Down and Out on $250K/year....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For many, buying diapers for their kids is a luxury. Buying clothes at Target and Old Navy doesn't mean you are not doing very well if you make 250K:

http://www.dcdiaperbank.org/

"Sadly, millions of low-income families--including countless families in our area--are unable to provide enough diapers for their babies and toddlers. The DC Diaper Bank was founded in October 2010 with the goal of helping families in need in a lasting way. Diapers may seem like a small thing, but for a baby and a family without access to a supply of clean diapers, it can change their lives."

Why don't they just use cloth diapers and wash them out? It's a PIA but, it's been done for thousands of years.

If they are using any kind of childcare they might not have the choice.

Either way, that was your take away from this, really? People can't afford diapers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Had someone told me this when I got out of college, I might just have skipped grad school. I would love to be earning $70K/year, getting to go home at night and not having to worry about a damn thing until the next day. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

So, will you tell your own kids not to go to grad school?

It all depends. If it's for some specialization that will result in a good job on other side, sure. If it's because he/she flitted through college studying some useless major, unlikely. I'd probably send that kid back to undergrad for degree that might actually lead to a job.

Just to be clear, I have two grad degrees - engineering and law. I am a practicing lawyer. I wish I had stopped at the engineering degree, because I could have made a good living as an engineer, and not had to work 60+ hours/week with no vacations without pain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, don't you want to maintain your same lifestyle in retirement? Otherwise, why retire (?)

Maintaining a 300k lifestyle after retirement is a luxury. Just because that is your priority doesn't mean you are less well off.

And no, for many, they will need less in retirement. My neighbors are in their 80s and paid off their house before they retired, so no mortgage. They raised four kids who are out of the house, so no dependents. They are done with college savings since all kids are grown and educated. They are paying supplemental insurance and groceries, and other basic bills.

For many, it's not a choice. Many folks don't even have retirement plans like 401(k)s so whatever they are saving for retirement is them, there is no company match. And for many living paycheck to paycheck they have no choice. Then there are the folks in the most recent recession who had to retire 10 years before they thought they would because they laid off at 55 and can't find a job. Many of these people are "aware" of how much retirement costs, to the PP above. How condescending of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Had someone told me this when I got out of college, I might just have skipped grad school. I would love to be earning $70K/year, getting to go home at night and not having to worry about a damn thing until the next day. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

So, will you tell your own kids not to go to grad school?

It all depends. If it's for some specialization that will result in a good job on other side, sure. If it's because he/she flitted through college studying some useless major, unlikely. I'd probably send that kid back to undergrad for degree that might actually lead to a job.

Just to be clear, I have two grad degrees - engineering and law. I am a practicing lawyer. I wish I had stopped at the engineering degree, because I could have made a good living as an engineer, and not had to work 60+ hours/week with no vacations without pain.

LOL! Engineers in my company routinely work 60 hours a week.

[Anonymous]

I don't want to subsidize your flat screen because I am stuck paying the AMT because I have aspired to work hard and get paid well.

Hear hear!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OMG- ARE YOU SERIOUS?
It's one thing to say you don't want to pay more taxes -- who does??
But the fact is earning $250 + affords you more choices -- then the other 97% you don't want to hear about!
I know I have those same choices.
If you like the cost of living in Atlanta -- move there!
We make the choice to live here -- we have to pay what it costs to live here...that doesn't make us LESS RICH...it just means we have to spend more of our riches. And yes -- there are people who are RICHER, who have generational WEALTH and have an even greater array of choices that THEY CAN AFFORD!
That too, does not mean we are any less rich -- they just have MORE!.
Sheesh! Some people don't have the choice of paying for private school -- in Atlanta or DC.....
It's not a subjective standard based on primarily on the cost of the things you CHOOSE to spend your money on...it's just not!

I am also quite sick of hearing the stats of the top 3% or top 7% of earners. I'd love to be in Nebraska on $250K/year. I'd even love to be in Atlanta on that, where private school costs are half what they are here and child care is 30% cheaper. The value of a dollar in DC metro is not the same as the value of a dollar in Nebraska. Generally, incomes in the different regions reflect this differing value. However, the "top 3%" and "top 7%" labels conveniently ignore this value difference. It's a great oversight when you are trying to induce class warfare in the midst of a political campaign.

On another note: We pay $400/month to Verizon for telephone/tv/internet/cell. Do that math, and it's almost $5K/year. Everything in that over one phone line is a luxury. Start working up the scale of how much that is in percentages for the incomes discussed above, and you start to see how someone making $50K probably shouldn't have a $400/month Verizon bill and should cut back. Someone making $250K probably groans when they pay the bill, but they don't cut back the spending. It seems that 15:32 considers that rich. But you can't end the inquiry there. You have to look at what else they are paying and buying. Do they buy a new car every couple of years? Send kids to private when a good public school is available? Employ a nanny when Mom stays home? These, I think, are indicators of being rich. Not whether they have internet access at home.

