Who here grew up poor but made it?

[OverVolt]

Some people are hopelessly over-extended, others appear poor because they are living below their means. The world is not straightforward, at all.

This OP, his student loans are due in 6 months. In the gap between 1-6 months after graduating/stopping classes he is on a bit of a sugar high. Always beware of who is currently leveraging up loans versus people who are paying them down. You really aren't a success until you can carry your own debt load. Someone who grew up poor has no concept of networth etc. He is probably in store for a bit of a shock.

Quick! What is $1,600 per month in student loans minus $55k gross income, remember to take out taxes! ~28%

That is not hypothetical. Someone working as cashier at target is almost as wealthy. Except... They had more time to work and bring in income L-O-L. I must say, the job title sure sounds fancier than cashier though!

The cashier though is considered poor because of their income and qualifies for SNAP, etc. The former does not. People so dumb.

There is a very large schism, those with inflated incomes and inflated debts, and those with artificially low incomes, and supplemental aid programs. There is a reason why food stamp use is exploding. Although both are pretty poor, everyone's getting poorer, stagnant incomes and higher costs, people argue about which flavor of poor is better than the other. Economy is totally screwed. Its hard to even quantify rich vs poor among the middle class. The aforementioned person with 55k income and $1600 monthly loan payments is legit poor, but the cashier probably has a full pantry and no stress.

 

[Arkitech]

I grew up solid middle class and didn't go to many fancy places. Our vacations were the beach, or the mountains. I did go to Bermuda once, and Niagra falls, but those were the exceptions. If you're going on vacations where you're staying in decent hotels, and eating good food, you aren't even approaching poor.

Exactly. If a family is able to take yearly vacations then that means they more than likely have extra funds to do so. A family who is poor does'nt have extra, they're struggling just to survive.

 

[Arkitech]

I wasn't dirt poor, I said almost. I know families who got to go to places like Hawaii, Mexico, Orlando, far away places almost each year. Compared to them I was poor.

Are the Obama's when compared to the Kennedy's considered poor? Or just not as well off? Not being wealthy as your peers does'nt automatically make you poor. Poor families are the ones who struggle to meet the basic needs. Worrying over how to feed the family for the upcoming week, not having enough to cover utilities, losing sleep over whether there will be enough money to keep a roof over your children's heads. And that's American poor. In some countries just having one room for a family of 6 to share is considered doing well.

 

[Tweak155]

What is considered upper middle class as far as income? Not sure we've reached it yet, but I could quit worrying about bills years ago, will no longer need to take loans for new cars, etc.

It really doesn't take all that much.

I don't really find success stories in America all that impressive. It is harder to fail than it is to succeed. This government has too many handouts.

EDIT:

After some googling, the sites suggest over $100k in a household is upper middle class, and for an individual over $60k. I really think this is easily attainable, you just need to have a minimal amount of determination and self discipline.

EDIT EDIT:
Wiki's official graphic. This suggests an individual making over $72,500 is upper middle class.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Some people are hopelessly over-extended, others appear poor because they are living below their means. The world is not straightforward, at all.

This OP, his student loans are due in 6 months. In the gap between 1-6 months after graduating/stopping classes he is on a bit of a sugar high. Always beware of who is currently leveraging up loans versus people who are paying them down. You really aren't a success until you can carry your own debt load. Someone who grew up poor has no concept of networth etc. He is probably in store for a bit of a shock.

Quick! What is $1,600 per month in student loans minus $55k gross income, remember to take out taxes! ~28%

That is not hypothetical. Someone working as cashier at target is almost as wealthy. Except... They had more time to work and bring in income L-O-L. I must say, the job title sure sounds fancier than cashier though!

The cashier though is considered poor because of their income and qualifies for SNAP, etc. The former does not. People so dumb.

There is a very large schism, those with inflated incomes and inflated debts, and those with artificially low incomes, and supplemental aid programs. There is a reason why food stamp use is exploding. Although both are pretty poor, everyone's getting poorer, stagnant incomes and higher costs, people argue about which flavor of poor is better than the other. Economy is totally screwed. Its hard to even quantify rich vs poor among the middle class. The aforementioned person with 55k income and $1600 monthly loan payments is legit poor, but the cashier probably has a full pantry and no stress.

poor decision to invest whatever money that results in $1600 monthly loan payment for a 55k job...that's about 150k @ 5% on a 10 year repayment schedule.

 

[OverVolt]

poor decision to invest whatever money that results in $1600 monthly loan payment for a 55k job...that's about 150k @ 5% on a 10 year repayment schedule.

That would be close to spot on. As tuition&cost of living while in school goes up the number of choices that pay off dwindles.

Tweaks pic is kind of interesting, blue collar doesn't pay $25k lol. There is a bias to everything. Its just the math. It costs 200k to go to graduate school these days, and your after-tax income on 90k starting is ~65k. 200k in debt would start to require private loans at 7% + Federal loans at 3.2%. Go!

