Making $150K is considered 'lower middle class' in these high-cost US cities

momopi

momopi

Well-known member
finance.yahoo.com

A $150K Income Is ‘Lower Middle Class’ In These High-Cost Cities

In today's economy, making six figures is still considered doing quite well. However, new research from GOBankingRates shows that in some major U.S. cities, an annual income of $150,000 is only enough...
finance.yahoo.com finance.yahoo.com

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How common is it for an Irvine household to have both spouses working vs the traditional role of the husband as the primary income provider for the family and the wife as the homemaker?
 
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panda said:
How common is it for an Irvine household to have both spouses working vs the traditional role of the husband as the primary income provider for the family and the wife as the homemaker?
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Probably more frequent for well off first generation (1.0) immigrants. Affluent Taiwanese were known to parachute wife and kids to Irvine in 1980s to early 2000's, the husband stayed in Taiwan to work and send money. The wife in Irvine usually did not work outside the home and drove to Ranch 99 in Anaheim (before they opened in Irvine) for groceries. Later, this demographic was replaced by well off Mainland Chinese.

For my generation (1.5 gen), I only have one friend with full time Japanese housewife. She did eventually do some part time work after the kids were older.
 
That has to tough for the husband in Taiwan to just work and send money to Irvine to support the wife and kids. My cousin lives in Diamond Bar and her husband just works and send money to support the family from South Korea. Personally, I believe that marriage should take prority over the children, but that's just my personal opinion.

For those you who knew me in 2008, I was obessessed about living in Irvine. Actually, to be transparent and real, Irvine was an idol in my life. For Panda, It was a symbolism of success to own a single family home in Irvine and raise my family there. Looking back now I have absolutely zero regrets moving to JC vs Irvine. At first, I had thought that I may have compromised what I really wanted in my mid 30s by moving to Atlanta. My wife is a CPA, but Ms Panda takes on a more traditional role of taking care of the family which she enjoys and provides a loving home environment. Had we lived in Irvine, my wife and I would both had to work to make ends meet and possibly compromising our quality of life will enjoy now.

I last attended the 2010 Grand Opening at Woodbury and was ready to pull the trigger if the Sonoma's prices dropped to $650,000. Unfortunately prices bottomed out at $850,000, and felt it in my conscious that Irvine was not place God had in mind for family, but he someplace better in mind.

momopi said:
Probably more frequent for well off first generation (1.0) immigrants. Affluent Taiwanese were known to parachute wife and kids to Irvine in 1980s to early 2000's, the husband stayed in Taiwan to work and send money. The wife in Irvine usually did not work outside the home and drove to Ranch 99 in Anaheim (before they opened in Irvine) for groceries. Later, this demographic was replaced by well off Mainland Chinese.

For my generation (1.5 gen), I only have one friend with full time Japanese housewife. She did eventually do some part time work after the kids were older.
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momopi said:
Probably more frequent for well off first generation (1.0) immigrants. Affluent Taiwanese were known to parachute wife and kids to Irvine in 1980s to early 2000's, the husband stayed in Taiwan to work and send money. The wife in Irvine usually did not work outside the home and drove to Ranch 99 in Anaheim (before they opened in Irvine) for groceries. Later, this demographic was replaced by well off Mainland Chinese.

For my generation (1.5 gen), I only have one friend with full time Japanese housewife. She did eventually do some part time work after the kids were older.
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Ouch. The currency conversion is rough. I know a family that works in Macau and sends money to his family in Hawaii. MOP -> USD conversion is rough as well.
 
panda said:
That has to tough for the husband in Taiwan to just work and send money to Irvine to support the wife and kids. My cousin lives in Diamond Bar and her husband just works and send money to support the family from South Korea. Personally, I believe that marriage should take priority over the children, but that's just my personal opinion.

For those you who knew me in 2008, I was obesessed about living in Irvine. Actually, to be transparent and real, Irvine was an idol in my life. For Panda, It was a symbolism of success to own a single family home in Irvine and raise my family there. Looking back now I have absolutely zero regrets moving to JC vs Irvine. At first, I had thought that I may have compromised what I really wanted in my mid 30s by moving to Atlanta. My wife is a CPA, but Ms Panda takes on a more traditional role of taking care of the family which she enjoys and provides a loving home environment. Had we lived in Irvine, my wife and I would both had to work to make ends meet and possibly compromising our quality of life will enjoy now.
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My uncle sent his family to live in Diamond Bar while he stayed behind in TW. For him, he held a senior position with private company that was difficult to replicate in Los Angeles, and he was able to leverage very low mortgage interest rate in TW to take money out and buy a house in Diamond Bar.

