What income is considered upper class?

At current exchange rates it is about 386k pounds.

you do know that an english accent, though, appreciably escalates one's perceived class for any given income. I would estimate it at a 15% escalation rate, perhaps more, in the right context, not that i've ever tried it.

I live in the Boston area too , make substantially less than you (but still a decent living) and feel very comfortable. I am dumbfounded that somebody who makes about 5x as much as me is struggling, lol. Granted I don't have two kids but...

I am a working professional but when I stop working I’ll have no income unless I’ve invested over the duration of my career. By most standards I’d be considered rich but I tend to think upper middle class.

I think of ‘upper class’ more of business owners. The ones who reach the point where the day to day operations are not dependent upon their actions or presence. They may even make less than me but have a different luxury than someone who can’t do the same. They can be at their 2nd home for a month or the winter.

Perspective matters wrote:

I am a working professional but when I stop working I’ll have no income unless I’ve invested over the duration of my career. By most standards I’d be considered rich but I tend to think upper middle class.

I think of ‘upper class’ more of business owners. The ones who reach the point where the day to day operations are not dependent upon their actions or presence. They may even make less than me but have a different luxury than someone who can’t do the same. They can be at their 2nd home for a month or the winter.

It's not just business owners but those that inherit money, have significant investments, royalties, etc. Class is a sociological concept and income is what you report to the the IRS. What matters is your wealth. There is important distinction between earned and unearned income. Someone earning $300 in income earned from wages and salary is in a very different situation from someone with $300K in income unearned sources.

Basically, if most of your income is from salary and wages you are still middle class because if you were to lose your job it would have a significant impact on your lifestyle. Those in the middle class work for a living - those in the upper class don't need to. What everyone has been talking about is just graded variations of middle class. Even someone making $400K does not live that differently. They still have to sit in traffic, they still go to the grocery store, they still fly coach sometimes or use miles to upgrade, they usually have to save to take a nice vacation or send their kids to a good college, they have to save most of their working life for retirement. They may have more financial security but their lives are not that much different from the rest of the middle class.

Here is a list of things that characterize someone in the upper class:

Their kids go to a exclusive prep school and an Ivy League or other exclusive college - Stanford, etc.

They are not concerned about the cost of college or health care

They have a driver, shopper, housekeeper, personal lawyer, etc. (the President thinks people need to show an ID to buy cereal)

They have well-known people in their contact list - senators, actors, sports figures, etc.

They make large donations to causes/political candidates in excess of $100K

They have endowments to universities or other public institutions like hospitals

If they don't have their own plane they always fly first/business without considering the costs

They have multiple properties. Not a house by the lake in Wisconsin, but in places like Aspen, NYC, etc.

They have valuable pieces of artwork in their home

They always sit in box seats (or near courtside) at sporting events, the opera, etc.

Obviously, not every one does all of these things but you get the idea.

I consider myself middle class.

I live 16 miles outside of Nashville, TN, where I work (30 minute commute).

I make $41,000 a year and my wife makes ~ 10,000. We have two kids. I have a 2013 Ford and a 2018 Kia and a 1500 ft house on half an acre that I bought for 120,000 a few years ago.

My house and one car are my only debt. I travel internationally 1-2 times every few years.

I'm utterly stupified by the amount of money I see in this thread.

Ya'll be trippin'.

Your definition for "upper class" is absurd. You described less than 0.1% of the population. Maybe less than 0.01%. With that definition, the middle class is pretty much everyone. What you really described is someone absurdly wealthy.

Not upper class wrote:

Two. Both of which will almost certainly attend good (i.e. expensive) schools, which I will pay for, because that's the deal I made with both of them. One is a sophomore, the other an 8th grader so I'll need about $800k ready to burn in the next 8 years. (And yes, we have 529s set up, etc, etc.)\

Do you also send your kids to private school now? Don't spend ~3 years of your after tax income on college for two kids, that is absolutely ridiculous. If your kids are good enough to get into Harvard or whatever, they can get the loans and you can backstop them if it doesn't work out. If they don't get into a very top quality school (no, Amherst/Middlebury/Colgate/Bowdoin are not top quality - there is a difference between expensive and good) then they should make a more practical decision about where to go to school.

