Nyc couple with $0.5m in income who feels average
Related Posts
What REITs do you guys invest in?
Conversation Starter
Safest place to stake coins with best return?
More Posts
UBER & LYFT puts tomorrow?
Community Builder
Enthusiast
Try not to be too jelly 😎
Anyone up for chat😔😔 Feeling low...
Additional Posts in FIRE Financial Independence Retire Early
Visual Storyteller
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
These are always so completely and comically out of touch lol
This is my favorite form of literature. When rich or high income people come up with the idea that they don’t actually make a lot, then show exactly what they spend it on, step back and go yeah see it’s not that much.
The fact that these people spent over 100k on cars, go on 3 vacations a year, and give 18k a year to charity BEFORE they paid off their student loans is giving me second hand anxiety
Mentor
With that income, the rates should be sub 3. If they aren’t, it’s pretty poor debt management by then.
Whether it’s 1.9, 2.25 or 2.5% doesn’t change the decision really.
Maybe contribute a little less to charity? 😂
I mean give 10% if it’s what you want to do, but don’t do it because a bunch of guys wrote it down in a book 3,000 years ago, saying god said it, to support old guys who would rather preach then work
It’s kind of sad and crazy to me the number of comments here criticizing them for spending only 3.6% of their gross income on charity… maybe that sense of giving back and contributing to something greater is important to them
We donated about 23k last year to various causes. Largest ones were Monterey Bay Aquarium and the West African Vocational School (WAVS) mission
My friends are two married pharmacists with 6 figure debt. They change cars twice a year easily, and their kid wears luxury brand clothes
Then they visit me and ask me for financial advice 😂
Lol 3 vacations a year, so average
At $6k a pop!!
18k on charity??? They tryna start a foundation or what?
Use that money to pay off student debt… 🤦🏽♂️
Not against charity or helping people but personally I would try to get myself out of debt before giving money out.
Similar to the oxygen mask rule in a plane.
Mentor
🎻
Paying for a land cruiser and 5 series before paying off student loans. Also not investing anything outside of 401k….
Yea the fact that they are only investing in 401K with that salary is absurd.
Coach
If you take the “what’s left” + 401K + charity contributions (which could go to savings), they could be saving $60K per year. Saving $60K per year for 30 years @ 7% real return = $6M. Plus, assume mortgage paid off after 30 yrs so home equity = another $1.5M (at least). With a minimal amount of income growth & career progression to boost savings, this household is easily worth $10M at retirement. Middle class indeed. 🙄
Mentor
Who’s printing money?
Average people would kill for that Average feeling.
Do these media companies just have an intern make up these numbers?
The biggest areas to cut down, from my view, are the mortgage and property tax for a $1.5m home (maybe a house worth 3x gross income is too stretching? Better to lean toward 2x) and charity.
Childcare for two kids in nyc for 42k is actually not bad, and 12k for children activities and lessons I can understand…
Mentor
It seems it is for this couple - everyone has their own spending priorities. It’s not really in an objective sense.
2-2.5 is what the older rules were but don’t necessarily adjust well for low rate environments. For what it’s worth, we still chose to stay below 2.5x and are happy we did. Everything else is more flexible.
*sound of guillotine being built *
The effective tax rate listed in this article is 40%. The highest tax bracket in the US is 37%, and that only applies to $ earned after you exceed $523K. I don't know how anyone can pay effectively 40% tax when that's mathematical impossible unless someone can demonstrate otherwise.
Not only is this article completely detached from the average American worker, it's also probably bullshit.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/federal-income-tax-brackets
Mentor
People can definitely pay 40% - add in payroll and state.
This couple wouldn’t come close. Likely 20% federal and 5ish for state and 5ish for payroll.
Edit: they’re probably closer to 7 on the state/local if they live or work in NYC because they’ll pay a couple percent to the city as well.
Models for flow through businesses typically use a top all in marginal rate of low 50s these days for federal+state
Mentor
How much student loan debt costs $30k a year on a 20 year repayment term.
My wife and had $240k and did a 15 year refi. It’s like $16k a year.
Edit: it’s financial samurai - he did this for SF as well. His numbers are always at a surface level kinda treasonable until you look at them and all of them are at least slightly inflated (e.g., the student loan payment here).
They spend more on food than I can afford on rent for a year. They need to pull their head out of their ass and just be grateful. That is not average.
$9500/year on clothing???
Idk they’re maxing out their 401ks 🤷♀️ kids are expensive. Childcare + activities + vacations that you need because kids are stressful, etc. I honestly don’t think this is a crazy budget for a HCOL city for a couple who isn’t FIRE. If you’re like us and trying to maximize your savings rate, you have different priorities.
Mentor
Yeah I’d they wanted to spend that, whatever - seems dumb to me, but people can do whatever. It’s the contextual argument that it’s somehow average that is objectionable.
Are they preparing for retirement? Saving $40k doesn’t get you too far if you spend 275-300k a year. That’s someone who’s going to need $7-8M.