Income is really the worst measure of wealth, ever. Its just the belief that professionals are wealthy. Its because in the previous generation, this was true. They got out of college with little debt, and all it took was someone who worked hard. In 10-15 years when all the newly minted professionals and their high debt loads come to make up the bulk of graduate professions they won't be associated with wealth anymore.

 

[silverpig]

I'd have to say that posting in one thread you have $30K saved but posting in another, you say you have $290K saved is worse than retarded!

"Gotta stick witcha lie": Wanda Sykes, 1993





At this rate, this time next week, he will be a Millionaire!:biggrin:

I'm pretty sure he has 30k and the 290k is what his family together has saved up. They are buying a house together.

 

[amdhunter]

exactly. you only make attacks on economic classes and certain minorities

That's only because it's an Election year. After Obama wins on Tuesday, I'll be back to my normal bashing of greedy child support loving women and Apple praising.

 

[mizzou]

i frequently see poor people drive nice cars, live in bad housing but live there for free. They are both poor and made it

 

[rh71]

I always wonder this about 3rd world countries but it seems to apply here to some degree. If you're really THAT poor why do you willfully conceive kids that you make suffer with you?

The other thing is kids only know what they've experienced. They will always manage as most here have. But if you're in a 3rd world country where kids don't make it above the age of 10 then there's kind of a problem on a decision-making level.

 

[ponyo]

I always wonder this about 3rd world countries but it seems to apply here to some degree. If you're really THAT poor why do you willfully conceive kids that you make suffer with you?

The other thing is kids only know what they've experienced. They will always manage as most here have. But if you're in a 3rd world country where kids don't make it above the age of 10 then there's kind of a problem on a decision-making level.

Because you're only measuring wealth from money standpoint. You need to look through their eyes and their prospective. Finance and money are not the only forms of wealth. Family and the family bond/experience is a form of wealth. It's a type of wealth no amount of money can buy/provide. A person can definitely be wealthy experience/family wise and poor money wise. By having kids, they are creating wealth in their eyes.

 

[hans007]

i don't know if i'd call this poor, but i dont think we'd have been considered middle class when i was little.

my dad left the philippines when i was 3. my mom and brother and i left when i was 5 after the people power revolution.

dad worked at my aunts chinese restaurant until he got a job at a computer company fixing TVs and VCRs and computers in the 80s. mom worked as some sort of clerk. we all lived in my grandmas house with my other uncle and his 3 kids, so like 5 kids, 2 sets of parents.

all my clothes were from my older cousins when i was little, but i never really felt poor, ig uess we shared a lot and i mean, if you have 10 cousins and you have 1 nintendo you still have 1 nintendo. dad worked 6 days a week when i was little so didnt do a ton of father son type stuff, but well it paid off. eventually they bought their own house just before the first post iraq war recession and were under water on it so that was a large expensve but my parents kept getting better jobs, dad kept making friends in the business.

anyway i went to ucla , dad starts company with some of those friends he made in the pc industry over the years while i'm in college, and is worth over 8 figures at this point. they end up not really having issues with money and paid for basically 80% of my college expenses for me which is something that worked out pretty well for me. no debt out of college right

mom and dad still live about a block from that uncle we also used to live with in a slightly nicer house that they bought when i left for college.

i think his big splurging over the years is buying a few nicer cars (well he drives an 8 year old bmw x3 now) and getting into golf, but he really doesnt spend much. but yeah i can say he's made it. i ended up becoming a software engineer, i can say i do pretty well.

its been 25 years since we got off that plane from the philippines (or it will be in 35 days or so).

i wouldn't say we were poor just i wouldn't say it got comfortable until i was more or less an adult. i guess the fact we had family to live with for really cheap made it feel different plus you could pool resources etc. but i didnt really have nice stuff growing up or maybe we had 1 nice thing and had to share it, like i learned how to pirate a lot of video games since we weren't getting snes games or too many new toys and didnt have a drivers license until college, but it does make you appreciate things more.

 

[Train]

We weren't poor but, damn, I hate powdered milk.

Kids in my house were never ones to complain about anything. But I sure as fuck complained about powdered milk. It sucked so bad. When I was in high school and it was only me and my little brother left at home, my mom let us mix it with 2% 50/50. Made it much more tolerable.

 

[rudeguy]

I grew up as poor as one can be in the US. Single mom, deadbeat dad. Mom got hurt at work when I was in middle school and couldn't work after that. She raised me to believe that honesty and integrity mean more than dollars in the bank and knick knacks on shelves.

The problem with growing up poor is that I know how to survive being poor. I could easily support lil rudeguy and myself on 1/2 of what I make. So when I see something shiny I want to buy, I can very easily rationalize leaving myself $100 in the bank to live on for 2 weeks.

