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Additional Posts in The Worklife Bowl
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What are you looking forward to this week?
Rising Star
Rising Star
Wife cooking up that 🔥🔥🔥
Enthusiast
I don’t make 6 figures (yet). I own my home, it will be paid off in 12 years. I have little credit card debt and simply live w/in my means. Most Americans, especially the younger generation, expect to have huge houses, fancy cars and the latest technology and are willing to spend all that they make to have picture perfect lives. I just “remodeled” my kitchen. Cost me $3k but I painted the walls, ceiling and cupboards myself. Most of that cost was new countertops. My boss did a similar remodel but didn’t do any of the work. $13k dollars. Yes it took me 2 months of nights and weekends but I saved $10,000!
America is very unique, and yes there is spiraling cost of living but it happens everywhere. However people in my sphere in the US (upper middle class millennial households or retired baby boomers who reaped gains in property and 401ks) are generally very committed to pushing the limits of their means of living. Gotta add a 3rd bathroom to the house, gotta splurge for the highest end model of a new car, can't skimp on the vacation rental, etc. You also see younger families take big financial risks to put down roots in a good school district or pay high tuition costs for a private school.
People do put themselves in a situation where six figures doesn't feel like enough because they constantly feel like they have to add more and more on a material level, but the way society here is built there are also more "upfront" costs than you typically see in Europe. So double-edged sword.
Culturally we are a live-to-work people so if money is getting tight you often see people pick up a new project that will net you a bigger bonus/raise, work more hours, grab a second job, start a side hustle, etc. But I do think a lot of that has to do with a lack of any real safety net, so fear wins out. I'd be curious what US work culture would look like if we knew there was a soft landing at the bottom.
Remember y’all Europeans work to live, Americans live to work, so no matter what compensation they get, they will never be happy.
People complaining about 6 figure salaries in America are super entitled
Rising Star
All good, BA1. Lots of folks on this app seem to think middle class means “I can buy whatever I want” or that there should never be any trade-offs on space/location in HCOL areas. I think they also forget how much more lucrative professional services and tech careers are than most Americans’ jobs.
We also tend to normalize whatever happens in our circles, and most folks on this app run in wealthy or wealthy-ish crowds. We’re all doing very well.
I think a big part of this among my (very fortunate, high-earning) crowd is the lack of a strong social safety net here in the US. We feel the need to save aggressively, because how else will we afford surprise emergencies? How else will we help our younger siblings and our children through college? How else will we support retiring parents who need expensive care? How else will we pay for our own retirement?
I'm not saying that's everyone's case, but one reason a high salary can feel low is saving a lot to cover those expenses - or already paying for those expenses. Most European countries have college, healthcare, and other safety net systems that at least partly alleviate those concerns.
It’s because it’s insane here. Home values, rent, cost of living, food, gas…keeps going up… and no one is paying us more for these steep cost of living increases. I made half of my current salary two years ago, but it feels like I’m in the same boat (I haven’t changed the way I live).
SPM1 - living "pretty well"? In most parts of the country 200k has you as one of the top percentage earners. You can live REALLY well on 200k (and quite well on much less) in most places outside of the craziness going on in HCOL areas (in particular West Coast and NE).
This is giving LI cringe bowl energy
I’m in america and my salary I’m in America and I make about $70k/year and my wife and I own our own townhome and we both work from home and we live comfortably. We do not spend more than we have and we don’t live above our means. I think everyone is different.
Rising Star
I lived in Europe for a while and hated the lack of energy and drive of my coworkers. Everyone was just counting down the days to retirement or their next vacation.
Are you taking into account the obscene healthcare bills we have to pay? I just got a single MRI, WITH insurance the bill is nearly double my monthly rent (high COL SoCal). Medical bills significantly eat away at earnings!
Yep that’s what I meant with crazy . If a car will hit me today I’ll stay in the hospital as long as needed not as long as money is on my bank account
Entirely depends on where you live (cost of living varies SO MUCH here). Plus if you had help starting out, you likely don’t have as much debt as someone who relied entirely on student loans to get an education
Rising Star
Most of the people complaining about how they’re barely middle class on $200K+ salaries because they’re in HCOL cities are crazy entitled and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
They’re either bad at personal finance or think having to make a budget or having to save to buy a place means they’re somehow not better off than 95% of Americans.
I know. I make 65K and my wife makes 60K and we can manage just fine, it’s enough for what we need at the moment. We also just graduated college so we are still young ( no we don’t live with parents, we own a 425K house and 2 CR-Vs of 2021)
55 EUR post tax?
Before taxes . Results in a net income about 2.5k Euro per month
Those people live in ridiculous COL areas or well beyond their means.
That’s 🧢 $70k in HCOL (SF). Believe none of what you hear and believe half of what you see. Yea I don’t live in a top floor penthouse so maybe that’s why but it’s absolutely not true