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I think the misunderstanding is between being able to "live comfortably" and being able to live "luxuriously". You can live compfortably in the NYC metro area at $165K. Certainly it won't be living paycheck to paycheck especially if you have savings.
However, the truth is you will not be able to afford a mcmansion in the NYC area as well. If you can live with that then you will do fine in NYC.
Even when our household income was still at $165K/year, we could well afford to pay rent, send 1st kid to private school and piano lessons, and set aside money in our savings account. We don't live in LI though.=)
I think the misunderstanding is between being able to "live comfortably" and being able to live "luxuriously". You can live compfortably in the NYC metro area at $165K. Certainly it won't be living paycheck to paycheck especially if you have savings.
However, the truth is you will not be able to afford a mcmansion in the NYC area as well. If you can live with that then you will do fine in NYC.
Even when our household was still at $165K/year, we could well afford to pay rent, send 1st kid to private school and piano lessons, and set aside money in our savings account.
Thats exactly what I was trying to say. Well said.
Yeah I do have to agree, you certainly can live on 165k (not paycheck to paycheck either) and people do it with much less every day. I know everyones situation and bills are different, but to say 165k a year income isnt enough to afford a house, family etc on LI is just flat out false.
Not to mention if you purchase correctly and do the right thing that house will inflate with the times unlike "McMansions" in Podunk suburbs.
Its mind boggling when people say they cant live on LI with a $165k salary. lol.
Well, there's one big caveat to this - when did you enter the housing market? If you bought your first house pre-2000 and stayed in the market (continued to own) and didn't dip into phantom equity during the bubble - you can live on less than 165k... easy. Sure you've been hit with some big COL adjustments since 2000 - gas, taxes, etc... but those aren't going to kill a family that maintained 2 steady jobs/incomes over those 13 years... even factoring in overall wage stagnation vs. the big COL uptick.
Joe and Mary making a combined 80k in 2000 buying a $150k house is very different than Frank and Barbara making a combined 165k in 2013 buying a $400k house... especially when you factor in the COL uptick. It is not the same... not even close.
So unless you look at this from that perspective, then I believe it's relatively useless to work against a salary number to determine if you "can live on LI".
quote=Forest_Hills_Daddy The only thing I find unusual with mongoose's account was the jump in his friends' pay. Usually gross pay goes down for salaried white collar workers who migrate, not up albeit at lower COL.[/quote]
Same held true for myself when I moved 4 years ago to the Houston metro area my salary went up. I to am a white collar professional and worked in NYC for alot of years, heard the same crud of "but they don't pay like they do in NYC". Unfortunately for the folks that live on LI and commute to Manhattan for the white collar worker bee jobs and by that I am referring to such professions as accounting/finance, IT, business operations, client services etc. The pay does not gretaly exceed other areas of the country by such a wide margin that it covers the high COL of metro NYC/LI..
Well, there's one big caveat to this - when did you enter the housing market? If you bought your first house pre-2000 and stayed in the market (continued to own) and didn't dip into phantom equity during the bubble - you can live on less than 165k... easy. Sure you've been hit with some big COL adjustments since 2000 - gas, taxes, etc... but those aren't going to kill a family that maintained 2 steady jobs/incomes over those 13 years... even factoring in overall wage stagnation vs. the big COL uptick.
Joe and Mary making a combined 80k in 2000 buying a $150k house is very different than Frank and Barbara making a combined 165k in 2013 buying a $400k house... especially when you factor in the COL uptick. It is not the same... not even close.
So unless you look at this from that perspective, then I believe it's relatively useless to work against a salary number to determine if you "can live on LI".
quote=Forest_Hills_Daddy The only thing I find unusual with mongoose's account was the jump in his friends' pay. Usually gross pay goes down for salaried white collar workers who migrate, not up albeit at lower COL.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WH59
Same held true for myself when I moved 4 years ago to the Houston metro area my salary went up. I to am a white collar professional and worked in NYC for alot of years, heard the same crud of "but they don't pay like they do in NYC". Unfortunately for the folks that live on LI and commute to Manhattan for the white collar worker bee jobs and by that I am referring to such professions as accounting/finance, IT, business operations, client services etc. The pay does not gretaly exceed other areas of the country by such a wide margin that it covers the high COL of metro NYC/LI..
Well, there's one big caveat to this - when did you enter the housing market? If you bought your first house pre-2000 and stayed in the market (continued to own) and didn't dip into phantom equity during the bubble - you can live on less than 165k... easy. Sure you've been hit with some big COL adjustments since 2000 - gas, taxes, etc... but those aren't going to kill a family that maintained 2 steady jobs/incomes over those 13 years... even factoring in overall wage stagnation vs. the big COL uptick.
Joe and Mary making a combined 80k in 2000 buying a $150k house is very different than Frank and Barbara making a combined 165k in 2013 buying a $400k house... especially when you factor in the COL uptick. It is not the same... not even close.
So unless you look at this from that perspective, then I believe it's relatively useless to work against a salary number to determine if you "can live on LI".
I dont think anyone is talking about 2000 home prices. Today yes in 2013 you can buy a 400k house on 165k salary and not live paycheck to paycheck on LI.
I cant even believe Im talking about this but here it goes...
$165k/yr = about $115 take home. = $2200 per week. Yes per week. $8,800 per month.
$400k mortgage @ 3.5% = $2k a month
Taxes $11k / year = $920 a month
So mortgage is $2,920 per month.
$8,800-$2,920= $5,880 a month for all other living expenses.
Do you want a Lexus or Mercedes in the garage?
or both?
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