I'm getting better at it. I stash cash in different accounts and in random places around the house so that I can't access it all at once.


But to really answer your question; yes I grew up poor. Did I make it? :shrug: we'll see.

 

[alkemyst]

what's funny is some of you poor fucks have attacked me for my own financial issues in the past.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

My mother and father never collectively made more than $35,000 year from the time I was born til the time I turned 25 (1977-2002). They constantly fought about money, mainly because they had none and they wanted to give my brother and I the best. We did have food on the table and a roof over our heads, but there was more than one occasion where we almost lost the latter. It ultimately caused my mother and father to split up after 29 years of marriage. I literally cannot remember the last time my folks were happy when they were in the same room.

Despite my extremely disfunctional childhood family, I managed to do well in high school and get into college. I worked my way through college, and managed to land a job at the naval research lab earning $30k a year as a physical scientist. Following scrooge mcduck's adage of "work smarter, not harder," I quickly decided that my NRL job was going nowhere. So I left for the patent office, and my salary increased by 50% over night. After 3 years, I started law school while working full time at the PTO. After 4 years of 20+hour days, I landed a job at a prominent IP boutique, earning well over 6 figures. Since that time, my salary has fluctuated up and down as I have changed jobs, ranging from the low to low-mid six figures.

Despite my salary, as a father of 2 I would never ever say that I am monetarily "rich." Though I am certainly "well off" by any standard. My wife and I save ~25% of our income, we have a nice (though poorly crafted) house, and good food on the table every night. Hard to complain about that. By many standards, I am monetarily rich. But I've been exposed to folks that have 1000X the money I do (literally), and let me tell you. I am not monetarily rich. Not after seeing what true monetary riches is.

Money aside, I feel as rich as a king in my house because my family is so strong. I've been with my wife for 12+ years, and love her more now than the day I met her. Apart from her, my kids are the best thing to ever happen to me in my life. I learned from my own childhood to value people and family over all things. I could lose every material thing I own, but as long as I have my family I know that I will be ok.

 

[Farmer]

Snaps to you soxfan. You're absolutely right, regardless of where you are, there are always people richer than you, always people smarter than you.

For instance, some of my classmates who entered Wall Street (as traders, not as anything else mind you) after college easily made 6 or even 7 figures, all within 1 or 2 years from receiving their bachelor's degree. Of course they were smart, lucky, and incredibly hard working. It's a tough job, but it's a great one for those who can get it, and who value money over all else.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

My dad grew up in extremely poor family. Got a job at DOD, making 250k a year same with my mom (a little less) all her brothers and sisters (7) are extremely rich except for 1.

Your dad did not get a job with the DOD making that kind of salary. The GS scale caps out at much less, even now.

With that salary level, I'm guessing he was an executive at a company that contracted with the DOD.

 

[Cpus]

Your dad did not get a job with the DOD making that kind of salary. The GS scale caps out at much less, even now.

With that salary level, I'm guessing he was an executive at a company that contracted with the DOD.

Maybe. Not sure as he never discussed what he did.

 

[alkemyst]

Maybe. Not sure as he never discussed what he did.

wow bro. Stop telling tall tales you don't know nothing about.

 

[Cpus]

wow bro. Stop telling tall tales you don't know nothing about.

Yes because you are me.... Added to Ignore List.

 

[alkemyst]

Yes because you are me.... Added to Ignore List.

Good job ATOT catching this guy in his lies.

 

[tcsenter]

in America, if you're at least average mentally and have decent health and yet you're not doing decently financially then either your luck is crap or you're simply a lazy bum and dont want to apply yourself. America literally hands financial success on a silver plate to anyone and everyone and she asks for very little in return in that trade.

Well there are people who follow a passion or interest that doesn't pay well. e.g. a lot of musicians out there eating macaroni and hot dogs, will never really make a good living doing it. And I don't mean mediocre musicians, either (though there are a lot of those, too). Or people doing research in an area for which they have a passion. e.g. studying some insect, documenting dying languages or reconstructing lost ones, insert a million other pursuits of interest or passion that don't pay jack.

 

[Tweak155]

Well there are people who follow a passion or interest that doesn't pay well. e.g. a lot of musicians out there eating macaroni and hot dogs, will never really make a good living doing it. And I don't mean mediocre musicians, either (though there are a lot of those, too). Or people doing research in an area for which they have a passion. e.g. studying some insect, documenting dying languages or reconstructing lost ones, insert a million other pursuits of interest or passion that don't pay jack.

Not really relevant. If they wanted to pursue money, there is nothing that stops them.

Nothing wrong with being money poor though. I'd prefer to be happy with whatever I was doing.

 

[bignateyk]

You've got 300K saved up and you've never taken a vacation? Jesus man, live a little.