Reply to Why is $275k hhi now so poor?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I can’t imagine how rich I would feel at $275k and no kids.

You’re doing something wrong if you feel poor.

[/quote]

same!  we have one kid and HHI of 125k and feel comfortable. I mean no luxuries, etc. but if we had 275 I think we'd be doing a happy dance.[/quote]

They are "living above their means".  Obviously plenty of people live with 125K/150K and are comfortable.

They could be too.  They likely were at that level at some point, and as income changed, they choose to put all increases into their new lifestyle, rather than saving 50-60%

[/quote]

Why do you think that everyone in the world would feel more "comfortable" seeing a higher number in their bank/vanguard account than actually using the money to improve their quality of life (i.e., living in a more expensive apartment that's closer to the metro and with amenities in the building so you don't have to run around all day to do your errands)?  If I take your premise to the logical extreme, we would all be happier living in the street so that we can invest the money saved from no longer paying rent.  I severely doubt anyone would take that offer.

I also severely doubt that people who are spending nearly all of their 275K income on living expenses somehow completely mismanage the money such that they had 0 experiences that were worthwhile and they would have had the exact same level of happiness if they only lived on half of that income.  Sure, you might personally prefer to have the money in the bank than to spend it, because you get a high every time you see the numbers go up in your bank account, [b]but not everyone's goal is to have a mountain full of money that they don't spend[/b].[/quote]

The issue is OP seems to be unable to live on 275K -- not that they prefer not to save.  [/quote]

I guess I'm not reading OP's post this way.  I didn't see any indication that OP was going into debt to finance their 275K lifestyle.  I do, however, see OP's complaining that 275K doesn't go very far and that they're disappointed that a 275K HHI is only giving them a middle-class lifestyle.  Everyone who's telling them that they're not saving enough only adds credence to OP's complaint -- apparently the way they live (which they already find inadequate) is actually too extravagant for the rest of DCUM.[/quote]

I define extravagant as "spending on extras/luxuries when you are not fully saving for college and retirement and having a fully funded 9 month emergency fund".  Once you do all of those things, go for it and spend to your hearts content.  Just don't complain that you cannot afford college or to retire.  And if you loose your job (or spouse does) don't complain that you don't have savings to live.  That's the tradeoff you made when you went to Europe every summer and Caribbean every spring break and chose not to adequately save for other life events
[/quote]

Exactly. And to be more precise in terms that DCUM can understand:

This means putting kids through private school + college + law or med school = $2.5M indexed for inflation = $5M. This means a lazy retirement at the age of 55 with a conservative withdrawal rate of 3% generating an 80% replacement income of $480K = $16M. This means a 9-month emergency fund and cash cushion for household expenses of $500K. This also means saving for a second home or lake cabin in retirement (PP forgot about that) = $3.5M.

So, we’re only talking a measly $25M in savings. Once you have that, then you can start spending on the niceties. Until then…you’re DCUM poor. [/quote]

Thanks for making me laugh, PP.  And this is just the basic of what people should be saving for.  It doesn't even matter if you're a DINK household like OP, you better calculate how much money your potential kids might need in the future or you won't be able to post on DCUM later how you can't afford public college for them, even though every other family who makes 275K HHI can bank roll it.[/quote]

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