Why are DCUM salaries so much higher than in "real life"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I post my income on DCUM. I do not post my weight. I am sure many people are happy to share the most brag-worthy thing about their life but keep to themselves the thing they are struggling with.

I'm not you but hovering at 140. Was a nicer 130 before covid but hell, I make my money with my head so it works for me.

Proving my point. Start a thread asking people to post their height and weight and I bet you’ll turn up almost only healthy BMIs. People like me will just keep scrolling. Ask me about HHI and I’m there.

So true! Same thing on the beauty board - everyone is wrinkle free at 45 and mistaken for late 20s. Certainly doesn’t align with what I see in public everyday, but the unicorns flock to certain threads.

+1. This thread is populated by higher-income folks or those who are interested in M&F. I never read the thread on fashion and beauty, or whatever its called. I find very little value add for me and what I need in my life. I'd imagine that those who do post in beauty take an interest - or excel in - the topic at hand. So you get the 40+ yr olds who are 5'8, 120 lbs and well groomed, or whatever it is that they are claiming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok this is just bullshit. Plenty of financial advisors recommend the 30 over the 15. paying 0.5-1% more to retain financial flexibility (even if you could pay) seems like a fair tradeoff. Plus if you believe in any decent expected returns, you want to minimize home payments. We take our savings from our 2.5% 30-year re-fi and buy I-bonds and equities. We could've done a 15 year at 2%, but that would have be a silly move.

No doubt it would have been a silly move. You would have been struggling every month to make ends meet with a 15 year mortgage.

Your argument is just the proving that 15 year mortgages are the way to go for the financially responsible. The only financial advisors that recommend 30 over 15 are dealing with exceptionally immature and greedy customers that insist on buying a home outside their price range with a 15. The financial flexibility you reference is just as possible with a 15 year mortgage, no? With a 15 year I can easily make extra principal payments whenever I choose. Moreover, if you find it necessary to stretch to a 30 year so you can afford to invest more into the stock market, then you can’t possibly be appropriately diversified.

I have a 15 year mortgage and it constitutes 20% of my take home pay. This leaves 80% for all other expenses, with tons of financial flexibility. And, considering that I’m already putting 20% of my gross pay into the stock market, I can easily throw another 20% into 529 and taxable brokerage accounts to bring it up significantly more. For every dollar I invest in my home, I am still investing almost 5 in the stock market. Why would I feel it necessary to push even more into stocks?

Clearly, the only way you can afford to invest in stocks is by leveraging your so-called financial flexibility from a 30 year mortgage. Pathetic.

Yeah but you live in a shithole to afford those mortgage payments on a 15yr don’t you? You think your plan is so great but 20-30 years later, you and the people who got a nicer house with a 30 yr mortgage are going to have the house paid off and around the same net worth. And they would have lived much better than you, so no need to be smug.

There is some truth to this, I suppose. Because we went with a 15 year mortgage, we could only afford a $7.6M home in Wesley Heights. As you point out, we could have gotten more if we went with a 30 year. Not too many $12M+ properties were available, though. Instead, we’re building equity on our dump of a home and only have $25M invested in the stock market. Wonder what we’re missing out on?

BTW, in 15 years my home will be worth $11M and my $25M invested today will be worth $80M. In 15 more years, that house will be worth $15M and my portfolio will be worth $255M. Uh, so good luck with that 30 year!! I feel bad for you. You don’t even know how outmatched you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok this is just bullshit. Plenty of financial advisors recommend the 30 over the 15. paying 0.5-1% more to retain financial flexibility (even if you could pay) seems like a fair tradeoff. Plus if you believe in any decent expected returns, you want to minimize home payments. We take our savings from our 2.5% 30-year re-fi and buy I-bonds and equities. We could've done a 15 year at 2%, but that would have be a silly move.

No doubt it would have been a silly move. You would have been struggling every month to make ends meet with a 15 year mortgage.

Your argument is just the proving that 15 year mortgages are the way to go for the financially responsible. The only financial advisors that recommend 30 over 15 are dealing with exceptionally immature and greedy customers that insist on buying a home outside their price range with a 15. The financial flexibility you reference is just as possible with a 15 year mortgage, no? With a 15 year I can easily make extra principal payments whenever I choose. Moreover, if you find it necessary to stretch to a 30 year so you can afford to invest more into the stock market, then you can’t possibly be appropriately diversified.

I have a 15 year mortgage and it constitutes 20% of my take home pay. This leaves 80% for all other expenses, with tons of financial flexibility. And, considering that I’m already putting 20% of my gross pay into the stock market, I can easily throw another 20% into 529 and taxable brokerage accounts to bring it up significantly more. For every dollar I invest in my home, I am still investing almost 5 in the stock market. Why would I feel it necessary to push even more into stocks?

