Lifestyle Inflation & Spending
Why we all just want some more.
By Andrew Burmon
42% Have implemented a household budget
36% Think they ought to have "enough" and feel like they don't.
40% Don't employ any service workers.
44% Think their better off than most of their neighbors.
Upper Middle ’s Lifestyle Inflation Survey looked at the obvious and less-than-obvious ways discretionary spending increases alongside income – then ceases to feel discretionary at all.
The survey found a general sheepishness about spending on luxury goods, a high demand for paid domestic labor (especially among lawyers), and a pervasive feeling among respondents (including millionaires) they they lacked funds to support their desired lifestyle.
Clearly, a lot of upper-middle class professionals are shooting at a moving target.== Privileged people spend money to keep up – not just appearances, but with their own expectations.
The data shows a group who always expect more and better .
Except in regards to coffee.
Rich people spend less on coffee.
There’s always an outlier.
Wealthy people feel average – and they're right.
The engine driving lifestyle inflation is not greed or consumerism – though both certainly amplify specific behaviors – it's economic sorting: economically homogenous neighborhoods and towns.
Just over half of respondents surveyed (52%) reported doing better than most or all of their neighbors.
Though those making more than $500K a year were 3x more likely than those making under $100K to say they're beating their neighbors, nearly a third (31%) of respondents in that higher-earner group did not feel ahead of the people around them.
Humans instinctively understand their own wellbeing relative to others and to their former selves.
That remains true to the point of borderline absurdity, which is why only about a fifth of households worth $2.5M+ (22%) report having "enough." Elites do not measure themselves against the general population, so real wealth – anyone earning $500K sits in roughly the top 2% of American earners – reads as the middle of the pack.
This is exacerbated by the fact that many privileged people come from privileged backgrounds and grew up when a cleaner or a nanny took a smaller bite out of a good salary than it does now.
Professions are neighborhoods.
What people do for work is highly predictive of how they spend money – and each field has a signature indulgence.
Consultants spend on both car services and business or premium airline tickets at double the sample rate (55% vs.
24%, and 52% vs.
22%).
Finance workers buy into private-market investments (23% vs.
