Comments (14) (Please sign in to comment)

1. 

   Ms. Ima said, 4 months ago

   Debt and lack of saving keeps people ‘not rich’. If a person would buy a used car and invest the payments of a new car over a lifetime a person would have at least a million dollars.
2. 

   Robert Landers said, 4 months ago

   @Ms. Ima

   Once again you bring up the mathematically impossible!

   Average price of new car, just about $25,000, deduct average price of reasonable used car of $15,000 equals $10,000.

   Invest $10,000 at 5% compound interest for 30 years = $47.600. To reach $1,000,000 you would need at least $225,000. which is just about the cost of 10 new cars.

   Please, either go back to school and learn simple math, or just stop exaggerating to prove a point that can not be proved!

   The average middle class individual is lucky enough to make enough money to keep himself/herself above water, and have enough for food, shelter and clothing! Saving large enough monies for investing to become wealthy (especially for families) is just not possible!!

   Ultra conservatives such as yourself always seem to want to blame the average middle class working person for their conditions, and it is just unreasonable to do so!!
3. 

   ruff said, 4 months ago

   @Robert Landers

   Nice job explaining, being totally lost on Ima !
4. 

   Wabbit said, 4 months ago

   for some people there is no extra money as big as a new car payment. it’s just paycheck to paycheck. People don’t save because there is nothing leftover TO save.
   You have to have a pretty decent paycheck to save as much as if it were the payment for a new car.
   But it can be done, if only $10.00 a month.
5. 

   M Ster said, 4 months ago

   @Robert Landers

   Robert, I also think that those whose top earning years were in the 50s – 70s had it easier financially than most of today’s middle class. My parents certainly did. My tuition at an excellent state college in the mid 70s was $3000 per year. We had excellent medical insurance through my father’s job, and his job was stable.
   *
   Perhaps some of the older crowd who have little sympathy for today’s middle class don’t realize how much tougher life is today.
6. 

   BrassOrchid said, 4 months ago

   It isn’t the size of the gap that matters. It is the absolute range. If the poor are able to live comfortably, then who cares how much the rich have? The distance from head to foot is less important than whether or not a rope prevents your feet from touching the ground. Who keeps selling them rope?
7. 

   taratus said, 4 months ago

   What surprises me is how telecommunications costs (cable, phone, internet, cell) continue to increase under the radar. My energy bill averages about $150/mo., but my telecom bill is nearly twice that. We love our iPhones so much we deny how much they effin’ cost us. Put a Verizon bill in that mailbox.
8. 

   Bruce4671 said, 4 months ago

   @M Ster

   Well, boohoo… sorry. Just had to say it. Even if it is in bad taste.
   
   Look yeah life IS hard. As Ben Franklin said: “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.”
   
   No one says life is fair or easy. It is what it is and you have to make the most of what you have. All good cliches People say them over and over for a reason. They are true.
   
   My youngest was awarded her BA in 2009. She got a loan of 5K from me when she started. She paid it off and never needed a cent more from me. She went to USF – yes a state school. Yes, she lived at home during the first 2 years and shared a near campus apartment for the last 3 (oh my it took 5 years instead of 4 shucks) and relied on public transportation or a bicycle. It was tough but she did it herself and now teaches in ST Pete.
   
   Please, quit making excuses.
9. 

   Bruce4671 said, 4 months ago

   I will not raise taxes on people making under 200K ayear by one dime – Barack Obama
   
   

   Sure, and that isn’t true is it. AHCA anyone?
   
   But this one is nothing but truth.
   
   Under my policies (energy) prices will “necessarily” skyrocket. – Barack Obama
   
   And who suffers under THAT situation? THe RICH? I think not. First the poor, the elderly and then the middle class. NEVER the rich OR a politician.
10. 

    Radish said, 4 months ago

    You can keep all the things you seek
    for a dollar down and a dollar a week
    They said in tears it’ll take a thousand years
    at a dollar down and a dollar a week
11. 

    BrassOrchid said, 4 months ago

    OBAMA: Banks and lenders must be held accountable for ending the practices that got us into this crisis in the first place.
    I guess he meant for making Americans take out loans they can’t ever hope to pay off.
12. 

    Bruce4671 said, 4 months ago

    Yep Obama’s doing his level best to close the gap. Wait. Some headlines.
    
    http://freebeacon.com/trashing-tricare/
    
    No discrimination here.
    
    http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/feinstein-gun-control-bill-exempt-government-officials_697732.html
    
    http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/business/279443-poll-72-percent-of-small-businesses-say-regulations-are-hurting-
    
    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/25/court-obama-appointments-are-unconstitutional/
    
    http://cnsnews.com/news/article/shades-title-ix-schools-must-provide-sports-disabled-obama-administration-says
    
    http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/279231-immigration-reform-could-add-millions-under-obama-health-law
    
    http://news.yahoo.com/penalty-could-keep-smokers-health-overhaul-205840155.html
    
    http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/26/state-regulators-crack-down-on-grocery-chain-for-selling-cheap-milk/
    
    Nope his effort is to push government into every nook and cranny of our lives.
13. 

    echoraven said, 4 months ago

    @Ms. Ima

    If you truly believe this they your life has been very, very blessed sir.
    .
    Others (myself included) have not been that fortunate, though I DO consider myself both lucky and blessed.
14. 

    BrassOrchid said, 4 months ago

    @Robert Landers

    Presuming you buy a car every five years and invest the difference of $15K at 3% each time, you would have only $155K after thirty years. Not a fortune, but not bad either. Of course, one must also take into account finance charges and interest if the vehicle is financed, which makes the $25K vehicle cost twice as much over time. Debt and poverty, as we will soon learn, go hand in hand. Bring an unbrella if you don’t have a golden parachute, a seat in government or some other exclusive fiscal advantage.
15. Refresh Comments.