So the political dividing line for tax cuts is $250,000. Putting aside the tax cut debate the question is "Would you consider yourself rich if your family (meaning you and a spouse) made $250,000. It would be plenty for me.

The 250,000 per year dividing line seems very generous to me. In my area it would provide a terrific standard of living.

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"He who never made a mistake never made a discovery." Samuel Smiles

No. My late husband had that and we weren't rich.

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I am carrying my heart~I am carrying my rhythm~I am carrying my prayers~But you can't kill my spirit~It's soaring and strong (Paula Cole's Me Lyrics)***We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We ARE spirtual beings having a human experience.(T.deChardin)***There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. (Albert Einstein)

If I had $250,000 handed to me right now, and only one time, I'd be what I consider, well off. If I was given that much every year for the next five years, I'd consider myself wealthy.
If I had to work 50 or 60 hours a week, or in some really unpleasant environment to earn it, I'd consider myself stupid.

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We are in that income range and certainly do not feel we are rich as the term is applied to the financial value of an individual or family.

Context: We live in an older Philly suburb and both work in the Pharma industry. We each have a base salary and yearly bonus that is based on overall performance of the company. Did I mention we work approximately 60-70 hours per week. We invest to the full amount allowed in our 401K plans, we pay off our credit cards every month (we simply do not spend more than we can pay for) and we maintain an emergency fund in the event that a job disappears. We have a comfortable home but it is by no means one of those monsters that now occupy a former farm field. We drive a 16 year old Honda and a 6 year old van. Every month we invest in our childrens future via their college funds and that is where our yearly bonuses go as well. We want our children to have opportunities we never had so we support their passions for karate and competitive gymnastics. We take a nice vacation (think Disney or SeaWorld) every three years. We donate approximately 10% of our earnings to various charities each year, mostly health and environmental organizations. We have older parents who we also help as needed.

So, at least for the area in which I live, I don't think 250K a year equates with financial wealth. For a family raising children and investing for retirement and college, I think it is a reasonable sum. Are we rich? Well, if you define that in terms of what provides meaning and beauty to your life, then yes we are very rich and blessed. We have beautiful children, we are healthy, we have family and friends and we are giving back to our community.

$250,000 would be plenty for me. I would make due with $1000 if I won it or was given it for whatever reason. I am very good with finances and would make do as best I could with whatever I had.

I just had a question. If companies can be considered as citizens will this mean that they will be taxed as citizens? No more incentives or tax breaks for things that regular people wouldn't be eligible for? To me $250,00 would be a comfortable living, but rich? No, I don't think so. I've known some rich people (I was drudge in a law office) and they make millions!!! That's rich!

Whether $250k is rich depends on where one lives.

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The fatal pedagogical error is to throw answers, like stones, at the heads of those who have not yet asked the questions. – Paul Tillich

I'd appreciate it. It's more than Ive got. I wouldnt say its rich but enough for my to pay cash for a decent house and maybe 2 new cars. With my regular job and not having to pay a mortgage I would consider myself very well off

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It's amazing what people will do when they feel they are entitled.

I had no idea I was among such swells! I make about what you all probably tip your chambermaids, and would consider $250k--or half that, or a third of that--wealth beyond my dreams. Cheers to you!

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This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force. --Dorothy Parker

Geographical relativity of course applies. The median house price in my community is somewhere past $350 000. I recently saw an advert for 'Starter Homes from the low $300K's'. 'Starter homes'!

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Sanity is not statistical

$250,000 per annum is a not that tidy sum a sum depending on where you live and the size and health of your family. If you have no or poor health insurance, a minor illness or two or three like colds and flu every year can put a large dent in your income. God forbid if you have a major illness and you have to pay large co-pays for your hospitalization and doctors. You are ineligible for various deductions on your income tax return among them are deduction for interest if you have a Parent Plus loan for your college age child and ineligible for other deductions when your Adjusted Gross Income reaches a certain level. You also have to pay state, local, and school taxes. They take out a nice chunk of that 250 grand gross. And don't forget sales taxes imposed by you state and locality. So that $250,000 stretches but so far. It's a stretch that I wouldn't mind having.