Class is not about income or status. Our POTUS is an excellent example of this and he knows it. You can’t by class.

i'll come to your defense here a little bit by saying that maybe your perspective is just clouded by social comparison a bit, so you're not wholly "out of touch" or an "imbecile". Do you think that's the case?

Not upper class wrote:

Gyydjrknf wrote:

If you are making 500k+ a year and can't afford a desperately needed kitchen remodel or saving for your kids' college education then yoi desperately need a financial planner. And if you actually consider yourself middle class then you are absurdly out of touch.

Thanks for the tip. Are you a financial planner? Or are you talking out your a$$?

Dude the guys right! If you're making $500,000 a year you should be able to save a ton of money each year

The average family doesn't even make a hundred thousand so you're making five times what most people would consider a good living

What do you spend all your money on? Never mind remodeling the kitchen you can buy a nice home for three or four hundred thousand.

notscguy wrote:

Lack of self awareness wrote:

Completely false and shiws a stunning lack of awareness:

https://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/how-much-you-need-earn-be-rich-boston

Wow you just lost all credibility by posting this trash. Do you realize you just cited an article that says "to be rich in NYC you need to make $143K?!?!?!?"

I'll fix it for you - "If you make $143K in NYC you will likely be living in the Bronx or Staten Island. If you're single with no kids you may be able to afford Brooklyn."

Regarding Boston, I'm not going to argue but I've lived there and my brother currently lives there. Hmmmmmmmmmmm is spot on.

I have a sister living in NYC. Physician Assistant making $130k or so. She lives in the midtown area. 680 sq. feet runs her about $2500 a month. She isn't doing well, but she certainly isn't hurting.

real life middle classer wrote:

I consider myself middle class.

I live 16 miles outside of Nashville, TN, where I work (30 minute commute).

I make $41,000 a year and my wife makes ~ 10,000. We have two kids. I have a 2013 Ford and a 2018 Kia and a 1500 ft house on half an acre that I bought for 120,000 a few years ago.

My house and one car are my only debt. I travel internationally 1-2 times every few years.

I'm utterly stupified by the amount of money I see in this thread.

Ya'll be trippin'.

it's because nashville isn't that expensive to live in. some places will require 30-50% more money to live the same lifestyle as you, and therefore, will need 30-50% more income. you even bought a house on half an acre of land. many houses elsewhere only comes with a house with maybe 400 square feet of backyard

DragonLady wrote:

Wealth is measured by savings not income. Nice try.

Not even close. Wealth is measured by profitable investments. Money that is working for you. Savings is just (or should be) a small amount of your total net worth as it doesn't yield as much income.

Economics 101 wrote:

DragonLady wrote:

Wealth is measured by savings not income. Nice try.

Not even close. Wealth is measured by profitable investments. Money that is working for you. Savings is just (or should be) a small amount of your total net worth as it doesn't yield as much income.

We're talking about displaying class, not a dick wagging contest.

"I have 2 kids not yet in school." This is the most important statement from his original post. At first I agreed with others about the whining, but I totally missed that statement. As someone who lives in Boston and pays around $2k for 4 days of daycare for 1 child (on a

"I have 2 kids not yet in school." This is the most important statement from his original post. At first I agreed with others about the whining, but I totally missed that statement. As someone who lives in Boston and pays around $2k for 4 days of daycare for 1 child (on a less than $150k combined income), I totally understand where they're coming from. $3.3k a month is a $650k house payment. Until the babies are out of daycare, they will undoubtably feel middle class. I tell my wife once our kid is out of daycare, we'll feel insanely rich given our modest lifestyle and 15 years of home ownership.

The answer depends on a few things

1) cost of homes where you live

2) if you have kids or not

3) if you want your kids to go to private schools

1-2-3 all are base costs they won’t go away.

What? So my $20M in the bank doesn't make me upper class?