How wealthy was your family?

Spexxvet · 09-22-2007, 08:10 AM

Describe your lifestyle during your formative years. Did you live in a mansion, with servants, and summer on the riviera? Did you live in a row home in an urban setting, attend public school, and vacation was running through illegally opened fire hydrants? Or was it somewhere between?

Spexxvet · 09-22-2007, 08:14 AM

My father was a teacher, before teachers made good money. When I was 30, I made more than he did, at 60. We lived in a twin (semi-detatched) home. My siblings and I went through public school, private school was out of the question, and my parents could only pay for my first year of college. Our vacations were camping trips to the Jersey shore. My parents could supply me with what I needed, but not a whole lot more.

glatt · 09-22-2007, 08:25 AM

I always thought we were "poor." Almost all my friends had more stuff than me. Everything I wore was second hand. We drank powdered milk and didn't eat much meat back when it was a financial thing not a health thing. But in hindsight, I realize my parents were scrimping and saving. They seem well off to me now, and my old friends' parents seem stuck in a lower income lifestyle with a bunch of stupid toys. Big screen tvs in a dump of a house, etc.

Spexxvet · 09-22-2007, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

... We drank powdered milk and didn't eat much meat ...

Ugh. Powd...

...dered milk, and lotsa pasta and casseroles.

Spexxvet · 09-22-2007, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloud

how 'bout you, Spexxvet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

My father was a teacher, before teachers made good money. When I was 30, I made more than he did, at 60. We lived in a twin (semi-detatched) home. My siblings and I went through public school, private school was out of the question, and my parents could only pay for my first year of college. Our vacations were camping trips to the Jersey shore. My parents could supply me with what I needed, but not a whole lot more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloud

Since it's your question. And was there a particular reason you want to know?

We've been discussing "how much is enough?", "are you happy with your income?", etc., and I was wondering if there was a correlation between your experience with your parent's level of wealth and your perception as an adult. For instance, if you were raised privelaged, would you need more, as an adult, to feel that you have enough, and would you be more likely to be content with your current income? Just curious.

Cloud · 09-22-2007, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

We've been discussing "how much is enough?", "are you happy with your income?", etc., and I was wondering if there was a correlation between your experience with your parent's level of wealth and your perception as an adult. For instance, if you were raised privelaged, would you need more, as an adult, to feel that you have enough, and would you be more likely to be content with your current income? Just curious.

No, I don't think so necessarily, at least for me. You also have to take into account subsequent life experiences. For instance--time spent living in third world countries, military service, being on one's own--I think that your upbringing is just one factor.

Spexxvet · 09-22-2007, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloud

No, I don't think so necessarily, at least for me. You also have to take into account subsequent life experiences. For instance--time spent living in third world countries, military service, being on one's own--I think that your upbringing is just one factor.

I agree

lookout123 · 09-23-2007, 09:10 PM

The factories in my area closed down in the late '70's and '80's. Mom had 5 heart attacks in 3 years. Dad lost an eye in an accident. Dad did the best he could, considering that everyone else was scrounging for work, too. He travelled to set up circus tents. He stood in line for government cheese (got it home to find it moldy). He worked a whole winter for a farmer who was also broke, but paid him in meat. He did odd jobs when he could find them. We ate a lot of cabbage soup.

I didn't know we were poor until I was old enough to put all the pieces together. One Christmas a couple of families from the church bought an insane amount of presents for the whole family, broke into our house while we were gone, and left a note from santa. The same group also made contact with the bank and brought the mortgage current. It was never in danger of foreclosure, but it was rolling late.

I was 27 when I made more than he had ever made in his life. I threw up when I found out that I paid more for a car than he'd paid for the house I grew up in.

Cloud · 09-22-2007, 09:44 AM

well-to-do California WASPs. Well educated--Both parents graduated from college in the 1930s. Brought up in what is now known as Silicon Valley (before the "silicon" got there) in Atherton, Hillsborough, Palo Alto, some of the richest real estate in the country. Dad was a construction company exec (think--freeways--California); mom in later years did commercial real estate managment. They invested heavily in Mexico and lost a lot of money in the 70s when the Mexican peso was devalued.

