<p>is it easier/harder for a poor man to become middle class or a middle class man to become rich? obviously poor to rich(ie american dream) is the hardest, especially in this day and age.</p>
<p>American dream isn’t all that hard…for one generation yeah…but although both my parents grew up in working middle class families (my grandfather owned a shoe repair shop :P), they both now have 6 figure salaries. I would say it’s easiest to go from middle class to “rich” (relatively speaking), because you get a better foundation laid in the middle class (schooling, college, etc.).</p>
<p>I would just like to point out that in spite of what some penniless hippy’s would have you believe, the US does have some of the greatest opportunities for advancement in the world. I would also say middle-class to rich is easiest, however lower-class to middle is easier in the US than it is in a lot of other countries (although probably not as easy as it should be).</p>
<p>There’s a book entitles “Class Matters” that deals with this issue, it’s relatively new. Go here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/20050515_CLASS_GRAPHIC/index_02.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/20050515_CLASS_GRAPHIC/index_02.html</a></p>
<p>Then click income mobility, then go to country by country. They say France, Canada, and Denmark have got us beat. But we are ahead of the UK. Another reason to love Denmark (btw I really love Denmark).</p>
<p>the US has very vague terms regarding middle class and upper class (which i assume you mean upper class when you say rich).</p>
<p>if you take middle class as average, then the average american makes like $42,000 a year–which translates into about $21/hr if you work 40 hour weeks, and work 49 weeks a year. I just saw a commercial for Walmart saying it would pay $15/hr to work in the stock room full time. So basicly, if you can get a little better job than working in a stock room at walmart you can be true middle class (plus they give benefits). this requires no education and little skill.</p>
<p>Now we have to define rich or upper class. I consider rich in America to be the upper 1%, possibly lower depending on where you live. You arn’t rich or upper class if both your parents make $100,000/yr. I’d say you’d probably have to be pushing close to $300,000/yr to be near that 1%, and even then, it depends on where you live. You couldn’t live a “rich lifestyle” in manhattan for less than $700,000/yr I bet.</p>
<p>Going from poor to middle class is WAY easier. This isn’t even a debate. Someone’s status as “rich” is based largely on their ability to obtain positional goods and services; i.e. goods and services 99% of people can’t afford. Middle class as a group has the capacity to grow, where as being “rich” will always be defined as a scarce group of indivinduals who have what the vast majority of others don’t. Again, this is to be considered truly rich in society’s eyes. Going from lower middle class to upper middle class is about as easy (or as hard) as going from poor to lower middle class.</p>
<p>My goal is NOT to worry about positional goods and social status. If I can make an upper middle class income, I can save and invest in such a way that I can move into the top 1% on a net worth basis. But I won’t be able to live a luxurious lifestyle on the way, which is fine cuz I’ve lived in the hood long enough. My goal is for my kids to have the life I never had.</p>
<p>How much law abiding are we talking about here?</p>
<p>" I can save and invest in such a way that I can move into the top 1% on a net worth basis"</p>
<p>That’s what you call confidence. lol</p>
<p>I think the problem is that once you get to the upper class/rich category, it becomes about much more than money. You could get lucky and go from living in a trailer to making millions per year, but you’re not ever going to be part of upper class society the way that people who were born into it are. And the chances of that are about as good as winning the lottery…even if you’re talking about having a regular job and just being in the top 2-3%, unless you started out pretty close to that to begin with, you’re going to have a tough time having the proper background for it, and having the right connections to get the right jobs.</p>
<p>I think it’s easiest to go from poor to middle class. Like someone already said, average income is around $40,000 per year…it’s nearly guaranteed that you will at least make that with a 4-year degree, you can probably get a job making that eventually with a 2-year degree, and you might even be able to make that much without a degree at all. It’s not hard to get into community college, and if you’re even having trouble with that there are programs out there to help low-income people. After that, if you did well you can probably transfer to a mid-level school and if you just did sort of ok, you can probably still transfer to a local state college, or get a job and do evening school…all sorts of things. I think the biggest problem is that people don’t think they can, so they don’t bother to try.</p>