Clearly, the only way you can afford to invest in stocks is by leveraging your so-called financial flexibility from a 30 year mortgage. Pathetic.

Yeah but you live in a shithole to afford those mortgage payments on a 15yr don’t you? You think your plan is so great but 20-30 years later, you and the people who got a nicer house with a 30 yr mortgage are going to have the house paid off and around the same net worth. And they would have lived much better than you, so no need to be smug.

There is some truth to this, I suppose. Because we went with a 15 year mortgage, we could only afford a $7.6M home in Wesley Heights. As you point out, we could have gotten more if we went with a 30 year. Not too many $12M+ properties were available, though. Instead, we’re building equity on our dump of a home and only have $25M invested in the stock market. Wonder what we’re missing out on?

BTW, in 15 years my home will be worth $11M and my $25M invested today will be worth $80M. In 15 more years, that house will be worth $15M and my portfolio will be worth $255M. Uh, so good luck with that 30 year!! I feel bad for you. You don’t even know how outmatched you are.

TROLL! We make $6B HHI with $2B bonus (Big Law Equity)

[Anonymous]

I think depends on your social circle. We are in Austin and think two directors at a non FAANG tech company think HP, Dell, Oracle kin. We both are directors and thanks to a promotion, job change and performance based stocks, our HHI went for 400k to almost 700k this year. I know plenty folks at VP, Director level dual income who pull in around that. That said, our net worth is only $3M as the salary increase has been pretty recent. But we are mid 40s, kids in public school and a mortgage of $350k and zero intention of paying it early. It is a 30 year mortgage. I lie sometimes to preserve anonymity so for example our HHI can be 670k but I list as 700k, change kids gender or ages by 1-2 years, again directionally correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This area just has a lot of rich people. I just attended my sister's wedding where the best man was the son of a billionaire.

Everyone we know is in tech sales, defense contracting, real estate, business owners, or law. Everyone makes 300k+ starting early thirties.

+1

This doesn't even include the lawyers who make serious bank.

All of this is selection bias. “Everyone I know is like me” does not mean “everyone is like me.” For all of those floors of offices full of people making $400k and up, there are hundreds of people who clean the office, repair the office, build the office, answer the phone at the office, serve lunch to the office, sell clothes to the workers in the office, paint the toes of the people in the office. You don’t know those people, they don’t post on DCUM much and in the money and finance forum even less, because the cluelessness there about what incomes are normal is maddening.

If you want to know what people earn look at data. Look up what percentage of people make what income by state, city or even zip code. When people do that they often say “but that can’t be true, I can’t be in the top 5% because 100% of the people I know make the same as me or more. I must be middle class and the data must not apply.” It applies.

Right. Isn't that is the point of this thread? The people I know who are like me and likely to post on DCUM are well off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This board is dominated by in DC, close-in suburbs, and relatively close-in ‘burbs. So mostly Mclean, Arlington, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, NW and NE and Capitol Hill dc. That means you are commuting to somewhere within the downtown DC sphere- or the DOD or NIH- and that’s a very specific type of person with dual college education and likely advanced degrees double income couples. That is not normal to the rest of the country. Add in the inherited UMC and UC money and you get a fairly high net worth set of individuals.

I didn’t grow up with money as my family had financial difficulties, but I went to private school and university with these people. When I started posting on DCUM for help with my budget after my first child 8 years ago our household income was $250 dual. It is now $450 hhi. This was from both myself and my partner working our tails off. We also received a $200k gift and borrowed to it a down payment on a house. Between all the savings and the gift, we are now at ~$1.9-2 net worth, with about $700k in retirement, and paid off $100k of student loans via cash flow, and childcare . I think many couples in my neighborhood have their parents do things like sell thier family home to them, or free childcare, etc. etc. If one or both income earners get into high paying jobs, then you continue the process for the next generation etc.

What I’m worried about though is that the democracy that has resulted in the world biggest wealth production is straining. So I’m not feeling comfortable even with this level of income security. It hurts to see how bad gas prices are for service workers, and someday that could be me. Life is not predictable.

It all is so nuts. I was so lucky to have been born with the privileges that got me where I am today. I just as easily could have been born into a family who is struggling. Or things might change and our luck runs out in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe a little 3, but mostly 1 and 2.

Most families I know with two working parents make at least $400k. Plus there are TONS of lawyers. Some entrepreneurs and executives.

Are you kidding?
Most families I know with two working parents have one who is part time or in a lower paying field. Most aren’t making 400k! Wow!

Guess we know different families.

We aren't lawyers so we feel poor at <$1M HHI.

Oh STFU Jen.

