Business

40 Signs That Reveal Someone Is Middle Class

CR Staff - July 12, 2023

9. They Have A Midlife Crisis

We have all heard of someone having a midlife crisis. Once a person reaches their 40’s or early 50’s, they begin to get upset about the fact that their life is halfway over, and they will never be young again. They might splurge on a sports car, get a divorce, or try to recapture their lost youth. Some realize that they have spent their lives doing things that others wanted them to do and never risked themselves. Believe it or not, the United States is pretty much the only place where people experience having a midlife crisis. Out of the people who experience this, most of them are in the middle class.

People going through a midlife crisis begin to regret some of the decisions they made in the past. Maybe they hate the fact that they forced themselves to work a job they hate. Or perhaps they wish they had more fun in their 20’s and traveled while still young. They know that they had options in life, but they just chose the wrong ones, maybe because they were pressured by society to choose a specific path. Very poor people do not experience a midlife crisis because they know that they did their best to survive.

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8. They Believe In The American Dream

The American Dream is the idea that every single person living in the United States is entitled to get married, have kids, buy a house, and have two cars in the driveway. Ever since the end of World War II, the media has been trying to sell us the idea of the “American Dream.” That pushed many people into getting married when they aren’t pleased and a house when they aren’t truly ready. That may be why 50% of marriages end in divorce. Even though the statistics are clear that the American Dream is no longer working, people in the middle class still yearn to have those things.

Sadly, not everyone gets to have that life. And this is probably why some of these people end up having a midlife crisis later on. Many rich people do not believe in the American Dream in the traditional sense, even if they have all of the things on the checklist that qualifies them to be “successful.” They understand that people worldwide have very different paths, and not everyone should be judged by these qualities. They also know that you have to work hard to have things like your own home, and part of that hard work includes being thrifty and saving money for a reasonable down payment. Not everyone can do those things.

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7. They’re Renters

In the middle class, there is a good mix of people who both rent and own property. However, if you hear that someone is renting an apartment, you automatically know that they must be in the middle or lower-middle class. The Pew Research Center published a document called “American Families Face a Growing Rent Burdon.” According to their research, the demand for rental space has grown significantly since the 2008 recession. As of 2016, 43 million Americans were renting an apartment or house. Unfortunately, rental prices seem to be going up, which means that rents are having an increasingly difficult time keeping up with the cost.

People who live below the poverty line may have to resort to living with multiple roommates. And many young people are forced to live at home with their parents far longer than they expected. Most people who are wealthy have the mindset that paying rent is like throwing money away. They would rather spend money on owning a property that could be sold later. While many middle-class people are aspiring to homeownership, they continue renting in the meantime. While renting can be suitable for a short period, especially while looking for a home to buy, over the long term, it prevents you from building equity.

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6. They Buy Into Fads

All of the products you see “As Seen on TV” are targeted at the middle class. Whether it’s toys, cleaning products, or gadgets, middle-class people have the expendable income to buy these items, even if they don’t need them. That is especially true if they have kids going to come from school, declaring that every other kid in their class has a certain toy. The problem is that while these little toys may seem cheap, the expenses build up until, ultimately, people have built a life of trends and have rooms full of junk that is no longer trendy.

People in the lower class usually cannot buy into these fads, and people in the upper class typically recognize that the vast majority of these things are a massive waste of money. Self-made millionaires know how to spend their money wisely. They look for items they want, rather than what everyone else is buying, and choose to invest and save rather than waste money on junk. More significantly, those who are careful enough with their money to get to the top often become the trendsetters that other people follow. Would you rather be someone who sets the trends or someone who merely follows them?

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5. They Get The Newest Apple Product

We’ve all heard of the Apple fans who stand in line the day a new product comes out. There are even tech YouTube channels that love to go over the stats of each new product. Obviously, people living in the lower class can’t afford to buy a new MacBook, and their iPhone is probably a few years old. So when you see someone constantly upgrading their tech, you know that they must be middle class. They don’t necessarily need the new tech, even though the latest product may have a couple of extra bells and whistles that their current product does not have. They are looking for the notoriety of being able to say that they have the latest Apple product.

