It seems more and more people are making more money than ever. I've got some friends who have recently hit the magic # of $100k / year salary level. Is $100k / year anything special any more?
I guess it depends on how you define speical. If you think being able to provide a comfortable life for you and your family is special, then yes. If you judge special by how many things you can buy and show off, maybe not.
If I made 100k a year---I would be driving a 360 tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can only dream of that kind of money, hence I am a lowly public servant....
You're about to get a bunch of "100K wouldn't pay my bar tab" posts, but in truth most Americans make well under that number. See http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/income.html for more than you ever wanted to know about income in the US
No, it is not what it used to be. The buying power of $100k is less than what it was just a few years ago. Having said that, 100k is still far above what the average person makes. If the median income value is around $44k, then half the wage earners in the nation make less than that. I think $92k is the number that puts you in the top 10%. Another interesting tidbit - The top 10% wage earners pay 67% of all income taxes. (I got that from Rush Limbaugh, so take that as you will) So yeah, $100k is still a "magic number" and it is special when you surpass it.
With April 15th coming up, I sat down to figure our combined income, just as a lark, as of course we don't pay those, uh, what do you call them, oh yeah, taxes.... So it turns out we are right at 100K. Driving 12-year-old cars (Toyota and VW), living in an apartment, no kids, don't go out. Tonight we are splurging on a $10 pizza delivery because Mrs Dubai got a promotion! So what are we doing with our money? Putting away $50K/yr for retirement.....
Rush isn't quite right. It's the top 20% of taxpayers who pay about 2/3 of all income taxes (depending on the year). Which sounds awful when it's read, but the same CBO stats tell us that the Effective Individual Income Tax rate (taxes/comprehensive household income) for the highest quintile of earners hovers at around 15%.
Doesn't everyone make a 100k/yr? It seems like everyone I talk to says they make 100k, some even say more and bump it to 120k. We should all be thankful for what we have, and the salary we pull in. Although I want raise
A very old man gave me the best money advice ever, when he said to me: 'It's not how much you make, but how much you SAVE'. Scott's post exemplifies this philosophy, and if he keeps it up he will retire both young and financially comfortable. Back to topic! $100k is much less money in NY, LA, SF, than it is in rural US. So it depends on where you are.
They did an interesting study here. I'll see if I can find the actual article and scan it. They polled 100 people in each category and got these responses: 1. Those making 50k/yr annual salary - Are you making enough money? The majority answered, "No, we are not comfortable. We need more." 2. Those making 75k/yr annual salary - Are you making enough money? The majority answered, "No, we are not comfortable. We need more." 3. Those making 100k/yr annual salary - Are you making enough money? The majority answered, "Yes, we are comfortable. We could use more but we're happy." 4. Those making 500k/yr annual salary - Are you making enough money? The majority answered, "No, we are definitely not comfortable. We need to make more." 5. Those making 1MM/yr annual salary - Are you making enough money? The majority answered, "Absolutely not. Very difficult to meet all responsibilities." I guess the inference is that people at 100k/yr tend to live within their means? I'm not sure. I found the whole article depressing.
My wife and I enjoy a comfortable life a little above the 100K combined income mark (she is a teacher so I know about the public servant thing...but at least her benefits are good which saves my company about 15K a year on BlueCross.) We both drive new cars '05 Town and Country for her '06 STS for me (leases) and live in a brand new house. We contribute to retirement accounts and personal investments and save money for our daughter's education. After we get done paying the bills and setting money away for the future we still have some left over. If we didn't have that little amount over 100K we probably would live the same lifestyle but wouldn't have that little bit of extra play money. BTW Ferrari285 I have done the numbers and I can't afford a 360
$100k is a good salary today. The high salaries tend to go to the high education requirements (doctors, etc...) or the hot market (construction now, computer related 8 years ago). My 'salary' used to be $39k , but I haven't had large fees come in a while so I suspended my pay for now. Total compensation is a more accurate description of income, so I still say a salary of $100k is high. With extras (auto allowance, spending acct. etc...) those that get $100k salaries probably have a total comp package of around $130k. Being self employed allows me some flexibility and I choose a lower salary based on the advice of my accountant. BT
Most definitely. $100k won't get you very far in those cities, but in much of the rest of the country, it's a comfortable living wage. All depends on where you live.