People make choices with their money and their lifestyle choices all the time. The big question, do you have to make choices at all or can you have it all? Having it all is rich. Making calculated choices whether you put a down payment on a car or drive your 10 year old car one more year so that you can send your child to a non-county camp is a financial tradeoff that fiscally responsible, not necessarily "rich", people make.

I wonder how much phone/tv/internet/cell cost in Nebraska?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly is the problem so many people have with the term "rich"? Why are they so defensive about being labeled "rich"? Exactly, what is it you don't like about it?

I'll bite. I'm rich, but I would never think like that to myself or say it out loud. I come from a very middle class background - well educated but not tons of $$$. I feel very conflicted about thinking of myself as rich, when my parents, who are comfortably retired, will never be rich and in fact, sacrificed a lot financially for me and my siblings. I'm also terrified that if I admit I'm rich, I'll get used to it, and be upset if I'm not rich someday. I want to always be fiscally prudent, and I'm afraid I might get lax and spend too much if I lulled myself into thinking I'm rich. Plus the other reasons that folks have mentioned - we don't "look" rich based on lifestyle and we hang with a bunch of even richer folks.

This makes sense to me --- someone actually being honest about the real emotional response to the label of "rich". It's more about what it means to a person emotionally -- than a real analysis based on a unemotional financial standard.
Why can't other folks just say I'm rich...but I don't want to be taxed anymore or I'm rich but don't feel I'm rich ENOUGH to be taxed any more?? It's less about the label than what people feel the label means -- i.e., the taxman is coming to take my money!!

[Anonymous]

Why do folks thing they have an entitlement to the 800k+ house at 250k/year. Sure you can afford it, but then to buy it and complain that the mortgage and home expenses have suddenly bumped you from being considered high income is ridiculous. Believe it or not folks, you can choose to dramatically cut your housing costs if you wanted to even in the DC area!

[Anonymous]

Oh, lord, here we go with the class warfare BS.

All of us GET that DC costs a lot. We live here too.

The country as a whole needs more revenue in addition to making prudent budget cuts. The IRS/Congress needs cutoff points for income where taxes are concerned. I think tax rates across the board are going to have to be raised, honestly. I am personally a fan of less giveaways to corporations in the form of subsidies and tax breaks. There need to be less tax loopholes for people in the highest brackets.

I'm not saying you are "rich" - the government is creating a tax bracket for the highest income earners. That is it. Where do YOU suggest the cutoff be? I think top 3% of households is pretty darn reasonable.

Are taxes an easy topic? No. Do they hit all households the same way? No. I wish they would simplify things a lot. I'm still for progressive taxation, but there has to be a limit to what you can "write off."

[Anonymous]

Why is only the top 2% rich. Why not the top 10% That means 90% of people make less than you. I would think that's rich. Anyone know the cutoff for the top 10%?

[Anonymous]

I am rich.

There.

And I don't complain about money.

Everyone happy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, it really is. But you will never get that. You don't get new standards, nor do I. No matter how you slice it, those who are making not only 250K but much, much less and whining about it are clueless and out of touch.

Why is it ridiculous to bust your rump in med or law school for years and then whine about how you don't feel rich? What truly middle class professions spend 3 or more years in school beyond high school? It's an effort vs. reward thing. It's not that waitresses and school teachers don't work hard, it's that they are less educated. If I made $70K a year, I'd want 2 or 3 months off each year too, but since I make $200K, I think it's reasonable for me to have to work 11.5 months a year.

Eh hem. I work at a private school and most teachers I know have at least a Masters Degree. About 1/4 of them have Doctorates. They actually love teaching which is why they are doing it. Not because they aren't educated enough to earn more. Also, have you been to any college towns lately? There are tons of people with Ph.D's working in restaurants. This effort vs reward thing you speak of? Sounds like we should be paying nuclear plant workers MILLIONS right now. You are an ass.

[Anonymous]

fyi I don't think that cell phone is considered a luxury once the gov't starts giving them away to people who can't afford them b/c they have been deemed so essential to safety and welfare. (eye roll) And internet is now pretty much necessary for job seeking, school and working. In my opinion, TV and cell phones are luxuries. TV more so than cells, though. As technology advances, more and more things we grew up considering 'luxuries' become 'standards'. At one point, electricity was a luxury. And indoor plumbing. And home phones. And then radios. And then TV. Ask anyone who serves people in poverty and you will find most people will sleep of the floor but someone manage to have a TV (most low cost apts include basic cable...something else once considered a luxury) You see what I mean.

[Anonymous]

If you make 113K, you are in the top 10% of income earners in the US. 90% of people in the US make less than you. Feel rich now, do ya?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you make 113K, you are in the top 10% of income earners in the US. 90% of people in the US make less than you. Feel rich now, do ya?

I feel half rich, since I make about half of that.