Which class do you identify with?

It depends on how you look at it. My expenditure is about 10K per year, which is not very much compared to other people on this forum. However, compared to the people I know, I have a lot more wealth than they do, and I own an apartment, which most people at my age don't. Also, I can afford to travel more.

I always wondered how people could spend so much money. I feel that if I have a decent size house (100 sqm), a good family, a car ($10K) and the money to travel once a year, then I have everything I need in life.

Warmage class from Sacred (the first game).

Suck on my ultimate level fireball b*tches.

Oh, and if we're asking about class, I'm an Archaeologist Bard building toward Chameleon.

I grew up in a very wealthy family, though pointedly we were not wealthy till perhaps the middle of my childhood, but we remain so and I remain closely connected to my family. So I guess it would be upper.

This one is admittedly hard for me. If I go with my parents, they started out very poor and eventually became wealthy. My mom started off as a book keeper and became the finance VP of a few companies but doesn't have a college degree. My dad started off as an electronics tech right out of the navy and ended up owning multiple businesses and has a few patents under his name. They are now retired in their late 50s and my mom keeps them an income as a day trader. So I can be any range of classes if I go with my childhood.

If I go with my own situation, I also started off poor and now am upper middle class in terms of financial status, so I can be any one of those ranges as well.

So I guess I will go with attitude/outlook (not education or money as the OP or later posts suggest is best). In terms of my outlook, I would say I am middle class. No matter how much money I earn, I still drive an older truck, shop at walmart, have a modest home, etc. And I am satisfied with that level of material wealth.

Upper middle

Having read through the thread it seems those with more paper than pocketbook prefer using education as the benchmark while those with a healthy pocketbook but few sheepskins prefer the traditional ranking system.

This is a capitalistic society- even liberals use money, are consumers, and worry about finances- using income makes a bit more sense than education.

That doesn't mean a person's 'worth' is a bank book bottom line. A doctor splitting his time between wealthy socialites and inner city kids will not be as wealthy as his private practice only golfing buddies but I don't think this particular doctor is all about how many vacation homes he owns before he dies.

There does seem to be a lot of interest in connecting education with earnings. I think it is way to simplistic saying more education education means more money. More opportunities perhaps, but a PHD in advanced shuffleboard probably won't be as useful a strong back and good eye for laying block. Not saying forgo an education, just it alone isn't a guarantee of financial security for the individual.

Is interesting to see where someone starts in life and where they end-up. I met a guy from South Texas who's family was well enough off he really didn't need an education so he dabbled in a wide varieties of studies. He loved firearms, not enough to serve, but he loved playing dress-up. He was everything from an unofficial African safari guide to a high end optics demonstrator. Because he traveled to various military bases in several countries he soon thought of himself as an unofficial operator.

It is an amazing country we live in. While not every hard worker can achieve his or her dreams, many do and live in the same country where another man can become even wealthier just sitting there playing pretend.

Wadda Country... eace

Blackdog said:

Your education level has nothing at all to do with allot of people earning potential. I was making more than my friends who had masters in the early 90's before I even finished my associates. I know constructions workers with no more than a HS diploma or less who own companies or make at least 6 figures. It boils down to what you do with what you have, not just what you have.

The poll in my opinion should be divided by income...

0 - 20,000 Poor/below poverty level
21,000 - 35,000 Working
36,000 - 50,000 Traditional Middle
51,000 - 65,000 Middle
66,000 - 100,000 Upper Middle
101,000+ Upper Middle+

I am talking single person income, not couples etc.

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I think in todays economy these brackets are somewhat low and small. 100,000 is not upper middle anymore. With all the expenses involved this would probably be more like Middle Middle.

DiAnna said:

Yeah, I'm not feeling this poll. When I think of terms like "middle class", I think economically, not educationally. I've known folks with nothing more than a high school degree and some tech school who have pulled themselves into six-figure incomes because they are smart, hard-working and damned good at what they do. Also, if one marries "well" it's possible to go from "working class" to "privileged" simply by saying "I do!" :lol:

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I agree middle class has nothing to do with education although this is becoming more and more untrue. A person who is hard working and has the SKILLs to do his job and is fortunate enough to get some breaks can rise from the lower class to the middle and possibly even the upper class.

Middle, until I get my CPA, then Upper-Middle.

Middle-class. A little above the median income. Uniformed professional.

JohnWOlin said:

You were the only guy to put yourself in the top and like any man worth his salt, enough isn't enough.

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still ranting, that makes no sense. and since I come from the first millionaire family west of Pittsburgh I am being honest. Nicholas Longworth-look him up

The notion of "class" in America is pretty much (when you drill down into it) bunk. As if there were a sharp dividing line between someone making $245K a year and someone making $255 a year, or as if you could compare like to like between someone pulling in $250K in Louisiana with someone pulling in $250K in New York city.


I do, however, vote 100% in favor of TGND's new avatar. meow. :mrgreen:

right now.. I fall into upper class ( but I don't have old money, and ivy league education, or privilege... i'm the first of my family to break into the upper class)

I was born poor, raised poor, and remained poor into my mid-late 20's... after I picked up a little rank in the Corps, I was traditional middle class solidly into my late 40's early 50's...I went from traditional middle to upper class rather quickly.. less than 5 years.

