lifestyle for $500K HHI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is what I see:

$1-1.4m house
Nice but not extravagant cars (Acura or Lexus. No AMG or M class)
1 week of skiing in winter
2 weeks of summer vacation at the beach
A few expensive weekends away
Retirement and college funds are well funded
Private school for kids

+1

[Anonymous]

I think part of the problem is expectations. When we bought, our income was 1/4 of that (~125k), which was decent at the time. We could afford a 1800 sqft 4 bedroom house that was built in the mid-60's and not updated. Those houses now cost about 3x what we paid, but the people who make 3x what we made don't want a 40 year old fixer upper. They think they should have the fancy 3-4000sqft new build.

They need to reset their expectations. This isn't a new phenomenon. I blame HGTV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make 500K and our lifestyle is very comfortable but not outrageous.

We live in a 1.5 million dollar house. We put down 50% but our mortgage payment is still $4500 all in. I wanted something less expensive but we loved the house/neighborhood and plan to live here for a long time. The house is probably our big indulgence. We decorated it with a mix of low, mid, and high end pieces. I decorated it myself but if I made more money, I would have hired a decorator.

Have two older kids in public school and the youngest in private preschool. If I made more money, I would love to send my kids to private school. Instead, we chose to live in a good public school district, put money in their college funds, and let them do whatever sports/activities/camps/etc. they are interested in without worrying too much about the cost.

We have two modest cars that are paid off and that we will drive until they die.

We have a maid service that comes once every other week. If I made more money, I would hire one to come weekly.

We have a landscaper that cuts our grass, and does a fall and spring cleaning/mulching. If I had more money, I would hire them to do everything related to yard maintenance.

We go on one nice vacation a year, a couple of shorter trips to visit family, and some weekends away. We fly coach.

We spend a fair amount on food and eating out.

We buy clothes, shoes, etc. as we need them without worrying about budgeting. We don't buy high-end name brand clothes and the kids use a lot of hand-me-downs.

We max out our 401ks and put money into savings/investments every month.

We happily host holidays, birthday parties, and smaller get-togethers throughout the year without worrying about the cost.

We give to charities.

Overall, we don't worry about money too much and lead a very comfortable life. We can not, however, afford private schools, country clubs, and the lifestyle of the truly wealthy.

I don't get this post at all.
We live this EXACT life at an income of about $300K.
Where does your money go?
Seriously curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make 500K and our lifestyle is very comfortable but not outrageous.

We live in a 1.5 million dollar house. We put down 50% but our mortgage payment is still $4500 all in. I wanted something less expensive but we loved the house/neighborhood and plan to live here for a long time. The house is probably our big indulgence. We decorated it with a mix of low, mid, and high end pieces. I decorated it myself but if I made more money, I would have hired a decorator.

Have two older kids in public school and the youngest in private preschool. If I made more money, I would love to send my kids to private school. Instead, we chose to live in a good public school district, put money in their college funds, and let them do whatever sports/activities/camps/etc. they are interested in without worrying too much about the cost.

We have two modest cars that are paid off and that we will drive until they die.

We have a maid service that comes once every other week. If I made more money, I would hire one to come weekly.

We have a landscaper that cuts our grass, and does a fall and spring cleaning/mulching. If I had more money, I would hire them to do everything related to yard maintenance.

We go on one nice vacation a year, a couple of shorter trips to visit family, and some weekends away. We fly coach.

We spend a fair amount on food and eating out.

We buy clothes, shoes, etc. as we need them without worrying about budgeting. We don't buy high-end name brand clothes and the kids use a lot of hand-me-downs.

We max out our 401ks and put money into savings/investments every month.

We happily host holidays, birthday parties, and smaller get-togethers throughout the year without worrying about the cost.

We give to charities.

Overall, we don't worry about money too much and lead a very comfortable life. We can not, however, afford private schools, country clubs, and the lifestyle of the truly wealthy.

