If you were given a starter house and had no student loans…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A better question would be how many people are actually just given like a $500K house?? Is that even a thing?

I'm assuming OP is the parent and wants to make sure their child is secure for life (note the "mild disabilities" in the description of the lifestyle). OP has already started planning for the child to have a paid off house but is trying to figure out what income their child will need to make to not have to worry about money. Just guessing, but.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM middle class or actual middle class?

Actual middle class. Assume a single person with mild disabilities who might not ever marry or have children. Some aspects of lifestyle would be:
Working just a single job with no need to have a part-time gig.
Yard service and possibly house cleaner once a month.
Ability to put money away for retirement.
No expensive hobbies.
Some charitable giving on a regular basis.
Can afford a mid-level very gently used car every 5-7 years.
1 week beach or mountain vacation every year.
Dine out or order in 1-2 a week.
As a pet owner, able to easily afford regular and emergency vet care.

I would say 150-180k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A better question would be how many people are actually just given like a $500K house?? Is that even a thing?

I had a coworker whose parents bought him a $500k townhouse with cash. They also buy him a luxury vehicle every few years. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM middle class or actual middle class?

Actual middle class. Assume a single person with mild disabilities who might not ever marry or have children. Some aspects of lifestyle would be:
Working just a single job with no need to have a part-time gig.
Yard service and possibly house cleaner once a month.
Ability to put money away for retirement.
No expensive hobbies.
Some charitable giving on a regular basis.
Can afford a mid-level very gently used car every 5-7 years.
1 week beach or mountain vacation every year.
Dine out or order in 1-2 a week.
As a pet owner, able to easily afford regular and emergency vet care.

I don't know how "mild" the mild disabilities are, so I am going to assume this person will only qualify for minimum wage employment for their entire life. Assuming this person works 40 hours a week for minimum wage, in the state of Maryland, this person would earn $21,995 a year after taxes. That is working 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year.
That is probably enough to pay for utilities and groceries on an 1100 square foot house. Nothing else.

Yard service and house cleaner -- another $3,000 a year.
Put money away for retirement -- varies, but let's say $5,000 a year.
Charitable giving -- 10 percent of the person's income would be $2,000 a year.
New car every five years means car payments for the rest of this person's life. $500 monthly for car payment, $150 for insurance, $50 for vehicle maintenance, $200 monthly for gas, $200 annually for taxes and registration. -- $12,000 a year.
One week beach or mountain vacation yearly -- $4,000
Dining out or takeout twice a week equals $80 weekly. That is $4,000 a year.
Pet owner . . . let's assume two dogs. $6,000 a year.

That house is going to need maintenance. New roof, new water heater, etc. There's always something. -- $6,000 a year.
There has been no money allocated for extra stuff like new shoes, a new TV, going bowling, haircut, etc. $2,000 a year for that.
Oh, and that minimum wage job doesn't earn enough money to pay for property tax or homeowner insurance. $4,000 a year for that.
What about health insurance and dental insurance? Minimum wage jobs don't provide for that. That would be another $6,000 a year.

So that comes to $54,000 a year.

If you are wanting to set this person up for life, then:
Assume for inflation of 5 percent a year.
Assume the person will live to age 95.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A better question would be how many people are actually just given like a $500K house?? Is that even a thing?

I had a coworker whose parents bought him a $500k townhouse with cash. They also buy him a luxury vehicle every few years. It happens.

It happens but not in any regular middle class world. Issues/disabilities aside, it is a from background of financial privilege to be gifted an entire house. Regular middle class people aren’t even gifted down payments no matter how much people on here pretend it is a middle class thing. These are UMC and Upper class things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM middle class or actual middle class?

Actual middle class. Assume a single person with mild disabilities who might not ever marry or have children. Some aspects of lifestyle would be:
Working just a single job with no need to have a part-time gig.
Yard service and possibly house cleaner once a month.
Ability to put money away for retirement.
No expensive hobbies.
Some charitable giving on a regular basis.
Can afford a mid-level very gently used car every 5-7 years.
1 week beach or mountain vacation every year.
Dine out or order in 1-2 a week.
As a pet owner, able to easily afford regular and emergency vet care.

