Combined income Poll
redid the poll, answer anonymously
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Combined income Poll
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Re: Combined income Poll
numbers are much better on this one
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by futuremrsfab
numbers are much better on this one
thanks
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Re: Combined income Poll
Not that this poll is scientific r anything but its sad. I remember a poll either here or on LIF that most people said you needed to make 150K or more in order tolive comfortably on LI. According to this one at this time on three make that.
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Re: Combined income Poll
I just found out that if you make less than $200k a year combined you are considered middle 'lower class'...![]()
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by shcole08
I just found out that if you make less than $200k a year combined you are considered middle 'lower class'...![]()
Seriously? That is sickening.
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by Future_Farrell
Posted by shcole08
I just found out that if you make less than $200k a year combined you are considered middle 'lower class'...![]()
Seriously? That is sickening.
For just two people? Middle Lower class? I don't know if I believe that.
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by Autumn08
Posted by Future_Farrell
Posted by shcole08
I just found out that if you make less than $200k a year combined you are considered middle 'lower class'...![]()
Seriously? That is sickening.
For just two people? Middle Lower class? I don't know if I believe that.
wow really? is that just for this area- I thought the national household income was only 40k.
is it possible that you meant that 200k combined is lower-middle class? even that seems odd to me
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Re: Combined income Poll
i just found this article discussing what is 'middle class'. i think the numbers should be a little higher for LI, but still $200K to be lower-middle class is off.
TEXT OF STORY
Tess Vigeland: So, is there a hard and fast number to define the middle class?
United States government, you wanna help us out here? No? Not really?
Well, at least there's an official poverty line. In 2007, it was an annual income under $20,650 for a family of four.
As for middle class, well, the Congressional Research Service issued a report last year pegging middle class income as between $19,000 a year and $91,000 a year.
But even the specialist in quantitative economics who put together that study said there is no consensus or official government definition.
So we decided to ask around.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First up; Brookings Institution economist Gary Burtless:
Gary Burtless: You don't need to show a passport or a baptism certificate or a club ID to be admitted to this group. If you say you're a member, then I think you're in the middle class.
He uses the term 'middle income' rather than 'middle class' and he bases his definition on the median household income -- which last year was $48,200.
Burtless says the middle can range from half of that to twice that number, so $24,000 to $96,000.
But in surveys, people and families far outside that range will say they're middle class. Burless says that's just American egalitarianism at work.
Burtless: So people who have very high incomes may not want to claim superior position. Similarly, people who have modest incomes do not want to accept any indication that they have second class status in our society.
MIT economist Frank Levy came up with a definition based on Census data for families in their prime earning years.
Frank Levy: I would say a reasonable range is about $30,000 to $90,000. Most of what we mean by middle class, I think, is how easy it is for you to afford the basic building blocks of a good life in America and that means can you afford a single-family house and can you afford a car and can you afford to heat the house and so on and so forth.
source
TEXT OF STORY
Tess Vigeland: So, is there a hard and fast number to define the middle class?
United States government, you wanna help us out here? No? Not really?
Well, at least there's an official poverty line. In 2007, it was an annual income under $20,650 for a family of four.
As for middle class, well, the Congressional Research Service issued a report last year pegging middle class income as between $19,000 a year and $91,000 a year.
But even the specialist in quantitative economics who put together that study said there is no consensus or official government definition.
So we decided to ask around.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First up; Brookings Institution economist Gary Burtless:
Gary Burtless: You don't need to show a passport or a baptism certificate or a club ID to be admitted to this group. If you say you're a member, then I think you're in the middle class.
He uses the term 'middle income' rather than 'middle class' and he bases his definition on the median household income -- which last year was $48,200.
Burtless says the middle can range from half of that to twice that number, so $24,000 to $96,000.
But in surveys, people and families far outside that range will say they're middle class. Burless says that's just American egalitarianism at work.
Burtless: So people who have very high incomes may not want to claim superior position. Similarly, people who have modest incomes do not want to accept any indication that they have second class status in our society.
MIT economist Frank Levy came up with a definition based on Census data for families in their prime earning years.
Frank Levy: I would say a reasonable range is about $30,000 to $90,000. Most of what we mean by middle class, I think, is how easy it is for you to afford the basic building blocks of a good life in America and that means can you afford a single-family house and can you afford a car and can you afford to heat the house and so on and so forth.
source
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Re: Combined income Poll
You CAN live on long island with less, we're just part of an age group that doesn't like to 1) wait and save to get things 2) deprive ourselves of small things.
I bet when our parents were saving for houses they weren't carrying $300 pocketbooks.
