Anonymous wrote:I'll give this a stab. We net somewhere between $800K-$1M and that is likely to increase rapidly as I know have several million invested (and not in stocks). I also think that my answer is going to be different than those with incomes in the $500K range.

High income is a mindset, not a salary. Once you reach a certain point with money, you realize there are infinite opportunities around you to make more money. That in and of itself provides me a certain level of freedom that someone with a salary can never have.

It also produces odd juxtapositions. Our last house was a multi unit in a great part of town. Rental income from that house nearly exceeded our mortgage and it would have only gone up. There is no way to compare that to your $1500 mortgage. My payment (net of rental income) was going to forever go down. Yours (even if the mortgage is paid in full) would only go up.

You may consider a beach vacation and pay $2000 for the week. Someone in the $500K range may buy a beach condo. I am looking a commercial building with 2 apartments on top.

If you want an inexpensive dinner out, you might get pizza. Someone in the $500K range might do sit down at a chain restaurant. I would go to a nicer restaurant that I own a minority share of.

I also earn more interest on my bank accounts, pay a lower mortgage rate, pay less for insurance coverage, etc.

Anonymous wrote:I'll give this a stab. We net somewhere between $800K-$1M and that is likely to increase rapidly as I know have several million invested (and not in stocks). I also think that my answer is going to be different than those with incomes in the $500K range.

High income is a mindset, not a salary. Once you reach a certain point with money, you realize there are infinite opportunities around you to make more money. That in and of itself provides me a certain level of freedom that someone with a salary can never have.

It also produces odd juxtapositions. Our last house was a multi unit in a great part of town. Rental income from that house nearly exceeded our mortgage and it would have only gone up. There is no way to compare that to your $1500 mortgage. My payment (net of rental income) was going to forever go down. Yours (even if the mortgage is paid in full) would only go up.

You may consider a beach vacation and pay $2000 for the week. Someone in the $500K range may buy a beach condo. I am looking a commercial building with 2 apartments on top.

If you want an inexpensive dinner out, you might get pizza. Someone in the $500K range might do sit down at a chain restaurant. I would go to a nicer restaurant that I own a minority share of.

I also earn more interest on my bank accounts, pay a lower mortgage rate, pay less for insurance coverage, etc.

Anonymous wrote:I'll give this a stab. We net somewhere between $800K-$1M and that is likely to increase rapidly as I know have several million invested (and not in stocks). I also think that my answer is going to be different than those with incomes in the $500K range.

High income is a mindset, not a salary. Once you reach a certain point with money, you realize there are infinite opportunities around you to make more money. That in and of itself provides me a certain level of freedom that someone with a salary can never have.

It also produces odd juxtapositions. Our last house was a multi unit in a great part of town. Rental income from that house nearly exceeded our mortgage and it would have only gone up. There is no way to compare that to your $1500 mortgage. My payment (net of rental income) was going to forever go down. Yours (even if the mortgage is paid in full) would only go up.

You may consider a beach vacation and pay $2000 for the week. Someone in the $500K range may buy a beach condo. I am looking a commercial building with 2 apartments on top.

If you want an inexpensive dinner out, you might get pizza. Someone in the $500K range might do sit down at a chain restaurant. I would go to a nicer restaurant that I own a minority share of.

I also earn more interest on my bank accounts, pay a lower mortgage rate, pay less for insurance coverage, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

OP FYI, not everyone lost money in real estate. Timing and knowing what you are doing is everything. Don't assume just because people have nice things they are in over their heads. Some people are self made. Very few, but there are a couple. Now, this is certainly not the time for making money in real estate.

I find these posts offensive because I think they are based on assumptions of other peoples money, which ensure you will never be happy. Why do so many here not get this simple idea or try to make it complicated when it is not?

We are self made. Our children have no idea what we have. It also so happens that our money is tied up and not available for handouts. You would be surprised what happens when people think you have this or that. They somehow believe that everything you have is a luxury. Not so. We don't walk around flashing our wealth, for one. People who have money in the truest sense are those that you would not suspect. It is the thing that DCUMERs hate the most - old money values. No, I do not care to discuss old money. Most of you would never know old money if it was right under your nose.

My point OP - stop worrying about others so much. Stop striving for others definitions of wealth, or your perceived definitions of wealth, because you will never be happy.

This board is becoming known for the "how much do you make" type questions. Which explains why so many are so miserable.

OP, the question is quite simply: do you live within your means and can you pay your bills? It is good for children to know they are not getting their every whim, and that if they want something bad enough they can either save for it or wait until Christmas or birthday.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I will try to answer your question because DH and I actually had a $1500/month mortgage on our first house and that was before we had kids, so no childcare costs. I was making ~$35K and DH was making ~$80K when we bought the house, when we sold five years later we were up to ~$45K and ~$120K which was VERY comfortable with that mortgage and some student loans as well (maybe $800/month? it's been a while.) We paid cash for a 3-series, did a summer share at the beach, and took one two-week European vacation and another to California during this time period without really watching our money at all.

Ugh, why did I buy this house and have kids again?

Just kidding.

Anonymous wrote:
Based on my own life choices, there's no way I'll ever have an HHI of 200k+, but I'm wondering about the financial situation that these high salaries are a part of, the context (i.e. mortgage, student loans).

I assume that people need to make a lot of money based on the debt that they carried out of law school, especially if they bought property during the bubble period.

So, I guess what I'd really like to know is if you had no student loans and a monthly mortgage of $1,500, what salary would give you a somewhat similar lifestyle? FWIW, there are also no daycare costs to consider for two DC and public school is a solid option in this area.

How much would you need to make in order to be similarly comfortable to your current lifestyle? The minimum.