Reply #44: I really couldn't care less how economists define middle class.

[UdoKier]

I define it how *I* choose. If you don't have to choose between health insurance and paying for a college education for your kids, you are in the top 30 or 40% or so in this country, and you are WEALTHY. The only people who would say otherwise are people who live in such comfort themselves. It's not my concern whether people who earn an upper-middle income squander their money, or invest it. The point is, they have the choice. For the "other half", there is no choice, there is no investing. It's all most of us can do to stay afloat.