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Comment by outer_web | Hacker News Reader

I think the idea is that generational wealth is a free pass into the comfort class. Another way to get in is the path you describe, but it's substantially easier to do with the bootstrap and/or safety net of middle- or upper-class parents.

Like the idea of new money vs old money, there is a difference in mindset for people who may have taken different paths to the same net worth at a given age.

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Except what’s being described as “old money” is just “normal families with two married parents.” Note that the $120k figure I cited above isn’t for college educated people or something like that. Just households where the parents are married and have kids. There’s 62 million such households.

The article is taking an extremely common thing and making it seem like a rare or unusual thing.

> wealth is not the marker of the comfort class. Security is. An emergency expense—say a $1,200 medical bill—would send most Americans into a fiscal tailspin; for the comfort class, a text to Mom and Dad can render “emergencies” nonexistent.

The comfort class wouldn't need to text mom or dad for that, they've got a credit card that mom and dad just pay off for them.

Again, the median income for a married family with kids is $120,000 year. Such families absolutely can cover a $1,200 surprise medical expense for their kids. The article is presenting a totally mistaken view of how insecure “most Americans” are.

Various sources report that most Americans (with some margin) report that they live paycheck to paycheck. That would include people who aren't married with children, of course, but they certainly would not be able to absorb a random four-digit bill without a second thought.

I certainly wouldn't characterize it as a 'totally mistaken' view on 'most Americans', even if it's overstating the scope of the problem.

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