There may be some correlation between high earners and not seeing kids, but unfortunately I don't get much time either because 2 nights a week I work an extra job, because we don't live that close to work we have longer commutes so even with staggering...kid is dropped off at 8 am and picked up at 5:45 pm. That means I get 6:30 to 8 am, and 5:45 to 7:30 pm. I live for weekends with my kid.

Anonymous wrote:I'm one of those high earners. Yes, we see our kids...

I would say that at least 4 weeknights out of every week, I am home by 6:30-7 pm. I sometimes do more work after the kids go to bed, but that is fine. I sometimes wish I could get home at 5ish but all in all, I feel like I'm not missing much in that extra hour (at least yet...).

Not trying to be mean here, but if you get home by 7, and your kids have to be in bed by maybe 8:00 or 8:30 . . . That's not much time.

This is the most obnoxious thread and is a good reflection of why so many on this forum don't have a clue about middle class Americans and their problems.

No wonder I feel so poor even though we are pulling in over 6 figures combined.

I work PT and make @$30K (probably would be $50K+ if working FT). My husband makes $90K. We're both 33. We have a $1500 mortgage on a tiny TH in Reston and one child in daycare 3 days/week @$800/month. We put 15% into retirement (mostly into Roths because we actually still qualify for them, unlike most people in this area it seems). We put some money monthly into savings and a 529 for our daughter (never as much as I want us to, but we're lucky to be able to put anything aside considering what most normal people are dealing with right now). Having another baby would mean we'd have to stop retirement contributions for a while. We have 2 paid off cars and really don't want to figure out how to fit car payments back into our budget when we have to get our next car. No student loans because my parents covered mine and he had his paid mostly by the military+GI Bill.

I always thought we'd be doing really well to be making over 6 figures - sucks to realize it doesn't go very far in this area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bethesda mortgage: 4700/month

me: 125,000
hub: 160,000

one dear boy

painful.

I'm the $4,800/month from above. so glad to see we have some company. Our incomes are pretty close. Way I look at it, it will be painful for a few years, but sooner or later inflation will kick in and/or our incomes will rise.

Wow, both of your households are big risk takers. We have an HHI of almost $400,000 and our mortgage payment is only $2,800 (though we pay extra). Even at our income level, there's no way I'd feel comfortable spending almost $5K a month on just PITI. I must be very risk averse.

At 400k, you're either extremely risk averse or cheap.

Or smart.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bethesda mortgage: 4700/month

me: 125,000
hub: 160,000

one dear boy

painful.

I'm the $4,800/month from above. so glad to see we have some company. Our incomes are pretty close. Way I look at it, it will be painful for a few years, but sooner or later inflation will kick in and/or our incomes will rise.

Wow, both of your households are big risk takers. We have an HHI of almost $400,000 and our mortgage payment is only $2,800 (though we pay extra). Even at our income level, there's no way I'd feel comfortable spending almost $5K a month on just PITI. I must be very risk averse.

At 400k, you're either extremely risk averse or cheap.

1. Most lawyers make shit money. The only ones who can afford to stay close-in in DC (and the only ones who seem to post to this board) are the ones that make BANK. Most attorneys I know make less than $50K.

2. I know lawyers get a bum rap, but seriously, move to a corrupt developing country and then come back and tell me that lawyers are less necessary than doctors. The US's strong rule of law and well-trained lawyers (in most countries, lawyers only go to undergrad) is what allows us to have relatively safe, non-corrupt daily lives.

P.S. In most other countries, medicine is also an undergrad degree. I think your beef is that medical degrees here are RETARDED -- spending that long and then working slave labor before becoming a doctor makes no sense -- medicine is BROKEN in this country. I should know, I decided not to become a doctor after getting great MCAT scores because I didn't want to go through the whole damn mess.

I'm not a lawyer (but I have a lot of lawyer friends) and I get so tired of the hatin'.

^^^ Hmm, so is it about how "important the work is or how much time was spent obtaining the degree?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ME 150K fed
DH 750K law firm partner

Live in NWDC, hopefully soon moving to Maryland

DH physician/surgeon $300,000. About 10 years of training post graduate. What a shame the attorney who puts in 3 lousy years is earning that kind of money. I won't show this to him...how depressing. Law-ridiculous profession...ridiculous salaries. Tragic.

What's tragic is that you're bitter about the fact that you didn't marry as well as the poster you quoted.

Should we all start being envious and complaining? Okay, I'll continue-

It is so depressing that your doctor husband makes more money than a social worker! Ridiculous!

But, I wouldn't want a social worker operating on me with only two years of training.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ME 150K fed
DH 750K law firm partner

Live in NWDC, hopefully soon moving to Maryland

DH physician/surgeon $300,000. About 10 years of training post graduate. What a shame the attorney who puts in 3 lousy years is earning that kind of money. I won't show this to him...how depressing. Law-ridiculous profession...ridiculous salaries. Tragic.

trust me, LOTS of lawyers making $50K or unemployed. partners making that kind of money are the elite.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ME 150K fed
DH 750K law firm partner

Live in NWDC, hopefully soon moving to Maryland

DH physician/surgeon $300,000. About 10 years of training post graduate. What a shame the attorney who puts in 3 lousy years is earning that kind of money. I won't show this to him...how depressing. Law-ridiculous profession...ridiculous salaries. Tragic.

What's tragic is that you're bitter about the fact that you didn't marry as well as the poster you quoted.

Should we all start being envious and complaining? Okay, I'll continue-

It is so depressing that your doctor husband makes more money than a social worker! Ridiculous!

Anonymous wrote:ME 150K fed
DH 750K law firm partner

Live in NWDC, hopefully soon moving to Maryland

DH physician/surgeon $300,000. About 10 years of training post graduate. What a shame the attorney who puts in 3 lousy years is earning that kind of money. I won't show this to him...how depressing. Law-ridiculous profession...ridiculous salaries. Tragic.

ME 150K fed
DH 750K law firm partner

Live in NWDC, hopefully soon moving to Maryland

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember ...kids grow up in a flash. They need you. In the afternoon, after school, when they are sick, to see you in their schools,etc. I am a cancer survivor and cancer woke me up to the fact that none of us will live forever. Don't waste those precious moments with your children because you were slaving away at the law firm. Life goes very quickly and so does childhood.

Yeah, and what do you do when you're 55 and an empty nester? The last 30 years of your life are important, too.

hah! WHen I'm 55 my kids will barely be in their teens .... oh well

How much do people typically save for college per month per kid?