Three zip codes south, Jason and Marta live in a different rhythm. They own their modest two-bedroom. Both work from home—Jason in telecom compliance, Marta teaching part-time writing workshops. Their household brings in around $100,000 a year. Enough to feel secure, if not spoiled. Enough to make choices.
But lately, they’ve been choosing less.
They’ve trimmed dinners out. Skipped their anniversary trip. Marta’s MacBook has a cracked screen she used to call a temporary issue. Now it’s permanent.
“I noticed it when our Costco run started hitting $700,” Jason says. “Same twenty items. Same aisle. Suddenly $700.”
Their tariff exposure is average—about $3,800 a year—but the difference is, it doesn’t break them. It just grinds. Their savings rate dropped by a quarter. HR1’s changes to the standard deduction gave them just enough to notice how little it helped.
“We’re not broke,” Marta says. “But we used to have a cushion. Now it’s a coupon.”
They’re not drowning, just less buoyant. They don’t worry about eviction. They worry about friction. One big expense—a transmission, a root canal—and the margin vanishes.
Further south, in Palm Springs, Linda lives by a spreadsheet.
She’s 74. Widowed. Her income comes from Social Security, a modest annuity, and careful IRA withdrawals. She doesn’t splurge. She maintains.
“I didn’t grow up rich,” she says. “But I also didn’t grow up on ketchup sandwiches.”
Her electric bill went up $48. Her prescription co-pays jumped again. She had to switch wine brands, canceled her dental cleaning, and let her garden guy go.
“That’s my haircut money,” she says. “It’s a trade-off. Everything’s a trade-off.”
The break she got from HR1’s senior deduction? A rounding error. Meanwhile, prices are climbing fastest in the only categories she still spends on—energy, clothing, healthcare. It’s not about lifestyle. It’s about erosion. The kind that shows up in canceled plans, clipped receipts, thinning hair.
“It’s not about extravagance. It’s about dignity,” she says. “I don’t want to be 74 asking my son to cover groceries.”
She hasn’t yet. But she knows the moment’s coming.
In Greenwich, Aaron doesn’t feel any of this. He made $1.2 million last year.
He scrolls through Bordeaux futures on his iPad, checking delivery dates. His house is heated by geothermal and powered by solar. His Tesla arrived in March.
“Tariffs?” he says, mildly amused. “They hit us on carbon fiber and Burgundy. That’s about it.”
His costs rose too—maybe $10,000 this year. For him, that’s 0.4% of his income. An afterthought. HR1, on the other hand, delivered.
“Best tax year I’ve had in a decade,” he says. “The bill was written by people who think $600 is real money to people like me.”