Middle class professionals: tell me about your finances

[Anonymous]

And you call yourselves middle class...I'd say NOT! Try the wealthy elite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Single, just started earning.

Monthly salary after taxes and maxing 401k: $7000
Rent: $2800
Loans: $2000
Living expenses: $1000
Savings: $1200

Basically, I Expect to save roughly $15k/year in addition to the 401k. Comfortable, but saving for a down payment will take a while.

So your salary is around $150-160k as a single person? I don't think people here would consider you middle class based on the previous posts. Most likely they will consider you UMC or even wealthy.

But she has $2000/month in student loans. I doubt she'll actually be able to save $1200/month because stuff comes up and living expenses of only $1000 seems low (if it includes utilities, phone bill, along with groceries, clothes and going out)

And paying a ton in rent. That's a choice.

Right. I'd like to see this $2800 apartment.

You people act like this is an ENORMOUS rent. Have you looked at the rents in Bethesda or even Rockville? A STUDIO in Flats 8300 is almost $2200 mo NOT incl utilities. I have a 2-bedroom (all family lives out of state-don't want them sleeping in my bed) in Rockville in a newer building and I'm paying that, plus I had to pay electric/water but it's near the metro. As a single woman, I wanted a building with a concierge and keyed entrances/elevators as I work rotating shifts. I spend $ on rent, not a car or luxuries (If you got a MDU, you only pay about $1400 for the 2-bedroom, but I make over $50k so I don't qualify) And my 2 bedroom is nothing great- no palladium windows or city views or adequate closet space. It's an apt with loud/sloppy neighbors & rooms that my bedroom furniture is too big for & thin walls. Paying a ton in rent is NOT actually a choice - I need to be near the Red line & and I'm just hoping I will be safe. And with no car, I need to be near a supermarket. I just got a rent increase of over 4% because although it should be like 2%, the notice I got said building management can raise me according to the "market". (I didn't get a 4% raise this year). And I don't think Rockville, with its homeless & illegal immigrants is UMC. (but this is why I am getting experience and then moving out of this area, hopefully before my lease comes up again next year)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s some perspective. 28 and 29. 165k HHI. 20k in retirement, 5k savings/emergency fund. Perpetual renters. DC is milking us dry.

Agreed, I'm starting to look elsewhere since my husband has 100% telework.

As for me, 29 and 31 dual feds. HHI is currently 165k as we're both 12s, and at the top of our ladders so we'll only be getting step increases for the foreseeable future.

Have two kids: 2 years and 8 months with both attending daycare at 1700 a month.

We have 85k left in college loans, 6k in savings/emergency, 319k mortgage (2050 a month), 70k in TSP at 5% to get the matching, and a $600 car payment at 0%. We bought way out for $360k several years ago and I commute in once a week to keep our housing costs down. We haven't even started a fund for our kids colleges.

We decided to stop at 2 kids since it'll coincide with several of our loans (car and husband's student loans) will finish around the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s some perspective. 28 and 29. 165k HHI. 20k in retirement, 5k savings/emergency fund. Perpetual renters. DC is milking us dry.

Agreed, I'm starting to look elsewhere since my husband has 100% telework.

As for me, 29 and 31 dual feds. HHI is currently 165k as we're both 12s, and at the top of our ladders so we'll only be getting step increases for the foreseeable future.

Have two kids: 2 years and 8 months with both attending daycare at 1700 a month.

We have 85k left in college loans, 6k in savings/emergency, 319k mortgage (2050 a month), 70k in TSP at 5% to get the matching, and a $600 car payment at 0%. We bought way out for $360k several years ago and I commute in once a week to keep our housing costs down. We haven't even started a fund for our kids colleges.

We decided to stop at 2 kids since it'll coincide with several of our loans (car and husband's student loans) will finish around the same time.

$600 car payment and you’re complaining you’re being “sucked dry”? Oy. Choices, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Single, just started earning.

