Rumours of our death have been greatly exaggerated.
We have pretty large swaths of our communities where individuals or families have good enough jobs, live in comfortable homes that we can afford to own or rent, a car or two for the family, food in our bellies, enough left over for some comforts and minor luxuries, and some put aside for retirement/the kids. Most of us will never climb higher than this, but that’s fine.
Now, that’s those of us who already have the job/home thing figured out. The biggest barrier to new adults gaining middle class status will likely be securing housing that they can afford- but we already have that going in another thread.
I think our perceptions here are skewed because most of us posting here are in actuality: Middle to Upper Middle Class.
If your average income is 75% to 200% of the average annual household income after taxes, you're in the middle class.
In other words, if you make more than $68,000.00 a year after taxes, you are definitely middle class. All Military Officers, Senior NCOs and senior Government workers are definitely Middle Class.
Now a bigger issue is that many people are living in Cities and Urbanized Centres which have become increasingly expensive places to live in. This is partially due to a failure by various levels of Government, over successive generations, to keep pace through investment in and upkeep of essential services:
Transportation
Energy & Utilities
Public Works
The Supply Chain
etc.
There is also the issue that a single $ is becoming less and less valuable over time because of inflation and currency devaluation. The above has largely been brought on my excessive Government borrowing and modern monterary theory which was in overdrive the past few years and which a number of experts warned us all about.
As for owning a house = being a status of middle class. This isn't true and is why many people are suffering right now.
A house is not a positive influence on networth unless its worth more than the loans outstanding. Until that point, it's an expense line on the annual budget.
IMO, the idea that owning a house is a prerequisite to achieving middle class status is what the establishment wants you to believe and is how they keep many people handcuffed.
What people should really be concerning themselves with is cashflow. You always want to be bringing more in than you're paying out and you should be constantly looking to increase your cashflow.
You should also be aiming to constantly improve your individual productivity.
Money(Output)/Labour hours = Productivity
The game is very simple, constantly try to make more money while also aiming to work less and less. That's the secret sauce 95% of people are missing from their recipes.
