In Some Ways, The Upper Middle Class Is Its Own Little Prison

“I make $300,000. That’s a good salary, except for these 18 blocks!”

This is probably one of the best articles you’ll read about how the upper middle-class is ostensibly a prison of its own, with the bars being “upper class striving.” It uses the Hulu series Fleischman Is In Trouble as its backbone. That’s a good show, if you haven’t seen it. I’d recommend.

This paragraph gets to the heart of the issue:

That’s because even though you’re making lots of money, it’s mostly salary income, you’re facing “lifestyle inflation” with kids and home prices and private schools and so forth, the marginal dollar you make gets taxed heavily, and so “your ability to move the net worth range is collapsing.” You may be technically a millionaire, but the money is bound up in…