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Try and pay cash for things when we can and if we have it.
Two concepts that have yet to be embraced by many. Everything is needing the latest phone, car, tv, gadget, etc. I watched this on Wall Street in the 87 crash. Most of the newbie brokers with their pied-e-terra's in NYC and the house in the Hamptons driving the BMW or Mercedes, did a crash and burn because they were leveraged up to the eyeballs. We live like you do.
There are also plenty of people who can indeed afford those homes (especially with dual incomes). Doctors, executives, successful small business owners, investors, brokers, to name a few. Not everyone is mortgaged to the hilt (although plenty are)
This. TONS of extremely successful, educated, entrepreneurial, hard working people that make very high incomes. Whether its tied to manhattan or on the island people are capable and make a very good living. Its competitive and those that cant make it or choose not to bother eventually leave.
This. TONS of extremely successful, educated, entrepreneurial, hard working people that make very high incomes. Whether its tied to manhattan or on the island people are capable and make a very good living. Its competitive and those that cant make it or choose not to bother eventually leave.
Note that nearly all of those listed were location-dependent. They won't be going anywhere. Same for dentists and vets, although most are not as higher earning so they think about leaving.
Many IT jobs are becoming location-independent - assuming you live near an airport you can relocate, and still earn the same salary. I know many who have left LI for points south.
On my upper middle class block, here is the breakdown:
Almost every house not owned by retirees (who are all selling to younger families slowly but surely) has one teacher or cop working in the family. A few who don't, and those that only have one income, had help with the house from family. The only new arrivals on my block that don't fit this profile are a couple who are never home and their kids are in day care all day from 7 to 6 at night, which makes me sad for them. They had to struggle to get in this neighborhood.
I guarantee you when this neighborhood was built, 90% of the houses were single income and most were working in private industry.
There are many Executives, SR. Accountants, IT directors, Bankers, Lawyers, people in sales making $200-300k. That's enough to pay a mortgage and lease a nice car or 2, especially if there is a stay at home spouse, meaning zero childcare costs. Many parents have family helping w kids so big savings there. Career choice and child care options pretty much dictate your lifestyle here.
These industries tend to be unstable so most know to save your pennies when starting to work. They also tend to pay out large bonuses , so easier to make big purchases, renovate homes, save that large down payment, go on vacations, or save a large portion of bonus.
Last edited by newmommyq; 10-16-2016 at 07:33 PM..
There are many Executives, SR. Accountants, IT directors, Bankers, Lawyers, people in sales making $200-300k. That's enough to pay a mortgage and lease a nice car or 2, especially if there is a stay at home spouse, meaning zero childcare costs. Many parents have family helping w kids so big savings there. Career choice and child care options pretty much dictate your lifestyle here.
These industries tend to be unstable so most know to save your pennies when starting to work. They also tend to pay out large bonuses , so easier to make big purchases, renovate homes, save that large down payment, go on vacations, or save a large portion of bonus.
Those seem to be the career choices in my sister's upper middle class neighborhood. (Of course those are pre-tax incomes so the take home is considerably less.).
Is the OP planning a career change/career advancement/second job in order to earn more money?
Living at home until my early thirties helped immensely. Receiving a big promotion and paying off school loans was a huge huge help. I owed $127K between undergrad and graduate. My husband and I wouldnt even think about buying a house until that was paid off. My friends all opted to buy very nice homes with student loan debt and they all drive expensive cars. My bmw is ten years old with 105K miles. It would be nice to buy something new but not having any car payments feels great. My husband and I also only buy used cars and pay them in full. His cars are a lot newer but again, paid in full so we dont feel the pinch. My husband is also extremely frugal when it comes to clothing (not his suits though). He will pay no more than $40 for a pair of sneakers. Many of my friends who are doing well, are doing well due to the fact that their parents are helping them with down payments, renovations etc. I really dont know anyone in my group that is successful without receiving some type of help. Unfortunately, my husband and I were not dealt those same cards.
There are many Executives, SR. Accountants, IT directors, Bankers, Lawyers, people in sales making $200-300k. That's enough to pay a mortgage and lease a nice car or 2, especially if there is a stay at home spouse, meaning zero childcare costs. Many parents have family helping w kids so big savings there. Career choice and child care options pretty much dictate your lifestyle here.
I'm familiar with the corporate payscale in Manhattan - there are not "many" suburbanites who get paid 200-300K on a single income. Upper 100K is the average for SVPs beyond which they become overpaid and are an easy target for layoffs. The exception are non-equity partners in law firms though that field is coming under pressure. With two incomes though, a household can make it to 200-300K but still due to high housing costs in the NYC suburbs, they will still take out a large mortgage.
I understand both parents need to work and you need to pull in an average household income of $150+ but I see so many threads on here about people (in their 30's) saying they need help finding a house but don't want anything too expensive and then say their ceiling is $750K! I'm baffled! What do these people do for a living!? How do these people afford these houses and these lifestyles!? What's their secret? I guess I'm more interested in knowing what everyone does for a living (spouses too) and what they make a year. I know it's a bit of a personal question and please don't answer if you think so but I'm just trying to wrap my head around it. I'm an insurance broker and make just above $100, own a $225K condo, drive a Chevy. Nothing extravagant. But I see people younger than me driving Mercedes and BMW, living in expensive towns with expensive homes. I'm not at all jealous and I respect people that earn a great living. I just want some insight into the secret of their success.
Most people live in the moment and save nothing for retirement.
Then its the MANS fault they have nothing when they retire.
7 out of 10 Americans have less than a $1,000 in the bank.......unreal.
I just married an only child with wealthy parents.
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