Not "yacht on the Riviera" rich, but--Country club; private schools; new Cadillacs or Lincolns every 2 years; live-in housekeepers; second home in Mexico; dress for dinner every evening with the good china and silverware.

My entire adult life I don't think I've ever even owned a dining room table.

Elspode · 09-22-2007, 10:11 AM

Lower middle class all the way. I'm actually much better off than my folks were, and I'm still lower middle class, in the grand scheme of things. We struggle from paycheck to paycheck, but we have an awful lot of amenities and luxuries that my folks never would have even been realistically able to obtain.

When I was very young, five, six, seven years old, we actually had very little to eat many times, our lights got turned off a lot and we had constant threatening phone calls (back then, bill collectors would call and actually threaten you verbally - there really were no laws that dealt with how such things had to be handled). We lost one house to foreclosure. My father wasn't terribly keen on the 9-5 gig, so he was always flitting from one "big time opportunity" to the other, looking for the big score, and bringing home marginal money, when he got any at all. We were pretty reliant on my mom's folks when things got real bad, and I'm sure the financial BS was largely responsible for my parents' divorce when I was 10.

Things weren't a lot better when my mom married my stepdad. They both worked full time, so he wasn't afraid of steady work, but he was a totally insufferable asshole (we called him "Rick the Prick"), so despite the fact that we were more stable financially (although still firmly lower middle class-no new cars, no flashy stuff of any kind), it was still a crappy life for my mom.

Of course, as a kid, you are pretty self involved and oblivious, so I'm sure things were much, much worse than I was ever aware.

Cloud · 09-22-2007, 10:29 AM

how 'bout you, Spexxvet? Since it's your question. And was there a particular reason you want to know?

monster · 09-22-2007, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloud

how 'bout you, Spexxvet? Since it's your question. And was there a particular reason you want to know?

Post #2

Cloud · 09-22-2007, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monster

Post #2

oh, yeah. but do you think that has real bearing on our current lives? I've lived all my life as an adult from paycheck to paycheck. Funny, my parents neglected to give me any sort of financial education. They simply expected me to be supported by a husband.

Too bad.

monster · 09-22-2007, 10:29 AM

[threasdjack] interesting that you bring class into it, Elspode. How would you view the dividing lines between the classes? Are class and wealth the same thing, or just related? What do you call the class below "middle class" here? Is that also the "working class" as in the UK, or does working have a more positive overtone here? [/threadjack]

Cloud · 09-22-2007, 10:32 AM

American ideas of class are so different than in the UK; I'm not even sure the ideas translate. "Class" and "working class" don't have the same connotations.

Elspode says "lower middle class"; I would say "upper middle class" for me. Such a wide spectrum. Class here is much more based on wealth, but they are not precisely the same thing.

09-22-2007, 08:10 AM	#1
Spexxvet Makes some feel uncomfortable Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 10,346	How wealthy was your family? Describe your lifestyle during your formative years. Did you live in a mansion, with servants, and summer on the riviera? Did you live in a row home in an urban setting, attend public school, and vacation was running through illegally opened fire hydrants? Or was it somewhere between? __________________ "I'm certainly free, nay compelled, to spread the gospel of Spex. " - xoxoxoBruce

09-23-2007, 09:10 PM	#8
lookout123 changed his status to single Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Right behind you. No, the other side. Posts: 10,308	The factories in my area closed down in the late '70's and '80's. Mom had 5 heart attacks in 3 years. Dad lost an eye in an accident. Dad did the best he could, considering that everyone else was scrounging for work, too. He travelled to set up circus tents. He stood in line for government cheese (got it home to find it moldy). He worked a whole winter for a farmer who was also broke, but paid him in meat. He did odd jobs when he could find them. We ate a lot of cabbage soup. I didn't know we were poor until I was old enough to put all the pieces together. One Christmas a couple of families from the church bought an insane amount of presents for the whole family, broke into our house while we were gone, and left a note from santa. The same group also made contact with the bank and brought the mortgage current. It was never in danger of foreclosure, but it was rolling late. I was 27 when I made more than he had ever made in his life. I threw up when I found out that I paid more for a car than he'd paid for the house I grew up in. __________________ Getting knocked down is no sin, it's not getting back up that's the sin

