"The bottom line: It’s not exactly easy street for our $250,000-a-year family, especially when they live in high-tax areas on either coast. Even with an additional $3,000 in investment income, they end up in the red — after taxes, saving for retirement and their children’s education, and a middle-of-the-road cost of living — in seven out of the eight communities in the analysis."
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2010/12/07/Down-and-Out-on-250000-a-Year.aspx#page1
If an annual household income of $250,000 is barely making it, then the 90% of households earning less are totally screwed. I suppose most of us here at the ERE Forums are living a spartan hand-to-mouth Ghandi-like existence on our sub-$250,000/year income.
