http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/business/16consumer.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all
The economy’s deep troubles are pushing a growing number of already struggling consumers into bankruptcy, often with far more debt than those who filed in previous downturns.
...
Bankruptcy lawyers report that they have been having more consultations with middle-class families with six-figure incomes — including many who either bought a home during the boom or pulled out most or all of their available home equity just keep to up with the cost of living. Also caught up in the bankruptcies are real estate investors, who hoped to flip properties they had bought near the height of the market.
For what it's worth, while there is no official definition of middle class, according to data from the US Census in 2007 about 20 percent of US households had less than $20,300 and about 20 percent of US households had more than $100,000 total household income. Many sociologists define middle class as meaning households making more than the bottom 25 percent and less than the top 25 percent of all households; by this definition, a six-figure income would not be considered middle class. However, I suppose this would also depend on where one lives: here in Connecticut $100K would not go nearly as far as it would in many other places.
Message Edited by MattH on 11-15-2008 08:09 PM
TU 791 02/11/2013, EQ 800 1/29/2011 , EX Plus FAKO 812, EX Vantage Score 955 3/19/2010 wife's EQ 9/23/2009 803
EX always was my highest when we could pull all three
Always remember: big print giveth, small print taketh away
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