I think the fact that you found HP means you're
1) smarter than the general population
2) interested in personal finance
3) knew there was a housing bubble
4) have a good job
5) are good with your money
6) make more than the average person
So, informal survey - no user names allowed on this thread. Just list what you do and how much does your household pull down a year.
Bonus points for what your monthly housing costs are (rent or own) and how much you have in savings
June 12, 2007
HP Survey - what do you do and how much do you make? (everyone post as ANON on this thread only)
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364 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 364 of 364Thanks for this thread very interesting reading.
I'm early 30's
Performance Analyst for a major endowment
70K a year Gross salary
10k cash savings
15K in 401K
rent in SF 725/month
no debt
My savings should be much better but I was very careless up to now though I did have a good time. I plan to start socking away as much as I can and hopefully increasing my pay.
$55k software engineer
$50k gold/silver
Ride motorcycle, no car: work across the street, rent vehicle for $40/day when needed.
Walk/ride everywhere.
Rent 2br/1ba for $840/mo in Scottsdale, AZ.
No wife.
No kids.
No worries.
I'm the King of Me.
30 yrs old. Translator by trade, now a mid-level bureaucrat making about 80K/year.
Wife is an exec assistant at about 50K a year, so 130K gross total.
As someone else here said, our govt pensions save us from needing to save much for retirement, but we still have about 65K in the bank between the two of us. Probably a back-to-school fund for one of us.
We bought a house for $275,000 on a 5-year fixed term at 4.5%. Mortgage payment, taxes, house insurance, etc is about $1,700 a month, which is exactly what I'd get for this place if I rented it out.
We have (relatively) low savings because most of our money goes to making extra mortgage payments - we pay off an additional $25-30K in principal a year so we can get the bulk of it paid off before my 5 year term is up and I have to re-sign at a likely substantially higher rate.
No other debt, aside from a rotating credit card debt under $1K, to collect points. In the past 4 years, I've paid a total of $300 in interest on my credit cards, and collected enough points for a home theatre system (value $800), new bathroom fixtures ($200), a few nights out at the movies, a good set of steak knives and about $400 in Home Depot certificates.
High School Teacher
Economics and Math
65k
30k in cash, the rest in 403b
rent 800/mo.
I love teaching. Very content with life. Am very worried about the future of our country.
I am a realtor of 13 yrs.!
I currently am on the government tit!
I am very good with my money, I have a gold Rolex, 2 Hummers, a vacation home and second home!
I am just waiting for the market turn around
......because real estate only goes up!
Software engineer/youth group leader making 84,000 Cdn/year. Mortgage is $1400/month + strata = $300/month. Non-retirement savings only around $2000
$250K+ comb income, Hi-Tech Sales Rep. Renting in CDM, house for $4,000. Sold our House in CDM June 2006. UCSB, BA Econ. No Debit. $1.2m in the bank. Having fun
Shift manager at Arby's ($85K) and I own my home outright.
Home repair. 80k, wife makes 30k as CNA after health insurance taken out. Have 210k mortgage and manage to put only about 1k per month into savings.
25 years old, I make around 60k a year, i'm in real estate.
Almost 10k in mutual funds and bonds
Still have a chunk of debt from college, but i'm working on paying that off.
Don't own, and quite frankly don't think its smart to buy right now in my area (bay area, ca) cause of all the turmoil.
After reading this thread, I have come to the conclusion that I am dirt poor, make dinky-doo, and am a complete loser (airline pilot, good savings, rent for 16% of gross income).
Folks on this thread are a sample that is several sigma off the norm for college grads.
No wonder home prices are so high. Everyone is making a fortune.
mechanical engineer, boston area. $86,000 per year.
about 130,000 in savings. 150,000 in 401k.
rent for $900..will be inheriting about $90,000 in a year or so. Pay my credit card off in full each month (never carried a balance). New car....paid cash for it.
I am single, and that helps. I am extremely free....
aircraft mech, 68K
surgeon and scientist more than 600k, making large investment improving current home (110k mtg) equally short home builders/subprime banks as hedge to investment in home.
I like the pictures and easy reading format of this blog.
Wow, I don't think so many people making over $70K/yr have been convened in the same spot since last year's tycoon convention.
IT admin
Central TX
<$40K
$925 rent + ~$100 bills
zero debt
$30K in CDs/IRAs earning 5%
Enjoying being a "bitter renter", prepared to become a first time homebuyer on MY terms.
Engineer and Laywer ~CAD$200k
~$120k in stocks
~$75k in RRSPs
~$10k in savings (ING)
Rent 2 BR for $1400/m
Could buy similar for mortgage+taxes+strata of around $3000/m
Patiently waiting for Mish's prediction: "Vancouver Canada is going to implode like Florida did."
Programmer, 85k. Fiance makes 90k. Approx 100k in savings. Another 110k in 401k and 30k in pension fund.
Bay Area couple
Wife and I total 230K salary
Savings: ~80K
Stocks: ~70K
Unvested stock options: ~20K
401k: 110K
House: 675K with 350K down payment, current value 810K per Zillow
Mortgage: $1675/month (5-yr ARM @ 4.65%)
Truck Driver Greenfield Mo Left Ca 4 yrs ago paid cash for home. debt free
making 60K having the time of my life.
$100,000 government engineer.
$40,000 from wife as school accountant.
Live in Southern California in $2 million house, owe $850,000 and have $3,718 interest only payments for 5 years. Will probably downsize after our only kid goes to college next year, and probably rent with $1 million in the bank. Never did a cashout refinance. Starting up hedge fund.
Freelance financial writer. $200K in NYC Metro. Have owned own home in burbs for 16 years. Was valued at $1 million before all this. Now, who knows. Savings about $250k.
NY Metro is weird. People in the city pay (without blinking) $3-5k per month rent on holes in the wall. Out in the burbs, $1.5 million homes are stacked up to be sold (24-month invntory), like cordwood. It's gotta break. How can there be so many dumps costing so much rent in NYC when big, nice homes 20 minutes away are dropping like flies? I don't care. I'll wait it out.
37 yr old Network/Messaging Admin $75K salary + $15K for outside consulting.
Purchased home in '95 at HUD auction for 52K. Dual master bedroom condo. Payment was $527 PITI and rented room to friend/roomate for $525 so payment was net $2.
Sold in 2001 and pocketed 85K tax free. Currently renting for $450 mo as part of rent+consulting for biz owner who owns the duplex.
Laughing my butt off at a market that has not made any sense for the past 5 years.
Will be back in 09 to cleanup all over again.
Everybody seems to make more than me....I'm making 45k in marketing nyc, I pay 1200 in rent. 6k in savings, 22k in student loans (down from 29k when I graduated 2 years ago). I envy almost everyone else's financial situation who left a comment. Seriously, how do you people get all the money you say you do?
Structural Steel Ironworker, NYC.
100K.
Wife, 60K as an Autocad designer for engineering company.
49,00 collected in rent from two single family homes.
900K in cash, one mortgage of 1105 a month, two paid-for homes take about 15K in taxes and ins.
Three months supply of food, 3K rounds of ammo for each weapon.
No job! looking. live in maui. rent 900per month. Sold in one state and bought a house in another state with the proceeds. Low payment and 5.5 30year. That my back up plan if maui does not work. I still have alot of cash on top of the house i bought. Hoping build on maui and keep house in other state. If i can secure a job i'll stay. if not on to my low payment house. Buying low and selling other properties has moved me ahead about 30 years financially. Plan to own outright where i end up by 38. I'm in my 30's. With about 100,000 in the bank. Will not drive over priced car or house i just seek freedom from the typical 9-5.I figure no house payment and 100,000cash no debt. I'm close.
I've owned a few small IT companies, now I'm buying foreclosures and flipping them. I'm buying starter homes at less then 70% LTV. That market is still hot in my area... At least for now, but I'm watching closely.
I make about 90-100k a year.
I bought my house pre bubble for 161k. It peaked at about 440k and now has slid to about 399k.
I pay about $1,250 piti, total housing expenses are about $2,500/mo.
I've got about $880k in savings (was in stocks till about a few weeks ago, but that bubble's gonna pop too...)
I have to admit that it feels a little odd to have just under $1 million in liquid cash on hand.
I'm waiting for everything to flush out so I can buy buy buy... :) (stocks and houses)
80k
$ 1,700 rent all-in
2m in savings
---------------
Retired. Age would have been a good part of this question.
