nowadays....how much one must make annually before ...

[meresal]

FF''s sister decided to go to NYC to make it as a dancer instead of college. By no means "roughing" it... his parents got her an apt in Trump Towers for her own safety. About 6 months ago, I was talking with his mom, and she shot the idea by me that they were contemplating just buying real estate (over $1 mil), because it was smarter, until she''s ready to move on and then sell it. My jaw dropped when I heard what they were paying monthly for her rent. And when we go there at the end of this month, we will be paying over $300 a night to stay at a hotel down the street, bc she can only fit one overnight guest at a time. LOL!!!

 

[Shoopy]

I don’t believe in X amount gives you a good life. You can have a good life making $20K if you know how to spend wisely. When a friend of mine and I were making the same amount (less than $30K), she was up to her ears in credit card debt while I was able to save and buy myself a condo.

As it is now, between my boyfriend and I we bring in $90K. It’s lower than most people in Miami but we live very well because we aren’t materialistic people. When you don’t spend your money on crap, even $5 can go far.

 

[ursulawrite]

Date: 7/11/2008 11:00:18 AM
Author: neatfreak

Date: 7/11/2008 10:58:00 AM
Author: jcrow


i dunno. i find this whole thread shocking

if it costs so much to live + have kids in manhattan, are the salaries just that much higher there to go along with the cost of living?

I think the perspective is skewed here...of course it is expensive, but you don''t NEED nannies, or private schools, or bugaboo''s etc...I know plenty of people who raise kids in NY and make much much much less than that. And they do just fine.

I think if you want to compete with the big boys in NYC those estimates are on target. If you just want to live a normal life, you can certainly make do with a lot lot less.

Are they in Manhattan? I had friends who used to live in the city. They, along with their two toddlers, lived in a non-flashy 1.5-bedroom apartment. The local public school was poorly rated, so they went private for three years, but by the time the youngest reached pre-k, they moved out of the city, unable to afford the cost of living any longer. They were probably making $200k combined and bought mostly second-hand furniture, ate only at local restaurants, and only ever bought at the Gap sale. This is not intended to be a sob story, simply fact. Raising kids in Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn etc. is much more doable. Yes, it can be done in Manhattan but immense sacrifices are often made. (True story: I know another married couple who live in a one-bedroom; they sleep in the bedroom while their six-year-old takes his spot on the sofa every night.)

This is from tregny.com, relating to current rental costs in Manhattan. I would think that most people with a kid want that second bedroom!

Non-Doorman Buildings (Average Prices)​

Most Expensive​

Least Expensive​

Studios​

TriBeCa $2,987​

Harlem $1,287​

One-Bedrooms​

TriBeCa $4,177​

Harlem $1,782​

Two-Bedrooms​

TriBeCa $7,285​

Harlem $2,405​

Doorman Buildings (Average Prices)​

Most Expensive​

Least Expensive​

Studios​

SoHo $2,903​

Harlem $1,289​

One-Bedrooms​

SoHo $4,892​

Harlem $1,810​

Two-Bedrooms​

SoHo $7,013​

Harlem $2,636​

 

[meresal]

Date: 7/11/2008 11:33:52 AM
Author: fieryred33143

I don’t believe in X amount gives you a good life. You can have a good life making $20K if you know how to spend wisely. When a friend of mine and I were making the same amount (less than $30K), she was up to her ears in credit card debt while I was able to save and buy myself a condo.

As it is now, between my boyfriend and I we bring in $90K. It’s lower than most people in Miami but we live very well because we aren’t materialistic people. When you don’t spend your money on crap, even $5 can go far.

Fiery: The OP was "What do you consider a high paying job". That is why everyone is talking about VERY high salaries and how they differ dramatically in different markets. Just wanted to throw that out there, before anything gets out of hand.

 

[Shoopy]

Date: 7/11/2008 11:42:41 AM
Author: meresal

Date: 7/11/2008 11:33:52 AM
Author: fieryred33143

I don’t believe in X amount gives you a good life. You can have a good life making $20K if you know how to spend wisely. When a friend of mine and I were making the same amount (less than $30K), she was up to her ears in credit card debt while I was able to save and buy myself a condo.

As it is now, between my boyfriend and I we bring in $90K. It’s lower than most people in Miami but we live very well because we aren’t materialistic people. When you don’t spend your money on crap, even $5 can go far.