That is sad if accurate. My guess is the 500k-1mm people suffer from keeping up with the Joneses disease. Unless your last name is Gates, there's always someone with more money and more toys.
100K isn't much now. people that say it is likely bought their first home before the boom. If you're making 100K and about to purchase a first home, you'll quickly find you need more... with that said, my advice... if you possibly can keep your fixed expenses to about 50% of your take home pay (housing, food, utilities, insurance, basic transport). that leaves 50% for retirement/investment (any 20-30 y/o who makes a decent living, who thinks there getting a penny from soc sec is dreaming), vacation, and toys. if you're lucky enough to hit 200K its doable. probably not doable below that income, unless you already own a home...
I'm in Orange County, CA. My salary is over $100k/year. If you include bonus, I will be at $150k this year (he, he, just got my bonus check the other day). My wife does some part time editing work, but that usually amounts to less than $10k/year. I feel pretty poor. I do save alot of money, which partially accounts for that. I max out my 401k ($14k/year), as well as IRA's for both myself and wife, and education IRA's for the 2 kids, which is a total of $16k/year ($4k max for each IRA). I participate in a company stock purchase plan for the max amount ($25k/year- but I'm not sure this is technically savings, since that money just eventually goes back into my checking accout). In addition, I invest a regular amount monthly into two mutual funds. I have a modest house, with a $300k mortgage. I send my daughter to private school. My wife drives a 2001 saab, and I have a 1991 Alfa and the 1975 308 GT4. I have no debt, other than my mortgage. Of course, taxes, insurance, etc all take a bite out of the pie as well. The other factor in this is living in orange county. Everyone out here (it seems) has an expensive house, and nice cars, toys, vacations, expensive clothes, etc. I have to assume that to live that lifestyle, either they are making way more than $100k/year or are in debt up to their eyeballs. I don't know. Maybe living in "the OC" has skewed my outlook, but as I said above, I feel pretty poor, almost like I am barely making ends meet. Sure, I do have some money for little toys, but I don't see myself keeping up with the OC Joneses at all.
I suppose that depends on where you live. Here, I can buy a 2000 sqft house on an acre or more for 200K, or an older 'normal' home for 100K, even down into the 80s for very livable homes in some of the outlying areas. Not every place is FL, NY, CA (thank doG!). If I were making 100K now in the East Texas town I grew up in, I could buy a very nice spread indeed. Obviously,one could spend much much more on housing here, but it's not like you HAVE to
one person pulling down 100k is far better than a couple, why? three words Marrige penalty tax. yrs ago before my own company 80% of my salary covered our taxes for the yr, no house no kids and leases. 120k gross combined income. now two houses, 2 kids and my own buiss, we have many deductions which helps alot. otherwise pay up.
i feel your pain, when i'm in OC i feel like the bum. my buddy down there is single and clears 250k yr and wonders how others manage, ofcourse he's like most everyone else in OC and is in debt past his eyeballs. i think the meadan income in OC is over 100k i'll have to check. you'r luck though 300k mortgage is rare in OC most homes are 750k+. down the street from my townhome a single faimley postage stamp house is 1.4mil. imagine the payment on that baby!!! not to mention taxes which are at 1.2% $16,800 a yr OUCH!
Location is also a huge factor in determining how much disposable income is available. After the gov. jacks out taxes, what amount goes to bills then finally the RE factor plays into how much rent or mortgage payments are which can be a substantial amount of your after-tax income. If you're living in a major city rents are obviously higher but compensation goes up as well to support the higher cost of living. Being in Manhattan I can safely say unless you're breaking at least the $75K mark, you can bet almost 50% if not more of your annual income after taxes is going to rent (forget about buying in Manhattan unless you've got serious bank like upwards of a $1 million, which by NYC standards still isn't much). Although I'm not in this category, I have single friends whose income levels are below $100k and believe me they're always concerned about what they can and can't spend or more like can't and can't spend.