Federal Govt (20 years), salary $95K
savings/investments: $500k
monthly rent: $1,300 (2BR Apt in D.C. area)
Junior Broker (32 y/o) with a great firm in SW FL....should make about $90k this year. Wife (28 y/o) makes about $60k and we are renting a new 2500 sq/ft house for $1500/month. We'll be debt-free in about 2 months and are stashing cash. We're happy as clams to not have bought 2 years ago when everyone told us to.....
Residential Real Estate Appraiser in Central Florida. Own house free and clear for 20 years. No debt. Conservative multinational investments. Keeping my "powder dry" for the coming opportunites in real estate. $80-120k per year depending on the business. Live well within my means and travel alot and enjoy life. cheers!
Staying in India. Sold two apartments in Jan and March 2005 at neat profit. Making about 120K USD. Staying own apartment, monthly outgo USD 60. Saving 95% income. Into stocks and Bonds at 60/40. Saved 1.2M USD.
awesome how many of us are EE's.
Country Club General Manager
80k/yr (plus free golf!)
Rent 600/mo
debt free
Federal Law Enforcement (Mid-Level Manager)- Southern AZ. 110K/yr. Renting after last move/promotion when I woke up to the current market. Two cars paid off, wife doesn't work (nor does she have to), kids in private school, 100K retirement/401K, small saving due to kids, no credit card debt, a little left on college loan. Renting a nice house with pool for 1000/month.
1) smarter - not really*
2) interested in personal finance - yes
3) knew there was a housing bubble - yes
4) have a good job - questionable*
5) are good with your money - for the most part
6) make more than the average person - not really*
*I've been in mortgage banking since '87. It's been a good 20-year run with a few ups and down. It's different this time - for various reasons.
Living in India. Engineer (55), making 120k US$. Sold 2 Apts. in 2005. Living in own Apt. (1200 sq. ft.) with monthly outgo of $ 65. Saving 90% income into Mutual funds. Stocks/Bonds 60/40.
You see in govt., your sick time builds up unlike in the slave world of corporations where you are just a 2-bit whore for an overpaid CEO.
June 12, 2007 12:08 PM
Yeah, instead your a two-bit whore for an over taxed populace.
Your arrogance at our expense, is the reason you will be wearing that "I just shit my pants look", when the mobs come a lynchin'
DC: Me I have an MA and make $40,000 nonprofit job until I get my cushy gov't job at $60,000+ once Bush leaves office. Husband makes $75,000.000 and he's looking into translation jobs for $100,000 cause he is quite the linguist. We are both in our early 30's. Rent in Arlington, VA for $1575 a month with a million dollar potomac view. Savings some. Going to Dubai and India soon on vacation in July!
I have to say that, reviewing this list, anyone with "financial" in their title seems over-priced. Just about no financial consultants beat passive index funds in the long run - I think these "analysts" and "consultants" should be next on the disintermediation list, as soon as we get rid of realtwhores.
Law enforcement: $90K + overtime;
$40K in savings; $1000/mo rent on San Bernardino/L.A. County border. Waiting to be able to buy a nice house (updated 2500+ s.f./quarter acre lot) above Baseline Road for 3 times my annual salary... or maybe one of those quickly foreclosing 4500+ s.f. McMansions in Corona.
pro gambler (not kidding) making just under £30k a year living in Scotland.
wife works part-time in a betting shop making about £6k.
so our total income is about $70k for you guys.
savings about £100k ($200k).
paying £495 (little under $1k) a month for a 2 bedroom flat.
could buy somewhere a bit smaller or in worse condition or in a slightly worse area in cash in a year or so. doubt the market will have reached the point where that makes sense for a few years yet though! almost everyone still thinks i'm a nutter for not buying.
Marketing Manager in Pasadena. Took most of the last 2 years off to help my wife start her practice except some part time consulting stuff.
-She'll do $180k in '07 $220k in '08
-I'll do $70k in '07 and either $60k or $120k in '08 if I decided to go back to the W-2 grind
Renting for $1250 a month. Almost $500k in savings.
Age 35 - divorced w/kids
Savings --
$610K cash (money market)
$104K retirement (401k plan)
$81K college savings (529 plans)
$65K Harley & 2 Vehicles owned outright
$0 debt whatsoever
$450K business equity (not liquid)
Expenses--
$3000/mo rent ...
$1000/mo child support
$0/mo vaginamony ... thank you pre-nup
Income--
$200k to $400k ... professional services
Addicted to Keith's wedsite.
31yo Mechanical Engineer, $95K/yr, $150K savings. Car paid for, $5K debt (student loan at low interest rate, paying mostly principal).
My wife and I are engineers in Silicon Valley, each making over $100k, for a total of about $260k/year pretax. Our rent is $1300/month, or about 8% of our post-tax income. When we first moved here in 2000, our salaries were about half what they are today, and our net worth was about $10k--not enough to buy anything decent. By the time we had some $, prices were ridiculous. So while all our friends bought houses and were able to "build equity" we just had to rent and put our savings into the stock market. Many of them are thrilled to have made $100k, $200k, or even $300k on their houses. Meanwhile we are stuck with a measly $800k in stocks and mutual funds, about half in retirement accounts. Yes, that's a lot of savings in 7 years--we save ~50% of our post-tax income. Not so hard to do when you don't have a million dollar mortgage to feed.
I am a private investigator and my spouse is a musician. Our income is widely variable depending on gigs. Minimum combined is $78,000/year (a bad year for both of us). This year we will earn about $185,000 which will be our best year. We pay rent of $1050/mo for 3/2/2. The rent is too high for this gang-infested (think S of the border "visitors") area (burglarized 5 times). We think a reasonable rent here should be $600/mo. The typical "tract trash houses" around here for sale are asking in the $360k range. We have no TV, we own our old cars, and we have NO credit cards. We also have NO other debts! Our FICO scores are in the toilet since we are not debtors. We repair our own clothes/cars and only shop at discount markets, goodwwill, thrift stores. We conserve on all utility bills and only drive 6,000 miles a year (3 old cars). When its Cold in the winter we don't use the gas heat, we cozy up with blankets. We have A/C but don't like the high bills, so we don't use it. 100% of my personal net income (after taxes) goes to retirement and other tax wise investments. Wy wife saves about 70% of her net income (after taxes). We have no (ZERO) debt and no credit. We have a "100" FICO scoere if that is possible. We prepay ALL utility bills including rent. We learned creditors HATE not being in "control" and their computers and idiot CSR's can't handle CREDIT balances. Every time they mail us sales crap or start talking-lying, we send them more money, until they get the point. We would rather these people would just get "lockjaw" and die - painfully. Today, I called our financial advisor and learned we don't even know how much we have saved. So I started looking. Today, I found $120 k in I bonds that I forgot about sitting in a drawer. I also found a check for $9,976 profit from something that his been sitting unopened for three weeks. We didn't open it, because we thought that it was more damn junk mail. WE ONLY STARTED SAVING IN 2002 about the time of the bubble. Prior to that we only had about $2,000 in a checking account. We wanted to buy a house, but my built-in "BS" detector kept firing off every time one of these loan sharks or Realtors opened their mouth. So thank you NAR, your lying Realtors have kept us out of the market. We are always looking for a good real estate deal. But I won't pay more than an insurance company would pay if the house burned down. And thats not much! When housing prices return to spring 1998 prices, I'll subtract 15% (that I would have paid to the RE crooks and their buddies). And I will be probably making a CASH offer. We must have over $600k invested now, I have to spend some time trying to reconfigure itself upwards. Thats the neat thing about saving money, it produces slightly more. I know nothing about stocks, but I do know that health insurance is not paid, so their stocks must go up! Yes and Yes. I bought a carload of HMO stock at 22 and its now 68. Time to sell (last week).
We are very "poor" in lifestyle, but can buy anything we want. The people who bug me the most are banks, insurance commpanies and Realtors. I alway make sure I laught about the Housing bubble and how much I am making NOT BEING IN IT! We did have a celebration. We are tired of the lying telephone company. So we shut this uneccesay mess down. We placed cash we have left over once a month into a mason jar in the kitchen. We set aside the amount we would have given to "ma bell" each month last year. At the end of 12 months we had enough cash for a vacation. We went to Europe for a month prepaid thanks to "Ma Bell". We had so much fun we id it again the second year. Ma Bell sent someone out to find out "why" we didn't have a telephone. We recommend this to everyone. We pulled out our vacation photos and showed them WHY WE HAVE NO TELEPHONE. We have one emergency cell phone for 911 only---FREE. Today one of my socks ripped because it has been repaired so mnay times. I got out the thread and needle and earned another $5 for NOT buying another pair.
