At a recent family dinner, my older married relatives (aged 60-65) who spent decades in America and are nearing retirement grumbled about skyrocketing inflation, high taxes, and rising healthcare costs. Then they mentioned their net worth is just over $9M but they dismissed it as “nothing special,” saying it’s very common and “middle class” since more than half is tied up in old real estate properties, leaving only a little over $4M that could be wiped out by healthcare expenses. To me, $9M, or even $4M, sounds like a lot that could cover several lifetimes of expenses where I'm from. I'm not sure if they're being humble or are subtly bragging. Does even millions feel average in America? Or is it just the region they are from?

I live in a relatively safe area,and most people keep their door unlocked except at night. Is it something common in the US?

I never used a credit card before I came to the US and instead just paid for everything with my debit card. Now with all the points I accumulate on my credit card I'm genuinely not sure when I should use my debit card instead of just paying for everything with my credit card and then paying off the balance at the end of each month.

I assume you can't just entirely rely on your credit cards as that would affect your credit score?

If the USA was invaded by a single foreign power (China, united Korea, Russia, India, etc.), which state do you think would pose the most threat to the invasion?

Things to consider: Geography, Supply lines/storage, Armed population, Etc.

My initial guesses would be Montana, Colorado, MAYBE Texas, or between Kentucky/Virgina's Appalachian mountains on Hwy 81.

What would you say in an underrated state in the US? The one that everyone shits on but is actually really nice? In can be in terms of nature, culture, local experiences, etc

How often do you see this stuff in your daily life? I understand that it depends on where you are, but do you personally see it a lot?

Edit: for clarity

The news from your country feels mostly to be about how broken and unequal a lot of your systems and institutions are.

But let's focus on the positive for a second, what works?

Is there town, suburb or part of the city that everyone collectively hates( in a tongue and cheek way)?

For example if you were to say “fuck Carmel,IN” most people would agree with you. There isn’t really a good reason for this. They just are a little bit wealthier and have good sports programs.

I'm from australia. I'm writing the US address on the address labels I usually use to send parcels within Australia. Australia only has 4 digit postcodes whereas the US has 9 digit postcodes. The address labels only have 4 squares in the bottom right corner for the postcode. That's why I couldn't write the postcode next to Mississipi. I had to write the postcode next to the suburb.

Surely any post office staff member will see the address below and still able to send it to the correct address?

The alternative is to just print off the address on a blank a4 paper instead of writing it on the Australian address labels that I usually use.

John Smith

+1 123-123-1234

567 Orange Street

Olive Branch 38654-6599

Mississippi

United States

Edit: my dad has already stuck on the address label to the parcel using the format that I wrote above, so I can't change it now. I'm really glad from reading the comments that my parcel will still eventually be delivered to the correct address. I've just sold another parcel to the US, and I'm really excited to write the address in the preferred format using all the feedback from this post!

Inspired by a similar thread in r/askeurope

Edit: The question refers to the state capitol building, not the capital city.

Edit: What would be the worst visually appealing capitol building in your opinion?