Monthly salary after taxes and maxing 401k: $7000
Rent: $2800
Loans: $2000
Living expenses: $1000
Savings: $1200

Basically, I Expect to save roughly $15k/year in addition to the 401k. Comfortable, but saving for a down payment will take a while.

So your salary is around $150-160k as a single person? I don't think people here would consider you middle class based on the previous posts. Most likely they will consider you UMC or even wealthy.

But she has $2000/month in student loans. I doubt she'll actually be able to save $1200/month because stuff comes up and living expenses of only $1000 seems low (if it includes utilities, phone bill, along with groceries, clothes and going out)

And paying a ton in rent. That's a choice.

Right. I'd like to see this $2800 apartment.

You people act like this is an ENORMOUS rent. Have you looked at the rents in Bethesda or even Rockville? A STUDIO in Flats 8300 is almost $2200 mo NOT incl utilities. I have a 2-bedroom (all family lives out of state-don't want them sleeping in my bed) in Rockville in a newer building and I'm paying that, plus I had to pay electric/water but it's near the metro. As a single woman, I wanted a building with a concierge and keyed entrances/elevators as I work rotating shifts. I spend $ on rent, not a car or luxuries (If you got a MDU, you only pay about $1400 for the 2-bedroom, but I make over $50k so I don't qualify) And my 2 bedroom is nothing great- no palladium windows or city views or adequate closet space. It's an apt with loud/sloppy neighbors & rooms that my bedroom furniture is too big for & thin walls. Paying a ton in rent is NOT actually a choice - I need to be near the Red line & and I'm just hoping I will be safe. And with no car, I need to be near a supermarket. I just got a rent increase of over 4% because although it should be like 2%, the notice I got said building management can raise me according to the "market". (I didn't get a 4% raise this year). And I don't think Rockville, with its homeless & illegal immigrants is UMC. (but this is why I am getting experience and then moving out of this area, hopefully before my lease comes up again next year)

You are overpaying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$800k HHI. Both 46. $1.7 million in retirement $4.5 million in real estate equity.(primary plus investment property)

This is a joke, right? Did you read the "middle class" in the subject line?

[Anonymous]

At 33/34, our financial life in a nutshell: 33K cash, 137K retirement funds, 4K in credit card debt (current snapshot - we put all of our expenses on cards and pay in full every month), 350K mortgage, approximately 400K in student loan debt (90% of which was law school). We're public interest lawyers and are depending on public service loan forgiveness. If that gets messed up, our financial lives are screwed. So we'll see. No kids, but my in-laws have already explicitly stated they would help financially (they are a little desperate for grandkids). They've offered to contribute to the cost of daycare, which would mean we'd have room to save for college. I suspect they'd also contribute to college costs - DH's grandparents paid for half of all the grandkids' college costs, and my in-laws certainly appreciated the assistance and would likely offer us something similar. They get that the grandparent's assistance is part of the reason why they're set for retirement and in a position to help their own grandkids. Assuming they eventually have some.

[Anonymous]

^couldn’t one of you move away from public interest law – either forever or for a handful of years – so you could afford kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I know this post will make some people angry, but maybe this can allow some of you to have perspective. I am 25 married to a 28 year old and we have a HHI of 215k. This is mostly my husband's salary I am aware. He is in cyber security and knows how to program, I guess that commands a 150k salary because he also has a strong network of advocates in his field.
Me, I feel small by comparison. I have a 67k salary in a job I don't really like but at least it is a job.
Early on I encouraged my husband to get out of debt fast since he was commanding a high salary since he graduated. I convinced him to pay the 7k left on his loans straight out and the 6k left on his Honda. I don't know if this is financially wise or not I am just learning. My student loans have always been higher than his since I moved from out of state. I still have 25k left and 4k car debt. My retirement is about 50k right now and his is about 90k and our cash savings is about 30k. Not a lot. We need to be better at that. We paid for our own wedding in cash, though. We don't own a house because we don't know where we are going to settle down and we don't have much of a down payment. I pay a lot of my mom's bills. I grew up with a single mother making 30k at the most. I am OK with paying her and my siblings bills sometimes if they can have a better life.