The bottom line: It becomes addictive to NOT spend money, so I like to have fun. I like to tease the people I hate most! I'll call up a realtor and tell them I just unloaded a house and am looking for another house. I'll make them spend us much time as possible just to mess with them. I'll take them to lunch, and when the bill comes, all I have is a stack of $100 bills, since I don't have credit cards. I look up at the Realtor sheepishly and tell them that I promided this to by my wife some flowers today. Can you pick up the bill? They do, and I get another free lunch! When they ask me my phone number, I tell them I am at a hotel and will call them as soon as I know. When they ask me my name I always tell them something that is excciting like "Art Vandelay" of Vandelay industries, they usually reply " I have heard of your company!"... You bet you have!
Nerd here as well (IT in Biotech). HH income is ~$170k
~$100k cash, ~$75k 401k
Rent in Boston for $1250/month
Criminal Defense Attorney
about 100k a year, 100k in school loans.
15k in savings
renting at 1600/month aprox half what buying in my location costs
I've only been licensed a year, give me time...
RN'sX2 both mid 40's Gross income 140,000.
1250 morgage with tax and ins,on 3 ac with good well. still owe 100,000 @7.5%, and worth about 180,000
90,000 in 401's.
80,000 gold/silver. 40,000 in cash, awaiting drop in re to step up. (The wife is getting impatient.)
Love the site, and the sanity you provide.
Environmental Consulting
$300-400K
modest home on 160 acres in southern utah with 20 acre ft of water
PAID OFF
all trucks, tractors, atv's, travel trailers and 18 head of cattle
PAID OFF
Monthly debt is $100 electric and low property tax with farming. Everthing else to savings, gold, and retirement.
Life is very, very good.
Investment partnership with avg. $227K/yr. past 11-12 yrs. Sold 3,000 sq. ft. house and took equity equivalent to 20% of $2.6M net worth in spring '06. Rent 2000 sq ft. house for ~60-65% of mortgage costs after deductions in one of the best neighborhoods in the PacNW USA. No debt.
I take most summers off to sail, fish, hike, play tennis, attend classical music concerts, and sample vintages from all over the west coast.
The greatest real estate bubble in recorded history is deflating, which is likely to take 6-7 more years to fully resolve; however, in inflation-adjusted terms, US house prices might not exceed '05-'07 levels for 15-20 yrs., implying that the best return a home-debtor will get from the early to mid-'00s levels will be what he pays down on his mortgage (not counting inflation), and many will be paying down debt on declining equity.
That the S&P 500 is yielding only 1.8%, and most mortgagees will not get more than what they pay down on their mortgage each year, i.e., ~2-3%, CASH (in a basket of currencies in fixed-income securities) at 4-6% beats the S&P 500 and mortgage debt any day of the week, which, BTW, is DEFLATIONARY: CASH (or liquidity) WILL BE SCARCE as the debt edifice implodes and crumbles and the Fed prints money to bail out the banks (and the heck with everyone else).
Good grief, people, get out of debt and get liquid ASAP; there is very little time left.
39 year old engineer, $96K base salary. Average about $10K in consulting on the side. Renting for $1400/mo, no debts, one kid + wife. Sitting on $175K from an accidental flip (we relocated, recognized the bubble, and decided to wait it out). The absolute bottom won't be in for years, but we should be most of the way there by the end of 2008 or early 2009.
State Gvt worker - middle management, 63K yr (a lot more including benefits),41 yo single mom, rent 1315.00 mo. in Sacramento area.
I don't own because RE is way overpriced. I couldn't afford it even if I wanted to buy.
Author (36) of several books. Wife (32) is an event planner. Pulled down a little under $100K last year, combined. Frugal - $150K+ in savings and investments. No debt. No kids. Travel a couple times a year. Bitter renters - rent a 3br, 2.5 bath townhouse w/bay views, community swimming pool, gym, etc. for $1,400/mo.
ecommerce business owner: averaged $375K/yr (not counting real estate gains) the last three years. About $2.5MM net worth. Sold small portfolio of rental properties that I bought between 1993-2000 in 2005/2006 and banked the gains. Renting a very nice townhouse for $2000/mo in San Diego; plan on buying something the nicest home $600-$700K will buy me in late 2008 in coastal north county.
About 25-30K a year, from extreme sports instruction and part-time website and desktop programming for small biz. Mostly I just paraglide, kitesurf, freedive, and waste time online reading doom-n-gloom blogs. Wealth is having enough money to explore this world. Looking forward to furfing, diving, and paragliding in Bali in the coming year...
Debt free, and I have savings of many troy ounces of gold, buried, like on an uninhabited island somewhere (Arrr!) and also with goldmoney.com...
Recovering scientist. Figured out money didnt equal security by a long shot after half working myself too hard in the lab.
Income- working part time as a lab manager on ~30K for 3 days a week (in Australia) while I develop a self sufficient property with my baby boomer parents as a lifeboat for the whole family. Tutor here and there for about another 5K. Every weekend is a long weekend in the garden. 30K in savings.
Expenses- rent close to work at 2.5K a year, food 3K a year (I have time to cook from scratch and eat very well for very little money), transport/bills etc under 5K a year and no other major expenses beyond getting the farm up and running. No debt. Only vice is buying unusual plants to grow....
was salesman in bay area, making about 125-175K per year, depending. 1999 was great, 2001 sucked, as those of you in tech will know.
quit work last year, moved to New Mexico. bought mobile and land, paid cash,now fixing it up. its not fancy, but its cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
no debt, car paid for, $600K+ in savings, net worth about a mil. trade gold and energy stocks making quite a bit doing that.. of all the people I talked to about the house crash, only 1 person sold in so. cal. wife gave him shit, but he is a happy effing camper now. people in bay area still think they will be fine regarding housing. after all, its san francisco, and its different here...good luck guys, I think you are housing gangbanged, but I love you anyway. in about 5 years my gold stocks will allow me to buy a house on the beach on the sonoma or san mateo coast. for cash and about half of what they cost now. right now, my focus is on keepng a low profile, buying gold, and getting across the coming chasm with as much money as I can take with me. go gold 5000. historicaly, (you can check this out) at the bottom, you can buy the dow for one ounce of gold. that means the dow will fall or gold will rise and I think they will meet at about $3000 per ounce.
final words: those that ignore history will get screwed by it.
60k per year, which would be pretty decent anywhere but Southern CA, where it is a poverty wage.
Business Analysis for a Property-Casualty Insurance carrier.
Other than 14k left on a car loan, debt free.
25k in investments (18k in 401k, 5k in bank deposits and 2k in a Roth IRA) and growing rapidly. I discovered fiscal responsibility at a late date, so am working hard to catch up.
President - Interactive/Software/Advertising
income: just into 7 figures
housing: bought in 01- sold in late 05
still renting today...
Any of you geniuses looking for work? We're hiring? :)
Engineer tech 50k. Service biz part time(35$ to 50$/hr)can not keep up. I am currently trying to put together a product to market and just can not find enough time. My wife stays home(home schooling our 6 kids) buying and selling things online for maybe 2k/yr.We sold most of our RE and equities(except 401k). I make less than most of my friends but we are living it up while they struggle, some with RE they can not dump. We live in a 20k trailer house and if RE drops 50% then I lose 10k. I have taken steps just in case things get really nasty. Drive old cars that I can work on and save,save,save.
Realtor (yes, I'll admit it)
110K - 130K per year income
House owner - valued at $900,000 (will go down...), debt of $225,000 at 5.75% fixed 30 years.
Two Rentals, 1 valued at $600,000 debt of $195,000 6.25% fixed;
1 valued at $470,000 debt of $225,000 6.25% fixed. Rentals are LT for the next 15 - 20 years rented at breakeven or slightly positive pre tax cashflow. About $180K in the bank, no consumer debt.
Engineer at intel, 6 years exp.
$95000/yr.
rent = $500
savings = $70k cash, $210k investments
DP Manager
$150K annual
$2K monthly housing
$30K savings
Someone asked: "how do you get the money you say you do?"
For me: got a good job early, $35k for Tech support in '99. Worked for a few years, single at the time. Put away $35k in 401k in two years.
Changed jobs, rolled the $35k into IRA (that's the way to do it) and started managing it myself buying stocks. Meanwhile, started a new 401k with new company.
Company got bought out, rolled over money in IRA (see the pattern here?) and started managing it myself again.
Meanwhile third 401k opened up.
Also have another investment account outside of IRA/401k that I manage separately for riskier stuff.
Lots of educated folk making tons of money...smart money.
