Bump. See upcoming thread about net worth definition.

DC is a place with high incomes. If this was a Detroit forum, would you say that the discussion about poverty and welfare is disgusting?

Anonymous wrote:The obsession with income and class place here is disgusting.

I definitely agree with this. However, I think this is true in most cities amongst higher earning people, especially those without family money. Do you really think its just DC?

The obsession with income and class place here is disgusting.

Anonymous wrote:People seem to exclude money that is not certain to be recurring, so bonuses, gifts from parents, inheritances and family payments for private school/college/house downpayments are not included. Earnings from investments, employer contributions to retirement savings, increase in value of investments and real estate also are not included in these discussions.

Something I learned after moving to Washington is that the wealthy (I'm sorry, "comfortable") do not always have a lot of "income", they just end up with a lot of wealth. I think this leads to the disconnect in discussions about money.

We definitely include bonuses, as they are a large portion of my husband's compensation. I think anyone whose bonuses are large and fairly reliable (even if the amount varies) count them in HHI.

For instance, DH's base salary is around $160k. At bonus time (once a year) he receives approximately $75-100k more. Hell yeah we count that. For his job/experience level, his base salary is below market compensation (which is probably $200k or so) but his company uses bonuses as a retention tool which works! Each time he is contacted by a head hunter, they tell him they can beat his base salary, but not his total comp. He is not unhappy, so he stays, but we DEFINITELY consider this part of his income.

Anonymous wrote:I only include salaries/bonuses.

Until we sell and reacognize gains on investments, the gains are just on paper. No rental or old money sources of income for us.

This is us exactly.

People seem to exclude money that is not certain to be recurring, so bonuses, gifts from parents, inheritances and family payments for private school/college/house downpayments are not included. Earnings from investments, employer contributions to retirement savings, increase in value of investments and real estate also are not included in these discussions.

Something I learned after moving to Washington is that the wealthy (I'm sorry, "comfortable") do not always have a lot of "income", they just end up with a lot of wealth. I think this leads to the disconnect in discussions about money.

OP here. I grew up in McLean and my HHI and net worth are on the higher end too. And I am well aware of the wealth in this area. I just wanted people to be aware of the definition so that we all list our HHI correctly.

OP, I think that you just underestimate how many people feel good about themselves about lying on an anonymous internet message board.

oP, I think you just underestimate what people make. My base is $200k, my bonus $100k. My DH has a similar structure, so our total comp is $600k ish. We are well off but not particularly uncommon in DC

I would include my rental income and salaries in our HHI. However, for our net worth I would include everything and net it with all the debts like the mortgages.

OP, what is your HHI?

Anonymous wrote:I only include salaries/bonuses.

Until we sell and reacognize gains on investments, the gains are just on paper. No rental or old money sources of income for us.

*recognize*

I only include salaries/bonuses.

Until we sell and reacognize gains on investments, the gains are just on paper. No rental or old money sources of income for us.

Household income is a measure of the combined incomes of all people sharing a particular household or place of residence. It includes every form of income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, near cash government transfers like food stamps, and investment gains.

I think several people on DCUM are shocked at the high figures being thrown around because it includes EVERY FORM OF INCOME.
Many are probably only listing salaries and wages. If you consider that there is some old money in this area and some people have lots or rental income, these other sources of income can be a bigger part of HHI than salaries.

On the other hand, I think earnings from retirement savings, and unrealized gains are excluded.

So how many of you were not using the correct definition of HHI?