Anonymous wrote:High student loans for both spouses (for dr's, lawyers, MBAs), daycare for 2 kids (4K a month), taxes, saving for college and retirement and then probably trying to keep up with the Jones (size of the house, brand of their cars, possibly paying for private schools) - and voila. After all this there is not much left for discretionary spending and luxuries you would expect pulling in 300K as a couple.

But you already included some big ticket luxuries in their spending...

High student loans for both spouses (for dr's, lawyers, MBAs), daycare for 2 kids (4K a month), taxes, saving for college and retirement and then probably trying to keep up with the Jones (size of the house, brand of their cars, possibly paying for private schools) - and voila. After all this there is not much left for discretionary spending and luxuries you would expect pulling in 300K as a couple.

Probably time

Anonymous wrote:Get ready to feel poorer if Hilary wins. She wants free college for everyone making less than 125k. That means anyone in the you are rich to Democrats income range of about 200k is going to be murdered on taxes.

Well she will lose her next election if that happens
-Hillary supporter

Because it's not how much you make but how much you spend. If you blow every dollar you make, at the end of the month you will wonder where you money went and feel like you are not making enough. The more you make, the more you spend unfortunately. I think it shows us that material things are not as valuable as some think. It matters how much you have left over and what you do with that money.

Anonymous wrote:People feel poor bc they had expectations that 250k or 400k or whatever would buy a certain lifestyle. When they realize the world has gotten expensive (and not just DC) then they're disappointed and cry "poor" bc they don't have every thing they want.

Succinct and accurate.

People feel poor bc they had expectations that 250k or 400k or whatever would buy a certain lifestyle. When they realize the world has gotten expensive (and not just DC) then they're disappointed and cry "poor" bc they don't have every thing they want.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I don't get it either. I still vividly remember my first $1k paycheck (earned as a waitress--I could not believe how much more I made waiting tables than I did in my prior job as a teacher!)

I now make just under $100k and I still can't believe it. We live in a great house in a great neighborhood, we have a nanny, we own 2 cars with no car payment. Honestly if anything I feel embarrassed that DH and I together make $185k because I'm sure this is more than my parents ever made or could ever make. We are rich. But I also don't worry too much about what other people have and try to be grateful and generous. And I'm friends with people who make and have less which helps me keep things in perspective.

do you live in DC or a close-in suburb of DC? That HHI would be great without a nanny, but a mortgage and nanny in close-in DC metro seems prohibitively expensive.

Yeah, I don't get it either. I still vividly remember my first $1k paycheck (earned as a waitress--I could not believe how much more I made waiting tables than I did in my prior job as a teacher!)

I now make just under $100k and I still can't believe it. We live in a great house in a great neighborhood, we have a nanny, we own 2 cars with no car payment. Honestly if anything I feel embarrassed that DH and I together make $185k because I'm sure this is more than my parents ever made or could ever make. We are rich. But I also don't worry too much about what other people have and try to be grateful and generous. And I'm friends with people who make and have less which helps me keep things in perspective.

I felt "rich" when I landed a job paying $105k in 2009, even though I had six-figure student debt. I was a 27 y/o, single, and living in an apartment in DC. I lived a very comfortable life, and felt very fortunate.

I'm now 34, with a wife and a young child. Our income has gone up and down over the past several years, but with a general upward trend. HHI is currently $260k. I still have the student debt, but I still feel very well off and very fortunate. We don't have to worry about paying our bills every month, we can afford most of the luxuries that we really want, and we're able to save a lot of our income to build wealth. With luck, we'll have a second kid in a year or two, and I think we'll still be financially comfortable and continue to build wealth.

I know that my wife and I worked hard for what we have, but I also understand that most people aren't afforded the opportunities that we've been given. Overall, I just feel fortunate and grateful.

I also don't understand people who make 300k/year but feel "poor" or strapped for cash. But, I don't get too wrapped up in other people's problems.

I think it's about how they feel relative to the people they hang with--it isn't about rich or poor, but about feeling inadequate/insecure.

Unless you gotta work for the fed gov or related industry, just go take a job somewhere else.

Take a 50% paycut to 150k and live it up!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have HHI of $2.2. And I feel poor. We have a $2.5 million primary, a Million dollar farm in the country and a $2 million house on the Eastern Shore. We also have 7 rentals that throw off about 40k a month- I just use this cash as walking around $- I don't count it as income. We each have cars worth about $125k and our 2 kids go to private schools. We have 2 full time nannies and a house cleaner. I fell like I can Barley make ends meet.

Maybe you should sell one or more properties. Or you could fire the nannies and raise the kids yourself.

Maybe you should realize that post is fake.

Anonymous wrote:We have HHI of $2.2. And I feel poor. We have a $2.5 million primary, a Million dollar farm in the country and a $2 million house on the Eastern Shore. We also have 7 rentals that throw off about 40k a month- I just use this cash as walking around $- I don't count it as income. We each have cars worth about $125k and our 2 kids go to private schools. We have 2 full time nannies and a house cleaner. I fell like I can Barley make ends meet.

Maybe you should sell one or more properties. Or you could fire the nannies and raise the kids yourself.

They feel poor because they've obligated much of their net income.

I was really strapped even while our HHI was about $300K, because we had a mortgage payment and nanny whom we paid more than the mortgage!

Now? No debt at all, kids too old for childcare. Who wouldn't feel rich with an extra $4700 a month?