There are definately geographical variations, such as the ridiculous price of housing in some areas such as Ex pointed out....for example, try buying in San Diego!

Beyond that though, there is also the trap of confusing necessities and luxuries:


1. Do you have to live in a McMansion in a tony neighborhood? Or is a smaller home in a less pretentious neighborhood just fine?
2. What do you consider to be a reasonable new car? A Lexus or Civic or even a Hyundai?
3. Are you obsessing over getting your kid or kids into Harvard, or do you believe that the well-respected state school is going to give an excellent education?
4. Is eating at nice restaurants for lunch a daily routine....never heard of a brown bag, or is the brown bag your way of life?
5. Do you buy a morning coffee for 7.00 each day and not bat an eye, or do you brew your own for 7.00 a week?
6. Would you feel abused if you could not go to some tropical spot for a week or two each winter, or, is that something you can put off for better days?

The trap is to think that the first choices in these examples are "necessities" and not the luxuries that they are.

My point is not to tell you where to send your kid to school, what to drive, where to live. But, treat your tax bill like your car payment, your mortgage, your utility bill. You pay that, and then make choices with what to do with the rest.

In the USA we have a huge deficit. Spending cuts alone won't cure it. Taxes need to be increased. That, or entire services we have come to expect as a First World civilization will have to be liquidated. Do we tax the people that barely eat enough, or worry about the rent, or do we up taxes on those that might have to curtail some luxury spending as a result?

Trust me, if as a result of losing the Bush tax cut windfall, you have to send your kid to Stanford instead of Yale, I ain't gonna lose any sleep over it!

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"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless, and do no wrong". (Knight's Oath, Kingdom of Heaven)

250,000 would pay off my house...and I'd be happy about that. I would still have to work, but at least I could save money to send my children to a good college or vs/vs. Right now I pretty much live paycheck to paycheck...and that with (as HWNN stated) brown bagging it, no vacations, no luxuries, and having basic "everything" in my house. I live in a small town and drive an hour to work because I couldn't think about living in the city. If my (first) son takes out a student loan, or joins the military, he may go to a state college. I make my own coffee every morning. I bundle up in the wintertime with more blankets on the beds and wear sweatpants during the day to keep warm because I can't pay for the heat over 67 degrees during the cold months...and if you don't know how cold that can be... you don't want to experience it in a New England climate.

But... I make due and my boys and I are happy... and I didn't have to stay with my abusive cheating husband to stay comfortable... I may have to struggle a bit... but my family is safe and happy...

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He who sings scares away his woes. ~Cervantes

The trouble with over taxing the rich is they have the means to move it all out of the country.

Of course... if you don't feel wealthy then think where you waste your money last year

My kids need dental work that I can't afford. How does "feeling wealthy" help?

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This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force. --Dorothy Parker

Sounds more like Robin Hood; stealing from the rich to give to the poor.

It is one thing if I choose to help a friend or neighbor who is in need. If you take my money to give it to someone else it is stealing. I can agree to unemployment insurance. Employers and employees pay into it as hedge against bad times. I can agree with social security, as long as the government is not stealing the funds. Social Security is a forced annuity. Welfare on the other hand is just stealing money from those who have it to give to those who don't. I could even acquiesce to welfare if it was a short term (weeks, not months) proposition and required the receivers to do things to get back on their feet.

Don't sugar coat it by calling a "progressive tax" when it is stealing.

$250,000 may sound like a lot and most people could live off of it very well. The problem is that many who make that kind of money do not clear that much. If you are a small business owner, $250,000 is poverty by the time you pay overhead. Do you think the Obama administration will take that into consideration? I think not.

How about a national sales tax, instead. A sales tax is more in line with the type of tax the founders envisioned. It is inherently "progressive" since if you are poor you won't buy things and won't pay the tax. It can be kept "progressive" by exempting food and shelter. It also will bring in money from people who now don't pay taxes because they cheat the system.

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If I cannot drink Bourbon and smoke cigars in heaven than I shall not go. - Mark Twain

Eschew obfuscation!