How do you earn $500k and still feel average?
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Rising Star
I wish I knew. It’s not a feeling I enjoy having - and expect zero sympathy from anyone about it.
But since you asked…
You - compare yourself to others, think about everything else you want in life, have a much higher marginal tax rate that you did at a lower salary so while you’re making a lot more gross the net isn’t as great as you want it to be, are often older (30s vs 20s or 40s vs 30s) so have more expenses and responsibilities, and often live in a HCOL area so $500k gets you only so far compared to your neighbors.
Rising Star
Thanks SC1 - wasn’t looking to solicit advice. Just sharing the not rational thoughts behind why someone w that income might feel that way.
The true answer is that someone making $500k and going on 3 vacations a year either never knew what it was like to be average or has completely forgotten. Nothing about this budget is average for most Americans. 3 vacations a year? Maxing out 2x $401ks? $1.5m home and two expensive cars? The median household income in the US is $70,000. These people are oblivious.
Enthusiast
That’s what this entire post is about
Keeping up with the Joneses
From my perspective, with that income, you are the Joneses.
Enthusiast
Lifestyle creep
Because you need to get up and go to work everyday just like everyone making 50k, 100k, and so on..
I make 500k, am single, and don’t feel like it’s anything special. I save >50% of that however, so that’s probably why. I also live in a HCOL area.
Imagine living there with only $60,000 a year after tax and that’s probably what average is there.
Start by working in banking and then live in NYC or London?
You buy average cars
Ya people started to get it right, it’s where you live. Cost of living varies insanely in America, so you’d have to take that 500k and throw it into a COL calculator and then see what the equivalent amount is in say Missouri. I bet 500k in some of the Silicon Valley tech communes (Sunnyvale, Palo Alto) and Manhattan, 500k is about the same as 70-90k in Missouri, comfortable earnings, but not rich
For a single person this might work. For a family there is just no way. Have you lived in a hcol city? Do you have a family? We also are talking about wants and not just needs when we talk about quality of life. Raising your family in a home you own is a dream for people across the economic spectrum. You can own a home in a safe neighborhood, send your two children to great schools, go out to a nice dinner occasionally and still save on $100k in lcol. To maintain a similar lifestyle in hcol would be impossible on $250k much less $150k.
Average compared to peers… it’s not about actual average
Taxes at 40% after your 401k contributions…
That’ll cut you down to about nearly $250,000 take home. All loans are based off of gross income thus becomes a massive expense. There are luxuries like childcare that if you’re making that much your spouse should probably be working from home.
I’m very happy in my LCOL area. We take 3 vacations; symphony once a year; and attend sporting events.