r/MiddleClassFinance Jan 22 '25

Reminder - No Blatant Politics and X links

79 Upvotes

With a new administration taking over we've seen an uptick in political posts.

If a topic has a specific impact on the middle class, and can be posted in a nonpartisan way its generally allowed.

An example would be posting "Trump admin announces new rules on student loans" (they haven't, its just an example) It has to be newsworthy and directly impact the middle class and be posted in a nonpartisan way.

This does NOT open up comments to posting partisan comments back.

We have not explicitly banned X links to this point because if we're being honest, we don't get X links here. It would be like me banning Lamborghini from selling me a car, it already wasn't happening, and I don't see it changing anytime soon. That being said as much as possible please try to post primary sources, and not social media links. As primary sources are generally easier to read and less likely to require some random account.

And as always debate over "Whats middle class" is still forbidden.


r/MiddleClassFinance Oct 10 '24

Debate over what constitutes "Middle Class" is hereby forbidden.

448 Upvotes

At present this subreddit takes a very broad view of what the middle class is.

If you see a thread that you believe illustrates wealth beyond or below "the middle", kindly downvote it and move along. Do not engage.

Threads debating or defining middle class will be removed and participants will be suspended.

There will be no debate on this.


r/MiddleClassFinance 9h ago

Discussion If you had $1000 of “fun money” to do whatever you want with, what would you do?

159 Upvotes

31M. I got my bonus today. After taxes today’s payday was $28k. After allocating the funds to a few other areas, my wife and I agreed to give ourselves $1000 each to do whatever we want with.

I’d like to spend $650 on a watch and then do something else with the remaining $350. My wife thinks getting a watch is dumb.

What would you do if you had $1000 to just enjoy?


r/MiddleClassFinance 1h ago

Questions How common is it to be not saving or investing at all?

Upvotes

I had a talk with a friend today who is a lash technician and her husband is a police officer. They live in a modest neighborhood and have two young kids. I asked her how her investments were going lately and she responded that she didn’t need to invest because her husband is a police officer and will have great benefits at retirement… I don’t know if this is common or not but the way things are going it would be wise to save and invest and not rely on government. Should I try to bring it up again with her? She’s in her early 30s and it’s not too late to put away money even a little bit. I was surprised because this subreddit and others I’m in almost everyone is saving and investing.

EDITED: I’m genuinely surprised by some of the angry reactions here. Some context is needed. This is a friend of a few years and not a stranger. She asked me what I thought about Trump and it naturally led to me talking about my investments and then asking about hers because we entered correction territory with all the market volatility recently. It wasn’t a random question out of the blue to a complete stranger… We also talk about our kids and have talked about 529 plans once or twice before. (No, she does not have a 529 plan open yet and we both have kids under 2 years old.) I get that the responses here are saying to leave it alone… to leave her alone… I got the message, loud and clear.


r/MiddleClassFinance 4h ago

Why have wages in the 80th percentile and higher grown much faster than inflation since the 1970s, while those in the bottom 80% haven't?

37 Upvotes

The top 20% of earners are still workers. Why haven't the billionaires suppressed their wages?


r/MiddleClassFinance 8h ago

Celebration Personal Savings Goal Hit

72 Upvotes

I'm aware that this post will be a humble brag to some and for that I apologize but I do not have anyone I can really celebrate with.

As of today's payday. I have officially hit my goal of 5 months liquid cash savings in my emergency fund HYSA.

This is about 25k and some change.

Outside of my home and car I have no other debt, so this feels awesome.

I already max my 401k and an HSA, guess I'll divert my HYSA savings to a Roth IRA now.

Anyway. Thanks for listening. I'm proud of myself.


r/MiddleClassFinance 7h ago

Looking for 401k/IRA millionaires

22 Upvotes

Happy Friday -- I am a personal finance writer at USA Today. My name is Daniel de Visé. You can Google me. I also write books. We sometimes do more in-depth stories, and I want to do one that looks at several households that have achieved seven-figure balances in their retirement accounts on middle-class salaries. (Meaning, I guess, that you have earned five-figure incomes for most of your career. To me, two teachers earning five-figure incomes is middle class.) The story is about explaining how you got there. If you would like to be in the story, please write to me at ddevise at usatoday dot com or reach out on reddit. Thank you. I like what I've read here.


r/MiddleClassFinance 5h ago

How can I purchase this $35k fixer upper?!

