I don't agree with all of them (I don't think that a family of 4 should necesarily own a 4WD SUV which will accentuate gas and insurance costs when 4 door economy car would be fine.
Not sure what the $2,000 a year per child education expense is, seems too small for private school, too big for public school. I couldn't find the referenced USA Today article. Our neighbors' kids who are still going to the public high school spend about $1,500 on various sports costs and other school supplies.
Also food seems a bit steep, a bit over $1,000/month on food? That is like $250 a week. Presumably they eat out a lot?
But the quibbling then boils down to how they are living and where. So that makes it challenging. A family of four that buys annual ski passes every year, eats out for at least four meals a week, has the bread winner buying lunch every day, buys all new clothes to match the latest fashion, doesn't keep any vehicle longer than 4 years, and only buys things "new"? Ok, I could believe $130K.
But then I fall back to what is the point? And then you see it, the entire point:
"Nonetheless, it's clear that though the American dream is still alive, fewer and fewer of us can afford to live it."
And this, I just don't believe at all, although I get how if people do believe this, it works to their advantage. So by and large, not a reasonable article in my opinion.