "afford" to have losses. Losses and loopholes pay dividends. Many wealthy folks do not have high incomes. Instead, LLC, Incs and investments offset the taxable wealth they actually gain throughout the year.
Raising taxes on the upper class only limits what they pay themselves and report (take home). It also limits what they spend, as a side affect.
Until the the tax code is thrown out all together and started over, the shell game will go on.
I am a Fair Tax fan, even though it has holes. I am willing to pay more in taxes if it is ever implemented, which I will. But so will Brittney and K-Fed, etal.
Truer words are seldom spoken.
Americans are woefully naive about how great this country is. They think there is great disparity among the wealth distribution of America. The ignorance is sickening.
In this bastion of capitalism and freedom, folks will move through the social economic classes in both directions several times. They are young and poor. They get careers, they become professionals. They lose their jobs and start over. They get old and retire.
Through it all, they have shelter, food, entertainment, transportation, health care (even those without insurance), etc. Our economy will always have differing levels of income across the spectrum of citizens. It is a must for our economy to work.
Those pie in the sky, do-good, fairness hippy, social class, commies that think this country would be better served by making everyone rich, are truly in search of a lazy existence of dependence based socialism. Worse, they do not even realize their Utopian society is just that, socialism.
LOL absolutely spot on answer.
Very good! My best wishes to you!
Thank you. Yet another reason why I hate liberals. They act as if people are born poor and just stay poor their whole lives, thus "needing" liberal programs. Unless you are seriously mentally deficient it's almost impossible to stay poor for an entire lifetime because you've had the time to save money, invest, work, gain experience, etc. My grandparents were like this. Very modest/low incomes during their working life, but they saved every nickel and dime they could and had a very comfortable retirement.
It’s incredible to me that people think they can’t get by on $40k a year. My essential expenses (all food, clothing, shelter, taxes, utilities, etc.) don’t come to more than $400 a month, and half of that is fancy food.
Or the difference berween money and wealth.....
Median world income is about $2 per person per day.
If you’re making more than half the world’s population, you’re not poor.
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That is a meaningless figure. You and I both know that the equivalent of $2. per day in America will not keep a person alive, you cannot buy enough food to sustain life with that, let alone have clothing and shelter. It reminds me of the show on TV a number of years ago about Mexicans working in American owned factories in Mexico for a few cents an hour. The funny part is they showed these same women out dancing at night wearing decent clothes, makeup, hair nicely done. It just didn’t add up, the figure quoted would not have put food in their bellies here. They are not accounting for the exchange rate.
I can’t imagine trying to get by on less than 40k.
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According to the inflation calculator $40,000. in 2006 is equivalent to about $6475. in 1966. Let me go on record as saying I don’t think that is right. It is hard to make a valid comparison because things are so different but I doubt that a person could do that well, I think it would be more like a ten to one ratio. I suspect that $40,000. today is no more than $4000. back then. In this area in 1966 a respectable new car could be had for $3000., a small brick house just completed on a half acre lot could be had for $12000., a family could be fed with $10. in groceries for a week, a livable house could be rented for $70. a month and a fast food lunch could be enjoyed for less than half a dollar total including tax. I used to go to an all you can eat country style buffet for one dollar plus three cents sales tax and the food was really good.
My essential expenses (all food, clothing, shelter, taxes, utilities, etc.) don’t come to more than $400 a month, and half of that is fancy food.
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I sure would like to hear how you do that!
Did I read the chart wrong? Or is the data used six years old.
You've bought the lie hook-line-and-sinker.
$1 per meal is trivially easy to achieve. With some effort, that can be reduced to $0.33 per meal.
Clothing and shelter are similarly cheap - if you actually THINK about the purchase process, put some legwork & elbow grease into it, stay away from absurdly priced markets, and (here's the kicker) if the government doesn't pile on so many taxes & regulations. There are towns that will GIVE you land if you'll just build a house on it within 2-5 years; that's not hard to do if you cut your expenses and get creative. (Heck, I'd like to hire a live-in housekeeper paid partly in free room & board - if only the government wouldn't pile such onerous restrictions on doing so.)
Americans have hugely bought into a kingly culture. We can live on a LOT less. $2/day is the world median, and it's not that absurd - so long as you don't live a plush lifestyle in hugely expensive areas. (And now I must go call a friend on my cell phone, jump into my SUV, burn several dollars in gas, and go to my rediculously comfortable 2500 sq ft home ... I know I can live _very_ cheaply, but will certainly take advantage of any opportunity to live better.)
One of the keys to happiness is to not compare yourself to others. Your happiness should not be contingent on there being no one else happier than you. It should have no bearing. This article is meant to summon the demons of envy to bring destruction, both to a person's happiness and to those they envy. This is election year class-warfare designed to elect Satan herself.
The United States has never been celebrated for being an egalitarian utopia like the USSR tried to create, although the same forces that created that evil empire are trying their hardest.
Yeah, right.
Shoot, I am making $80k in Southeast Maine and am cutting vacation planning, Christmas budget and cutting out going out to eat. We were always careful with credit cards and luxuries, paying cash in the past. My take home as a small business owner after expenses gives us about $7k a year now for all luxury spending. That’s down from $18k just three years ago and I making more now then at that time. I don’t feel like I am getting ahead any longer, more like just keeping up now. How anyone can exist with less then $40k in this day and age is beyond me. Guess it depends where you live.
You are right, the "inflation calculator" is not right.
Our benificent government is claiming low inflation because they know it would be torches and pitchforks if most people were aware of how bad it is.
The fact that they refer to the consumer price index as inflation ought to be a big red flag right there.
And just to clarify my earlier point; to simply "get by" is not my goal, and I enjoy a typical middle-class lifestyle, so I realize that yes, a small family probably could get by on 40k or even less if they were self-sufficient.
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