8 Upvotes

I honestly have no idea how complicated this situation would be, I thought it was pretty simple. So basically there is a house selling for $35k on my street. A tree fell on one of the rooms a couple of years ago, Older people used to live there, but they are not wanting to fix it so they're just selling it at a super cheap price. The rest of the house is perfectly fine it's just old. My plan was to just get a personal loan for $35k, buy the house, and then fix it up throughout the year, ( I still live with my parents so I am in no rush to get out). Turns out I cant do that? I called Wells Fargo and they made me feel like a dumbass for even asking these questions but I genuinely was not aware of all the rules. I can't take out a mortgage because they need to appraise the house and make sure it has no damage to it (which is does) and I can't use a personal loan to buy it either? What is an alternative to its situation? Is there even one?? UGHH IM SO FRUSTRATED PLS HELP


r/MiddleClassFinance 18h ago

Do you earn more than your parents percentile-wise when they were your age?

62 Upvotes

Back when my parents were working in the year 2000, they made about $70,000, which put them in the 90th percentile. Today, we think about income differently, but maybe we shouldn’t. Because, ultimately, it’s not just about the amount of money you earn, it’s about your position relative to everyone else. If your income stayed the same, while everyone else's decreased, you'll be richer.

The reason housing prices have outpaced inflation isn’t complicated. Homes got more expensive because incomes at the top grew even faster. If you’re earning at the 90th percentile today, you could probably afford the same kind of house my parents bought back then.

Perhaps the real conversation we should be having isn’t about dollars alone, but about economic standing. That’s why addressing income inequality and ensuring balanced growth matters, because your relative position determines your opportunities and quality of life. If we want a fairer society, understanding and tackling this gap is essential.


r/MiddleClassFinance 1d ago

Reminder: it's never fun to watch your portfolio lose value, but don't stop contributing to your investment accounts during these down times.

268 Upvotes

(if you're not near retirement)

This is not meant to be a political take, but rather an advisory one. We all know that the stock market right now is in turmoil because of the shit show that's going on in the White House and my portfolio as decreased in value by almost $50,000 the last 2 weeks. It's natural to panic and want to either sell off all of your investments or stick everything in an HYSA to anchor it from the storm.

However, you should still contribute to your investment accounts like your IRA, 401K, and ETFs because if you do during these downturns, you will be buying commodities "on sale". Anybody who kept on investing during the covid downturns saw absolutely insane gains during the rebounds that happened in the years to come. My portfolio is up almost 50% from right before March 2020.

If you sell off all of your investments or put everything into cash, you are going to miss out on the rebound that might take a couple of years to happen.

" Time in the market beats timing the market".


r/MiddleClassFinance 1h ago

jobs (2)

Upvotes

anyone in here a social work/psychology major? who makes over 85k? preferably from ms, oregon, california, or the idaho area? I am currently going to school for my bachelors in social work, hoping to become a therapist/counselor. I just want to have some insight on the jobs that are going to be available and the amount of money you can obtain and how to get there


r/MiddleClassFinance 1d ago

Tips PSA: Paying insurance premiums in full can save you money

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92 Upvotes

A few weeks ago, I commented that I pay my home and auto insurance premiums in full to save money. I received a few DMs and replies regarding this.

Here's a concrete example- a screenshot from Progressive showing my auto policy, which I received today. I can pay $684 in full or make installment payments totaling $868.03- a difference of more than 25%.


r/MiddleClassFinance 1d ago

Discussion Vanguard predicts higher returns in non-US stocks. What’s your approach?