I don't get this post at all.
We live this EXACT life at an income of about $300K.
Where does your money go?
Seriously curious.

don't see how you can possibly live that life on $300K. A $1.5M house? no way.

[Anonymous]

I think its more like:

$1M house,
2 cars, maybe one older post-payment, one on payment schedule still,
2 decent vacations a year - fly somewhere - one vacation where you drive, regular weekend day trips,
eat out whenever you like, 2 X week;
public schools,
retirement accounts fully funded pre-tax maximum, savings on top of that,
college funds funded to slightly less than recommended range,
fix up a room in the house every year or two, i.e., bathroom one year, two years later the basement, etc.
cut your own grass, take care of your own yard
no country club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think part of the problem is expectations. When we bought, our income was 1/4 of that (~125k), which was decent at the time. We could afford a 1800 sqft 4 bedroom house that was built in the mid-60's and not updated. Those houses now cost about 3x what we paid, but the people who make 3x what we made don't want a 40 year old fixer upper. They think they should have the fancy 3-4000sqft new build.

They need to reset their expectations. This isn't a new phenomenon. I blame HGTV.

ITA.

In fact, as the COL has risen in this area, people's expectations should have been lowered. Instead, they have inexplicably been raised. It makes no sense AT ALL. A recipe for unhappiness and financial disaster.

[Anonymous]

I think its more like:

$1M house,
2 cars, maybe one older post-payment, one on payment schedule still,
2 decent vacations a year - fly somewhere - one vacation where you drive, regular weekend day trips,
eat out whenever you like, 2 X week;
public schools,
retirement accounts fully funded pre-tax maximum, savings on top of that,
college funds funded to slightly less than recommended range,
fix up a room in the house every year or two, i.e., bathroom one year, two years later the basement, etc.
cut your own grass, take care of your own yard
no country club.

We had this income last year (more this past year but last year was our first over $500K) and this is about right.
$850K house and $450K vacation house
2 cars paid with cash, 2 and 3 years ago, about $100k total
We had two major vacations this year (milestone birthday and milestone family member anniversary) but normally just do weekends at the vacation house/drive to visit friends/family
Eat out whenever - husband eats lunch out every day, but we rarely go out to dinner since we have a special needs preschooler who is not good at that. I do get takeout dinner a lot when my husband travels.
Public schools, plus tutor, activities, therapies for the SN kid
Retirement/college - we are behind, but have the above now
In ten years in our house, we have fixed up two rooms. Doing the kitchen soon.
Landscaper does twice-yearly clean ups and mows weekly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make 500K and our lifestyle is very comfortable but not outrageous.

We live in a 1.5 million dollar house. We put down 50% but our mortgage payment is still $4500 all in. I wanted something less expensive but we loved the house/neighborhood and plan to live here for a long time. The house is probably our big indulgence. We decorated it with a mix of low, mid, and high end pieces. I decorated it myself but if I made more money, I would have hired a decorator.

Have two older kids in public school and the youngest in private preschool. If I made more money, I would love to send my kids to private school. Instead, we chose to live in a good public school district, put money in their college funds, and let them do whatever sports/activities/camps/etc. they are interested in without worrying too much about the cost.

We have two modest cars that are paid off and that we will drive until they die.

We have a maid service that comes once every other week. If I made more money, I would hire one to come weekly.

We have a landscaper that cuts our grass, and does a fall and spring cleaning/mulching. If I had more money, I would hire them to do everything related to yard maintenance.

We go on one nice vacation a year, a couple of shorter trips to visit family, and some weekends away. We fly coach.

We spend a fair amount on food and eating out.

We buy clothes, shoes, etc. as we need them without worrying about budgeting. We don't buy high-end name brand clothes and the kids use a lot of hand-me-downs.

We max out our 401ks and put money into savings/investments every month.

We happily host holidays, birthday parties, and smaller get-togethers throughout the year without worrying about the cost.

We give to charities.

Overall, we don't worry about money too much and lead a very comfortable life. We can not, however, afford private schools, country clubs, and the lifestyle of the truly wealthy.