In high school I had a black English teacher who used to tell us stories about her ex husband, who wanted to buy a house in Irvine but could not find a realtor who would work with him back in 1970s. He had to ask a white coworker to stand in and he only signed the papers at the end. In 1989 my parents was shopping for a home and was directed to Irvine, we drove into the city, saw lots of farmland along Jamboree and parents decided they didn't want to live in rural farm area. By the time I returned in 1999, the price of a SFR in 1989 would only buy a 1 bed condo.
 
Personally, I wish there was more income diversity in Irvine. I know lots of people here want (and I personally benefit from) house prices to go up but the COL is insane for new early career people these days compared to decades past.
 
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panda said:
For those you who knew me in 2008, I was obsessed about living in Irvine. Actually, to be transparent and real, Irvine was an idol in my life. For Panda, It was a symbolism of success to own a single family home in Irvine and raise my family there.
Click to expand...

Prior to buying my first condo in Irvine in 1999, I really, really wanted to buy a place in Mission Viejo for fishing. My buddy convinced me to buy a new build condo in Irvine close to work instead.

Moving forward to 2009-2012, I had another opportunity to buy a small condo in MV but opted to invest elsewhere because the HOA fee was ridiculous.

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panda said:
That has to tough for the husband in Taiwan to just work and send money to Irvine to support the wife and kids. My cousin lives in Diamond Bar and her husband just works and send money to support the family from South Korea. Personally, I believe that marriage should take prority over the children, but that's just my personal opinion.

For those you who knew me in 2008, I was obessessed about living in Irvine. Actually, to be transparent and real, Irvine was an idol in my life. For Panda, It was a symbolism of success to own a single family home in Irvine and raise my family there. Looking back now I have absolutely zero regrets moving to JC vs Irvine. At first, I had thought that I may have compromised what I really wanted in my mid 30s by moving to Atlanta. My wife is a CPA, but Ms Panda takes on a more traditional role of taking care of the family which she enjoys and provides a loving home environment. Had we lived in Irvine, my wife and I would both had to work to make ends meet and possibly compromising our quality of life will enjoy now.

I last attended the 2010 Grand Opening at Woodbury and was ready to pull the trigger if the Sonoma's prices dropped to $650,000. Unfortunately prices bottomed out at $850,000, and felt it in my conscious that Irvine was not place God had in mind for family, but he someplace better in mind.
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Why didn't you go to like, Aliso Viejo or Mission Viejo if you loved Irvine that much?
 
@ThirtySomethingWEquity, I really loved Irvine in my late 20s up to my mid 30s. I also looked at couple of homes in Aliso Viejo since you can get more for your money there.

I attended the 2010 Woodbury Collection to secure a home (Sonoma) but prices did not come down to prices i was hoping for. I am a Christian, and you can it the Holy Spirit speaking to me, but something in my conscious told me that day that Irvine is not place for me to raise my family and God had a different place in mind. My boys were just born then. I remember I was sad and in tears as living in Irvine was my dream back then but God's plan for my life was different from what I had in mind.


ThirtySomethingWEquity said:
Why didn't you go to like, Aliso Viejo or Mission Viejo if you loved Irvine that much?
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panda said:
@ThirtySomethingWEquity, I really loved Irvine in my late 20s up to my mid 30s. I also looked at couple of homes in Aliso Viejo since you can get more for your money there.

I attended the 2010 Woodbury Collection to secure a home (Sonoma) but prices did not come down to prices i was hoping for. I am a Christian, and you can it the Holy Spirit speaking to me, but something in my conscious told me that day that Irvine is not place for me to raise my family and God had a different place in mind. My boys were just born then. I remember I was sad and in tears as living in Irvine was my dream back then but God's plan for my life was different from what I had in mind.
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What God has planned is sometimes very different from what someone pictures…I NEVER saw myself living in the LBC as a South Bay kid…you just never know😂😂😂🙏🏽😉
 
panda said:
@ThirtySomethingWEquity, I really loved Irvine in my late 20s up to my mid 30s. I also looked at couple of homes in Aliso Viejo since you can get more for your money there.

