Yesterday I did some quick math about the hourly rate to be considered middle class. I made $15/hr at a point and was shocked to know I was technically middle class for my area. It ranges from about $12/hr to ~$23/hr depending on which state you live in. Something is very wrong with wages in this country. And while I have limited sympathy for people whining about struggling while making upper middle class salaries, I can be brought to sympathize with a person making $150k based on the details of their story.
Some of my friends are rising towards upper class. Most of them are descending towards lower class. Nobody is sitting still. One of the things that allowed us to invest in building a birth center was moving out of LA. Our monthly expenses went down $1700 a month.