Posted on 02/27/2005 4:31:19 AM PST by MississippiMasterpiece
Typical lib bias. Nothing in the article mentions the fact that taxes continue to soar. What is 'given' back by the feds is eaten up by the state and local second-handers. The author also neglects to mention the high consumption lifestyles of these people 'struggling' on $100K. Dr. Thomas Stanley does an excellent job in "The Millionaire Next Door" and "The Millionaire Mind" showing how most high income households spend way too much and save very little. They are pseudo-affluent...As they say in Texas...Big Hat...No Cattle.
Well, say no more.
This country does not save enough.
The Chinese and Indians are saving 20-40% of their income.
Americans save maybe 1-2%. We are spoiled. We are saddled with huge debt.
The day of reckoning is approaching and it's going to be ugly.
No sympathy for those whiners.
I view this article as part of an organized strategy to increase the social security maximum from $90,000 to $200,000.
$200,000 for family isn't all that much in the D.C. area....
Excellent insight!! There is an ideological reason behind every story that appears in the NY Times.
Housing in cities like New York, Boston and San Francisco can cost three or four times that of the national median...
Otherwise you are just getting drained...
DC metro is second to the Bay Area in cost of living, as my company found in a recent market study. I'll try to post the sources. It's proving to be a tremendous hindrance in recruiting talent to the area. A routine 3 bedroom townhouse in an average neighborhood can run $500k. I have a single friend looking to buy a home and she's being referred to condos straight out of Sanford and Son for $350k. Add the local tax burden in MD/DC/VA and it's ridiculous.
It's not what you make. It's what you end up with. Live a modest life style, save when you can, don't spend what you don't have and we can eventually get rid of SSA.
Errrr.... Trump is a multimillionare, chicky.
You're making a year what he makes in a day.
My hair is still better.
Hear! Hear! How many of the 100K earners even have a budget?
Awesome message http://daveramsey.com/
I keep reading that the cost of living is exhorbitant in NYC, and kept that in mind while reading this article. It sounds like most of the $100K earned per year there could easily go just for housing.
I live in southern Ohio, in a suburb. $100,000 would get you a pretty nice life here---not "rich," but far, far from lower middle class. But $200k per year pretty much puts you in the lower-upper or even mid-upper class here. It all depends on how you spend your money. All they seem to build here in Dayton are $400k to $1m homes.
Yul Brynner's hair is better than Trumps.
The Milken Insititute has done a pretty solid study of savings in America. When you figure that 1) Americans put 12% of their income, mandatory, in SS, well, THAT COUNTS. You can't just dismiss it because "we won't get it." The fact is, the program will be sustained, reformed, and, yes, in some way (perhaps slightly discounted) we will get it. So that's 12% right off the bat that is normally saved for retirement.
2) When you calculate the benefits of most company health plans, that adds another 6-10%. Remember, two of the main reasons for saving are retirement and health emergencies. My dad did not have a retirement plan or a company health plan, so of course he saved 35% of his pay.
3) Most companies have some retirement plans on top of SS, so that has to be factored in.
4) Finally, most other nations have nowhere NEAR the same home ownership rates that we have, and, yes, homes are assets. Most people make money on their homes over their lifetimes and when they get ready to retire sell their homes for a profit and get a condo. This, too, is savings.
When the Milken Institute held these variables constant in contrast with, say, Japan, it turns out our savings rates are identical.
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