At what HHI did you stop feeling like more money = better life?
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Anonymous
| From all the responses it seems there are two major outlooks on money. One is “there are always/will always be more things/luxuries/trips etc that I want” and “I’m generally satisfied with what I have.” It doesn’t seem like these two views necessarily correlate to higher or lower income. I wonder if some of what influences this is your peer group. If you hang around super rich people you see what you could have and compare yourself. If your friends are more middle class you may be less likely to want so much/compare your lifestyle. |
Anonymous
HHI is variable. But 400k is a good average. 400k -39k 401k -6k HSA -2400 insurance premiums After all deductions and such our tax rate is approx 30% Net income 246k -25k mega roth -45k annual brokerage Total annual.savings (including employer match) 88k in retirement and 45k in brokerage. -28k AuPair Expenses -24k mortgage (recent refi, 5BR home in Ashburn purchased in 2010) -24k kids sports and kids extras Leaves us with 8,800/mo for food, utilities, travel, clothes, repairs, gas, gyms, and entertainment. Now with covid we spend way less. We also never get in a plane. Traveling with 7, that's just not possible. We will be done with the AuPair after this year. We won't be investing that money. That will be added to disposable income. I did work for a company that went IPO and our taxable brokerage is very healthy. Out financial advisor thinks we are at the point where we Have over funded retirement as well (though we are 43&44). I disagree wince we have 4 kids I want to leave them something. We will probably have lots of grandkids too we will want to be generous with. I did not mention we have 2 investment properties (both homes we brought into the marriage that we did not sell. Those are very cash flow positive, we do keep that money separate and with the balance at the end of the year we assess all needed repairs and then plow the remainder into the remaining mortgage balance we have on one of the properties (other is paid.off). Flame away. I fully expect it lol! |
Anonymous
DCUM Is crazy. Why would anyone want to flame this. Commendable. How old are you guys and what is your NW including house? |
Anonymous
43 & 44. Approximate real estate value minus mortgages 1.2M Roth (remember I have a mega program) and 401ks ~2M (changes constantly) Brokerage 1.2 (again crazy swings and an IPO windfall) Bitcoin 77k Cash savings 40k Net worth 4.3 I'm not including 529. My DHs parents each funded 25k to each grandchild into the 529 invest and gifts 2k to each account each Christmas. We are not adding to this, but will fill in any gaps in funding out of wage or investment income if needed. However this generosity of my DHs parents is what motivates is to keep investing. I'd like to do the same for our grandkids to the best extent possible. Our target retirement age is 59. We hope our NW doubles by then. |
Anonymous
| How do you feed 7 people each day? That sounds like a grind ...do you have a cook too or just eat what your au pair makes? |
Anonymous
Our AuPair cook dinner?? Lol! I can give you an example of last night. We had salmon. Dh took the entire filet (purchased from costco) and threw it on a cedar plank and grilled it. I also steamed 2 heads of broccoli and baked 7 potatoes. Night before was instant pot butter chicken. I also put 3 cups of rice in the rice cooker while that was going and made a salad on the side. Not sure how it would be any less time consuming feeding a family of 4. It's just more ingredients for 3 more people. My kids make their own lunches. This pandemic has had a bright side in that we've spent these last 9 months trying to teach our kids to be much more independent. |
Anonymous
A simple calculator will tell you, you should have $13M even if your salary and expenses and savings remain the same. You know that’s not true. So you are potentially looking at much more. |
Anonymous
You can also take amazing vacations and see monkeys swinging in trees without spending anywhere close to five figures. |
Anonymous
You know, we’re wild have taken that same trip to Belize for less than a quarter of the price. Do you think it made you four times happier? I doubt it. |
Anonymous
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I am not sure the household income it was, but certainly a place in life, as the pieces fell into place:
--Both finished paying law school loans, were not super-high but it was weight lifted --Forever house in forever neighborhood, owing much less than home was worth --No more childcare bill, now public school --Monthly budget which includes a good amount to investments/savings, maxing tax-advantaged accounts plus some extra --Both have fulfilling federal careers now, with significantly improved hours (less HHI than previously, but our lifestyle is significantly better and it feels more stable due to higher net worth and more stable jobs) |
Anonymous
| At $120k I was able to stop working two jobs. Had to keep paying mortgage on the family home and it was tough - Single mom |
Anonymous
I’m in the later group and have never felt stressed about money, including in my first job out of college making 24K. I’ve always had enough left over after my expenses were paid to do at least some of the things that were important to me. In DC, my HHI has ranged from 130K-230K. We live i the Route 1 corridor of PG Co, and our incomes are well above average here. Comparing “down” rather than “up” the SES chain is a huge part of being satisfied with what we have. I would never put myself in a situation where our closet points of comparisons were all up the chain. It really does breed dissatisfaction even when you’re in an advantaged position. |
Anonymous
| I ordered our first take-out of the year for Christmas. Thanks to DCUM, we have been saving like crazy by maxing out retirement and 529 and putting every penny into brokerage. High level of anxiety at 290K HHI and rental income. |
Anonymous
| $250k for family of 4 for us. Anything more is just saving more or going on more exotic trips. |
Anonymous
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$6.5 million in real estate equity
$2.2 million in stocks $5 million equity in business $14.7 million net worth Both 49 - 100% self made, not 1 cent of family money. $3-$3.5 million HHI When we bought $4 million house, I felt like Gatsby. But when I later saw friends and acquaintances buying $5.5-$7.5 million houses, I began to feel like the Dukes of Hazard in my $4 million shit box. I tell myself that it’s bc these people inherited money, but I know that’s rarely true- just a lot of very smart, driven people in DC. We constantly tell each other, there’s not a moment to lose in the game. The drive for more never ends. |