I agree with that. The meanings have different interpretations for each person as well.

FrankN wrote: Politicians love talking about the "middle class" yet do very little to actually help. Its just so they can get the middle class vote.

These terms that define peoples' financial status.......middle class, high class, etc........ they are terms coined by politicians, are they not? Economists know better than to pigeonhole people like this. You simply cannot paint someone's financial state with a broad brush like that unless you're doing it for your own purpose and your own gain. It is way too subjective.

Politicians love talking about the "middle class" yet do very little to actually help. Its just so they can get the middle class vote.

All the talk this election season about the middle class and I have to wonder if we'll even have a middle class in ten years. Average salaries are definitely not keeping up with rising costs. Every time I go to the grocery store I am flabbergasted at how much things cost these days.

I think the statistics show the divide between the haves (i.e. upper wealth) and the have nots (i.e. the poor) is getting greater and great over time. Tough problem to fix, but the trend seems to continuing to get worse.

I understand both points. It's important to look at the country's economic growth as a whole and understand it, but of course everyone's situation is going to be different when you take into account career changes, promotions, continuing education, etc. My husband has seen a 100% increase in his income from seven years ago, but that was due to a major promotion. That said, I still see the country as a whole struggling.

I agree with this FrankN. I know a lot of people that have done well and I know a number of people that are still struggling. Even though our personal income has grown a bit and we are definitely better off now than we were 6 years ago.

Yeah there is certainty going to be a huge difference in each person's case when you compare that to the overall economy. politics aside, some people have done extremely well since the last downturn, while many others have not been able to really ever recover.

With a all due respect Curry, that's not really answering the question. A person cannot really equate personal income growth with the growth of the economy. The country may have only grown 3% over the past 6 years, but my personal income has not. It's grown more.

Ask me and I'll tell you that the economy is doing great.

Breakinger wrote: Now that this is quite a few number of years later, I'm wondering how many people have seen their personal income rise?

I would guess not many. This conversation started near the start of the Obama administration, and now here we near the end with an average of 3% economic growth throughout these 7 years.

That's not good.

That is great you have that. I try to maintain that as well, but it seems much more difficult than it should be. Right now I only have 2-3 months, but working towards a full 6 months.

FrugalFran wrote: I just posted about my fear of failure in the small business loan thread, Wanderer, and government is one of the reasons I'm apprehensive. I also agree with everything else you said. It seems like we stockpile money for a variety of things and at the end of the day it gets used up during layoffs and slow times.

How true this is. I save money and something comes up and I have to use it. I haven't been laid off and I hope I'm not in that situation anytime soon. I try to make sure that I have 6 months of monthly expenses in my savings account.

To put a positive prospective on it, I still think the US is one of the easiest places in America to start up a company. While there are certainty challenges out there, if you have a good idea, and a great work ethic, people are still successfully creating businesses every year in the US.

I just posted about my fear of failure in the small business loan thread, Wanderer, and government is one of the reasons I'm apprehensive. I also agree with everything else you said. It seems like we stockpile money for a variety of things and at the end of the day it gets used up during layoffs and slow times.

Depressing thought! Unfortunately I feel the same way. Lost my job in 2009 to the depression (fortunately I could retire). People work to create Emergency Accounts, College Funds, Retirement Accounts and then it is all gone to survive the ups and downs of economic cycles. Then add in life happens like medical for family members and it makes life financially challenging. Hard to believe anyone would even try to follow their own dream and build a "start-up" company. Too much government.