What HHI is indisputably RICH in a HCOL area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can’t live off your wealth, you aren’t rich. Income shouldn’t matter.

Then, rich is relative because my investments generate a half million a year, but I spend only $150k/year. So, by your definition, I’m rich. However, my wealth wouldn’t support the lifestyle of the posters in this thread. So, am I rich or poor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if you have to ask, then you are poor.

Weird comment. I don't have to ask. I know I'm richer in every way than 99% of the people in the US and in my area (HHI and NW). My lifestyle isn't too much different than a normal UMC - we fly economy with the kids, business by ourselves, no private jets (ever), home worth 3M, live out nanny, kids in private, outsource yard work, dual income (only need one), drive Toyota and Subaru, have 2 vacation homes, own exactly zero 'designer' items - as in toyd never catch me dead with LV anything, etc etc.

I think it takes a "special" kind of person to live the "rich" life that is the aspiration of DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s all about asset to debt ratio, not income. I would say a net worth of $5mil liquid with substantial investments ($10mil+).

+1

[Anonymous]

It's not about annual income. If you are concerned about annual income or know na exact number for it, you're not it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can’t live off your wealth, you aren’t rich. Income shouldn’t matter.

Then, rich is relative because my investments generate a half million a year, but I spend only $150k/year. So, by your definition, I’m rich. However, my wealth wouldn’t support the lifestyle of the posters in this thread. So, am I rich or poor?

DP

+1
My investments generate ~1M and my W2 income is almost that. My lifestyle is very UMC. We live on ~200-300k. I can't imagine wanting a lifestyle that requires $1M! So strange to me. I'd be so out of touch with humanity and the people I see as peers. I'd feel isolated and unrelatable. It's so bizarre to me that there exists people that crave this. It makes me wonder about their value system. We have 3 homes and 4 kids in private school/college and I feel comfortable in that crowd - country clubs, skiing, etc. Really we don't need more than what we have. Ok, if we had to save aggressively then add savings on top of the 200-300k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s all about asset to debt ratio, not income. I would say a net worth of $5mil liquid with substantial investments ($10mil+).

+1

u

Do you understand the meaning of “net”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can’t live off your wealth, you aren’t rich. Income shouldn’t matter.

Then, rich is relative because my investments generate a half million a year, but I spend only $150k/year. So, by your definition, I’m rich. However, my wealth wouldn’t support the lifestyle of the posters in this thread. So, am I rich or poor?

DP

+1
My investments generate ~1M and my W2 income is almost that. My lifestyle is very UMC. We live on ~200-300k. I can't imagine wanting a lifestyle that requires $1M! So strange to me. I'd be so out of touch with humanity and the people I see as peers. I'd feel isolated and unrelatable. It's so bizarre to me that there exists people that crave this. It makes me wonder about their value system. We have 3 homes and 4 kids in private school/college and I feel comfortable in that crowd - country clubs, skiing, etc. Really we don't need more than what we have. Ok, if we had to save aggressively then add savings on top of the 200-300k.

You have three homes and four children in private on an income of $200K and are in the country club crowd but can’t relate to people with $1m HHI. It sounds like you have family money and life a similar lifestyle to people with $1m HHI. You’re not giving off “of the people vibes.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like NYC or SF. Not UMC but actually rich. Able to afford just about anything except a personal private jet (but maybe a jet share) type of rich.

I live in CT, right outside NYC, and my gut was $1.3/1.4m+ and this survey of what 1% means in each state totally validates this number. In 2024, to be in the 1% in CT you needed to make $1.193/1.2m+. Because there is such a large concentration of wealth in the area where I live even a small house (1700 sqft) with a postage stamp backyard in a decent location sells for $1.8m+ and if you want a house with 2500 sqft you’ll need $2.7m+. If you are rich here your house is a minimum of $4m. And you will fill your giant closet with lots of designer handbags and clothes. Your hair will look amazing, you will start with subtle Botox in your early 30s or late 20s. And you probably will be on ozempic if you were not very thin already.

