Posted on 07/04/2005 9:04:00 PM PDT by Selkie
It's a question that plagues the successful and the aspiring: How much does a family need to net each year to lead a comfortable affluent life?
We are not talking about great riches; there are millions of Americans who work hard to be able to afford the best for their families--and themselves--but who don't entertain notions of owning private jets, sprawling country estates or closets full of the latest fashions. Their goals are more grounded: a good education for their children, a nice house, a weekend place, the occasional trip, a night out once a week and a little money in the bank.
We attempted to tally what it would take for a family of four to live well in different parts of the country, starting with every state in the Northeast. We looked at one city in each state and factored in a range of costs, including housing, cars, education, dining and health care.
So what does it cost to live well? We have the answer--or at least some ballpark figures. And it isn't cheap.
Our totals ranged from about $215,000 (for Portland, Me.) to a whopping half-a-million dollars (for, not surprisingly, New York City). And that's the net of local, state and federal taxes, and includes very little savings. Less-urban upper New England tended to be the least expensive place to live well, while medium-sized cities such as Baltimore and Philadelphia ranked in the middle, and the big metropolises and surrounding areas, such as New York, Boston and Greenwich, Conn., were tops when it came to costs.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
What a silly statement.
I think you are out by the mountains, no? We were more coastal, inland; but more towards the coast.
We're 35 miles due SOUTH of Danville VA. :-) Just about smack right in the middle of the state, but more toward the north. The mountains are a couple of hours to the west.
Are you close enough for good trout fishing?
It's about 3 hours to the mountains. Not too bad a drive. :-)
What utter crap. When did they buy their house? Car? What savings and investments to they have? What kind of lifestyle do they indulge in? When did they elect to pay for "private school" and a "private college" for their family to the exclusion of other necessities?
IMO if your investment earnings aren't equal to your annual earnings by the time you are 40-45, you have made some poor investment choices. Who wants to work until they are 65 or 70?
Or didn't start investing soon enough...
...or paid your way out of debt first...
...or you make a LOT of money! etc.
Otherwise, Cheers!
Why would anyone find a 100k debt, say at 6% so tough when they can continue investing, making 15% probably. Pay off the debt, have established a financial record of positive investment, borrow another 250k, invest it and continue on the plus side.
I have always found it much more pleasing to earn money with loans from the bank, of course while continuing to invest my own.
read later
LOL! OK, 3.7M worth of residential real estate on an annual income of 359K doesn't work. To plan sensibly, one's total real estate liability with that income should be about 1M, with annual payments in the neighborhood of 80-90K.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.