Many still remember the .com bubble
and might have learned a lesson or two. I guess that's what sets this crowd apart from the average, the ability to learn. Me for example, I was going from $150K/year (including stock options) straight to the unemployment office. I still remember what that felt like. I still remember making mortgage payments on unemployment benefits and tutoring math at the side to stay above water. It sucked, not going to make the same mistake twice.
As far as outsourcing $100K jobs to Timbuktu, certainly a possibility. Even more of an incentive to invest your money wisely while the gravy train is still under full steam before it reaches the end of the line....and the end of the line it will reach within our life time.
Some are saving for a rainy day while others run up debt while the sun is still out. I rent because it costs me half as much as owning the same place. I also have the freedom of moving to a different place without having the hassle to sell an over priced house into a falling market.
I could buy a 700 series BMW and a million $$ house in Miami. But why? Then I'd be broke and an economic downturn would push me over the edge into foreclosure. Straight from McMansion into McShelter. Many of my collegues at work did just that, now they're $500+K in debt. How do they get a good night's sleep I wonder. How would they service a $6000/month mortgage+tax+insurance payment on employment benefits? Luckily that's not my worry and I intend to keep it that way.
My theory on why 80% of people on blogs are are IT types. We have nothing else to do all day. Seriously.
I am one of those $120K a year IT consultants. If I actually work 4 hours a day - and I mean real, add value to my client work - it's a lot. Yet I get paid for 8 hours. The rest of the day I surf the web. I doubt I'm alone.
It's funny how you trash realtors for making 6% for doing nothing. But come on, how much do you REALLY do for your $120K a year? I know I don't do a hell of a lot myself.
One of these days the world is going to find out this little scam. Until then, can't stay too long I have 20 other blogs to visit before lunch.
57 K/year as an engineer working for a Govt. Agency in Kentucky. Nice one bedroom apartment for 470/month. 12 grand in savings plus in state pension program.
Northern New Jersey
Me - teacher 60k/year
Fiance - sheet metal worker 55k/year
Rent - 1350/month
40k in the bank, pensions, 17k in retirement savings(not depending on my public pension being around in 25 years
We just want to buy a realtively humble home in a decent neighborhood so we can raise a couple of rugrats. That seems to run 400-450k in these parts. So we wait......
Electronic Tech I make 45k per year Chicago area. Rent is $1,250. Student loan debt 11k, 401k is 9k no other debt.
31 yr-old econometrician in flyover land, $95k-$105k (depending on bonus/performance)
single, no kids, no mortgage, no consumer debt, small student loans
rent about $500
about $200k saved in 401k, IRA's, brokerage, and cash
Software Architect $175,000 per year PLUS $125,000 NET income from rental real estate PLUS other income from other business ventures.
My wife is a stay at home mom.
ZERO personal debt, not even a mortgage, home is fully paid for.
The rental real estate is about 50% leveraged and the renters happily pay the mortgage and tax payments each month and I keep the rest after reserves for repairs and vacancies.
What a country!
Pittsburgh
PC/Network Analyst
66K salary
(local avg family income is $45K)
renting for $245 per month
(local avg rent is $700)
135K in savings
85K in 401K
39yo, no wife, no kids, no debt
OK so let me see if I get this straight. Everyone here makes $200,000 a year as fund managers, doctors and consultants.
Yet day after day you all complain that the cost of milk is up $1.
Makes sense to me. Why just the other day I was at my dentist's office and he was lamenting about how he can no longer afford to buy milk for his children. (rolleyes)
Why on earth would you feel compelled to lie on an anonymous web site? Makes absolutely no sense.
Since we are in the subject, a new study ranks countries by their paid time-off:
http://tinyurl.com/23vwxe
The US has the least amount of paid vacation days. Oops, my bad, Vietnam is last in the list, after the US.
>> Have about $300k sitting in banks, 401k, etc.
I believe it was Henry Ford who said "People who keep their money in banks deserve what they get: screwed."
Wow, I didn't know that all HPs were millionaires, especially when only 17% of households earn above $100k, usually in combined incomes. They must be all here!
Sorry to disappoint you all, but I only earn $60k + benefits. (in euros, though)
SysAdmin @ 72k/year, wife Teacher @ 40k/year
Aggressivly paying down mortgage, expected to be fully paid off within 1 year.
House bought in 92 for $72k in Maryland.
No credit card debt, no car payments, no loans or HELOCS.
Age 35 - divorced w/kids
Savings --
$610K cash (money market)
$104K retirement (401k plan)
$81K college savings (529 plans)
$65K Harley & 2 Vehicles owned outright
$0 debt whatsoever
$450K business equity (not liquid)
Expenses--
$3000/mo rent ...
$1000/mo child support
$0/mo vaginamony ... thank you pre-nup
Income--
$200k to $400k ... professional services
Addicted to Keith's wedsite.
hey darling, could we meet for a spot of tea sometime? where do you live baby?
IT/research, maybe A$20k/yr as of a month ago (and even less before that); share a flat with a friend who owns it, for A$100/wk. I've come very late to basic economic wisdom after a life spent on the margins. As I have no capital yet, I am simply watching and learning, and studying to put this all in historical and political context. Maybe by the time the bear market bottoms out, I'll be in a position to buy something. ;-)
Housewife with 3 children; husband works for private pension fund - salary $250K-ish. We're comfortably happy and content. But not snazzy relative to the "capital market guys" raking it in around here.
Had 4% ARM adjusting to 6%. Locked in refinance @ 6.25 for 30 years for 600K with house work $850K, just before the recent Treasury bill rise.
This is a good thread to ask the question.
What are you people going to do when the stock market crashes? 401k's and IRA's are dangerous in this environment.
-EE patent attorney, 37 years old
-300K per year not counting options, profit sharing, etc
-"own" a home bought in 2001, currently making triple payments each month
-have about 600K in 401(k) & IRAs
- have almost $1 million in cash ready to take a few properties off of banks' hands in '08 or '09.
Lawyer $185K, NYC rent $2,200 (1BR)
Grad student in software engineering.Unemploy since 2001, making $0 since. Will work for food.
I make 35k, husband makes 52k in Phoenix. We are in our twenties. Combined 100k in student loans and 6k in credit card debt. No other debt. 7k in emergency fund that we started 4 months ago. Currently rent for $840. Will continue to rent until prices are back to "normal".
My friend and her husband who mirror our salaries (but with more debt and a child) bought 300k cookie cutter in 2006. Similar homes in their neighborhood are now selling for 240k. They thought they would be priced out forever. Unfortunately, they just filed bankruptcy. No thanks!!!
Anonymous June 12, 2007 6:32 PM said:
Didn't even make it past half the responses to this thread before skipping the rest and realizing that we're also in a salary bubble. SO many of you folks are just ripe for layoffs and outsourcing. $100k+ for all sorts of jobs an overseas monkey can do for a few bucks an hour.
-----------------------------
You got that right! Here’s an article in today’s business news:
“India Inc set for a hiring spree in Q3
New Delhi: It continues to rain jobs in the Indian economy and, if a survey by global employment consultancy firm Manpower is to be believed, Indian Inc is going to hire many more people in the third quarter of 2007.”
http://tinyurl.com/ytoqt5
But it can’t happen to MY job! I am in ___________, and this work can never be outsourced, right?
Right..?
1) Pride is deadly.
2) Love economics
3) Once bitten by bubble twice shy.
4) Self employed.
5) Love to save.
6) Keep more than the average.
7) Painter and sculptor 80K
8) Live with parents on estate for free. $400k+ cash svgs. 500k art objects. No debit.
Consultant - 200k - Renting a fully furnished place for $1400 a month, includes all utilities, cable, phone etc.
35 years old - SoCal
Me - Physician 150,000 plus retirement, profit sharing comes out around 180,000
Wife at home with the baby, attorney, may reenter job at previous 200,000
400,000 in 401k
Sold 11/06 - 100,000 in MMA
100k student loans, low fixed around 4%, no other debt whatsoever.
Rent house for 2500/month
Socking it away >40,000/yr in 401k alone plus IRA's. Play money in gold, Swiss treasuries, energy.
Gonna retire at 55 and travel.
Inheritance should be large also...
Construction Manager in Phoenix making 50k. 20k of student loans between my wife and I. No savings to speak of and rent is only $1150 a month.
"4) Patent attorney.
5) I have only begun to save after putting myself through undergrad and law school a few years back.
6) 120K- vastly underpaid."
Yes you are vastly underpaid, unless you're a terrible patent attorney.
marketing director, 95K/yr, renting for $650/mo. in LA (apt. managers), $60K saved for a house, $110K in retirement, $10K emergency, $15K additional savings, DEBT-FREE, 34 yrs old
$106K plus bonus...rent nice but nothing amazing home...drive 5 year old car that's paid off, no credit card debt
all that and still I can't save more than $500 ot $1000 a month.
