It already is and has been for a while for most of us. Stocks might not be down but that’s largely because of inflated earnings. The rich have gotten richer though

That’s not the complication. What has made the NBER unwilling to label this a recession up to now was the job numbers. You can’t be in a recession if everyone can easily get a job. Now that the job numbers are declining and layoffs are going on they will likely declare it a recession.