Fiery: The OP was ''What do you consider a high paying job''. That is why everyone is talking about VERY high salaries and how they differ dramatically in different markets. Just wanted to throw that out there, before anything gets out of hand.

Um ok LOL Didn''t really see where or why my comment would be taken out of hand but thanks for clarifying

And to that point I guess in Miami high paying would be $350K. That should get you a good home in the Grove or in the Gables which is where most people strive to live in these areas.

 

[Lauren8211]

Date: 7/11/2008 11:53:44 AM
Author: fieryred33143

Date: 7/11/2008 11:42:41 AM
Author: meresal

Date: 7/11/2008 11:33:52 AM
Author: fieryred33143

I don’t believe in X amount gives you a good life. You can have a good life making $20K if you know how to spend wisely. When a friend of mine and I were making the same amount (less than $30K), she was up to her ears in credit card debt while I was able to save and buy myself a condo.

As it is now, between my boyfriend and I we bring in $90K. It’s lower than most people in Miami but we live very well because we aren’t materialistic people. When you don’t spend your money on crap, even $5 can go far.

Fiery: The OP was ''What do you consider a high paying job''. That is why everyone is talking about VERY high salaries and how they differ dramatically in different markets. Just wanted to throw that out there, before anything gets out of hand.

Um ok LOL Didn''t really see where or why my comment would be taken out of hand but thanks for clarifying

And to that point I guess in Miami high paying would be $350K. That should get you a good home in the Grove or in the Gables which is where most people strive to live in these areas.

Well after yesterday''s Waffle House fiasco, you never can be too careful.

 

[meresal]

Fiery: The only reason I said something was becuase many people don''t read all the posts, and if they were to comment on yours alone... it would look as though we were talking that "Huge salaries = Great Lifestyle". This exact discussion started a couple weeks ago, in another thread I can''t think of at the moment.

I hate that we have to do this nowadays... I didn''t mean to offend you if I did.

.

 

[Anna0499]

To answer OP's question, if I made $150,000 I would consider that "good money" but I am only 25 and am currently in school so I hope to make more than that as I get older. Salaries are highly variable in the legal community, with the floor being about $50,000 (from what I heard

) to millions in the big cities/high profile clients, etc.

It is obvious that the cost of living will alter what is considered "good money," but I think it also depends on what field you are in and what your expectations where when you decided to enter that field. Someone who went to school for 8 years after high school would probably expect to make more than someone who did not graduate from high school at all. That's not to say the quality of life or actual salaries would be any different between the two in actuality, but I think it would affect expectations both from the individual themselves and society in general. i.e. a graduate from medical school would expect and be expected to make much more than a high school dropout. What would be considered a high paying job for the dropout would not be considered the same by the medical school graduate. I think $50,000/year would enable someone to live well in Indiana, but someone who has several tens of thousands of dollars of school loans from professional graduate school would probably re-evaluate their career and educational choices if they earned that much.

 

[meresal]

Date: 7/11/2008 11:53:44 AM
Author: fieryred33143

Date: 7/11/2008 11:42:41 AM
Author: meresal

Date: 7/11/2008 11:33:52 AM
Author: fieryred33143

I don’t believe in X amount gives you a good life. You can have a good life making $20K if you know how to spend wisely. When a friend of mine and I were making the same amount (less than $30K), she was up to her ears in credit card debt while I was able to save and buy myself a condo.

As it is now, between my boyfriend and I we bring in $90K. It’s lower than most people in Miami but we live very well because we aren’t materialistic people. When you don’t spend your money on crap, even $5 can go far.

Fiery: The OP was ''What do you consider a high paying job''. That is why everyone is talking about VERY high salaries and how they differ dramatically in different markets. Just wanted to throw that out there, before anything gets out of hand.

Um ok LOL Didn''t really see where or why my comment would be taken out of hand but thanks for clarifying

And to that point I guess in Miami high paying would be $350K. That should get you a good home in the Grove or in the Gables which is where most people strive to live in these areas.

I didn''t even think about it before, but C and I combined are right around you and your SO''s salary, and I am VERY frugal. We''re in Houston, but we still don''t save nearly as much as I would like. It''s kind of upsetting when you think about it, but we like to travel and that makes us happy, so as long as we''re saving a good amount and we can still be happy, then I''m just dandy!!