Someone please share the secrets you all seem to have where you can save 100s of thousands by your mid 30s. Not being sarcastic, I really want to know how you do it and do it myself.
I see several comments about how many HPers are loaded, but you have to consider where they live together with how much they make.
Where I live $120K is a good household income but not great, I have relatives who live in areas where $60K let's you live like a king.
Where it costs much more to get by salaries are generally higher and vice versa.
Architect, Upstate NY, 100K household, rent=890, am looking to buy 50-70K buildings for rental income and stay in current apt.
Large city police officer. I get taxed at $74,000. Average livable house in a safe hood here: $400,000+. That's 5 1/2x my taxable income. As a cop, I know better, and will not be an "urban pioneer". I have a wife and want to have kids one day.
Consulting Software Developer, Age 44: 95k/yr
Weekend commercial pilot : 8k/yr
Zero consumer debt,
(2 cars, paid),
Merrill Lynch Private Account client,
last months ML statements:
Cash Management Account (CMA =407K)
Retirement Account 241K
Own A Home (no mortgage, tax assesed at 415k)
Foreign Service Officer 115K
currently paying 2050 rent in DC townhouse nextdoor under contract for 685K
400K savings/retirement account
one more year in DC then rent free overseas for at least three years.
Web editor ~ $43k
Wife's in advertising ~ $43k
We're in our early-mid 20s and rent a big 1-bedroom place in Southern California for $1,600 a month. Believe it or not, that's a pretty good deal.
Savings ~ $80k in money market, mutual funds and bonds plus a few grand in long-term investment stocks; $25k in various retirement accounts. Waiting to be able to buy a place in a few years. If prices stay ridiculous here, we're probably headed elsewhere.
Network Analyst for a state run college - $50k/year
Work and live in eastern update NY
Renting, single, _NO_ plans on ever getting married or having kids, ever. Did I mention ever?
Financially stable and I guess you could say I'm net positive year to year with paying down the college loans and the usual retirement plan. It's hard to save anything with what I make and the cost of living in my area.
VP Finance $160, Spouse Mgr Finance $60. Few hundred thousand in savings. Rent $1500mth, purchase equivalent $2800/mth.
Oh, I'm the Network Analyst in upstate NY from before.
I'm paying $780/month rent for a two bed room apartment in a college town. Similar sized apartments in this town usually go for $1100+/month.
I am a 33 year old proprietary futures index trader in Chicago and have been trading for around 8 years. "Proprietary" means I use my company's money for trading and I get a significant cut of the profits.
My yearly income varies so much that financial planning is a complete nightmare. Some examples:
2003: $350k
2004: Around $200K
2005: $16K.....thats right, $16,000.
2006: $70K
2007: Alot.....By the end of the year probably over a $500k.
The trouble with trading is that, like an athlete, my trading career could be over tomorrow. Job security is literally zero.
I have not owned a car for 10 years because I live in an urban environment.
I live in a $500,000 condo that I owe about $250,000 on.
man
mr 300k patent attorney makes thrice as much as me and i do basically the same thing on the other side as a patent examiner.
oh well...it's encouraging that a patent attorney is an HPer.
The trouble with trading is that, like an athlete, my trading career could be over tomorrow. Job security is literally zero.
-----------------------------------
Oh quit your bitching. Nobody has job security. Well unless you work for the gubermint I suppose.
Software developer, wife is a writer. About $220K/yr.
Pay about $3500 PITI/HOA for a 4/3 house in Bel Air we bought in 2001.
Web Systems Analyst - $150K/year about $1.4M in savings, no debt. I rent a 1BR in appallingly expensive Manhattan for about $2,000/month. Waiting and watching and waiting . .
"You see in govt., your sick time builds up unlike in the slave world of corporations where you are just a 2-bit whore for an overpaid CEO."
Interesting comment coming from another Government slacker. I have several friends that have been working for the govt for over 10 years. Took one guy the 10 to make it to 75k. Took me 3 years of IT experience to get to that 75k. Currently have 7 years and I bank 110k. Govt workers in general are lazy ass, cottage cheeesed thigh, low ambition whiners. Suck it good lads.
"Large city police officer. I get taxed at $74,000. $400,000+ home. That's 5 1/2x my taxable income"
Another government civil servant dufus. Typical example though, cops in general are one of the biggest overspenders. Firemen are first. Gotta have the harly , the offroad vehicles, the 30 ft. trailer and boat. And the 400k home. Making 74k. LOL.
"Someone please share the secrets you all seem to have where you can save 100s of thousands by your mid 30s. Not being sarcastic, I really want to know how you do it and do it myself. "
My guess is that for quite a few of them the answer is inheritance... especially the web editor in thier early 20's with a combined family income of $83k and $80k + in savings... the numbers don't add up.
31yo MSFT programmer writer. $106K inc. bonus. Rent is $815. $210K savings. Save about $50K/year. No debt.
150,000k
General Counsel for non-profit.
Own a home. Cheap home. Coulda, shoulda, woulda sold. But even as we await the drop in value sure to visit Seattle, glad to know I bought cheap, and early, and that even if I take a 50% hit in value, I bought before the bubble, never got a HELOC, so I will be fine.
My guess is that for quite a few of them the answer is inheritance... especially the web editor in thier early 20's with a combined family income of $83k and $80k + in savings... the numbers don't add up.
My guess is most are bullshitters. I mean come on the average HP salary based on this thread is $150,000 a year. So the average HPer is in the top 4% of income according to IRS data.
I just don't buy it, especially not given the amount of posts I have read complaining about the price of gas or the fact that the price of milk has gone up. If you make $150K a year, $3 gas vs. $2 gas in not even a blip on the radar in terms of your expenses.
"mr 300k patent attorney makes thrice as much as me and i do basically the same thing on the other side as a patent examiner."
I am said patent attorney. You "work" 35 hours per week with every other Friday off (and most of those "work" days are from home now), and lets not forget the government pension. I worked 80 hours per week to get where I am.
"OK so let me see if I get this straight. Everyone here makes $200,000 a year as fund managers, doctors and consultants.
Yet day after day you all complain that the cost of milk is up $1."
The more money I make, the harder it is for me to part with it. I don't know why, but it's true, at least for me.
Anonymous said...
31yo MSFT programmer writer. $106K inc. bonus. Rent is $815. $210K savings. Save about $50K/year. No debt.
June 13, 2007 7:49 PM
--------------------------------
Another example where I call bullshit. $106K is $75K after taxes. You pay $815 in rent so that's $65K left after rent. You save $50K out of that leaving $15K. I don't buy that you eat, pay for transportation, buy clothes, pay for health care (even if you have insurance there are co-pays and deductibles), take a vacation and just live day to day on $15K a year.
Unless you live in a small midwestern town that ain't happening. And if you do live in said town, no way you're making $106K.
These numbers simply don't add up and neither do 2/3 of the posts.
"Someone please share the secrets you all seem to have where you can save 100s of thousands by your mid 30s. Not being sarcastic, I really want to know how you do it and do it myself. "
For myself, part of that was luck. I have been working for 10 years in the software realm. My salary is good and I was also fortunate enough to cash in on some stock options during the dot com runup. Which is why at the age of 34, I have roughly $300k saved. (Between savings and 401k) Without those options, I would not be in the same position.
"I just don't buy it, especially not given the amount of posts I have read complaining about the price of gas or the fact that the price of milk has gone up. If you make $150K a year, $3 gas vs. $2 gas in not even a blip on the radar in terms of your expenses."
You don't think like a saver.
Software Engineer
$82k /yr
$70k savings
Sold our home in California in 2005. Now renting in Spokane for $1100/mo.
My wife is a stay-at-home mom, with two kids under 5.
"These numbers simply don't add up and neither do 2/3 of the posts."
Well I can only speak for myself, but I've been working for about 12 years, the first few years I made well under 100K, then low to mid six figures for the next 3-4 years, and then up around 200-250K for the last 5 or so years. I started investing in the stock market practically from day 1, had about 300K in net worth by 2001, and now have a net worth (excluding my home) of approximately $1.7 million. I didn't get lucky with google or any other huge homerun stock, I've simply lived well WELL beneath my means. It's funny, the more I've watched others spend like there's no tomorrow, the more it's made me want to save as much as possible, because I know there will be a fire sale one day soon and I plan to do a lot of buying.