<p>as said america is on a pretty strict caste system.</p>
<p>if you’re a poor, or even middle class genius and get to a top med/law school and make six figures, great. but you have to pay off your loans and with the amount most drs and lawyers are making these days, you arent going to be rich</p>
<p>so it leaves poor/middle class extremely lucky types to become rich. everyone wants to be rich these days, few will. it’s never changed.</p>
<p>It’s pretty easy to go from middle class to rich, but you’ll get less and less enjoyment with each and every dollar. Law of Diminshing Marginal Utility & Law of Diminishing Returns.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure the poor in this country stay poor. There are exceptions, namely immigrants who migrated over a generation ago and are now worth a fortune, but poor native-born citizens tend to stay that way.</p>
<p>I’d like to hope the American Dream (although very rare) is still alive. That’s why I immigrated with my family over a decade ago. I’d say middle class is most likely, particularly if you go to a nice college (fingers crossed). The wealthy people are either born rich or become so through MAINLY entrepreneurship, investments (real estate, stocks), and the like. It’s really a crapshoot to try and become the CEO of a fortune 500 company to earn those millions (so working for a living does not have high potential for mobility into the upper class). By now, you probably see I consider “rich” as at the minimum: multimilionaires.That’s my 2 cents.</p>
<p>And laserprecrision: I agree, it just seems that immigrants (particularly poor or also Asians) have a massive work ethic/drive to succeed. If you grow up in America in the vague middle class, I would think you’d be more complacent and content with your life, and therefore not strive to get anywhere far. (just assumptions, not criticizing anyone here! : )</p>
<p>Umm, more than 1% of the U.S. population would be considered “upper class”</p>
<p>Are you thinking 1% lower class, 98% middle class, 1% upper class?</p>
<p>JJG,</p>
<p>The United States social system isn’t just “poor, middle class, upper class”</p>
<p>There are poor, working class, lower middle class, middle class, <em>upper middle class</em>, and upper class/rich. The upper class/rich in America is the upper 1%. Upper middle class is where most people who make a lot of money fall. Most professional workers are upper middle class–e.g. engineers, lawyers, doctors, professors, judges, etc. Upper class are people who make big bucks–high ranking businessmen, high power lawyers in big law firms, good stock brokers, etc.</p>
<p>Just because there is no defined “upper class” in the United States like there is in England, doesn’t mean that it isn’t the upper 1%. In England I’m sure the “upper class/aristocracy” is much less than 1% of the population–and theres no way to move into that category if you arn’t born that way, because money doesn’t define it.</p>
<p>So back to the original question, is it easy to become textbook “rich” if you’re like borderline rich already? 1 good investment would put you over the “line.” But some middle class people will never be able to move into the upper class stratus because of their professions. Unless you own a large engineering firm, an engineer won’t even become rich. Unless you become a partner at a big law firm, you won’t make the money to be rich.</p>
<p>Going from poor or working class to middle class can mean 2 parents getting a raise of $2 or $3/hr. Much more likely to happen.</p>
<p>I really think it’d be “easier” to go from poor to middle class. There are tons of middle class jobs…but very few rich ones…so yeah…by that logic, there’s much more opportunity to move up at the lower levels.</p>
<p>I just want to point out that $40,000 for a family of 4 in Boston is considered poverty level.</p>
<p>$40,000 for a family of 4 anywhere in the US is poverty level, spike.</p>
<p>Actually, the federal poverty level for a family of 4 in the 48 contiguous states is $19,350. $40,000 is just about $10,000 below average for a family of 4. It is amazing to see such distorted views of “rich” and “average.”</p>
<p>I see the middle class increasingly getting ****ed because both the democrats and republicans stand for the rich. Apparently American democracy IS for sale.</p>