<$100,000 and don't feel poor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is how you can be poor with a high income:

1) three kids in private school
2) 2 million dollar house
3) 2 luxury cars

Those items: 45K/yr, private (4000/mo); Mortgage: 16000/mo (8 x my house...), and 2K/month car.

22,000/month. 264k /year....with 400K, that would leave 20K for everything else (after taxes).

Not even close. It's DC, so let's assume you and your spouse are junior partners at a law firm or lobbying shop (meaning you're technically self-employed and pay both sides of FICA and all your own benefits) but that you're both self-made and didn't inherit any money. You need an income of at least $500k/year to afford an 80% mortgage on a $2M home. After tax income (federal, FICA, and DC) is about $330k. The 401k max is $17,500 each and health insurance is about $20k. So that leaves $275k in take home or a little less than $23k/month take home.

10% in savings - $2300/month
Mortgage - $11k/month ($8k plus $2k property taxes plus $1k insurance).
Utilities - $500
Groceries - $500
Private school - $6250/month or $75k/year Only the church-sponsored religious schools cost $15k in DC.
Car payment - $0 since you paid cash.
Vacation - $10k for 2 weeks of vacation for a family of 5

That leaves a grand total of $1100 left over to cover clothes, philanthropy, dinner out, and everything else you want. You need a HELOC to cover cash flow to pay estimated taxes sicne you put $400k down on the house. The house is a mess but you can't really afford to hire a cleaning lady. And your $2M house in Cleveland Park or Chevy Chase is really not that big or impressive looking compared to many of your neighbors, let alone the McMansions in McLean or Potomac. You pay attention to your spending because it matters that you stay on budget. If either of your careers run into trouble, everything falls apart and so it is completely understandable that you feel on financial tenterhooks, maybe even "poor".

But of course you aren't anywhere close to poor. If you didn't send the kids to private school, you'd have a lot more money. You also have a pretty solid cushion of savings if you keep the 10% going and in time that savings will start to get pretty big and throw off substantial income, as will the 401k. And your income is going to keep climbing. A 3% raise means $10k in additional after tax disposable income.

People make their own choices and they get anxious about those choices. It's not that hard to offer a little empathy and perspective to someone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Me too. We make around $90k a year and feel very wealthy.

I can not comprehend the people complaining about where the money goes when they make $200k plus.

We have 2 children and live in NW DC, centrally located. Vacation overseas (with family) and go on several trips a year. Eat out a couple of times a month but are otherwise generally frugal. Have a low mortgage, no debt, one car, rarely buy clothers or other luxuries. We have everything we need and then some.

I have some questions on this. Where in NW DC do you live and do you own? And if you do own, when did you buy? People are always on here talking about their "close-in" Virginia neighborhoods or living in NW DC on 100,000 or less and I want to know how that is possible if you bought a house in the last six years. The only people I know like this have family money and the family kicked in a huge down payment and/or paid for the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me too. We make around $90k a year and feel very wealthy.

I can not comprehend the people complaining about where the money goes when they make $200k plus.

We have 2 children and live in NW DC, centrally located. Vacation overseas (with family) and go on several trips a year. Eat out a couple of times a month but are otherwise generally frugal. Have a low mortgage, no debt, one car, rarely buy clothers or other luxuries. We have everything we need and then some.

I have some questions on this. Where in NW DC do you live and do you own? And if you do own, when did you buy? People are always on here talking about their "close-in" Virginia neighborhoods or living in NW DC on 100,000 or less and I want to know how that is possible if you bought a house in the last six years. The only people I know like this have family money and the family kicked in a huge down payment and/or paid for the house.

i am wondering the same thing. something isn't adding up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Me too. We make around $90k a year and feel very wealthy.

I can not comprehend the people complaining about where the money goes when they make $200k plus.

We have 2 children and live in NW DC, centrally located. Vacation overseas (with family) and go on several trips a year. Eat out a couple of times a month but are otherwise generally frugal. Have a low mortgage, no debt, one car, rarely buy clothers or other luxuries. We have everything we need and then some.

How much do you save each year for retirement and college? We save more than you gross each year for the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4 on 90K.

I do feel stretched, but realize this does not make me poor, technically.
However I wish we had many things we cannot afford. At the same time, our daily life is very content.
It is an exercise in feeling grateful for what we have.

Daily life is not the concern for families making $200K or more. We're very focused on saving for the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make 80k for a family of two and we are quite happy. No trips to disney world for spring break but I think we will make it! LOL

Are you planning to retire at some point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me too. We make around $90k a year and feel very wealthy.

I can not comprehend the people complaining about where the money goes when they make $200k plus.

We have 2 children and live in NW DC, centrally located. Vacation overseas (with family) and go on several trips a year. Eat out a couple of times a month but are otherwise generally frugal. Have a low mortgage, no debt, one car, rarely buy clothers or other luxuries. We have everything we need and then some.

I have some questions on this. Where in NW DC do you live and do you own? And if you do own, when did you buy? People are always on here talking about their "close-in" Virginia neighborhoods or living in NW DC on 100,000 or less and I want to know how that is possible if you bought a house in the last six years. The only people I know like this have family money and the family kicked in a huge down payment and/or paid for the house.

We live in Shaw. Bought a foreclosure in 2008. Downpayment was less than $20k and fully earned by me, no family money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me too. We make around $90k a year and feel very wealthy.

I can not comprehend the people complaining about where the money goes when they make $200k plus.

We have 2 children and live in NW DC, centrally located. Vacation overseas (with family) and go on several trips a year. Eat out a couple of times a month but are otherwise generally frugal. Have a low mortgage, no debt, one car, rarely buy clothers or other luxuries. We have everything we need and then some.

