Does the Middle Class Life Cost More than It Used To? #investment #realestate #lifestyle

Source:  Marketplace

Middle-class life has become 30 percent more expensive in the past 20 years, as the economy has changed dramatically in the past few decades, altering the types of jobs we do, where we live, and what it takes to afford those staples of middle class life.  The middle class represents a wide swath of Americans, but it's not as big as it used to be.  In 1971, 70 percent of Americans were in the middle class.  Today, it's down to 50 percent.  The U.S. Commerce Department uses the following to define the group:  A steady job, owning a home, two cars in the garage, an annual family vacation, the ability to send your kids to college, and a little left over to sock away for retirement.

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