For myself, part of that was luck. I have been working for 10 years in the software realm. My salary is good and I was also fortunate enough to cash in on some stock options during the dot com runup. Which is why at the age of 34, I have roughly $300k saved. (Between savings and 401k) Without those options, I would not be in the same position.
June 13, 2007 8:43 PM
--------------------------------
Bingo. That an inheritence or two and voila we have the 30 year olds with $500K in the bank lecturing me on how to live my life.
this is the bay area salesman who moved to NM posting again.
I note that some posters doubt the level of income and savings many describe.
I thought about this and would like you to consider:
1. who comes to a website like this?
spenders or savers?
who do research before making decisons? spenders or savers.
websites like this attract a different mindset. probably smarter than the average bears, which means they will have more money. and frankly, a million$ is not what it used to be as we all know.
2. most people who make money or have money are long term thinkers.
they will sacrifice in the short term to get a long term outcome. most people cant do this, they must have that new house, suv, or flat screen NOW!, no matter that the credit card will charge them 25% to buy it,and they will be paying for a product long after they are done with it. the borrower will indeed be slave to the lender.
I have been in sales for over 25 years, and remember in the 90s, when I would take young clerks making less than 30K per year and teach them how to sell. as soon as they got to 100K, they would go out and start buying the bmw and $2500 suits. I tried to tell them the horse would not run forever and save their money, but youth is youth and they had not paid the tuition I did. but they will, and they did. 2001 taught many lessons. just as 2007-2008 are now teaching a new generation the same old lessons it taught our grandparents in the 1930s.
3. these posters on housing panic are a minority in the larger scheme of things. but even 4% of 300,000,000 americans is still 12,000,000 with money and smarts.
4. the top 10% own more than the bottom 60% (approximate numbers off the top of my head) so you wont find your usual FB (banged buyer) on a site like this because it requires thinking and reading and time away from the television watching nascar and wrestling and finding out who will be the latest moron to win on american idle (sic).
5. and even if its all mostly bullshit, its still interesting to hear the comments and thoughts of others of like mind. and sometimes I read something that can make me money.
6. finally, on gold and the dow reaching parity. since 1900 has happened twice. in 1932 and 1980. (again, think about what those dates meant in terms of dow value--both major bottoms). the gold-dow ratio peaked in 1999 at about 44 ounces of gold to 1 share of the dow. since then it has fallen to 20.73 ounces of gold to 1 share of the dow (as of close of the market today). that is a decline in the dow (measured in gold) of about 47% since the peak in July 1999. since the trend line on this ratio has been broken, the bottom will be found near the gold dow parity. gold will continue to go up, and the dow will continue to come down. its a matter of time and historical imperative. but you make up your own minds, do your own research and confirm what I have told you is true for yourself. see you on the beach!
"Another example where I call bullshit. $106K is $75K after taxes. You pay $815 in rent so that's $65K left after rent. You save $50K out of that leaving $15K. I don't buy that you eat, pay for transportation, buy clothes, pay for health care (even if you have insurance there are co-pays and deductibles), take a vacation and just live day to day on $15K a year.
Unless you live in a small midwestern town that ain't happening. And if you do live in said town, no way you're making $106K.
These numbers simply don't add up and neither do 2/3 of the posts."
Me again. You're about right on the tax, though I get some help by maxing out the 401(k). MSFT pays all insurance costs, though you get taxed on it as imputed income. I live cheap, take the bus to work, don't drink, don't travel much. No wife or kids. All I want is out of the rat race. When I have enough piled up to live (cheaply) off the interest or dividends, I WILL move to that small midwestern town.
And no I'm not mike91919595 or whatever that guy's name was, but close.
TV Producer
Combined income 185,000 a year.
Savings About 80,000
401k 90,000
renting in Los Angeles
1100 a month.
Waiting out the socal & american housing mess...
"Interesting comment coming from another Government slacker. I have several friends that have been working for the govt for over 10 years. Took one guy the 10 to make it to 75k. Took me 3 years of IT experience to get to that 75k. Currently have 7 years and I bank 110k. Govt workers in general are lazy ass, cottage cheeesed thigh, low ambition whiners. Suck it good lads."
So, so true. I'm in government and I'm surrounded by these people. Lots of people work hard, but lots more sleepwalk through the day. In 7 years in govt, my salary went from $34K to $75K, I received 5 promotions (likely a 6th within the next year) and I can say that my initiatives and hard work have saved taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. I figure, I compete with the human equivalent of three-toed sloths, so I should move up the ladder quickly. I figure I'm slightly underpaid for what I do (I manage 50 people), but the thought that I try to help out taxpayers makes up for that discrepancy. That, and the pension and benefits.
As far as how I save money, I'm like most people here - bought an older model car w/cash, therefore no car payments and my insurance is low. I don't drink much, don't go out a lot, if I want to treat myself, I'll buy some good food at the grocery store and cook it myself. I take public transit to work.
All the cheesy financial books say it, but it's true. If you want to save a lot of money, you have to "pay yourself first". That is, decide how much money you're going to save, have it automatically put in an investment account or somewhere else where you can't touch it, and find a way to live off the rest. I buy groceries, pay for my transit pass, eat lunch at work and fill the car with gas for $100 a week, unless I'm on vacation or something.
Every time I plan a major purchase, I wait a month before buying to see whether it's something I really want. During that month, I research the hell out of the product I'm looking at. That information not only serves me well in making a good purchase, but it's also useful down the road too.
I'm a plastic surgeon making $600K/yr.
I wish, but the harsh reality is our household only brings in $40K/yr. (Wife is an Accountant) and we have 2 Autistic children which requires me to stay home and take care of them on a full time basis. I too use to be in the IT field like most of you.
300+ posts and I bet we have more credit card debt then all of you combined! We spent it on nothing fancy. Mostly medical bills and therapy for our children.
We do have some savings. Last time I checked we had around $100.00! lol
We eat ramen weekly and have come to enjoy it. If I'm lucky I get to put some Spam and egg in it.
I frequent this blog as a big time lurker because we dream of owning a home one day, but the odds are against us (We also live in So Cal). Not enough income, too much debt, low FICO scores, blah, blah, blah....
So congratulations for not being me!
Anon said.
‘This is a good thread to ask the question.
What are you people going to do when the stock market crashes? 401k's and IRA's are dangerous in this environment.’
Hi, this the SW dev PM from upstate NY ( as mentioned above my own annual gross income is $52K)
On Thursday last week I moved 99% of my diversified investments in my 401k into a Money Market account within the 401k, (a little over $100K) I hope there will be better times to buy again it’s a gamble I took cause I’m a strong believer that the consumer confidence/spending was fueled by the housing bubble, now that the ATM is gone it will begin to effect the market.
Most people are habitual shoppers / spenders (nothing else to do on the weekends at least in my area) and most will not initiate a change until they’re drowning in debt.
When that happens, markets will drop, lots of yard and garage sales, and yes many Real Estate opportunities.
I also think that majority on this bog may get a good deal on a home but will not take advantage of the investment opportunity, as I mentioned before I also have a multi family income property I have learned from experience, being a landlord is an entirely different skill than working in an office and most will not want to put up with the hassle.. its actually the same reason you have a ‘career’ and not your own business.
1 more thing, with out a doubt the biggest threat to all us ‘career’ folks is outsourcing.
Majority of us have lots of education… However..
· Anyone off the street can do our job (especially an educated person in a cheap country) think about all the process, procedures, training and documentation there is in your company to assist in performing your tasks. Any truck driver can walk in and do what you’re doing in less then 6 months it only took us over 6 months cause we’re limited by liberal professors bios and all the partying.
· Simple…. If your job can be done from home … it can be done from India, China, Brazil etc.
Think about your management chain, none of them have a clue how to manage they’re own finances, majority are FBers, they are the ones making the financial decisions with your company’s money.. Ha!
"My guess is most are bullshitters. I mean come on the average HP salary based on this thread is $150,000 a year. So the average HPer is in the top 4% of income according to IRS data."
My guess is idiots who post shit like this didn't get an education and are working blue collar, mediocre jobs and thought that was good enough. Until home prices shot off and all of a sudden driving a big brown bus or being a realty clerk didnt cut it.
Moved from CA to TX after renting in CA and waiting for CA to become affordable again. Perfectly happy in TX, it was a lateral move in terms of compensation, yet feels like a 30% pay raise. 29 years old. Wife and I make $160K/yr. $50K in investments, $45K in 401(k), no loans except home @ $1,200 per month.
- 28 year old systems/network admin graduating with a BBA this semester
- 30k income, way underpaid, soon to switch jobs, expecting about 70-80k
- 50k condo with 8k left to pay
- 15k in emergency fund (cash)
- 55k in Roth IRA, 1k in 401(k)
- paid for 01 Civic
- 3k in silver
No debt, except condo, with a net worth of about 120k and soon to be renter.