How much do you save each year for retirement and college? We save more than you gross each year for the future.

Well aren't you wonderful! We save about $20k for retirement (1 max 401k plus an IRA for spouse) and currently $150 a month for college. However, we've had more funds in previous years for college and our college savings currently stand at 12k for our 4 year old and 8 k for our 2 year old. (We also have savings/emergency fund that is in six figures, but that was accumulated over the course of many years).

What you seem to be neglecting to understand is that our expenditures are low. During retirement we won't spend more than we are doing now (and most likely less, after adjusting for inflation) so we need less than you.

And when I say we live frugally, this is what I mean:

- meal plan
- buy kids clothes from thrift stores most of the time
- ditto kids toys
- use cloth diapers
- stay with family overseas during vacation, using frequent flyer miles
- send my kid to DPR camps for $50 a week instead of spending hundreds or thousands
- don't pay for childcare ever (instead use informal swaps with family and friends)

Like I said, we have a low mortgage, no debt and everything we need. Our kids have much more than I ever had growing up.

[Anonymous]

The snark and negativity on this thread is cracking me up! I'm with you, OP! We make around $100k and feel like we're doing just fine. Different priorities. My family is happy and healthy, and we have what we need and most of what we want, and some left over to give back. The people on the "we make half a mil per year and feel poor" threads simply cannot wrap their minds around the idea that an expensive house, car, and private schools are not actual necessities. You feel poor because you spend too much money, genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The snark and negativity on this thread is cracking me up! I'm with you, OP! We make around $100k and feel like we're doing just fine. Different priorities. My family is happy and healthy, and we have what we need and most of what we want, and some left over to give back. The people on the "we make half a mil per year and feel poor" threads simply cannot wrap their minds around the idea that an expensive house, car, and private schools are not actual necessities. You feel poor because you spend too much money, genius.

Amen. We make $150k now and feel LOADED, given how many years we spent making $70k (combined). The difference I think is that we didn't upgrade the house or the car - just the savings. So we're able to feel like we're making progress on retirement and college savings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The snark and negativity on this thread is cracking me up! I'm with you, OP! We make around $100k and feel like we're doing just fine. Different priorities. My family is happy and healthy, and we have what we need and most of what we want, and some left over to give back. The people on the "we make half a mil per year and feel poor" threads simply cannot wrap their minds around the idea that an expensive house, car, and private schools are not actual necessities. You feel poor because you spend too much money, genius.

+1! And the person who questioned me about how much I saved for retirement while stating that she saves more than I earn in one year is just laughable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me too. We make around $90k a year and feel very wealthy.

I can not comprehend the people complaining about where the money goes when they make $200k plus.

We have 2 children and live in NW DC, centrally located. Vacation overseas (with family) and go on several trips a year. Eat out a couple of times a month but are otherwise generally frugal. Have a low mortgage, no debt, one car, rarely buy clothers or other luxuries. We have everything we need and then some.

How much do you save each year for retirement and college? We save more than you gross each year for the future.

Well aren't you wonderful! We save about $20k for retirement (1 max 401k plus an IRA for spouse) and currently $150 a month for college. However, we've had more funds in previous years for college and our college savings currently stand at 12k for our 4 year old and 8 k for our 2 year old. (We also have savings/emergency fund that is in six figures, but that was accumulated over the course of many years).

What you seem to be neglecting to understand is that our expenditures are low. During retirement we won't spend more than we are doing now (and most likely less, after adjusting for inflation) so we need less than you.

And when I say we live frugally, this is what I mean:

- meal plan
- buy kids clothes from thrift stores most of the time
- ditto kids toys
- use cloth diapers
- stay with family overseas during vacation, using frequent flyer miles
- send my kid to DPR camps for $50 a week instead of spending hundreds or thousands
- don't pay for childcare ever (instead use informal swaps with family and friends)

Like I said, we have a low mortgage, no debt and everything we need. Our kids have much more than I ever had growing up.

YOu need almost $2 million invested to safely withdraw $90K a year. Are you planning to have that much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The snark and negativity on this thread is cracking me up! I'm with you, OP! We make around $100k and feel like we're doing just fine. Different priorities. My family is happy and healthy, and we have what we need and most of what we want, and some left over to give back. The people on the "we make half a mil per year and feel poor" threads simply cannot wrap their minds around the idea that an expensive house, car, and private schools are not actual necessities. You feel poor because you spend too much money, genius.

+1! And the person who questioned me about how much I saved for retirement while stating that she saves more than I earn in one year is just laughable.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The snark and negativity on this thread is cracking me up! I'm with you, OP! We make around $100k and feel like we're doing just fine. Different priorities. My family is happy and healthy, and we have what we need and most of what we want, and some left over to give back. The people on the "we make half a mil per year and feel poor" threads simply cannot wrap their minds around the idea that an expensive house, car, and private schools are not actual necessities. You feel poor because you spend too much money, genius.

I don't feel poor and I don't spend too much money. Our house is paid off, as are our cars. The kids attend public schools. If I was saving a total of $20K a year for both retirement and college, I'd feel vulnerable though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is how you can be poor with a high income:

1) three kids in private school
2) 2 million dollar house
3) 2 luxury cars

Those items: 45K/yr, private (4000/mo); Mortgage: 16000/mo (8 x my house...), and 2K/month car.

22,000/month. 264k /year....with 400K, that would leave 20K for everything else (after taxes).

Let me give you a clue: you are not poor. You are overspending and quite unwise.