verage Salary Information for US Workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median wage for workers in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2017 was $857 per week or $44,564 per year for a 40-hour workweek.

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super-easy today

Thanks KT, see, you need to explain these things!

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ding

Yep, how they come up with the number, you'll have to ask them - right, because any stat from 'them' is valid. For instance, fresca, is saying the mean is the exact same number as the median, as the median in this case. So very unlikely in any, any experiment, ever. And KT, try not to take it so personally - you cited your source, I was just taking a short cut so people would know which stat I was talking about. Trust me, no one thinks you went out and gathered all that data.

And thank you sandbox.

There is no valid basis for the assertion that an analysis based on average (or mean) income is better or worse than one which uses median income. The choice of which statistic to use must be related to the purpose of the analysis.

For example, a politician developing a platform based on a doctrine of fairness might want to know the result of taking the total income of a country's population and dividing it equally among every living person, or perhaps every adult. Median income would be irrelevant to such an analysis. Average income would give the right answer - but only if we developed an entirely new method of determining the total income of the country's population. In the modern world wages are only one of the numerous components of the population's income, and yet so much of our political discussion focuses just on wages. Why are we doing that to ourselves?

Mostly real easy. One slow section. 14.

dng

My parents and I have always been considered upper middle class. At their peak earning my parents made about $70K a year. My wife and I make almost twice that now. But we cannot afford a 40 foot cabin cruiser nor save as much as they were able to. 401k is a boondoggle to wall St. If you had a pension fully funded instead of a 401K you would have done just as well and not be subject to the swings of the market which could decimate your retirement account right as you are retiring. But Pensions we're called outdated and too highly regulated. They liked so that wall St could collect the fees and have more of our wealth to gamble with. This is why the middle class is not doing as well as the preceding generation. Their wealth is being siphoned off to higher CEO pay. Tax cuts for the Uber rich. Higher education costs due to tax cuts etc. In other words trickle down economics hurts everyone except the top. I believe as JFK did. A rising tide lifts all boats. The super rich don't need our help.

Liked = lied below

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On a lighter note. Wife and kids got me an Oculus rift for Xmas. Learning to fly a WWII P51-D mustang in VR is too cool!

I actually agree with your comments - re 401K. Mine goes up and down like a dinghy on the high seas.