I attended the 2010 Woodbury Collection to secure a home (Sonoma) but prices did not come down to prices i was hoping for. I am a Christian, and you can it the Holy Spirit speaking to me, but something in my conscious told me that day that Irvine is not place for me to raise my family and God had a different place in mind. My boys were just born then. I remember I was sad and in tears as living in Irvine was my dream back then but God's plan for my life was different from what I had in mind.
Click to expand...
I went to college in Atlanta and Georgia is a great place to live.
You can get to two oceans (Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico), mountains (Smoky mountains) and small charming cities (Charleston and Savannah) within 4-5 hour driving distance.
The city has good dining options even Asian foods.
One downside was there were not many tech jobs back then so many graduates have to leave to get jobs somewhere else including myself.
 
Hi @hskim17,

Let me guess which college you went to. You went to Georgia Tech or Emory. Am I correct? I am not sure when you graduated, but the Atlanta you may have known 15 years ago is very different from what Atlanta is today. Atlanta is quickly establishing itself as is the Silicon Valley of the South. I really enjoyed raising my boys here when they were little. The beautiful clear water white sand beaches in Destin, Pensacola, Santa Rosa is accessible within a 6 hour drive. Also Disney World, Disney Cruise, Universal Studios, Epcot Center were all accessible without having to take a plane. I agree with you on the great dining options here, especially fine Asian dining. I had little to no expectation when I first moved to Atlanta, but just like good wine, my appreciation for the area continues to grow as the years go by. Recently Money Magazine had rated Atlanta as one of the best places to live in the U.S. It is funny this thread is titled, "$150k is considered 'lower middle class' in a place like Irvine, but in Atlanta, you can have a very nice lifestyle with $150k for a family of four.

https://money.com/best-places-to-live/atlanta-georgia/
hskim17 said:
I went to college in Atlanta and Georgia is a great place to live.
You can get to two oceans (Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico), mountains (Smoky mountains) and small charming cities (Charleston and Savannah) within 4-5 hour driving distance.
The city has good dining options even Asian foods.
One downside was there were not many tech jobs back then so many graduates have to leave to get jobs somewhere else including myself.
Click to expand...
 
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panda said:
Hi @hskim17,

Let me guess which college you went to. You went to Georgia Tech or Emory. Am I correct? I am not sure when you graduated, but the Atlanta you may have known 15 years ago is very different from what Atlanta is today. Atlanta is quickly establishing itself as is the Silicon Valley of the South. I really enjoyed raising my boys here when they were little. The beautiful clear water white sand beaches in Destin, Pensacola, Santa Rosa is accessible within a 6 hour drive. Also Disney World, Disney Cruise, Universal Studios, Epcot Center were all accessible without having to take a plane. I agree with you on the great dining options here, especially fine Asian dining. I had little to no expectation when I first moved to Atlanta, but just like good wine, my appreciation for the area continues to grow as the years go by. Recently Money Magazine had rated Atlanta as one of the best places to live in the U.S. It is funny this thread is titled, "$150k is considered 'lower middle class' in a place like Irvine, but in Atlanta, you can have a very nice lifestyle with $150k for a family of four.

https://money.com/best-places-to-live/atlanta-georgia/
Click to expand...
Is Atlanta still majority African American?
 
Yeah I graduated from Tech with ECE degree.
I have some friends who went back to Atlanta when they found jobs there.
I don't know I can do that due to situation with my job but I certainly miss my days in Atlanta.
Maybe I can retire there.
I realized you're also Korean heritage and so am I.
I love living in OC but again houses here are getting more expensive due to many reasons and wondering what would happen if this continues.

For population wise, I think it's very diverse just like any big cities in US but in metro there are many African American communities.

panda said:
Hi @hskim17,

Let me guess which college you went to. You went to Georgia Tech or Emory. Am I correct? I am not sure when you graduated, but the Atlanta you may have known 15 years ago is very different from what Atlanta is today. Atlanta is quickly establishing itself as is the Silicon Valley of the South. I really enjoyed raising my boys here when they were little. The beautiful clear water white sand beaches in Destin, Pensacola, Santa Rosa is accessible within a 6 hour drive. Also Disney World, Disney Cruise, Universal Studios, Epcot Center were all accessible without having to take a plane. I agree with you on the great dining options here, especially fine Asian dining. I had little to no expectation when I first moved to Atlanta, but just like good wine, my appreciation for the area continues to grow as the years go by. Recently Money Magazine had rated Atlanta as one of the best places to live in the U.S. It is funny this thread is titled, "$150k is considered 'lower middle class' in a place like Irvine, but in Atlanta, you can have a very nice lifestyle with $150k for a family of four.

https://money.com/best-places-to-live/atlanta-georgia/
Click to expand...
 
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