Myself (30) and fiance (26) living together- both in finance/ $250k together (up from $120k in '05).
$250k retirement accts.
$450k other savings less $18k student loans at 2.5% for 7 or so years.
$1100/ month rent for 1100 sq ft w/ 16foot ceilings and tiffany chandeliers in NorthEast city, walking distance to work. No granite countertops or Jacuzzi.
I rehabbed a 2200 sq foot house in different city. No granite countertops there either, though in retrospect I could have tacked another $50k and sold it as only $35 a month for 30 years to the fb who bought me.
Thanks to keith and everyone for helping me win the argument not to buy after getting married.
Will rent posh condo from one of many FB's within view of my office to test out granite countertops and jacuzzi.
I love real estate, but hate getting worked over.
Systems Admin, gov't contractor in Kuwait. $120k/yr, living expenses covered by employer. So far saved $70k. Cashed in on Vegas Bubble 03-06, no intention of buying for some time.
US Expat,,,live in Italy. (dual citizen, Italian/US) Retired and have entire net worth in swiss/Lich banks that I use to provide annuity stream that sends a modest 3000 Euro payment each month to my local bank. Keep my primary funds out of Italy and the US to prevent confiscatory tax rates. Live on @40K/year, rent 16th century four room flat in old coastal village for three grand a year. There is no way to make a living here but its a great plcae to live on passive income. 30 Kilo north of Naples. Mid 50's, Spouse and I travel at least six months of each year. My land lord watches the flat and our modest posssions when we are in transit. The flat included a rather large cat that we share with the land lord.
Someone earlier had asked about how people in their 30’s can save a couple of hundred thousand dollars…
It’s really, really simple. Live within your means. Spend less than what you earn.
Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses.
And invest in yourself—get an education or learn some valuable skills.
Display discipline and save. Dollar cost average into diversified, low cost index funds and other long-term investment vehicles. And start early!
Let compound growth work for you and sleep well at night.
It’s also amusing—and sad—to see a few folks deride or question others who mention the large amount savings they have accumulated… I guess it goes to reinforce a survey published last year (if I recall correctly) that said a double-digit percentage of folks in the US think that the lottery was a form of savings. The survey also mentions that a surprisingly large percentage of people think they would eventually win the lotto (‘it’s just a matter of time’), and another large percent didn’t think they could save up $200k (or some similar amount) during their lifetime.
Just a symptom of the get-rich-quick and money-for-nothing mentality that is ruining this country… Really quite telling and sad…
Lab scientist, Los Angeles $85K. Rent in Bel Air $1450. $125K 403b.
31 years old, wife and 1 kid, based in Canada.
2 IT related businesses. Last 3 years averaged around $200k in income. Savings close to $500k ($350k in cash and $150k real estate in Asia).
Just until 5 years ago, I had only $10k in savings. Then worked like crazy, saved like a maniac (probably did too much of it). Debt is a four letter word. Won't ever take out a mortgage. Eating out is the biggest discretionary spending. Save close to 80% of after tax income.
Currently renting 2 bedroom apartment for $900. Won't buy stupid wooden boxes for over $400k.
Bought NY house in 03, sold in 06, AND YES I used as house ATM. Rented a Vegas McMansion for 1 yr, too isolated, Now rent 3/2 apt w pool & rec center for my kids, $965/month Quit advertising job and now work @ home with best friend - my wife - as driving consultant $60k cash/yr.
Also developing personal websites parttime.
All OK except for stupid partying too long in life, no savings, 2 car loans, student loans.
Party is over though, time to get debt free and liquid QUICKLY
-Thanks HPers
Anonymous said...
"You see in govt., your sick time builds up unlike in the slave world of corporations where you are just a 2-bit whore for an overpaid CEO."
I call BS on this post, which has local cop written all over it. Your city's finest get unlimited sick leave and then call in sick so their buddies can stack up overtime during the final three years before retirement.
Result: $120K years and a $60 K pension.
Organized crime has nothing on these guys.
I'm sure people who make good money and are in a good financial position are more likely to respond to this thread than those that are not. Hence, the data may be skewed.
I have zero debt and have the good fortune of having my decade invested in business pay off. But it took a ton of work to get to where I am.
I'm not a frugal saver. I set a budget for myself that allows me to enjoy life and still have a great deal of savings. It's kind of funny but the more my income goes up, the less I desire to buy things. That is, with the exception of my car hobby:
http://4report.blogspot.com
Me - Librarian, now a housewife and mom.
Husband - physician
Salary about $180K (husband works 4-day week to have more time for things like hunting, fishing, me and the baby)
Mortgage $1000/month
We have a good amount in savings and 401Ks and other investments. We live modestly.
"Life Coach"-$225K per year (JUST KIDDING)
"Manufacture of food products $85K per year + car + expenses
Rent 3 bedroom, 2 bath, $950 month.
Marketing Director
Rent, $650/mo., LA County (apt. managers)
$95K combined salary
$60K saved for house
$105K Retirement
$10K Emergency Fund
$20K Additional Savings
DEBT-FREE since Tax Day 2005
39 years old
150k /year
No CC debt
No Car loans
130k 5/1 ARM (with good reason we are only here for 4 years and will be long gone before the 4.75% interest resets)It is a regular mortgage though not Interest Only.
House appraised for 200k
60k in retirement
10k in savings
50 y.o. medical specialist at 200K/yr.
1.1 M junior golds. 50% interest in cashflowing 600K 6-plex (about to 1031). 50% interest in 500K mobile home paper. In pension: 100K TIPs, 750K PM funds. Son <10 y.o. with 75K precious metal funds.
Renting.
Anonymous said...
Governor: 126K
June 12, 2007 7:25 PM
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM......
The Boston Herald. “With foreclosures rising across the state, (Massachusetts) Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday unveiled a plan to crack down on the controversial subprime mortgage industry. Patrick called for criminal penalties for mortgage fraud and for a ban on so-called ‘foreclosure rescue schemes.’”
“Adjustable-rate deals would be banned for subprime borrowers unless the would-be homebuyers specifically opted out of a fixed-rate loan product.”
"Someone please share the secrets you all seem to have where you can save 100s of thousands by your mid 30s. Not being sarcastic, I really want to know how you do it and do it myself."
I'm one of those in my mid 30s who has saved a lot. It's not BS. I lived just fine on <$20k/year as a grad student for years. So now that I make 8 times that, it's not that hard to live on ~$30k/year, which means I save A LOT. All those years of living on minimal $ trained me to be happy with less. I'm not deprived--I'll buy stuff I really want, even if it's fairly expensive. I just don't go for all the materialistic crap that most people (especially Americans) surround themselves with. I drive a 10 year old car even though I have >%50k in cash sitting in my brokerage accounts while I figure out what stocks to buy next. Having a new beamer wouldn't make me happy--in fact it would make me feel like a bloody idiot, knowing I could have used that $ to take 2 years of vacation instead, or to invest now and retire a few years earlier.
"I don't buy that you eat, pay for transportation, buy clothes, pay for health care (even if you have insurance there are co-pays and deductibles), take a vacation and just live day to day on $15K a year."
Hmmm...$15k per year to live on (after paying rent and saving) is $1,250 per month. My wife and I live in Florida with much less than that, after savings and rent. For instance, here are out monthly bills:
1. Health insurance = $250
2. Groceries = $300
3. Gasoline = $80
4. Cell = $18 (pre-paid Virgin Mob)
5. Vonage = $22
6. Dinning out = $100
7. Electric bill = $30
8. Broadband = $20
9. Cable is free included in condo.
10. Gym is free included in condo.
Grand total for monthly bills = $ 820 per month (= $9,840 /yr), which is way below $15k per year (= $1,250 /month), and still with plenty leftover (= $430 /month) for clothing, vacations, misc., car repairs, car insurance of $450 /yr, etc.
If you are single and can't live on $15k per year, after savings and rent, you are blowing too much money. So, I don't know why you are making such a scandal here. As you can see, you are the one with the numbers that don't add.
"Having a new beamer wouldn't make me happy--in fact it would make me feel like a bloody idiot, knowing I could have used that $ to take 2 years of vacation instead, or to invest now and retire a few years earlier."
I couldn't have said it better myself!
"OK so let me see if I get this straight. Everyone here makes $200,000 a year as fund managers, doctors and consultants.
Yet day after day you all complain that the cost of milk is up $1."