What a strange post.

Agree. Why will this make people angry? lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^couldn’t one of you move away from public interest law – either forever or for a handful of years – so you could afford kids?

We can afford to have a kid. People raise kids on far less than we make now (including my parents who never made close to what I make now). We have other reasons for waiting.

[Anonymous]

You’re rich. I’m rich. The majority of posters on this thread are rich. If you make more than 75% of Americans ($105k HHI in 2016) you are rich. And it doesn’t matter how much your mortgage is, you’re still rich. You have choices.

[Anonymous]

When I was 35 in 1998 my HHI income was $50,000. I was single lived in a tiny cheap apt and drive a 20 year old car and spent every cent.

Today family of five, three homes, three cars, stay at home wife.

I make a lot more but pretty much HHI income is not as important as spending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I know this post will make some people angry, but maybe this can allow some of you to have perspective. I am 25 married to a 28 year old and we have a HHI of 215k. This is mostly my husband's salary I am aware. He is in cyber security and knows how to program, I guess that commands a 150k salary because he also has a strong network of advocates in his field.
Me, I feel small by comparison. I have a 67k salary in a job I don't really like but at least it is a job.
Early on I encouraged my husband to get out of debt fast since he was commanding a high salary since he graduated. I convinced him to pay the 7k left on his loans straight out and the 6k left on his Honda. I don't know if this is financially wise or not I am just learning. My student loans have always been higher than his since I moved from out of state. I still have 25k left and 4k car debt. My retirement is about 50k right now and his is about 90k and our cash savings is about 30k. Not a lot. We need to be better at that. We paid for our own wedding in cash, though. We don't own a house because we don't know where we are going to settle down and we don't have much of a down payment. I pay a lot of my mom's bills. I grew up with a single mother making 30k at the most. I am OK with paying her and my siblings bills sometimes if they can have a better life.

What a strange post.

Agree. Why will this make people angry? lol

You and your husband need to combine your bills and pay off that debt. You’re married! Also, you should be maxing retirement if possible for both of you. Your family needs to be on a budget and your siblings need to get cut off. You are in debt. You need to pay off your loans before helping them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only on DCUM would people with HHIs in the 300-400k range need to chime in and bring about their 300k+ in retirement bc they "feel" so middle class. Can we have one thread here focused on ACTUAL middle class -- which to me means a max of 175k or 200k for a family of 4, less than that if you are single/single parent household.

Agreed-and most of the rest of the country would shake its head at 175-200k even mentioned in the same sentence as “middle class”!

The rest of the country is not relevant to costs here! As a single (only) parent of 2 elementary-aged kids, earning $130k, one month of summer camp for my two kids at our charter school or at the YMCA costs me more than my take-home pay after mortgage. That does not feel middle-class. To get any discount beyond the piddly sibling one at the Y or at the charter school, my kids would have to qualify for FARMs, which they obviously don't. I would feel middle-class at $200k in DC, by the simple calculation that for the next 8 summers I'd have a couple hundred bucks leftover outright after paying my mortgage and summer camps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only on DCUM would people with HHIs in the 300-400k range need to chime in and bring about their 300k+ in retirement bc they "feel" so middle class. Can we have one thread here focused on ACTUAL middle class -- which to me means a max of 175k or 200k for a family of 4, less than that if you are single/single parent household.

Agreed-and most of the rest of the country would shake its head at 175-200k even mentioned in the same sentence as “middle class”!

The rest of the country is not relevant to costs here! As a single (only) parent of 2 elementary-aged kids, earning $130k, one month of summer camp for my two kids at our charter school or at the YMCA costs me more than my take-home pay after mortgage. That does not feel middle-class. To get any discount beyond the piddly sibling one at the Y or at the charter school, my kids would have to qualify for FARMs, which they obviously don't. I would feel middle-class at $200k in DC, by the simple calculation that for the next 8 summers I'd have a couple hundred bucks leftover outright after paying my mortgage and summer camps.

Here we go. DC is sooooooo expensive that only 300k is barely middle class . . . .