Wharton business students asked how much the average American makes annually

[gamecockcat]

Wharton, one of the best business schools in America, is obviously populated with students who haven't lived in the real world for a while, if ever. Over 25% guessed >$100,000 and one student guessed $800k. The real number: ~$53k. (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/n...ot-make-800-000-11642680985?mod=mw_latestnews)

I'd be really interested to know if any of these 'elite' students who represent the best and brightest of business students in America have ever held a job (outside a work/study)? They may have discovered that not everyone goes to the country club every weekend, the Hamptons for holiday, owns multiple homes, drive a new $50+k car, etc.

And then we wonder why our political leaders (of both stripes) who've gone to private schools and elite universities, have so little perception of how their constituents live and the most important issues to them. I guess if everyone you know all live like royalty, you come to believe that that is the norm.

 

[vhcat70]

I wonder how many of those students were from Pikeville or Corbin or Muhlenberg County?

 

[JumperJack]

Yep. The people controlling our lives are totally like us!

 

[Ed323232]

I always heard some of the biggest douches go to Wharton.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

This is like an article I read (either the NY Times or WSJ) about how a couple paid off their student loans in a few years. It was written as if it were some obvious things that anyone could do.

One of them got a $100+k straight out of college because of a family connection. They got a condo in Manhattan as a wedding gift that they rent out, and stuff like that.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

or this

 

[jameslee32]

I always heard some of the biggest douches go to Wharton.

But he's just like us and cares so much for the little guy.

 

[Ron Mehico]

I look at prices of housing and groceries and cars etc etc and wonder how a household even lives under 100k nowadays

 

[Warrior Poet31]

Who would have thought that 3 generations of public indoctrination would have a negative effect on people. Weird.

 

[Creed Bratton]

or this

View embedded media

I call BS because there is no way a 25 year old donates $615 per month

 

[vhcat70]

Couple weeks back I saw a blurb on TV where they asked a woman in NYC how much she spends on food a week. She said $500 & that she had no idea where it went.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

I wonder how many of those students were from Pikeville or Corbin or Muhlenberg County?

Hey, Corbin isn't that poor.

 

[DSmith21]

I call BS because there is no way a 25 year old donates $615 per month

Donations = code for hookers/drugs

 

[warrior_SW]

Donations = code for hookers/drugs

I was gonna say it’s for the strippers’ kids’ college.

 

[KingOfBBN]

This is like an article I read (either the NY Times or WSJ) about how a couple paid off their student loans in a few years. It was written as if it were some obvious things that anyone could do.

One of them got a $100+k straight out of college because of a family connection. They got a condo in Manhattan as a wedding gift that they rent out, and stuff like that.

It's as simple as that.
😆

 

[Ed323232]

Donations = code for hookers/drugs

When I finished college one of my buddies ask me to help him set up a budget. Just wanted a simple excel spreadsheet to track where his money went. Insisted I included a line item for weed. He literally budgeted a monthly expense for weed.

 

[IdaCat]

Give everybody their weed, dildos, and free porn, keep them comfortably zoned out on the couch, and you can do whatever the f**k you want with everything else.

 

[ukalumni00]

I look at prices of housing and groceries and cars etc etc and wonder how a household even lives under 100k nowadays

Blows my mind how the middle class with kids survive these days. Guess is massive debt across the board that they will work until they die trying to pay off.

 

[gamecockcat]

This is like an article I read (either the NY Times or WSJ) about how a couple paid off their student loans in a few years. It was written as if it were some obvious things that anyone could do.

One of them got a $100+k straight out of college because of a family connection. They got a condo in Manhattan as a wedding gift that they rent out, and stuff like that.

You mean everybody didn't get a Manhattan condo as a wedding gift? Geez, you must be one of the 'deplorables'.

 

[gamecockcat]

or this

View embedded media

This graph is laughably absurd. As already mentioned, no way 25-YO gives away >$7k/yr. Second, where in the US would a 25-YO who makes >$100k be only paying $825/mo in rent? Third, what 25-YO, making six figures and presumably bringing home $7k/mo after taxes, SAVES $4k/mo? In what universe does this happen? No student loan debt. No car payment. Negligible 'entertainment' or travel. There is <<1% of 25-YO who would look like this. Not even close.