The private school my children attend got so much feedback from freaked out parents whose kids were on FA/not insanely wealthy that they put a policy in place to limit all class parent parties at the beginning of the year to “modest” houses, which is to say houses can’t be worth more than $6m. The first number must be a 5. Lots of very expensive camps and activities. Summer camps for 5 year olds that cost $1K a week are shockingly common. And if your child is struggling aka learning something new you will without question get them a tutor or coach to help. A mom in my daughter’s K class asked other moms if we knew of a coach who could help her daughter with lacrosse because at 6 she had just started a lacrosse program and she was confused at the first practice and all of the other 6 year olds “had been playing for multiple seasons” so her daughter needed to catch up. The summer before my daughter started PreK a mother told me that another mom in our daughter’s grade had hired a hand writing tutor to work with her daughter. This was to prepare for PreK.

Public schools are good but private is better and that will be $50K annually starting in PreK. Most people drive Porsches, BMWs, or Range Rovers. Suburbans and Teslas are ok though. Vacations are mostly family homes, Hamptons, Grand Cayman, Europe, or Nantucket. Someone I know rents a farm in Vermont for two weeks at Christmas. A lot of people do a jet share or fly semi-private or business if international.

Household staff is the norm. Lots of live in nannies, multiple nannies and it is very common to have housecleaning 2x a week for eight hours a day on each days. Imagine having your house cleaned for eight hours on Monday and then again for eight hours on Thursday. I didn’t have a night nurse with any of my kids and couldn’t bond with any new moms over sleep deprivation because it’s normal to have a night nanny for the first six months. Everyone else was really well rested. Yardwork is obviously outsourced.

Can people really afford the lifestyle you described (5mm home, tutors, housekeeper, jetshare or business international travel, expensive car, expensive wardrobe) on 1.2mm?

No. I know because my HHI is 1.3M

Are you the pp? How much do you think you’d need for that lifestyle you described?

I’m not the pp but we have a 2m and we might be able to have that lifestyle if we spent every penny. We are big savers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:300k

OMG no way. I make that and am so no rich in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can’t live off your wealth, you aren’t rich. Income shouldn’t matter.

Then, rich is relative because my investments generate a half million a year, but I spend only $150k/year. So, by your definition, I’m rich. However, my wealth wouldn’t support the lifestyle of the posters in this thread. So, am I rich or poor?

DP

+1
My investments generate ~1M and my W2 income is almost that. My lifestyle is very UMC. We live on ~200-300k. I can't imagine wanting a lifestyle that requires $1M! So strange to me. I'd be so out of touch with humanity and the people I see as peers. I'd feel isolated and unrelatable. It's so bizarre to me that there exists people that crave this. It makes me wonder about their value system. We have 3 homes and 4 kids in private school/college and I feel comfortable in that crowd - country clubs, skiing, etc. Really we don't need more than what we have. Ok, if we had to save aggressively then add savings on top of the 200-300k.

You have three homes and four children in private on an income of $200K and are in the country club crowd but can’t relate to people with $1m HHI. It sounds like you have family money and life a similar lifestyle to people with $1m HHI. You’re not giving off “of the people vibes.”

I don't relate to people who want private jets, first class for the family, designer everything, luxury vacations at the Four Seasons in the most remote parts of the world. What I'm saying is most people in that crowd (what i consider the rich UC crowd) don't live that way. Yet people here insist they do - they don't. Some of them have some of those things. I have 3 homes, for example, but I don't have all those things, nor do I want them. And, yes, you're right that we are not climbing to reach where we are; we are coasting - and it's much cheaper to coast than climb.

[Anonymous]

It's not about income at that point, it's about net worth. Most people with that type of net worth will own businesses (or have sold business), or inherit wealth/assets. Or they'll own (or have sold) significant shares of businesses, as is the case of early employees at unicorns or CEOs who are mostly compensated in stock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can’t live off your wealth, you aren’t rich. Income shouldn’t matter.

Then, rich is relative because my investments generate a half million a year, but I spend only $150k/year. So, by your definition, I’m rich. However, my wealth wouldn’t support the lifestyle of the posters in this thread. So, am I rich or poor?

