A. $250,000 Jerry BowyerEconomist, CNBC Contributor Since the question is largely one designed to stoke envy as a tool of political advancement, the answer is that anyone is "wealthy" if they make any more money than the person being asked to question. Since the vast majority of Americans make less that $250,000 per year, than $250,000 is wealthy. | A. $250,000 Kellyanne ConwayCEO and President the polling company™ And then less and less wealthy as tax and regulatory burdens hit. | | D. $5 Million David P. GoldmanSenior Editor First Things To have a family with two children in New York requires a $2 million to $3 million-dollar apartment and $100,000 a year in school fees. After taxes $1 million in New York is $450,000 after taxes. That just pays the bills. | A. $250,000 David GoodfriendLawyer The national median income, or 50th percentile, is around $45,000 (U.S. Census 2006 survey). About 18 percent of Americans earn $50,000 to $75,000 per year; and about 11 percent earn $75,000 to $100,000. About 15 percent of all Americans earn $100,000 or more. Some people might say that the top 15 percent of the population is a small enough slice to be called "wealthy." But let's look at the percentage of people who make $250,000 or more. That's 1.5 percent of the population. I'm pretty comfortable, as a matter of pure semantics, saying that the upper 1.5 percent of any group is the top. So, everyone on your list is wealthy. | C. $1 Million Jim LaCampPortfolio Manager, Portfolio Focus, RBC Wealth Management Co-Host, Opening Bell Radio Show, Biz Radio Network I know plenty of two-income families making $250,000 to $400,000. They are doing well but after taxes, college expenses, etc., they are upper middle class but not wealthy. | E. More than $5 Million Donald L. Luskin Chief Investment Officer, Trend Macrolytics LLC Wealth is a stock, salary is a flow. No amount of salary makes you wealthy per se. Warren Buffet gets a modest salary. Yet he is wealthy. | D. $5 Million Daniel J. Mitchell Senior Fellow Cato Institute It's all subjective, but wealthy presumably means having enough money to do almost anything you want without restrictions, even if you live is an expensive major city. | C. $1 Million Steve MooreSr. Economics Writer, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board If you don’t have seven figures, you aren’t rich. | B. $500,000 Peter Navarro Business Professor University of California, Irvine $250,000 a year is a lot of money – except in states like California and New York where the cost of living is high. | E. More than $5 Million James Pethokoukis Money & Politics Columnist Reuters It's a level that if you did the job for one year, you theoretically would not have to work again. But I don't believe such folks should be taxed at a higher, confiscatory rate. | B. $500,000 Robert Reich Former Labor Secretary Professor of Public Policy, UC Berkeley Even in a high-cost city like San Francisco or New York, half a million a year is enough for you to live well. Everywhere else in America, you’re flying high. | C. $1 Million Mark Walsh Political Strategist and Campaign Innovator “Salary” is not the yardstick. It is personal net worth. | |
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