450k HHI- lifestyle questions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHi varies but is around 350-450 depending on bonuses.

$3k mortgage and taxes
$400 car (finally bought a new one, DH glady drives a beater)
Maybe $1k a month home maintenance stuff
$1k a month groceries
$500 month utilities
Rest savings

So many of our work peers love paycheck to paycheck because they have the big house, the NEED the new BMW every other year, etc.

I'm sure it's easier to live like hermits with no children, or do you children have no expenses?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many middle of the road earners on this thread that couldn't even imagine what life is like in other HHI brackets.

The concerns up thread about people with a 450K HHI carrying a mortgage is proof of that.

Indeed. We have a mortgage ($400k HHI) we could pay off right now, but we don't. Ever heard of the mortgage interest deduction?

In fact, even without it, my money makes more in investments than I am charged in interest. It would be a terrible investment to pay it off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the people who spend $ on luxuries for themselves but send their kids to public. Good priorities there.

Is always a private education better? I want my kids feeling comfortable with people who has different income levels than themselves, having friends with different racial and ethical backgrounds. I went to a private school (independent school as they are called nowadays) and it was very homogenious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A graduating doctor or lawyer doesn't make $450K. An established doctor or lawyer might. At which point, if they have half a brain, they would pay off their loans.

And if you're making $450k and can't pay cash for a car, you're doing something very wrong.

The healthcare I'll give you. Since you live in the US, where healthcare is reserved for the people who can pay out of pocket.

Our HII is less and we pay cash for our cars and don't have a house note. People are crazy to carry so much debt! In a span of a day, you can lose everything if someone loses their job. Wow, just amazed at the people who claim to be smart and aren't financially savvy.

Why can't you reclaim your medical expenses from your insurance company? We also pay a lot of our medical expenses but I reclaim gym the insurance company at 80% for out of network and everything but our co-pay of $15 for in network. This can very easily be done online and we get refunded with 7-10 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, here we go. Let's say 20k take-home each month.

5k - Mortgage with taxes, etc.
4k - Private school tuition for two children
1k - Student loan payment
1k - 2 car payments
1k - Groceries and other household items
1k - Utilities, including cable and phone
2k - Nanny
1k - Private therapy for various family members
1k - Yard work, home maintenance, housekeeping, dry cleaning etc.

This adds up to 17k. I'm sure I am forgetting things. After all people do buy clothing, get hair cuts, go on vacations, buy birthday presents, eat out, sign their kids up for activities, donate money to charities and places of worship, and try to save for college and retirement funds.

Why would someone making $450K still have student loans or any car loan? And why wouldn't they have insurance to cover all that rich-people therapy?

Do you have any idea how much student debt a graduating doctor or lawyer carries these days? Car notes because we always have to have newish cars, and don't you know that the best therapists never accept insurance? We pay out of pocket for ALL of our routine medical care.

Sorry we are both doctors who make around this much with 2 kids in private school and made it a priority to pay off our student loans first (done) and mortgages second (just refinanced into a 15 year mortgage at an outrageously low rate this summer). We have health insurance and use it. One of our cars is paid off, the other has a $400/month car payment on a 3 year loan - 0.9%. No therapy necessary

We save a LOT more than you. Obviously.

You're an ass. You're gloating about how you don't have to provide your children with private therapy and don't happen to need it yourself? And good for you that you don't have complex medical needs that require you to see the best doctors. You can yourself all the way to the bank, then.

Why can't you reclaim your medical expenses from your insurance company? We also pay a lot of our medical expenses out of pocket but I reclaim them from the insurance company at 80% for out of network and everything but our co-pay of $15 for in network. This can very easily be done online and we get refunded with 7-10 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, here we go. Let's say 20k take-home each month.

5k - Mortgage with taxes, etc.
4k - Private school tuition for two children
1k - Student loan payment
1k - 2 car payments
1k - Groceries and other household items
1k - Utilities, including cable and phone
2k - Nanny
1k - Private therapy for various family members
1k - Yard work, home maintenance, housekeeping, dry cleaning etc.

This adds up to 17k. I'm sure I am forgetting things. After all people do buy clothing, get hair cuts, go on vacations, buy birthday presents, eat out, sign their kids up for activities, donate money to charities and places of worship, and try to save for college and retirement funds.

Are you serious about the student loans? We're a two lawyer family that graduated with 450,000 IN DEBT. Do you have any idea how long that takes to pay off and how much money it requires? They're not exactly interest free.

Why would someone making $450K still have student loans or any car loan? And why wouldn't they have insurance to cover all that rich-people therapy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, here we go. Let's say 20k take-home each month.

5k - Mortgage with taxes, etc.
4k - Private school tuition for two children
1k - Student loan payment
1k - 2 car payments
1k - Groceries and other household items
1k - Utilities, including cable and phone
2k - Nanny
1k - Private therapy for various family members
1k - Yard work, home maintenance, housekeeping, dry cleaning etc.

This adds up to 17k. I'm sure I am forgetting things. After all people do buy clothing, get hair cuts, go on vacations, buy birthday presents, eat out, sign their kids up for activities, donate money to charities and places of worship, and try to save for college and retirement funds.

