Living wage

What is a living wage and who is rich are two questions that arise when discussing economics. I was a financial planner and found that it is not how much you earn but how you manage your affairs. Two examples that represent many situations I encountered. One young family where the man worked at a farm implement company where his job was changing tires on farm equipment. It was called busting tires. This is in the 1970's and he earned $4 an hour or $8,000 per year. He had two children with a stay at home mom, a small house with a mortgage, a small college funds and a lot of home cooked food. Another couple were both professors in the business school and earned $15,000 each and they were always broke. In the summer they would travel to places like Europe, they ate most of their meals out and they had a big house. As far as the question who is rich goes. A simple answer is anyone who makes twice what you make is rich. For a Walmart employee who earns $25,000 his friend who makes $50,000 is rich. For the engineer who makes $100,000 his friend who makes $200,000 is rich. Another factor that comes into play is comparing oneself with others. Back in the depression almost everyone you knew was poor so it wasn't as bad as today when some are super rich. Learning to manage money is difficult for most people.