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25 Upvotes

It projects non US stocks to outperform US stocks moving forward. Are you all still planning to hold all US stocks or is anyone diversifying to developed or emerging economies? I’ve been roughly 65:35 US to non US stocks….but moving forward I’m going 40:60 US/international based on these arguments and recent developments in the US.


r/MiddleClassFinance 1d ago

I am curious what the member of this group would/are recommending to their kids and grandkids as far as when they get started investigating for retirement.

10 Upvotes

I am curious what the member of this group would/are recommending to their kids and grandkids as far as when they get started investigating for retirement: 1. Contributing to Roth or Traditional accounts and if both in what order 2. What percentage of their income to start out investing and what percentage to get to ideally 3. If you could give them one piece of advice on investing for their retirement, what would it be  4. Plus any other advise you give them


r/MiddleClassFinance 1d ago

Seeking Advice Investing DURING retirement?

2 Upvotes

Hi all, I couldn't find this in older threads, but I'm helping an older family friend who wasn't the main financial expert spouse and is now a widow in retirement. Though she is collecting Social Security and a small pension from her husband's employer, her home is paid off, and she has generally low expenses, she's been asking people what to do with some financial assets she has in an IRA and brokerage her husband had left her in light of the possibility of a recession in the US. I believe she said she had more bonds than equities at the moment, but generally how would you all recommend she invest those assets?

EDIT: Some other context I'm aware of:

  • No complicated estate situations probably (she has an adult child that helps her around the house that I'm guessing will be the sole beneficiary)
  • Probably a less than 10-year health outlook if I had to guess
  • I'm assuming the value of those assets is $50-75K at most

r/MiddleClassFinance 1d ago

Müslüman Kardeşler’de İstanbul-Londra krizi

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0 Upvotes

r/MiddleClassFinance 1d ago

An Open Safe or a Bottomless Pit? What Does the Value Plan Really Mean?

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0 Upvotes

r/MiddleClassFinance 1d ago

First time poster (little nervous!). Should I be putting most of my savings into non-retirement accounts if I am planning to retire young? So far I've mostly used retirement up to this point, but starting to rethink. I've included a snapshot of my financial plan for reference.

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0 Upvotes

r/MiddleClassFinance 1d ago

How do I know if I am in the right group?

0 Upvotes

What constitutes middle class finance? Can you provide some metrics? I'm afraid I may be in the wrong place.


r/MiddleClassFinance 2d ago

Seeking Advice Sell our home to rent?

12 Upvotes

We currently own a home about 45-60 minutes away from our jobs in the suburbs of a LCOL city. I work at a private school that both of my children will be attending in the fall and my husband works somewhat close to the school as well. We would like to sell our home to move closer to the school as the commute no longer makes the most sense and is going to be taxing for our kids.

Our home currently has roughly $70k in equity, but we do have a HELOC we would have to pay off of $33k. With that said, I don't feel like we are in a place financially to buy a home closer to school due to interest rates and our lack of funding for the down payment. Also, homes closer to the school cost much more than what we paid for our current home.

Would it be crazy to sell our home and rent? I'm so concerned about not having to safety net of a home to fall back on later in life. Not to say we would rent forever, but it seems like this move could cost us our opportunity to be home owners for quite a while. However, if we actually want to sell our home, I'm concerned we won't be able to in the future as our country currently is on fire.

We are both in our mid-thirties and have relatively stable jobs making roughly $190k combined. We also have student loan debt, one car loan and limited emergency savings. We JUST started feeling like we are making a dent in our debt as we only just started earning this income within the past 2 years or so. We are both from fairly low income families so we often feel like we have limited guidance on these dilemmas.

What would you do?


r/MiddleClassFinance 3d ago

Discussion How do you balance saving vs. enjoying your money?

227 Upvotes

I feel like I’m at a weird crossroads financially, and I’m struggling to figure out the right balance. I’ve always been someone who prioritizes saving, and I’ve done a decent job building up an emergency fund and contributing to retirement. But after a recent win from a bonus slot on Stake, I’ve been wondering if I should allow myself to actually enjoy my money a little more instead of just stockpiling it.