Are you serious about the student loans? We're a two lawyer family that graduated with 450,000 IN DEBT. Do you have any idea how long that takes to pay off and how much money it requires? They're not exactly interest free.

Why would someone making $450K still have student loans or any car loan? And why wouldn't they have insurance to cover all that rich-people therapy?

You seriously took on $450K in debt to become a lawyer?

We each took on about 225,000 each. We met after law school, both attended school in NY where the COL is high, and graduated just when the legal market went down the toilet.

[Anonymous]

Those of you who make $450k and above HHI: Do you have time to spend breakfast, dinner and weekends with your children? My only consolation from not earning 3 times what I earn is that I get to work a relatively strict 40h workweek with typical fed vacation time, and can contribute to raising my children. I do realize that daycare does most of the raising, but I can't see a job where our HHI would pop over $300k and we'd still work simple 40 h workweeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who make $450k and above HHI: Do you have time to spend breakfast, dinner and weekends with your children? My only consolation from not earning 3 times what I earn is that I get to work a relatively strict 40h workweek with typical fed vacation time, and can contribute to raising my children. I do realize that daycare does most of the raising, but I can't see a job where our HHI would pop over $300k and we'd still work simple 40 h workweeks.

Yes. I also telecommute at least once a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who make $450k and above HHI: Do you have time to spend breakfast, dinner and weekends with your children? My only consolation from not earning 3 times what I earn is that I get to work a relatively strict 40h workweek with typical fed vacation time, and can contribute to raising my children. I do realize that daycare does most of the raising, but I can't see a job where our HHI would pop over $300k and we'd still work simple 40 h workweeks.

If it makes you feel better, DH only sees the kids on the weekend. But I SAH so they're not completely missing out on parental interaction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who make $450k and above HHI: Do you have time to spend breakfast, dinner and weekends with your children? My only consolation from not earning 3 times what I earn is that I get to work a relatively strict 40h workweek with typical fed vacation time, and can contribute to raising my children. I do realize that daycare does most of the raising, but I can't see a job where our HHI would pop over $300k and we'd still work simple 40 h workweeks.

I'm a SAHM so I eat breakfast and dinner with the kids everyday. DH eats dinner with us 5 out of 7 nights per week. He eats breakfast with us on the weekends but not on weekdays.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of people fail to realize that this area has a lot of "double dippers" whose retirement/pensions plus salaries make for a healthy HHI. My DH's pension is 80K, his current government job pays 140K. Add my government job to the HHI mix and we're at a very comfortable income. We know lots of families in the double dip scenario, but because most people don't know about the retirement pension (federal law enforcement officers retire relatively young) they only count two govvie incomes. BTW, we don't touch his pension.....it goes straight to savings/investments.

[Anonymous]

I make above 450k, see my kids almost every night, work 3-5 days a week, average under 40 hrs a week.

I bill $400/hr for my niche. It's a great life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who make $450k and above HHI: Do you have time to spend breakfast, dinner and weekends with your children? My only consolation from not earning 3 times what I earn is that I get to work a relatively strict 40h workweek with typical fed vacation time, and can contribute to raising my children. I do realize that daycare does most of the raising, but I can't see a job where our HHI would pop over $300k and we'd still work simple 40 h workweeks.

My DH and I do now earn over that and have 40 hours work weeks. I'm a Fed, but in an agency with a higher pay scale. You're helping give me a reality check as I've been thinking about the private sector. I'd also add that I'm sure our income will eventually be lower - pretty sure anyways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, here we go. Let's say 20k take-home each month.

5k - Mortgage with taxes, etc.
4k - Private school tuition for two children
1k - Student loan payment
1k - 2 car payments
1k - Groceries and other household items
1k - Utilities, including cable and phone
2k - Nanny
1k - Private therapy for various family members
1k - Yard work, home maintenance, housekeeping, dry cleaning etc.

This adds up to 17k. I'm sure I am forgetting things. After all people do buy clothing, get hair cuts, go on vacations, buy birthday presents, eat out, sign their kids up for activities, donate money to charities and places of worship, and try to save for college and retirement funds.

Why would someone making $450K still have student loans or any car loan? And why wouldn't they have insurance to cover all that rich-people therapy?

Do you have any idea how much student debt a graduating doctor or lawyer carries these days? Car notes because we always have to have newish cars, and don't you know that the best therapists never accept insurance? We pay out of pocket for ALL of our routine medical care.

Sorry we are both doctors who make around this much with 2 kids in private school and made it a priority to pay off our student loans first (done) and mortgages second (just refinanced into a 15 year mortgage at an outrageously low rate this summer). We have health insurance and use it. One of our cars is paid off, the other has a $400/month car payment on a 3 year loan - 0.9%. No therapy necessary

We save a LOT more than you. Obviously.

You're an ass. You're gloating about how you don't have to provide your children with private therapy and don't happen to need it yourself? And good for you that you don't have complex medical needs that require you to see the best doctors. You can yourself all the way to the bank, then.

Why can't you reclaim your medical expenses from your insurance company? We also pay a lot of our medical expenses out of pocket but I reclaim them from the insurance company at 80% for out of network and everything but our co-pay of $15 for in network. This can very easily be done online and we get refunded with 7-10 days.

Well, I guess because my insurance plan isn't as good as yours. We get no reimbursement for out of network.