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However, your lifestyle andwealth-buildingopportunities often depend heavily on whether you fall into the middle or lower class.
There are subtle signs that reveal where you stand.
However, its not always straightforward.
Lets dig into some key ways to tell where you fall on the class hierarchy.
Your Housing Situation
Housing is one of the largest family expenses.
Pouring over 50 percent of your income into housing just isnt unsustainable.
Your Occupation
Certain careers are clearly white or blue-collar, automatically projecting aworking or middle-class image.
Youre considered middle class if you work in a managerial or specialized position.
Jobs within the lower class lack thestability and financial securitythat characterize middle-class occupations.
Your Savings and Investments
Saving and investingprovide crucial financial cushions and opportunities to build wealth over time.
Building those reserves is a luxury many lower-class folks cant afford.
Limited savings and investments tend to perpetuate a cycle of economic immobility for the lower class.
Lacking those buffers leaves them vulnerable todebt, bankruptcy and crisis.
Little luxuries like these require a baseline of financial security.
They demonstrate having an extra cushion in your budget for minor pleasures.
Of course, clever budgeting can help make room for these little pleasures.
However, the choice and economic freedom to enjoy occasional splurges signals stability associated more with the middle class.
Your Education
Did you earn a bachelors degree?
Then you are most likely middle class.
Your highest education level is a good indicator of your economic rung.
Systemic barriers tend to block the path to higher education for individuals in the lower class.
Education level can show if youre more likely middleor lower class, Rose said.
Higher education often leads to better-paying jobs, right?
But if college is too pricey and you cant go, it might mean youre in the lower class.
The costs are a big deal.
For folks in the lower class, college feels out of reach because its just too expensive.
While a degree certainly doesnt guaranteemiddle class standing, lacking one may indicate barriers to getting there.
Use it as one data point among many in assessing where one stands or falls among the classes.
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