Are You Really "Middle Class"?
"Hey, none of my business, but that's a dangerous place to cross. The cars whip around the corner here...and they can't see you because of the scaffolding.""Thanks," came the polite brush-off.
"Please, mister, can you spare some change? I'm hungry."
"The 'middle class' has atrophied into the 10% of households just below the top 10%. The truth is painfully obvious: A middle-class lifestyle is unaffordable to all but the top 20%."
- Meaningful health-care insurance (not phantom "insurance," with deductibles that cost thousands of Dollars a year that offer no non-catastrophic care at all)
- Significant equity (25%-50%) in a home
- An income-expense ratio that allows you to save at least 6% of your income
- Significant retirement funds
- The ability to service all your debt and expenses over the medium term, if your spouse becomes unemployed
- Reliable vehicles for each wage earner
- You don't rely on government transfers to maintain your lifestyle
- You have non-paper, non-real estate assets, such as family heirlooms, precious metals, tools, etc., that you can transfer to the next generation – that is to say"generational wealth"
- The ability to invest in your kids (education, extracurricular clubs/training, etc.)
- Leisure time devoted to the maintenance of physical/spiritual/mental fitness