OK Karen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This board is dominated by in DC, close-in suburbs, and relatively close-in ‘burbs. So mostly Mclean, Arlington, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, NW and NE and Capitol Hill dc. That means you are commuting to somewhere within the downtown DC sphere- or the DOD or NIH- and that’s a very specific type of person with dual college education and likely advanced degrees double income couples. That is not normal to the rest of the country. Add in the inherited UMC and UC money and you get a fairly high net worth set of individuals.

I didn’t grow up with money as my family had financial difficulties, but I went to private school and university with these people. When I started posting on DCUM for help with my budget after my first child 8 years ago our household income was $250 dual. It is now $450 hhi. This was from both myself and my partner working our tails off. We also received a $200k gift and borrowed to it a down payment on a house. Between all the savings and the gift, we are now at ~$1.9-2 net worth, with about $700k in retirement, and paid off $100k of student loans via cash flow, and childcare . I think many couples in my neighborhood have their parents do things like sell thier family home to them, or free childcare, etc. etc. If one or both income earners get into high paying jobs, then you continue the process for the next generation etc.

What I’m worried about though is that the democracy that has resulted in the world biggest wealth production is straining. So I’m not feeling comfortable even with this level of income security. It hurts to see how bad gas prices are for service workers, and someday that could be me. Life is not predictable.

It all is so nuts. I was so lucky to have been born with the privileges that got me where I am today. I just as easily could have been born into a family who is struggling. Or things might change and our luck runs out in the future.

But some people do not acknowledge this at all, they really think they are making millions only because they are hard workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe a little 3, but mostly 1 and 2.

Most families I know with two working parents make at least $400k. Plus there are TONS of lawyers. Some entrepreneurs and executives.

Are you kidding?
Most families I know with two working parents have one who is part time or in a lower paying field. Most aren’t making 400k! Wow!

Guess we know different families.

We aren't lawyers so we feel poor at <$1M HHI.

Oh STFU Jen.

OK Karen.

How was that comment a Karen comment? They are pointing the cluelessness of the previous poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the only place I can talk about our net worth and HHI. I don't lie, there is no reason. My husband makes 650kish and I make 60kish. Out net worth is 3.5million. We live in a modest house, but so send our kids to private school. I feel
Like our life is actually pretty normal amongst high educated urban professionals.

There are plenty of highly educated professionals who will never, ever make that kind of money.

..and there are plenty of them who do. You are gatekeeping my participation in an anonymous forum because I'm in the minority?

How is it gatekeeping to point out that you are not the norm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This board is dominated by in DC, close-in suburbs, and relatively close-in ‘burbs. So mostly Mclean, Arlington, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, NW and NE and Capitol Hill dc. That means you are commuting to somewhere within the downtown DC sphere- or the DOD or NIH- and that’s a very specific type of person with dual college education and likely advanced degrees double income couples. That is not normal to the rest of the country. Add in the inherited UMC and UC money and you get a fairly high net worth set of individuals.

I didn’t grow up with money as my family had financial difficulties, but I went to private school and university with these people. When I started posting on DCUM for help with my budget after my first child 8 years ago our household income was $250 dual. It is now $450 hhi. This was from both myself and my partner working our tails off. We also received a $200k gift and borrowed to it a down payment on a house. Between all the savings and the gift, we are now at ~$1.9-2 net worth, with about $700k in retirement, and paid off $100k of student loans via cash flow, and childcare . I think many couples in my neighborhood have their parents do things like sell thier family home to them, or free childcare, etc. etc. If one or both income earners get into high paying jobs, then you continue the process for the next generation etc.

What I’m worried about though is that the democracy that has resulted in the world biggest wealth production is straining. So I’m not feeling comfortable even with this level of income security. It hurts to see how bad gas prices are for service workers, and someday that could be me. Life is not predictable.

You went to private school yet didn’t grow up with money?

I was a scholarship kid.

[Anonymous]

I think this forum attracts a very small subset of people.

[Anonymous]

Because it’s mostly rich, bored housewives with nothing better to do who are posting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because it’s mostly rich, bored housewives with nothing better to do who are posting.

Da troof and nothing but the Troof so help me God

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I post my income on DCUM. I do not post my weight. I am sure many people are happy to share the most brag-worthy thing about their life but keep to themselves the thing they are struggling with.

I'm not you but hovering at 140. Was a nicer 130 before covid but hell, I make my money with my head so it works for me.

Proving my point. Start a thread asking people to post their height and weight and I bet you’ll turn up almost only healthy BMIs. People like me will just keep scrolling. Ask me about HHI and I’m there.

So true! Same thing on the beauty board - everyone is wrinkle free at 45 and mistaken for late 20s. Certainly doesn’t align with what I see in public everyday, but the unicorns flock to certain threads.