Maybe we've been measuring poverty wrong this whole time.

Forget annual income brackets. Try thinking about it through a personal volatility score instead—like your own VIX index tracking financial stability.

Score above 60? That's extreme poverty territory. Zero buffer. Pure survival mode.

40-60 range means you're barely floating. Liquidity so thin you're planning one day at a time. Tomorrow's a question mark.

Hit 25-40 and you've entered lower middle class. Your planning horizon stretches to weeks now, maybe a month. But here's the kicker—your term structure's in backwardation. Short-term stress still outweighs long-term calm.

15-25 zone starts offering breathing room...

This framework flips the script. It's not what you earn. It's how wild your financial swings are, and how far ahead you can actually see.