09-22-2007, 09:44 AM	#9
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	well-to-do California WASPs. Well educated--Both parents graduated from college in the 1930s. Brought up in what is now known as Silicon Valley (before the "silicon" got there) in Atherton, Hillsborough, Palo Alto, some of the richest real estate in the country. Dad was a construction company exec (think--freeways--California); mom in later years did commercial real estate managment. They invested heavily in Mexico and lost a lot of money in the 70s when the Mexican peso was devalued. Not "yacht on the Riviera" rich, but--Country club; private schools; new Cadillacs or Lincolns every 2 years; live-in housekeepers; second home in Mexico; dress for dinner every evening with the good china and silverware. My entire adult life I don't think I've ever even owned a dining room table. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!" Last edited by Cloud; 09-22-2007 at 10:29 AM.

09-22-2007, 10:11 AM	#10
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	Lower middle class all the way. I'm actually much better off than my folks were, and I'm still lower middle class, in the grand scheme of things. We struggle from paycheck to paycheck, but we have an awful lot of amenities and luxuries that my folks never would have even been realistically able to obtain. When I was very young, five, six, seven years old, we actually had very little to eat many times, our lights got turned off a lot and we had constant threatening phone calls (back then, bill collectors would call and actually threaten you verbally - there really were no laws that dealt with how such things had to be handled). We lost one house to foreclosure. My father wasn't terribly keen on the 9-5 gig, so he was always flitting from one "big time opportunity" to the other, looking for the big score, and bringing home marginal money, when he got any at all. We were pretty reliant on my mom's folks when things got real bad, and I'm sure the financial BS was largely responsible for my parents' divorce when I was 10. Things weren't a lot better when my mom married my stepdad. They both worked full time, so he wasn't afraid of steady work, but he was a totally insufferable asshole (we called him "Rick the Prick"), so despite the fact that we were more stable financially (although still firmly lower middle class-no new cars, no flashy stuff of any kind), it was still a crappy life for my mom. Of course, as a kid, you are pretty self involved and oblivious, so I'm sure things were much, much worse than I was ever aware. __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

09-22-2007, 10:29 AM	#11
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	how 'bout you, Spexxvet? Since it's your question. And was there a particular reason you want to know? __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

09-22-2007, 08:14 AM	#2
Spexxvet Makes some feel uncomfortable Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 10,346	My father was a teacher, before teachers made good money. When I was 30, I made more than he did, at 60. We lived in a twin (semi-detatched) home. My siblings and I went through public school, private school was out of the question, and my parents could only pay for my first year of college. Our vacations were camping trips to the Jersey shore. My parents could supply me with what I needed, but not a whole lot more. __________________ "I'm certainly free, nay compelled, to spread the gospel of Spex. " - xoxoxoBruce

09-22-2007, 08:25 AM	#3
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I always thought we were "poor." Almost all my friends had more stuff than me. Everything I wore was second hand. We drank powdered milk and didn't eat much meat back when it was a financial thing not a health thing. But in hindsight, I realize my parents were scrimping and saving. They seem well off to me now, and my old friends' parents seem stuck in a lower income lifestyle with a bunch of stupid toys. Big screen tvs in a dump of a house, etc.

09-22-2007, 10:29 AM	#14
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	[threasdjack] interesting that you bring class into it, Elspode. How would you view the dividing lines between the classes? Are class and wealth the same thing, or just related? What do you call the class below "middle class" here? Is that also the "working class" as in the UK, or does working have a more positive overtone here? [/threadjack] __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

09-22-2007, 10:32 AM	#15
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	American ideas of class are so different than in the UK; I'm not even sure the ideas translate. "Class" and "working class" don't have the same connotations. Elspode says "lower middle class"; I would say "upper middle class" for me. Such a wide spectrum. Class here is much more based on wealth, but they are not precisely the same thing. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

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