 

[violet02]

I used to think making six figures was high paying. Now I think six figures in silicon valley is doing ''okay''. Although I have friends that make 60-80k a year and live in SF fine. My FI and I each make low six figures, so combined that''s not bad. But I think if we made triple six figures (total) instead of the double we do we''d be ''set''. As it stands now we could buy a house etc but we''d be tight every month to make those morgatge payments. That''s why we want to move out of state eventually. We have jobs that we can continue to make good money in but somewhere else the dollar would go further.

 

[jewelerman]

Where I live(western united states)making over$50,000 is still a decent job.In my state, By definition, if you make over $45,000 than you are at the beginning start of upper middle class (seriously).

 

[HollyS]

Location is the key. Here, $150K would be comfortably upper middle class, with enough $$ to put into savings and retirement accounts without any big sacrifice. And it would be considered a fairly high-paying job. Not so on the east or west coast, or in major cities across the country.

One of the problems we have in this country is the rather ridiculous differences in pay, real estate prices, etc. between major cities, coastal areas, and smaller towns/cities. My middle class is your poor; your well-off is my wealthy. And so on. That misconception about each other leads to more divisiveness than diversity, and fuels a lot of frustration, especially for the ''have-nots''.

I choose to live in small town America, where my dollar will stretch its farthest. And $150K would be my dream job!





My new retirement plan (since the Dow is tanking my 401K even as we chat) is to play the MegaMillions lotto. It''s at $75 million for tonight''s drawing!

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Holly, I live in small town America too, and I''m SO glad! I really feel for the people who live in big cities . . . it''s just unbelievably expensive!

Here on the Mason-Dixon line, a household income of $50,000 or so seems about average. If your household income is $100,000 or more, you''re doing really well.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 7/11/2008 10:47:43 AM
Author: Bliss

I gotta send my mom flowers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At other times I wonder if you really NEED all that stuff. There are so many families in smaller cities who do far more with less. And their kids turn out to be great, too. Here in Manhattan, people work so hard and they have nannies for their kids. And I know couples who hardly see their babies because of how hard they''re working to pay the nanny and live a cush lifestyle.

Makes me want a simpler life if ours should ever come to that! What do you think?

then why have kids?

 

[Dancing Fire]

guys, thanks for making my day

after reading these replies.... i now feel like we're living in poverty compare to many members here.

 

[jewelerman]

Dancing Fire,
i can make you feel better...i havent been employed for 3 months and today i just paid $1,200 for medical insurance and cobra payments.There are some weeks i dont leave the house because of the cost of gas.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 7/11/2008 2:35:02 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl
Holly, I live in small town America too, and I'm SO glad! I really feel for the people who live in big cities . . . it's just unbelievably expensive!

Here on the Mason-Dixon line, a household income of $50,000 or so seems about average. If your household income is $100,000 or more, you're doing really well.

heard on the news that only 15% of the people in the U.S. earn a 6 figure income.

 

[iwannaprettyone]

Hatfields and McCoys.

Jones.

I don''t care about the $$$ amount, I just like to have that feeling of security. I have that, and that is enough for me.

 

[violet02]

Date: 7/11/2008 10:10:12 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
heard on the news that only 15% of the people in the U.S. earn a 6 figure income.

For some reason that number seems low to me, but I have a skewed view of things living and working where I do maybe.

 

[elle_chris]

Date: 7/11/2008 11:00:18 AM
Author: neatfreak


I think the perspective is skewed here...of course it is expensive, but you don''t NEED nannies, or private schools, or bugaboo''s etc...I know plenty of people who raise kids in NY and make much much much less than that. And they do just fine.

I think if you want to compete with the big boys in NYC those estimates are on target. If you just want to live a normal life, you can certainly make do with a lot lot less.