I don't know how "mild" the mild disabilities are, so I am going to assume this person will only qualify for minimum wage employment for their entire life. Assuming this person works 40 hours a week for minimum wage, in the state of Maryland, this person would earn $21,995 a year after taxes. That is working 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year.
That is probably enough to pay for utilities and groceries on an 1100 square foot house. Nothing else.

Yard service and house cleaner -- another $3,000 a year.
Put money away for retirement -- varies, but let's say $5,000 a year.
Charitable giving -- 10 percent of the person's income would be $2,000 a year.
New car every five years means car payments for the rest of this person's life. $500 monthly for car payment, $150 for insurance, $50 for vehicle maintenance, $200 monthly for gas, $200 annually for taxes and registration. -- $12,000 a year.
One week beach or mountain vacation yearly -- $4,000
Dining out or takeout twice a week equals $80 weekly. That is $4,000 a year.
Pet owner . . . let's assume two dogs. $6,000 a year.

That house is going to need maintenance. New roof, new water heater, etc. There's always something. -- $6,000 a year.
There has been no money allocated for extra stuff like new shoes, a new TV, going bowling, haircut, etc. $2,000 a year for that.
Oh, and that minimum wage job doesn't earn enough money to pay for property tax or homeowner insurance. $4,000 a year for that.
What about health insurance and dental insurance? Minimum wage jobs don't provide for that. That would be another $6,000 a year.

So that comes to $54,000 a year.

If you are wanting to set this person up for life, then:
Assume for inflation of 5 percent a year.
Assume the person will live to age 95.

I am the person who posted all this. I meant that this person will need $54,000 a year in addition to their $22,000 in salary. So all told they will need $76,000 a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A better question would be how many people are actually just given like a $500K house?? Is that even a thing?

I had a coworker whose parents bought him a $500k townhouse with cash. They also buy him a luxury vehicle every few years. It happens.

It happens but not in any regular middle class world. Issues/disabilities aside, it is a from background of financial privilege to be gifted an entire house. Regular middle class people aren’t even gifted down payments no matter how much people on here pretend it is a middle class thing. These are UMC and Upper class things.

Mmm, I do think this is fairly common place. And fairly trad middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM middle class or actual middle class?

Actual middle class. Assume a single person with mild disabilities who might not ever marry or have children. Some aspects of lifestyle would be:
Working just a single job with no need to have a part-time gig.
Yard service and possibly house cleaner once a month.
Ability to put money away for retirement.
No expensive hobbies.
Some charitable giving on a regular basis.
Can afford a mid-level very gently used car every 5-7 years.
1 week beach or mountain vacation every year.
Dine out or order in 1-2 a week.
As a pet owner, able to easily afford regular and emergency vet care.

Yes, this is DCUM middle class

Haha. DP but describes my situation as a single mom very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A better question would be how many people are actually just given like a $500K house?? Is that even a thing?

I had a coworker whose parents bought him a $500k townhouse with cash. They also buy him a luxury vehicle every few years. It happens.

It happens but not in any regular middle class world. Issues/disabilities aside, it is a from background of financial privilege to be gifted an entire house. Regular middle class people aren’t even gifted down payments no matter how much people on here pretend it is a middle class thing. These are UMC and Upper class things.

Mmm, I do think this is fairly common place. And fairly trad middle class.

No way is the gift of a large down payment a fairly commonplace middle class thing. Just no way. No one in my middle class world got any down payment help from their parents at all.

The only people I know who got that kind of help were definitely upper middle class at the least. They had very different financial backgrounds than my middle class family had.

I can’t believe people would think that that kind of down payment help is a middle class thing. Maybe it’s people who are actually upper middle class but like to think of themselves as “just middle class.”