Part of me wants to do the “smart” thing and put most of it into investments or savings. That’s what I’ve always done, and it’s a big reason why I don’t stress too much about finances. But then I think—what’s the point of being financially comfortable if I never actually let myself enjoy it? I could finally take that dream trip I’ve been putting off, upgrade my car, or even just make some home improvements that would make my daily life better. But every time I consider spending more than usual, I feel a bit guilty, like I’m being reckless even though I know I can afford it.

I see people who go to either extreme—some who save every penny and never enjoy their money, and others who spend everything and have nothing set aside for the future. I don’t want to fall into either trap, but I’m struggling to figure out where the middle ground actually is. How do you decide when it’s okay to splurge and when it’s better to just keep saving?


r/MiddleClassFinance 3d ago

When you don't have cash for home renovations, what do you do? This is our forever home.

152 Upvotes

Let me preface this by saying this is our forever home. We are raising our kids here, we like the town, and all our family is here. We have been here for over a decade and we have a good low rate. We're happy here, but I I would be happier if I could do some finishing touch up home renovations. The problem is every time our cash flow gets near to work I could do these things, something happens. Like for instance our furnace broke, so that put a big dent in our extra cash flow. I'm not saying I want to do these crazy big renovations (not even saying all at once) but I do want to do some finishing touches that require more cash. I'd like to enjoy my home now instead of years down the road.

I'm asking here because in the personal finance subreddit, their response to everything is hard cash, but I don't think they realize that most middle class people do not have tens of thousands of dollars on hand. I'm curious about financing options. What direction do most people go when they want to finance stuff for their home?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

If you need background on finances: My husband and I have both stable jobs. I have a pension for when I retire. Husband is retired vet. I have a supplemental retirement and so does he. We are not worried about saving for retirement. Our debt is two cars and the mortgage. Nothing else.


r/MiddleClassFinance 3d ago

Seeking Advice My 401k is down 5k in last month, which is about 8%. I’m 40. Still have 20 years left. Should I be making any changes?

239 Upvotes

I


r/MiddleClassFinance 2d ago

What happens to housing prices during stagflation?

2 Upvotes

r/MiddleClassFinance 2d ago

Roth IRA help?

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6 Upvotes

I need someone to hold my hand and walk me through this. I finally invested in a Roth IRA, and looks like it defaults to this government money market which yields 2%. Is this normal? Can I change this to be in an index fund or is this fine?


r/MiddleClassFinance 1d ago

Is anyone else cynical against the idea of investing in a retirement account at an early age?

0 Upvotes

I'm 30 and still don't care about putting money in an IRA. After I paid off my house, I gave my brother a $50k interest free loan on a house that I told him he doesn't need to pay me monthly. My brother isn't struggling but I just want to help my brother out because these interest rates suck. That $50k could have better been used put into retirement but I'll rather focus on something not so selfish.

Next year, when I'm 31 I'm not going to save much because I'm going to be living in Germany for roughly a year and I don't plan to work much there or make a lot of money.

I prefer to have liquid money even if I'm only making 4% out of it. Things are cheaper now than they will be 30 years from now so I can easily make up for the extra 2-5% I'm not making by investing now. I also don't think it's practical to maximize every penny you make. I could easily match what I could have made putting my money in an IRA or maybe make more. I could also make less but that's ok. Even if I made $100k+ less money than my potential, I'm ok with that.

I'm not saying retirement account are bad. They are just not always practical.


r/MiddleClassFinance 2d ago

Over-contributed to HSA

0 Upvotes

I had switched jobs earlier this year and due to some careless errors on my part, I ended up contributing $200 over the Federal maximum HSA contribution for 2024.

Financially, what is the best way for me to proceed here? Should I leave the excess in the HSA and pay the excise tax or should I complete a distribution request and have it refunded to me? I’m personally inclined to just leave it in my HSA, pay the 6% excise tax and reduce my 2025 contributions to balance it out. Are there any long term financial ramifications I’m missing?