I''m also in Manhattan, Battery Park City and I agree with the above statement 100%. While we don''t have children yet, I see friends who do- do fine on less than a million a year. Less than 500k too.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

All I can say is that I am extremely thankful to live where I do! Anything over $100,000 is considered fairly high paying. Average teacher pay here is probably in the $40,000 range. Our 22 year old daughter started teaching this past year and was able to buy a small 1100 sq. ft. house on a half acre lot in a very nice area for $125,000. She has a roommate which helps her be able to afford it. She was only making $30,000.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Date: 7/12/2008 11:51:08 AM
Author: diamondseeker2006
All I can say is that I am extremely thankful to live where I do! Anything over $100,000 is considered fairly high paying. Average teacher pay here is probably in the $40,000 range. Our 22 year old daughter started teaching this past year and was able to buy a small 1100 sq. ft. house on a half acre lot in a very nice area for $125,000. She has a roommate which helps her be able to afford it. She was only making $30,000.

I think this is fantastic--this is how it was when my parents were buying a home, homes cost maybe 2 - 3x the average annual household income.

To be honest, this is what scares the crap out of me about having a mortgage--knowing that I HAVE to make a certain amount of money to afford to live. Then again, saving up for a house so you can buy it without having a mortgage takes a decade or more!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 7/12/2008 12:04:07 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady

Date: 7/12/2008 11:51:08 AM
Author: diamondseeker2006
All I can say is that I am extremely thankful to live where I do! Anything over $100,000 is considered fairly high paying. Average teacher pay here is probably in the $40,000 range. Our 22 year old daughter started teaching this past year and was able to buy a small 1100 sq. ft. house on a half acre lot in a very nice area for $125,000. She has a roommate which helps her be able to afford it. She was only making $30,000.

I think this is fantastic--this is how it was when my parents were buying a home, homes cost maybe 2 - 3x the average annual household income.

To be honest, this is what scares the crap out of me about having a mortgage--knowing that I HAVE to make a certain amount of money to afford to live. Then again, saving up for a house so you can buy it without having a mortgage takes a decade or more!

Yes, I hate debt but it is necessary to lock in the price of a house and buy with a mortgage. We always tried to pay extra toward the principal when we had extra money and were able to pay it off early.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 7/12/2008 11:51:08 AM
Author: diamondseeker2006
All I can say is that I am extremely thankful to live where I do! Anything over $100,000 is considered fairly high paying. Average teacher pay here is probably in the $40,000 range. Our 22 year old daughter started teaching this past year and was able to buy a small 1100 sq. ft. house on a half acre lot in a very nice area for $125,000. She has a roommate which helps her be able to afford it. She was only making $30,000.

This was my experience when I moved to TX. I was shocked at how nice homes were in the lower $100k range.

I think I would say that $150k (individual salary) as high paying in DFW. Anything over $100k safely places you in the upper-middle class.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 7/12/2008 9:23:51 AM
Author: violet02

Date: 7/11/2008 10:10:12 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
heard on the news that only 15% of the people in the U.S. earn a 6 figure income.

For some reason that number seems low to me, but I have a skewed view of things living and working where I do maybe.

not really,i think the avg income in the U.S. is under $40k.

you live in Silicon Valley?

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 7/12/2008 3:55:48 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 7/12/2008 9:23:51 AM
Author: violet02

Date: 7/11/2008 10:10:12 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
heard on the news that only 15% of the people in the U.S. earn a 6 figure income.

For some reason that number seems low to me, but I have a skewed view of things living and working where I do maybe.

not really,i think the avg income in the U.S. is under $40k.

you live in Silicon Valley?

I heard something similar to DF on people who make six figures.
I thought this was an interesting read on the median income by state and by other criteria; not to sure how accurate it is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States

 

[MrsBold]

I live in Orange County, so a high paying job for most here is upwards of $100k a year.

Me and the FH bring in about $65K combined (I believe, not positive) and do well for college students on our own. My personal view is a household income of 90-100K is high paying.

We also hate living here (to many spoiled people) and plan to move to AZ or somewhere similar. I look forward to a lower cost of living.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 7/12/2008 4:54:52 PM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 7/12/2008 3:55:48 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 7/12/2008 9:23:51 AM
Author: violet02

Date: 7/11/2008 10:10:12 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
heard on the news that only 15% of the people in the U.S. earn a 6 figure income.

For some reason that number seems low to me, but I have a skewed view of things living and working where I do maybe.

not really,i think the avg income in the U.S. is under $40k.

you live in Silicon Valley?

I heard something similar to DF on people who make six figures.
I thought this was an interesting read on the median income by state and by other criteria; not to sure how accurate it is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States

looks like PS member avg over $100K annually.