[michaelt]

If that's true of 36% of them then the definition of "paycheck to paycheck" is so broad as to be meaningless.

Woe is me, after paying for my eight children's horse riding lessons, getting an opera house named after me, and paying for the handmade rigging that my yacht's crew say urgently needs to be replaced, I'm barely making ends meet! Why won't Biden do something about the outrageous increases in the cost of helicopter fuel?

Am I living paycheck to paycheck?

[lbotos]

People making 250k are not getting opera houses named after them :D

[michaelt]

Not with helicopter fuel as expensive as it is, you're right.

[kitsunesoba]

And are very likely living in high CoL areas where a large chunk of that is swallowed by housing, transportation, etc. It's functionally similar to a much lower salary in a lower CoL area.

That said even if someone in a low CoL area is pulling 250k, it's not "horseriding lessons eight kids and a yacht" money, not unless the individual/couple in question is drowning in debt.

Don't get me wrong, $250k isn't a "struggling" salary anywhere but it's also not past the threshold where one can stop being responsible with money and blow it on wealthy people things on the regular, especially if that's joint income from a couple with kids.