So, what about the upper class? Some might assume that rich people would want the newest of everything. That’s not necessarily true. Self-made millionaires know when to make a good investment. They probably own an Apple product but keep it for a few years. The whole point was to invest in something high-quality that will last a long time. For example, the differences between an iPhone X and an iPhone XR or 11 are tiny and not worth the upgrade. A rich person probably wouldn’t bother to stand in line all night for the newest iPhone because their time is far too valuable.

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4. They Rarely Live Below Their Means

People in the middle class tend to live a lifestyle that they can just barely afford. Even if they get a raise and start making more money, they would rather upgrade their lifestyle to match their higher salary. If they had just continued to live below their means, they might have money for investments, savings, and so much more. However, the pull of flaunting the latest trends and fads by pretending that they have money to burn can be too much to resist. So they continue throwing away hundreds of dollars a month on gourmet coffee at Starbucks, even more money than that on designer clothes, and even more money than that on interest and fees for credit cards.

If many middle-class people did a budget, they would realize that they are over-spending. For example, they might want a Tesla Model 3, which would be around $600 a month. If they did a budget, they might realize that they can only afford $400 per month. But they will often still go for a more expensive option because it’s what they want. Often, middle-class people are over-spending on can be acquired for much cheaper if they buy them used. For example, a used version of the same Tesla Model 3 might come closer to $400 per month and be within their spending range.

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3. They Watch Hallmark Christmas Movies

If you live in a middle-class family, the odds that your mom, grandmother, or sister watch Hallmark Channel Christmas Movies is pretty high. In fact, in 2019, their viewership grew an additional 9%, totaling 85 million people. This year, they premiered a record-breaking 40 new movies, which is more than ever before. According to the Chicago Tribune, they believe that it’s an effect of the Trump Era. Most Americans are sick and tired of fighting one another over politics. Every time you turn on the news, there is more debate and vitriol. Watching Hallmark is a “safe” option where the stories do not have sex or violence.

The idea of escaping from reality has always been popular among the lower and middle classes. But in the upper class, most people have to “keep calm and carry on” with reality. They tend not to watch as much TV in general and would potentially grow bored to watch what is essentially the same plot repeatedly. Instead, they are busy investing in their own lives by spending their time with friends and family instead of on the sofa with Hallmark Christmas movies. Instead of vicariously living the perfect Christmas wishes of other people on television, they are creating memories that they can personally cherish forever.

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2. They Try To “Keep Up With The Joneses”

There is an insightful article in the Wall Street Journal called Families Go Deep in Debt to Stay in the Middle Class. It goes over how much people tend to get into debt so that they can keep up with the appearances of what it means to be “middle class.” Then, logic would tell you that people care far too much about what their neighbors think than about whether they are living meaningful and happy lives. This forces the question of whether middle class is a lifestyle or an income bracket. Can someone earn $80,000 a year, live frugally, save heartily, and still be considered middle class?

If you live in the middle class, you can see this happen in real-time. When one person gets solar panels on their roof, suddenly everyone else does, too. And if there is a nice sports car or pickup truck in the driveway, someone else wants to get one so that they can appear to be doing just as well. This kind of behavior is toxic, and it will ultimately lead to unnecessary consumer debt. Living within your means may mean that you have to avoid people who only care about appearances so that you are less tempted to spend money that you do not have for things you do not want to impress people that you do not even like.

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1. They Value Credentials Over Income

Last but not least, studies have shown that people in the middle and upper classes value someone’s credentials more than the amount of money they make. For example, if you had an HVAC repairman or a plumber making $70,000 per year, they are making enough to be considered “middle class.” However, most people would think of their occupation as “working class” or “blue-collar.” On the flip side, a professor with a Ph.D. might struggle to pay their bills, making just $30,000 per year. But they would still be considered “middle class” because they have a high-level degree and academic accomplishments.

People in the lower class tend to respect someone’s income more than their credentials, especially in this specific case. They would see the plumber or HVAC worker and see a hard-working man who makes great money. And they might think that the professor’s career is a bit frivolous. The poor would tend to focus on the fact that the professor has tons of student loan debt and isn’t making much more than other working-class jobs. Meanwhile, those who are wealthy care about whether or not the job gets done. If someone is a plumber and can fix the pipes so that the bathroom stops overflowing, who cares if they are middle class or lower class? And if a professor is a great teacher and has contributed to society through meaningful research, he or she is earning that $30,000 per year.

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