Reply #79: There are two ways of thinking about wealth.

[JDPriestly]

One is mathematical -- how much do you earn, how much does the average person earn -- a pretty simple matter.

The other is -- how much does it take you to live a fairly good life.

If a couple with two children earn $60,000 a year, live in a small town in the Midwest in a 1500 square foot house a few houses away from their parents who pick the kids up after school every day and take care of the kids when they are sick and, in addition, have great public schools, they may be able to live better than a family that lives in an expensive but minuscule Manhattan apartment far from family with no inexpensive support systems earning $250,000.

So, a family earning "only" $250,000 in Manhattan might actually have less quality of life on that money than a family living on $60,000 in small town USA -- especially if there is a good college or university in the small town on top of all the other advantages.

Money is not the only measure of your lifestyle.

But of course for the economist and for tax law, all incomes have to be treated the same. So middle class is defined by economists and Congress strictly by money amount, but the reality is that the lifestyle one person can afford on $250,000 is not the same as the lifestyle another person can afford.

Best policy for everyone is to be realistic about how much your money can buy in your personal situation and live within your means.