My parent's combined income is about $450k. My mother is a high level HR manager and my father is a software engineer. I had no idea my family is considered within to the 1%. It has never felt like it, as my parents don't spend their money frivolously. As a child we went through rough times when both my parents lost their jobs which weren't high paying at the time. They both eventually got lucky and got jobs at better companies. They have both worked very hard to obtain the positions they are in and continue to work hard. They both work 10 hour days (this includes commuting, leaving home to arriving home).

I never grew up feeling rich. I always knew we had a pretty nice house but it's nothing rediculous. They payed about $300,000 for it in 1999 which includes 12 acres. My dad drives a Mazda 6 and my mom drives a gmc terrain. The biggest thing my parents did for me was buy my car (1995 Honda accord) and payed for car insurance until i graduated college. I graduated college with $55k in debt and worked retail throughout my entire college career. The only advantage I ever felt over other some people I knew in college was that I knew my parents would always be able to bail me out if I ran into financial troubles. It was a great feeling but I hated asking for money so it only happened occasionally when I was desperate.

If my family is any representation of the lower end 1%, then I would have to say that they work very hard for their money. It's not like they sit around all day wondering what to do with their money. They are normal people that work hard, the only difference is they don't really need to worry about finances. I'm insanely grateful that I never knew how much my parents made when I was younger because it made me realize the value of money and be more responsible with it. If my parents would have payed for my college I would have never realized how much work it takes to pay off debt and would probably spend my money on stupid things.