DP

+1
My investments generate ~1M and my W2 income is almost that. My lifestyle is very UMC. We live on ~200-300k. I can't imagine wanting a lifestyle that requires $1M! So strange to me. I'd be so out of touch with humanity and the people I see as peers. I'd feel isolated and unrelatable. It's so bizarre to me that there exists people that crave this. It makes me wonder about their value system. We have 3 homes and 4 kids in private school/college and I feel comfortable in that crowd - country clubs, skiing, etc. Really we don't need more than what we have. Ok, if we had to save aggressively then add savings on top of the 200-300k.

You have three homes and four children in private on an income of $200K and are in the country club crowd but can’t relate to people with $1m HHI. It sounds like you have family money and life a similar lifestyle to people with $1m HHI. You’re not giving off “of the people vibes.”

I don't relate to people who want private jets, first class for the family, designer everything, luxury vacations at the Four Seasons in the most remote parts of the world. What I'm saying is most people in that crowd (what i consider the rich UC crowd) don't live that way. Yet people here insist they do - they don't. Some of them have some of those things. I have 3 homes, for example, but I don't have all those things, nor do I want them. And, yes, you're right that we are not climbing to reach where we are; we are coasting - and it's much cheaper to coast than climb.

We do several things on your list and think we live a very UMC lifestyle even if our income has increased to 2-3m. Travel expenses have definitely increased significantly. We used to be a family of 4 and travel to four seasons resorts. We still do this now as a family of 5 but this same vacation will cost 30k (not even flying first class). We used to do this for 10k. We can pay and spend 100-200k per year on travel but that is our biggest expense. I don’t work so we travel a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if you have to ask, then you are poor.

Weird comment. I don't have to ask. I know I'm richer in every way than 99% of the people in the US and in my area (HHI and NW). My lifestyle isn't too much different than a normal UMC - we fly economy with the kids, business by ourselves, no private jets (ever), home worth 3M, live out nanny, kids in private, outsource yard work, dual income (only need one), drive Toyota and Subaru, have 2 vacation homes, own exactly zero 'designer' items - as in toyd never catch me dead with LV anything, etc etc.

I think it takes a "special" kind of person to live the "rich" life that is the aspiration of DCUM.

That's not a normal UMC life. UMC don't own three homes, fly business class, have a nanny, outsource, etc.

[Anonymous]

Another “HHI is pretty irrelevant” poster. We make around $1.5M but we come from NO family money. That means that every month we are paying two private school tuitions out of pocket ($10k/month) plus our mortgage.

I’m not asking anyone to feel bad for us. But when you come from generational wealth — such that private school is paid with a trust and you’ve never have taken out a mortgage — things look a lot different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can’t live off your wealth, you aren’t rich. Income shouldn’t matter.

Then, rich is relative because my investments generate a half million a year, but I spend only $150k/year. So, by your definition, I’m rich. However, my wealth wouldn’t support the lifestyle of the posters in this thread. So, am I rich or poor?

DP

+1
My investments generate ~1M and my W2 income is almost that. My lifestyle is very UMC. We live on ~200-300k. I can't imagine wanting a lifestyle that requires $1M! So strange to me. I'd be so out of touch with humanity and the people I see as peers. I'd feel isolated and unrelatable. It's so bizarre to me that there exists people that crave this. It makes me wonder about their value system. We have 3 homes and 4 kids in private school/college and I feel comfortable in that crowd - country clubs, skiing, etc. Really we don't need more than what we have. Ok, if we had to save aggressively then add savings on top of the 200-300k.

There is a point where regardless of your assets you won't spend more. We pretty much capped at 20k a month and that hasn't changed much in many years. Our brokerage can easily sustain that so in my books, I am rich. I don't need to work to live a very nice life. I retired at 50 while my kids were about to enter college.

We have no interest in vacation homes, super fancy cars, flashy clothes, etc. The more we accumulate the more we realize how stupid that stuff is.