Big spenders that don't know the value of money would never understand why we, big savers, behave in a frugal manner. I pick up coins from the sidewalk, even though my Net Worth is pretty high.
Why is it so hard for some to believe that lawyers, engineers, businessman, doctors, geologists, or working couples with combined incomes earn over $100k? Do you think that people who make that kind of money are watching Oprah or Faux News all day, instead of checking financial blogs?
For the uninitiated, read the book "The Millionaire Next Door". You won't regret.
family wage income >$200k/year (one engineer, one web professional). Renting where we are now (moved to a major bubble city in 2005 and wimped out on buying cuz prices just seemed too high) - nice 4br 3ba house for $2200/mo. Renting out houses in other locations we bought pre-bubble. So, I'm an owner and a renter. Houses all have 15yr fixed at 4.875% or 5.375%, will be paid off in <10 years. All breaking even or making money.
Savings? same as the note above - we carried on with a fairly collegiate lifestyle after we got real jobs and saving was quite possible. We save probably 20% of our income now, drive old cars, etc.
Creative Director for ... get this a Mortgage Bank (in trouble, they are...not me. Rent 1,300. combined salary (wife) $150k / $55k or so in bank a couple of charge cards (not too much $5k or so total) off to Barbados next week ... figure use tha vacation time while this place exists - Dad's paid for house in my name. Mother-in-laws paid for in wife's name. Lost my shirt in 1988 on a condo - same deal as now 'can't lose on Real Estate' - I did ... once is enough for me. Soon we'll be free. Got laid off two years ago, out of work for about 3 months. During that time found this blog: This blog saved my life - Thanks! I can't tell you how 'smart' you made me - changed my whole way of seeing how the world works - AGAIN THANKS! Did I mention, THANKS!
I am seriously surprised and proud of the modesty shown in this post. I thought I was the only one left that believed in planning for the future, being modest, inconspicuous, and living well within your means.
I would shout the C word to a nun before I would whisper 'right of entitlement' under my breath. That's a true profanity as far as I've EVER been concerned.
I wasn't going to write, but here goes;
I make well over 1.2 mill headed to 3 mill this year. My friends have no idea. I live in a modest home, maintain a modest life style and do not believe in conspicuous comsumption.
Consequently, I have wonderfull friends from all walks of life.
I am a pompous piece of poop, but that is a personality trait and has nothing to do with the funds, I was pompous when I was a ditchdigger. But due to my pompousity and effrontery, I'm who they come to for the truth. I will never tell you how nice that shirt is if it makes you look goofy, that sort of thing.
I get to work on cars with people who HAVE to do the labor themselves, I get to rescue friends who are broke down along the road 300 miles from here, I get to go to the dump and help unload the trailer. I believe these are acts of love among friends that I would not get to participate in if I hung with the HUMMER/heloc/me,me,me crowd.
There are subtle hints to my income but you have to be astute to catch them. Original art at the house that everyone thinks is prints [if they even notice] I have the greatest vintage watches that unless you're an expert just look like a watch. Investment grade hobby stuff like that.
The savings and income is a gracious gift that needs treated as such. I'm rambling. I never get to say these things out loud....
"US Expat,,,live in Italy. (dual citizen, Italian/US) Retired and have entire net worth in swiss/Lich banks that I use to provide annuity stream that sends a modest 3000 Euro payment each month to my local bank. Keep my primary funds out of Italy and the US to prevent confiscatory tax rates."
Damn. Any resources you can point us to on how you set all that up?
I see the Swiss CB just jacked rates again so hopefully it puts more money in your pocket.
Wow, I didn't know that all HPs were millionaires, especially when only 17% of households earn above $100k, usually in combined incomes. They must be all here!
You should visit Scottsdale, Arizona sometime where everyone will tell you they're millionaires, including all the waitresses and bartenders (which is all that's left once you take away the realtors and strippers).
contract programmer for the fortune 500, was making 110K in 2000, then got guestworkered and offshored out, and since then only working 1/4 of the time and averaging 30K/yr with wide variations
rent 2br 725/mo
100+K savings, and about 3/4 of a mill in 401k, etc, which means I think I can ride out about anything except hyperinflation...which I fully expect...
looking into survivalism and intentional communities...
I make "reduced" signs. 60trillion a year.
Buy nickels. Seriously folks, you can make near a 100% return on your money. It costs the government 9.3 cents to make a frigging nickel, and I don't see commodity prices retreating when billions of people become consumers of goods and services in places like China and India.
35 years-old, network security, ~$150K. Wife stopped working to be with the baby.
~$140K in retirement funds. Renting a 2 bedroom townhouse in San Francisco for $1900.
Combined debt at beginning of year was about $90K, but we've been paying it down like mad, so we'll be down to about $23K before the end of the year.
36 yo. Male. Entrepreneur. Florida.
$125k /yr
$3.5M in small cap stccks.
Renting @ $2100/mth
Never owned a house or apt. Will be buying in 2009-2010 when the crash should have materialized.
31 yrs old, Applications Engineer in the Automation Industry, part time RE pimp(5yrs), mortgage loan officer(5yrs) and RE Investor(8yrs). Wife stays at home with 3 kids.
Income:
60k salary from day job
30k this year(so far) in mort and RE pimp commissions. I was full time from 2002-07. Just returned to the day job in Feb 07. Historical commissions
02-75k
03-89k
04-98k
05-45k
06-25k
About 20k laying around in liquid accounts at any given time.
RE portfolio, not counting my own home of about 750k, owe approx 550k on the properties. Current Equity of approx 200k on a basis of $7500 real dollars into the portfolio. I don't count cash flow as part of my income as I reinvest all of the cashflow into more real estate or paying down the loans.
20k in stock/IRA on a cost basis of about 10k.
I paid $0 fed and state taxes in 2 of the last 3 yrs. I followed all of the current tax laws to the T and have no questionable deductions.
My home is worth approx 400k and I owe 250k on the first and 70k on the second(half used to make it through 2006 - no income, other half used to purchase income property). The down payment(60k) on this house came from appreciation from my first rental which I lived in for 2 yrs(20k) and my last primary residence(40k). Payments are $1750 with T&I amortized and $525/mo interest on the second. This is our only monthly obligations besides utilities, insurance and everyday needs.
Junk worth some money around the house.
2003 Chrylser T&C Limited
1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1999 Harley Davidson Motorcycle
1995 Coleman pop up camper
All the other crap that makes up a suburban home with 3 kids running around.
This is an interesting site. I agree with some of the logic you are using to be advocates of renting. I agree less with the doomsday theorists about the extent of the housing fall. If it weren't for me wanting to have my house in the woods on a culdesac and be able to do whatever I want with it, I would be a renter too. I would likely still be a landlord however, even as a renter. The pros/cons of owning property as an investment are far different than whether to rent or own your primary residence. This is my reason for owning rentals. Appreciation is the topping on the cake for me if there is any. If property prices fall, I still make money over the long run. Cash Flow, Tax benefits, principle paydown on mortgage all make it worth it alone. If prices fall and interest rates go up, that means rents will likely be going up too...fine with me!
- IT field, 20 years exp.
- Income $150K (inc. bonus) / yr
- Mortgage $1500 / month
- Property Taxes $3000 / yr
- 401k/Roth $500K (Intl and domestic mutual funds and stocks)
- Stocks / International Mutual funds $175K
- CDs $70K
- Checking Acct $8K
- 529 accounts $45K
- Home Equity $425K (and going down)
- No outstanding credit card debt (bills are about $1500 month and get paid off each month)
- No car loans and own two very dependable cars, which I pretty much maintain myself.
Summary: $1.225 million net worth (and this after getting fk'd twice in the stock market)
Looking to buy a nice house once market takes a massive dump. 2009? We all know what is going to happen; it is all just a matter of time now.
I'm a photographer for a non-profit and make 46K/year.
44K in my 401k.
2000 in savings but paid of 12,000 in personal debt last year (for backpacking through Europe and being unemployed and moving to NYC--I only regret that last one.)
Boyfriend makes 36K/year in publishing.
Has 11,000 in personal savings and 2000 in 401K
We pay 1000/month rent in a crappy part of Brooklyn but we're socking away nearly 2000 a month in savings to buy a home next year.
In the past, I have loved my job so I didn't care about the money. However, my job forces me to live in big cities and now I want a home so I'm looking at switching my career.
Network/Systems Administrator was making $70K a year (I was "downsized" last summer and still haven't found anything good) purchased my home 5 years ago for $250K it's worth about $325K even in this market as I did a lot to it. 10K in savings (And falling) 40K in a 401K which I might cash out to finance my own startup company ;)
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