Looks like some folks might need to re-think the "middle class" label they have given themselves.

Billionaire David Tepper once called himself a "middle-class dad trapped in a rich man's body." Most millionaires, it turns out, have similar feelings of wealth denial.

A majority of millionaires polled describe themselves as middle class or upper middle class despite being among the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans, according to the results of the third CNBC Millionaire Survey.

Fully 44 percent described themselves as middle class, and 40 percent said they were upper middle class. Only 4 percent described themselves as wealthy or rich, and 5 percent described themselves as upper class.

Even those Americans worth $5 million or more—among the wealthiest 5 percent—still think of themselves as more middle class than wealthy. According to the survey, 49 percent of those worth $5 million or more define themselves as upper middle class, while 23 percent define themselves as middle class.

Link

 

I think many of the wealthy did not come from old money so have a harder time relating.

 

Heck, if you only have $5M and you need more you must in the middle class, cause there is always people higher up that have more.

 

What he said. The folks that I know that made it "Big" during the tech run up, started out life fairly average folks.

 

I think another consideration that clouds ones evaluation of financial status is that today due to credit cards and debt, people spend more. In the past when people purchased based on how much they had in cash it was hard to have a lifestyle beyond their means. But today you might have well off people who are debt free and others not as well off but have a ton of debt. If the debt free person compared their lifestyle to the credit burdened one they might at first conclude that they were similar in 'status'.

I remember years ago we had thought one of our neighbors who was a partner in an office products store was wealthy. They had a summer house, didn't appear to deny themselves, had 'toys' such as jet ski's, ski boat, etc..... It wasn't until they separated that we found out from the wife that the husband had saddled them with debt.

We had another neighbor who also seemed well off and we found out the wife hid the credit card bills from her husband.

Hard to tell who really can afford their lifestyle today so hard to compare relative wealth unless you know the facts.

 

My folks never owned a credit card, lived within their means and had a good life. They did not leave much but who cares. Having wonderful parents who raised me well was far greater than anything money could buy. My greatest pleasure was when my Dad took me to the ballpark and hit baseballs to me. Like the old ad says, "priceless".

 

True. We live according to our means, but that doesn't mean the guy with more toys does.

However I don't think folks with more than 5 mil are in the middle class. I'd put those folks in the wealth denial category. If their liabilities exceed their assets, they aren't middle class, they belong in the back of the class.

I also understand that even those with several million often feel like they don't have enough money yet....they haven't decided how much is enough to keep up their lifestyle.

 

Lifstyles of the Rich and Famous didn't showcase people like me. It showed people who had a single boat that cost 2 or 3 times more than my net worth.

 

I don't expect them to stop by my house either.

 

I know lots of folks who probably have several million in net worth. You probably do, too. Would you call your family doctor "rich" or "upper class"?

A million ain't what it used to be. Heck, it won't even buy you a nice Japanese sports car!