How do you spend it? And if you don’t mind sharing your sense of currently solid middle to above and secure or lower middle to below.
We’re not allowed to save it, right?
If it must be spent, I’d spend it on a lot of healthcare and medical stuff I’ve been procrastinating on because of money - I’m sure my teeth need some fixing and there are some blood tests I probably need done. Along with some travel trips to Alaska, Hawaii, and Caribbean cruises - maybe 1-2 extra trips per year.
I’m lower-middle class.
I’d just throw it at my debt until I am out of debt, while being told that I shouldn’t do that and I could make more money investing it, and continue to not care.
I have no idea where I fall on the “class” spectrum, presumably lower.
ETA: and if/when I’m out of debt, I’ll waste it on Warhammer models.
I would split it four ways
- put more in the kids’ college funds.
- donate to charities and political groups I can’t currently support as substantially as I’d like.
- refurbish an aging house with new carpets, reupholstering, etc.
- travel (minor till the kids are on their own, more far-flung after that).
I consider myself middle-middle class. Financially quite secure, as long as I don’t spend much (and the current administration’s policies don’t wipe out all savings and pensions, etc.)
Home renovations. I need a new driveway, probably a new roof. I’d like to do new siding and add on to the back to add a second bathroom & main floor laundry.
I could get loans and pay them off with that kind of money.
Solidly middle class. If I have to spend it, I’d probably do some additional home improvements that we’ve been procrastinating on and/or DIY’ing. Retile the bathroom floor, attic insulation…if this is going on indefinitely, probably finish the basement and get new storm windows down there. At some point we should get a structural engineer in here to take a look at a few things. If things REALLY keep on, maybe future travel would be somewhat less scrimpy (eat more than one meal a day out, stay in nicer hotels, that kind of thing). Otherwise, I’d save it.
And at some point we will need a new car, although ours only has 46k miles on it even though it’s a 2011, so that might be quite a while from now.
Saving is a definite option.
Ah, if saving is on the table, after debt elimination I’ll save it (minus a small amount for hobbies).
Then most of it would go towards my 403b/401k and bank savings.
It would allow me to get a new vehicle and trade in my ten-year old SUV with 180K miles on it. But to be honest, until that vehicle actually dies I would probably keep it and put the money into savings towards a new vehicle.
I live off disability benefits.
Another $1000 a month could possible leave me worse off if the extra income disqualified me from living in subsidized housing and getting medicare and medicaid.
If I had to pay for my health insurance and medications entirely myself- I would definitely be worse off than I am now.
If I did NOT have to worry about that the first thing I would do is buy a new computer and possibly a Nintendo Switch.
My wife and I are less than four years from retirement. We’re upper middle class.
Extra money would be distributed among the funds that will support that (investment, straight savings, etc.). It wouldn’t go into the spending budget.
I’m assuming this hypothetical “extra” money is a supplement to wages that ends when we retire, rather than $1000 for life like some sort of annuity. In our situation, it doesn’t really matter too much either way. While we’re earning money, the $1000 gets set aside. If it continues after retirement, it just goes into the pool.
Lego and books. Those are my hobbies right now.
If I had to spend it, I suppose I’d put it to my mortgage. If I didn’t, I’d put it into an existing mutual fund.
What can I say? I’m at least comfortably middle class, and more than a little boring.
My first thought was “mortgage, then invest” but I suppose it would make more sense to invest it for retirement and then, if disaster struck, divert it towards paying the mortgage while we try to regain footing. If I couldn’t save it, it would be mortgage first then home repair/renovations (put it on a card, used the $1000 monthly to pay it down). Super boring but then I’m a super boring man.
We’re middle class. Probably solidly so? Who knows what “comfortable” feels like any longer.
Upper middle class
On paper I’m actually a millionaire but I haven’t tapped into any of my deferred compensation accounts yet. Plan on changing residency before I do that. I’m 65 this month so the clock is starting to tick on that.
$1000? Probably save it and buy a few vintage motorcycles. Which I can already afford but I seriously don’t need so I haven’t bought one yet.
If I can save it I would save 100% of it, it would make basically no difference to my day to day spending.
Lower middle class here (just barely). I’d use some of it to help pay my partner’s mom’s bills. She got out of a bad divorce with nothing, and at 70+ years old she’s dog sitting just to pay rent.
If there was any left over, I’d split it between donations, weekend travel, and video games.
An extra $1000 is both a lot and not. Plenty to buy frivolous entertainment with, not really enough for most essentials.
This question is an exciting prospect. I’m a lower middle class earner in terms of income but am lucky enough to running vehicles, a sizeable retirement fund and no health issues. I wouldn’t spend the $1000 immediately but would give some to my lifelong friend who has no assets. The full amount would be too much but the dear friend could use some vocational training; it takes a little added expense to access training so I would help her out with no strings attached.
I just looked, and I’m in the top 10% even if the value of my house isn’t included. I’d probably just put it into my portfolio, maybe add to my Roth. It’s a long time until our grandkids are ready for college, and we’ll be old when they are, so they will be taken care of. At the moment I need more time, not more money.
Another possibility is to donate it all on top of what we donate already. If only it weren’t the case that giving money to a good cause doubles the amount of mail you get from that good cause.