With the recent news that median household income went up I decided to put together an article with an infographic called Average American Income to show that this really doesn't mean much. Here is the main takeaway. . .
As the graph shows not only is it financially impossible for a middle class household to address the basic needs of a family of four, but even a middle class couple can’t support their own basic needs. It’s no wonder why consumer debt is so high as they have no choice but to go into debt to maintain a basic standard of living. If you total the expenses for a family of four it comes in around $70,000. A household income of $70,000 earns more than 65% of the households in the U.S. This implies that your household needs to be in the top 35% to just meet the basic living standard for a family of four. If your family wants to save for retirement, send kids to college, go on vacation, and possibly go to the movies every so often, they are going to need to earn more than 80% of the rest of America.
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Grounded Reason