My mom didn't work, or sometimes worked part time, and my dad at the most made 50k. We didn't really have to do without things, but we also didn't go on insane vacations, etc.
I bet when our parents were saving for houses they weren't carrying $300 pocketbooks.
My mom didn't work, or sometimes worked part time, and my dad at the most made 50k. We didn't really have to do without things, but we also didn't go on insane vacations, etc.
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Re: Combined income Poll
I heard in the news recently or read somewhere that an income of 60k in Manhattan is comparable to an income of 26k in Indiana. The reason why even 150 combined income might be lower middle class is bc our cost of living is so much higher here.
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by shcole08
I just found out that if you make less than $200k a year combined you are considered middle 'lower class'...![]()
Wow then I am complete trash!!!!! WHoo hoo
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by nifheim
Posted by shcole08
I just found out that if you make less than $200k a year combined you are considered middle 'lower class'...![]()
Wow then I am complete trash!!!!! WHoo hoo
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by Mimacat
You CAN live on long island with less, we're just part of an age group that doesn't like to 1) wait and save to get things 2) deprive ourselves of small things.
I bet when our parents were saving for houses they weren't carrying $300 pocketbooks.
My mom didn't work, or sometimes worked part time, and my dad at the most made 50k. We didn't really have to do without things, but we also didn't go on insane vacations, etc.
I totally agree with this. On one hand I keep saying, lets do all these thingsn ow while we are young, but then on the other hand I want to save to make sure I have enough for later in life to enjoy my life.
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by nifheim
Posted by shcole08
I just found out that if you make less than $200k a year combined you are considered middle 'lower class'...![]()
Wow then I am complete trash!!!!! WHoo hoo
me too!! lol
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by shcole08
I just found out that if you make less than $200k a year combined you are considered middle 'lower class'...![]()
I think this may be true for NY but not other states.
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Re: Combined income Poll
Dh and i are doing fine (not amazing but not horrible) on our $68k combined income. We have a nice two bedroom ap that is bigger then our friends home, we are saving for a house and will continue to save until we can afford one and not buy what we can't afford monthly with taxes and utilities. We only have one debt which is dh's car loan and that is it. We entertain weekly and go out three times a month if not more and we are pretty happy. When we need extra cash we get a second job or I do more freelancing and things work out fine.
I think people on the average just live beyond their means because they see what other people have and they need to match it or do better. So people who make 200K could be really making less then dh and i because they owe 130k in cc, loans etc.
I think people on the average just live beyond their means because they see what other people have and they need to match it or do better. So people who make 200K could be really making less then dh and i because they owe 130k in cc, loans etc.
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by nifheim
Dh and i are doing fine (not amazing but not horrible) on our $68k combined income. We have a nice two bedroom ap that is bigger then our friends home, we are saving for a house and will continue to save until we can afford one not and buy what we can afford even if it is tiny, we only have one debt which is dh's car loan and that is it. We entertain weekly and go out three times a month if not more and we are pretty happy. When we need extra cash we get a second job or I do more freelancing and things work out fine.
I think people on the average just live beyond their means because they see what other people have and they need to match it or do better. So people who make 200K could be really making less then dh and i because they owe 130k in cc, loans etc.
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Re: Combined income Poll
i was watching dateline the other night, and someone who is friends with a lot of CEO's whos companies are not doing well right now but they make hundreds of millions of dollars.
He said that these CEO's are freaking out, because they cant imagine on only living on 8-10 million a year.![]()
I think that the more you make the you spend, i think its very possible to live on long island making less then average. You may not be driving a new leased car, or living in a 5 bedroom home, but its possible
He said that these CEO's are freaking out, because they cant imagine on only living on 8-10 million a year.
I think that the more you make the you spend, i think its very possible to live on long island making less then average. You may not be driving a new leased car, or living in a 5 bedroom home, but its possible
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Re: Combined income Poll
Posted by nifheim
Dh and i are doing fine (not amazing but not horrible) on our $68k combined income. We have a nice two bedroom ap that is bigger then our friends home, we are saving for a house and will continue to save until we can afford one and not buy what we can't afford monthly with taxes and utilities. We only have one debt which is dh's car loan and that is it. We entertain weekly and go out three times a month if not more and we are pretty happy. When we need extra cash we get a second job or I do more freelancing and things work out fine.
I think people on the average just live beyond their means because they see what other people have and they need to match it or do better. So people who make 200K could be really making less then dh and i because they owe 130k in cc, loans etc.
I totally agree with you.
Also, I have so much debt in student loans, that I am basically working just to make the minimum payments. It is so frustrating. So basically someone making less than me is actually making more because I don't get to keep my salary. Law school is 40k per year!