 

[gamecockcat]

or this

View embedded media

Also, I forgot - $250/mo dining out? That's ONE date nowadays - per month. So, this hypothetical person is a virgin and will stay that way for a long, long time.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

I just want someone to clean my place for $30 a month. I'm very lazy and that is cheap enough to keep my laziness satisfied.

 

[WayneDougan]

I call BS on how many people really thought this in her “study”.

• First, they have a lot of international students who probably have no idea what the average American makes. Some dude from Saudi may think we are as rich as them. Most people who come here from India make $100K+ per year. So it's not an accurate reflection of what Americans think.
• The losers complaining about this on Twitter lack critical thinking skills. People who go to Wharton are mostly like 27-30 years old. They aren't running jack squat for 10 to 15 more years.
• This is click bait nonsense.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

I call BS on how many people really thought this in her “study”.

• First, they have a lot of international students who probably have no idea what the average American makes. Some dude from Saudi may think we are as rich as them. Most people who come here from India make $100K+ per year. So it's not an accurate reflection of what Americans think.
• The losers complaining about this on Twitter lack critical thinking skills. People who go to Wharton are mostly like 27-30 years old. They aren't running jack squat for 10 to 15 more years.
• This is click bait nonsense.

You see this a lot with very lazy writers. You may see an article that says "wacky college feels goats should be able to run for election" and then when you get to the details you find out it's a campus with 20,000 students and 2 people that actually want a goat to be a senator

 

[UKGrad93]

For those asking questions about the pie chart from CNBC, this breaks it down with more detail.

 

[KingOfBBN]

You see this a lot with very lazy writers. You may see an article that says "wacky college feels goats should be able to run for election" and then when you get to the details you find out it's a campus with 20,000 students and 2 people that actually want a goat to be a senator

Yep. A classic case of this is whenever you see a headline that reads "_____ happened and the internet is furious!" - shares three tweets from nobody accounts.

I saw Halloween Kills in the fall. You saw some writer say "Halloween Kills said to be homophobic" because a gay couple was killed. Proceeds to cite a few people on Twitter.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

I saw Halloween Kills in the fall. You saw some writer say "Halloween Kills said to be homophobic" because a gay couple was killed. Proceeds to cite a few people on Twitter.

!!!!!! I hate it when a movie comes out and people go 'oh the movie is racist because that bad guy was a muslim!'

1. Someone has to be the bad guy, that's how storytelling works
2. it's a movie about a muslim terrorist.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

I call BS on how many people really thought this in her “study”.

• First, they have a lot of international students who probably have no idea what the average American makes. Some dude from Saudi may think we are as rich as them. Most people who come here from India make $100K+ per year. So it's not an accurate reflection of what Americans think.
• The losers complaining about this on Twitter lack critical thinking skills. People who go to Wharton are mostly like 27-30 years old. They aren't running jack squat for 10 to 15 more years.
• This is click bait nonsense.

It is but imo it also speaks to the lack of practical knowledge/skills in today's youth. Very few work jobs so there is no concept of money. Social media replaced many parents/educators as the source of information. School/education has no interest in teaching them anything practical.

Add in the fact most of these students probably come from wealthy families, and you have the perfect soup for a group entirely ignorant as to anything related to the "average" American

 

[WayneDougan]

We recruit dudes from these places for work. Most I've come across know what's what and are pretty normal. There's the occasional sheltered person who has no real world skills, but that's rarer than you'd expect. But guess what, there's a ton of people at UK who don't know anything outside of the state and their little bubble.

 

[Hank Camacho]

I look at prices of housing and groceries and cars etc etc and wonder how a household even lives under 100k nowadays

Truth.

 

[Larry Skaggs]

I always heard some of the biggest douches go to Wharton.

And Duke

 

[Nbacats]

Wharton, one of the best business schools in America, is obviously populated with students who haven't lived in the real world for a while, if ever. Over 25% guessed >$100,000 and one student guessed $800k. The real number: ~$53k. (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/n...ot-make-800-000-11642680985?mod=mw_latestnews)

I'd be really interested to know if any of these 'elite' students who represent the best and brightest of business students in America have ever held a job (outside a work/study)? They may have discovered that not everyone goes to the country club every weekend, the Hamptons for holiday, owns multiple homes, drive a new $50+k car, etc.

