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Hanging out, just below Median, though I am single, the home is paid for, and I have less than $2000 in debt .

Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)

Christ. Seven years of college down the drain. Might as well join the **** Peace Corps.

Screwed

What's the poverty level for a family of 2? I'm pretty sure I'm near it.

The year Dingle Barry took office, my sales dropped 70% from their previous 10 year average. Every year I think if I can just hang on, and somehow muddle through, it will get better next year. 5 years now of O'bozzo, and every year is a little worse then the one before. I'm sure glad I'm shutting down for good in a few weeks, and getting the he11 out of this overpriced, overtaxed State.

Doing great. New job came with a raise equal to the US median income....

The empathy by some for those less fortunate is awe- inspiring!
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To all those who feel superior:
"We're all put to the test... but it never comes in the form or at the point we would prefer, does it?” ~~ David Mamet

Your chance will come to prove your mettle. ~~ me

How can there be, when you have 5 entrees for lunch alone??? LOL

Better be a waffle cone with extra syrup.

You meant mettle. I agree with some of what you said. Yes, we have a higher standard of living that those from dirt floor countries- although that playing field is quickly being leveled thanks to our puppet masters. We also have to prove our worth unless we are part of a quota or have been "institutionalized" (see what I did there? lol) or receiving some sort of sustenance from Uncle Sugar. You say that some of the higher class cling to the middle class label so that they can be one of us I suppose. Possibly, but I see it more as a middle class that is shrinking and many of the middle class are in fact living in a fantasy world buoyed by lines of credit which give the illusion of continued buying power and a temporary government parachute meant to soften the fall when unemployed, disabled, or aged. I don't see folks living debt free lives as I did a generation or two ago. In fact, I see people using credit cards to buy groceries because they don't have enough cash in their bank accounts. Yep, they may have more than one tv to dull them into an escape stupor but remember how much it used to cost to buy ONE color tv back when the dollar could buy more.

Absolutely, we have been made weak by a system which rewards weakness but we have also been victimized by currency manipulation, wars, social experimentation, and laws which restrict our entrepreneurial spirit. And yes, we are slowly being put to the test as the Government gets stronger and more autocratic- restricting our working parameters, telling us how much cash we can carry, what we can speak/think, and whether we can smoke, eat or drink...

I could go on and on but I'm being summoned by those less and less frequent pesky business calls.
Must go out and beat the bushes for Drafter's life sustaining and favorite mainstay- water buffalo wings.

If you think you are doing well perhaps you wouldn't mind paying your share of the national debt. The gubment could use the cash.

DED

Has anyone noticed the mindset shift over the past few years...being successful is something bad and a cause for shame now.

Who is John Galt?

But you have no idea what they did or how hard they worked to become successful. It is guilty until proven innocent.

The biggest outrage is that it takes place on a cigar forum dedicated to a pure luxury item yet we're all supposed to still plead middle class barely getting by poverty status.

Things are exactly as they appear in the US economy:

Upward mobility struggles, trickle down economics, trickle up economics, greed, corruption, outsourcing, currency manipulation, wars, social engineering, restrictive business laws, lax business laws, totalitarian leaning government, high consumer debt, global competition, looters and moochers. We have all that.

That is the playing field and we all know it. People can choose to navigate it, try to change it, or sit back and wait for someone else to change it.

Those who try to change the playing field always push for change that benefits themselves and hurts others. This dynamic is also part of the playing field as we know it. There are always going to be winners and losers.

It takes hard work to navigate the global marketplace. Not hard work like we used to define it....hammering nails every day or screwing bolts on cars. Now a person should always be evaluating their role, position, and net worth to the economy and constantly making adjustments such as training, education, and even taking a new job.

Rather than hard work, we have class warfare with everyone wanting to loot everyone else. When listening to all the poverty pleading of the middle class, it always begs the question, what the heck is the middle class?


8trackdisco has already posted that the median US household income is $51,000. The US Census breaks down household income further into quintiles.

For the latest data 2011:

You are in the bottom 10% if your household income is below $12,000
You are in the bottom 20% if your household income is below $20,262
You are in the bottom 40% if your household income is below $38,520
You are right at 50% if your household income is below $50,054

Now for the top half of the households:

You are between 50-60% if your household income is below $62,434
You are between 60-80% if your household income is below $101,582

If your household income is $101,582 or higher, you're in the top 20% of the country!
If your household income is $143,611 or higher, you're in the top 10% of the country!!!!!
If your household income is $186,000 or higher, you're in the top 5% of the country!!!!!!!!!!

The world needs ditch diggers too.....

...and if they are hard workers, they should be proud of themselves and their economic status. This however does not excuse them from needing to constantly work to better themselves and their lot in life.

If they should become ditchdiggers, good for them.

I dug some ditches when I was younger... was pretty good at it too.... hell I even dug a ditch across an asphault parking lot.. more than once actually..
but it wasn't always digging ditches.. sometimes I got to crawl around attics or under houses... good times...

Does anybody actually dig ditches in the USA by pick and shovel anymore?

only if you can't get a hoe in there..... or if you get people worried about their yard being tore-up and stuff...

I learned enough about about plumbing to never have to call one... has been well over 20 years since I did that stuff tho... being a homeowner requires owning a shovel tho...

Wow! So now you're making $60k???

My ditch digging and post hole digging days are done since I moved to MA. One of the most prevalent root crops here are rocks.

It's no wonder the early farmers said "F This!" and kept moving west until they could till the soil without having to build rock walls with what they had to unearth each spring.

You could ask for a raise maybe.