two thoughts:
it sounds like it was self-reporting, so the six figure earners probably donât know what theyâre talking about.
although, since thatâs not household income perhaps a family with a sole income earner could be closer to living paycheck to paycheck - ie. not cashing out that vacation fund, or changing their 401k contributions, or making any changes at all in their spending habits - than they used to be
also: gas is expensive and large suvs cost money
I wonât argue that many or most six-figure earners shouldnât be considered ârich,â but in some high-cost places like San Jose $100k/year is definitely less than the median household income, so I could see why some of those folks are having trouble making ends meet.
It would probably also be helpful to know what sort of credit options they have, in terms of size and in terms of interest rates.
Itâs never a good sign to be borrowing for immediate subsistence purposes; but thereâs a lot of daylight between âhad to pull monthâs expenses from HELOCâ and âif I canât scrounge up rent by Friday Iâll have to deal with the payday loan jointâ in terms of what an interruption in income is going to end up costing you.
I donât doubt that there are some fairly wealthy-looking people who are already in about as much debt as anyone is willing to extend to them in order to look wealthy; and they both have no remaining good options and potentially have even more outstanding liabilities since they were deemed qualified for a big mortgage and a vehicle lease agreement and a high limit credit card and so on; but in general financial services are very much one of those âbeing poor is not cheapâ genres.
That was my first thoughtâŚrecently I was hanging with a professional couple with 2 young kids, both parents earn a really good living. They started talking about how it feels like thereâs never any money, which I get that kids are expensive. But then it turns out theyâre still putting money towards retirement and vacation savings and college savings for the kids. Theyâve had to stop contributing to their âboatâ account for now (theyâd been hoping to buy a boat.)
Phrases like ânever any moneyâ and âpaycheck to paycheckâ mean very different things to people!
âStop contributing to your âboatâ account for nowâ sounds like some of the advice gig economy folks get when they talk about a visit to the dentist being an out-of-reach luxury.
It would be especially easy if they tried to do something like own a home. More than a few areas where a not especially ostentatious house will run you north of a million bucks; which would mean that even a (hypothetical) zero-interest mortgage would consume half your income on a 20 year term.
Not so badly off by a long way as someone who pays half their income to deal with a slumlord in some roach motel of an apartment on the get-murdered side of town; but $100k is hardly plutocratic levels of money if you want to do things that have historically been described more toward âcomfortableâ than âwealthyâ.
I know a few of these people described. If you are carrying $200-$300k in student debt and trying to live like you think âwealthy adult peopleâ should live, it is really easy to get to the just-barely-making-it zone. Buy a house, a couple cars and pay your loan payment and you are pretty strapped for everything else. Itâs a weird ass world we are living in. Additionally, in most places earning a 6 figure income doesnât really make you wealthy. Earning that for a couple decades and managing it well, yeah, that will do it. But for those starting out, it is really tough.
Self reporting PLUS saying (or even just claiming) they regularly make north of 100k.
Not everyone who makes or made that much cash are financial geniuses. Lottery winners and pro athletes tend to burn through their cash and not save it very well usually for example. Many people fall ass backward into that kind of money (athletes, actors, musicians who actually made alot of money which in general is kinda rare, kids born into money, those who get a major winfall from legal settlements etc etc).
i do totally get that. itâs also still different when you could downsize, trade in the car, cancel some of those expenses, etc. the stress of maintaining a lifestyle is very real - especially living in a society that makes being actually poor so difficult.
itâs also different than the stress of: will i be turned out on the street, or do i need a third job to feed the kids.
i canât even imagine what retail and service workers do. i have a friend whoâs a professor out that way, and he house shares to make it work. to me, thatâs an insane situation for a professional whoâs spent a lifetime to get that far
I suspect this describes many of my neighbors. I know what they do for a living and see all their toys, and unless they have family money or a big source of external income, they are leveraged to the hilt.
Millennials get bashed for occasionally buying $7 avocado toast, as if that, and not crippling student debt and soaring housing costs might play a role in their financial woes.
But in all those discussions of the âeconomic anxietyâ driving the fascist class in this country, Iâve never once heard anyone recommend they stop buying all those four wheelers or snowmobiles, or paying to modify their trucks into âcoal rollers.â
Wonder what thatâs all about. 
See also: wakeboard boats, ATVs (with enclosed trailers); RVs, expensive guitars, motorcycles, fishing boats etc.
All that.
My previous insurance agent, who, they also do retirement planning, once confessed to me how frustrating it was for her when sheâd be asking clients in their 40s and 50s if maybe they wanted to start putting money in an IRA or something and theyâd say they couldnât afford it, then come in 2 months later needing insurance for a new (to them, at least) RV or motorboat or some other thing. 
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