I don't think I would have broken into ,or remained in, the upper class if I hadn't spent so much time being poor.

Thrilla said:

right now.. I fall into upper class ( but I don't have old money, and ivy league education, or privilege... i'm the first of my family to break into the upper class)

I was born poor, raised poor, and remained poor into my mid-late 20's... after I picked up a little rank in the Corps, I was traditional middle class solidly into my late 40's early 50's...I went from traditional middle to upper class rather quickly.. less than 5 years.

I don't think I would have broken into ,or remained in, the upper class if I hadn't spent so much time being poor.

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But come on, nobody can ever better themselves! I'm the same, I grew up relatively poor, I'm doing much, much better than my parents ever did. My wife, likewise, is doing much better than her parents. I guess neither of us exist.

I always thought that class directly correlated with income. According to this chart I am in the traditional middle class since I have a 4 year bachelors degree. Although, I'm still in school to work on a doctorate and I'm broke and gong into debt every year to finance my tuition and living expenses :mrgreen:

wolfman24 said:

I think in todays economy these brackets are somewhat low and small. 100,000 is not upper middle anymore. With all the expenses involved this would probably be more like Middle Middle.

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I'd say that they don't work nation wide, because localities have different costs of living.

Harry Guerrilla said:

I'd say that they don't work nation wide, because localities have different costs of living.

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I agree with this. Where I live making $100,000 goes a long way and in my opinion would be upper class. Although, for my area's cost of living I would say anything above $75,000 a year is upper class. Then again, I grew up extremely poor so I view being able to afford vacations, a larger home and nice expensive things as upper class.

cpwill said:

The notion of "class" in America is pretty much (when you drill down into it) bunk. As if there were a sharp dividing line between someone making $245K a year and someone making $255 a year, or as if you could compare like to like between someone pulling in $250K in Louisiana with someone pulling in $250K in New York city.

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I hadn't thought about that comparison but you are exactly right.

digsbe said:

I agree with this. Where I live making $100,000 goes a long way and in my opinion would be upper class. Although, for my area's cost of living I would say anything above $75,000 a year is upper class. Then again, I grew up extremely poor so I view being able to afford vacations, a larger home and nice expensive things as upper class.

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I look at these things a lot differently, at least in my opinion.
Last year I was making $25k a year, just bought my house, living well enough.

While some of my new neighbors were earning twice or more than I was and they were loosing their house.

What class does that make us?

Harry Guerrilla said:

I look at these things a lot differently, at least in my opinion.
Last year I was making $25k a year, just bought my house, living well enough.

While some of my new neighbors were earning twice or more than I was and they were loosing their house.

What class does that make us?

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I had a similar experience growing up. I grew up in the metro DC area where taxes and the cost of living were high. My dad made around 30k a year (I believe) and to my knowledge we were never in danger of losing our home or having utilities cut off (at the time we were a family of 5 too, that being said there were some months where we ran short just like anyone else). We had neighbors making double what we made and were in debt and feared not being able to pay rent/bills. I honestly believe it's due to lifestyle choices and financial planning. As a kid we had a very old TV, no cable, one old car (and we drove it till it died even after the muffler fell completely off the thing), we never went on vacations and bought generic products/food. If we needed to go somewhere we took the subway if my dad was at work with the car. My neighbors had the newest big screen TVs, bought a new car every 3-5 years, had cable TV and bought more expensive household products as well as going on vacations. I'm sure that they charged many things and run up credit card debt. I would imaging that you are an extremely good financial planner that has wise priorities when it comes to spending.

As far as what class, I would say a working class of financially responsible individuals.

digsbe said:

I had a similar experience growing up. I grew up in the metro DC area where taxes and the cost of living were high. My dad made around 30k a year (I believe) and to my knowledge we were never in danger of losing our home or having utilities cut off (at the time we were a family of 5 too, that being said there were some months where we ran short just like anyone else). We had neighbors making double what we made and were in debt and feared not being able to pay rent/bills. I honestly believe it's due to lifestyle choices and financial planning. As a kid we had a very old TV, no cable, one old car (and we drove it till it died even after the muffler fell completely off the thing), we never went on vacations and bought generic products/food. If we needed to go somewhere we took the subway if my dad was at work with the car. My neighbors had the newest big screen TVs, bought a new car every 3-5 years, had cable TV and bought more expensive household products as well as going on vacations. I'm sure that they charged many things and run up credit card debt. I would imaging that you are an extremely good financial planner that has wise priorities when it comes to spending.

As far as what class, I would say a working class of financially responsible individuals.

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Well I dunno if I'd identify with that though.
Besides, i don't like the "working class" name, it sounds like it assumes that only this class of people work.

Well im a college student so i dont know where i fit. However my family is part of the slowly fading middle class.

Harry Guerrilla said:

I'd say that they don't work nation wide, because localities have different costs of living.

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That is very true good point.

TheDemSocialist said:

Well im a college student so i dont know where i fit. However my family is part of the slowly fading middle class.

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"when your 20 and your not a socialist, you have no heart".........."when your 40 ,and still a socialist, you have no brain"

this is a old saying, because what it says is over time your opinions on things change, and you look at the world a different way.

i cant wait until your 50 and see the world with different eyes.

by the way this is NO insult too you........its something for you too think about.