"Wealthy" Amerikans?  People making $100K haven't been rich for a couple of decades.  It makes you nominally middle class if you haven no kids, your college loans are paid off, your mortgage doesn't consume half your take home and you're healthy with perfect teeth.  Forget the new car every 3 years, you're driving a 6 year old Lexus and maybe go out for dinner once a month.

Of course, to the majority of readers of the article making $20-30/hr which is that tier right above min wage like store managers or tradespeople, $100K seems rich.  Your tax bracket is higher though, and the tendency is to buy what thee banksters tell you you can afford on your income.  Since the cheapest McMansion decently close to your workplace is right at your income when the mortgage is 4%, that's the one you buy.  Then the ARM resets to 7%, and you're broke.

With all the real costs, taxes, emergency savings, 401K contribution, you aren'tyt anywhere near "wealthy" until you're north of $200K.  Even there, your job and "position" in society demands a dwelling commensurate with your job as bank president or dentist.  Can't show up at the Country Club driving a beater, you need a new Mercedes.  Plus the membership is $30K/yr, and it's a must have because that's where you play golf with the other successful movers and shakers in your gated community.  Your son goes to Princeton and it would be embarrasing for him to have to thake out college loans to cover the $100K/yr it costs to send him there.  You can eat up $200K pretty quick too.

Of course you also do have folks who really are rich who complain about how taxes are killing them, like our old friend Eddie the Dentist.  To Eddie, rich meant the Billionaires.  They think they're hurting if another Billionaire has a bigger Super Yacht and car collection.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/26/economy/wealthy-economy-inflation/index.html

RE