If your household income is $250,000, other people might consider you rich—even if it feels as if you're just getting by.

The big debate over tax cuts—and who, exactly, constitutes the middle class that should get most of them—usually focuses on a single income number. Barack Obama wants to target his tax cuts at people making $200,000 or less, and his tax increases at those pulling in $250,000 or more. John McCain appears to have a more expansive view of the middle class. When asked earlier this year what the income threshold for "rich" people should be, he took a stab and suggested $5 million.

Whatever the number, focusing on income alone overlooks many factors that affect whether people feel rich or not. Where you live is obviously one of them, since $250,000 buys a lot more in Milwaukee than it does in Manhattan. And as any parent knows, household income tends to evaporate when the bills for diapers, daycare, braces, and college come due.

Worth noting: Pretty steep price cuts at the new, ocean-view luxury condos at One West Ocean in Long Beach.

Two examples: A two-bedroom, two-bath unit originally priced at $698,000 is now listed for $462,000, representing a 34% discount. A larger two-bedroom, two-bath originally priced at $1.026 million is listed at $735,000 -- a 28% discount.