And then we wonder why our political leaders (of both stripes) who've gone to private schools and elite universities, have so little perception of how their constituents live and the most important issues to them. I guess if everyone you know all live like royalty, you come to believe that that is the norm.

And yet many will also vilify some politicians for taking stances to help improve the poor and middle class because said politicians don’t a have the appropriate letter beside their name on the ballot.

 

[Nbacats]

I look at prices of housing and groceries and cars etc etc and wonder how a household even lives under 100k nowadays

My household does it. We also live in a pretty low cost of living area though.

 

[IdaCat]

My household does it. We also live in a pretty low cost of living area though.

3 roommates and using your Dad's Netflix is not a household.

Well, maybe for you it is.

 

[azurricat2010]

Sadly the median household income in the states is around 65k in the USA. MIT did a study years ago saying the average household has 2.2 wage earners which shows how low actual incomes are, i.e. 65k/2.2.

I know a number of people that went to Wharton and while they're not quite as out of touch as those subjected in this article, they have told me similar stories.

 

[azurricat2010]

I call BS on how many people really thought this in her “study”.

• First, they have a lot of international students who probably have no idea what the average American makes. Some dude from Saudi may think we are as rich as them. Most people who come here from India make $100K+ per year. So it's not an accurate reflection of what Americans think.
• The losers complaining about this on Twitter lack critical thinking skills. People who go to Wharton are mostly like 27-30 years old. They aren't running jack squat for 10 to 15 more years.
• This is click bait nonsense.

I mean once you get your MBA from Wharton you're essentially guaranteed a VP job or higher, even a C-suite gig isn't out of the question. That's quite a prestigious gig for a 27-year-old.

 

[Nbacats]

3 roommates and using your Dad's Netflix is not a household.

Well, maybe for you it is.

The US Census Bureau definition of a household is as follows
"A household includes all the persons who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room that is occupied (or if vacant, is intended for occupancy) as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building and which have direct access from the outside of the building or through a common hall. The occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living together, or any other group of related or unrelated persons who share living arrangements. (People not living in households are classified as living in group quarters.)"

 

[Get Bucket$]

3 roommates and using your Dad's Netflix is not a household.

Well, maybe for you it is.

I *think* his roommates are his parents.

 

[azurricat2010]

This is like an article I read (either the NY Times or WSJ) about how a couple paid off their student loans in a few years. It was written as if it were some obvious things that anyone could do.

One of them got a $100+k straight out of college because of a family connection. They got a condo in Manhattan as a wedding gift that they rent out, and stuff like that.

Reminds me of a story I read back in 2014-2015 ish about a 28-year-old worth a few million. The aim of the article was to give tips to the readers on how to save money but it came across as pretentious and out of touch.

The person in the article went to an IVY fully paid for by their parents. They landed an investment job on wall street at 22 and by 25 were making 500k/year. In addition to this their parents bought them a condo in NYC.

It's really easy to save if you don't have many expenses or loans to pay for.


Brings me back to an argument I had with a colleage at work. Their complaint was they couldn't save enough to retire but we both made enough to save enough to retire so I was befuddled. I asked why couldn't they save and they just said they couldn't. I asked if they used public transit b/c it only costs $100/mo and they said they UBER to and from work each day. Said their parents paid for their condo and schooling and any trips they go on. They also eat out every single day. When I mentioned just cutting out those UBER rides they got heated and essentially said that public transit is under them.

Another person at the same job went to an IVY level school as well as their parents. Said their parents paid for their entire schooling and pretty much everything else. This person eventually quit work to become an artist and wondered why others at work couldn't do the same.

 

[IdaCat]

The US Census Bureau definition of a household is as follows
"A household includes all the persons who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room that is occupied (or if vacant, is intended for occupancy) as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building and which have direct access from the outside of the building or through a common hall. The occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living together, or any other group of related or unrelated persons who share living arrangements. (People not living in households are classified as living in group quarters.)"

Oh, I'm not surprised that it's the government definition or that you're satisfied with that standard. A big government leftist has to be happy living in a partitioned/shared crackerbox with their fellow comrades.