I don't get this post at all.
We live this EXACT life at an income of about $300K.
Where does your money go?
Seriously curious.

I am the PP. We save the rest. If we did private schools, country clubs, etc., our savings would be a lot less. I am not saying we live a hard life. We live a great life and we are thankful for it. We also feel like we have a good balance between work and home. We are happy and thankful. My only point is that 500k is an income level where you still have to make choices - you can not and should not expect to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:other thread got me curious. what is the appropriate and sensible lifestyle for a normal family in this area with two kids. assume no student loans, parents in early 40s or late 30s. how expensive of a house? what kind of cars? what sorts of vacations or other extravagances are par for the course?

not talking about extreme savers, just a normal appropriate lifestyle where you max out your tax-free retirement, make other reasonable investments, but also enjoy the fruits of your hard work.

We make about $450K, more if you include our unearned income. We're ten years older than the age of the parents in your hypothetical. We live in a house worth $750,000, fully paid off. No debt of any kind. We drive one Honda and one Toyota. The only non family vacation we take is to Bethany for a week in August.

Our extravagances? We spend about $3,000 a year on wine, about $15,000 a year on food, including entertaining and evenings out. We also give $20,000 to charity.

We saved just over $100,000 last year. Planning to retire in our late 50s/early 60s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here You can live a traditional middle class lifestyle in a good area for about 350. The biggest bills are housing and childcare.

So glad we pay only property taxes and insurance (about $11K a year) and no longer have childcare costs. We're living large!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here You can live a traditional middle class lifestyle in a good area for about 350. The biggest bills are housing and childcare.

I don't want to get baited into this, but, wth are you talking about? I love the "middle class lifestyle" argument. At 500k, your are clearing, wait for it, about $25k per month after fed and state taxes/self employment tax/AMT etc. Donna Reed didn't have a $5k month blow habit. The Beaver's mom didn't spend 3 weeks in Africa at an point in her life (even flying coach). This ain't middle class. Middle class is spending a week in a crappy house, that isn't on the beach, in Ocean City. No flying. No cleaning service. No weekend getaways or Acuras. You're all nuts.

Bullshit. We make $430,000 gross; we clear $16,400 a month after 401(k) (including catchup contributions for one of us); health; life; disability insurance; union dues; etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At risk of stating the obvious, *nobody* has significant assets only a few years into the workforce (without inheritance or other non-earned money). Making $300k, $400k, or more will allow you to build up wealth incredibly quickly as long as you don't succumb to living the $300k, etc, lifestyle.

Well right, but I think that's the point. Folks seem to be shocked or skeptical or accusing people of whining if they say they make $300k or 400k but don't live extravagent lifestyles. But none of those people are claiming they're not well off, they're just saying they don't feel rich yet. Which, if they are young, is probably correct.

HENRYs

[Anonymous]

I had to look that up. High Earners, Not Rich Yet.

That is so true. BUT, if you are smart, save a good bit and don't go crazy, then a few years of $500K HHI and you might very well become rich soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here You can live a traditional middle class lifestyle in a good area for about 350. The biggest bills are housing and childcare.

I don't want to get baited into this, but, wth are you talking about? I love the "middle class lifestyle" argument. At 500k, your are clearing, wait for it, about $25k per month after fed and state taxes/self employment tax/AMT etc. Donna Reed didn't have a $5k month blow habit. The Beaver's mom didn't spend 3 weeks in Africa at an point in her life (even flying coach). This ain't middle class. Middle class is spending a week in a crappy house, that isn't on the beach, in Ocean City. No flying. No cleaning service. No weekend getaways or Acuras. You're all nuts.

Bullshit. We make $430,000 gross; we clear $16,400 a month after 401(k) (including catchup contributions for one of us); health; life; disability insurance; union dues; etc.

If you clear $16,000 a month, you aren't "middle class."

[Anonymous]

Never said we were, but unless you have a huge mortgage, how do you net $20K a month on $400K?