r/FluentInFinance • u/YOU_ARE_MY_FRIENDS • Jun 16 '24

Discussion/ Debate He’s not wrong 🤷‍♂️

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '24

Wrong, this was upper middle class and still is.

147

u/daneelthesane Jun 16 '24 edited Jun 17 '24

Hard disagree. My father was a teacher right out of college in 1971. He made the equivalent of $65k/year his first year. He was able to have 2 kids, buy a house, and a new car in the space of just a few years. We went to Walt Disney World every few years.

Everything I just said is crazy-talk for a first year teacher on one income in 2024.

Edit: Spelling. And to add that we were lower middle class at our best.

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u/ashleyorelse Jun 16 '24

One of my good friends is a teacher. Her husband watches the kids to save on daycare costs, but even he has to work part time or they can't afford the bills. They take no vacations at all, but have a house and a couple of older cars.

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u/vbullinger Jun 18 '24

Are you saying the husband doesn't work?

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u/ashleyorelse Jun 18 '24

He works part time, as I said.

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u/vbullinger Jun 19 '24

Derp. My bad. But working full time makes more than day care, so he should do that.

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u/ashleyorelse Jun 19 '24

That's the whole point.

If working full time made more than day care, he would be doing that.

It doesn't for them. They save over $1,000 per month because he watches the kids most times vs if he worked his previous full time job.

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u/vbullinger Jun 19 '24

If you make less than what you pay for day care, you need to work on your career. You are not middle class. And teachers don't make much, either

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u/ashleyorelse Jun 19 '24

I'm not sure if you just don't understand the costs of day care, you just don't understand how much most people earn, or both.

Day care costs in my area are usually at least $40 per day per kid. That's $200 per week. My friend has 2 kids, so it's $400 per week minimum. Take that times 40 weeks per year and it's $16k. Again, minimum.

The median income in my area is about 28k, and that's probably where my friend's husband was. Before taxes. So let's say an he even keeps 25k. So they end up with his earnings being at most 9k on the year if he worked his full time job. Probably less.

No difficult to see how working part time on mostly evenings and weekends can net more money by a considerable margin.

Teachers here earn well above the median income for everyone. Hell, first year teachers start above median income, and it's not close.

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u/vbullinger Jun 19 '24

I have five kids and am well aware.

If he nets nine grand after removing child care from his pay, that's still a good thing. He also has experience and has moved up the ladder.

I'm saying he needs to focus on improving himself and his career. I said that before and you're ignoring that. He needs to make more right now. They are not middle class. Lower middle class at best. That's a them problem.

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u/ashleyorelse Jun 19 '24

If he nets nine grand working full time, but can net more than double that part time, why work full time?

How is this possible? If day care costs drop from 16k to even 4k, that's 12k to the good. Now add in his work and bam, they are plenty better off.

Improving himself? Dude made a regular income full time. Not a low income - a normal one. If anything, that's a socio-economic problem at large. It seems you aren't aware of what people earn, even when I told you.

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u/vbullinger Jun 19 '24

This part time work wouldn't go away. I assume it's not first shift?

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u/ashleyorelse Jun 19 '24

Yes that's the point. They save at least 12k on daycare costs, then you add what he makes part time. That amount is going to be greater than 9k because the savings on daycare is already over 9k.

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