Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Economics > Personal Finance
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-25-2010, 10:18 PM
 
12,671 posts, read 23,746,244 times
Reputation: 2665

Advertisements

Whats up with folks having expensive trims in their vehicles that look like $2 with loud music? They think they are rich, lol.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-25-2010, 10:57 PM
 
24,488 posts, read 41,033,436 times
Reputation: 12919
For those of you who indicate that their 'cost of living' proportionally goes up with their 'means'...

Are you increasing your funding towards your retirement as your income goes up? Or are you at the cap already? Or is it not a priority to you at this time?

One of the ways I had artificially reduced the amount of money that makes it to my bank was to put as much as I can into my 401K. Years ago, I reached the $49K 401K contribution cap and haven't found an outlet that offers nearly as much incentive (tax deduction, or evasion? in the case of 401k) to reduce how much makes it into my bank. The less that makes it to my bank, the less (naturally).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-25-2010, 11:35 PM
 
12,671 posts, read 23,746,244 times
Reputation: 2665
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest View Post
For those of you who indicate that their 'cost of living' proportionally goes up with their 'means'...

Are you increasing your funding towards your retirement as your income goes up? Or are you at the cap already? Or is it not a priority to you at this time?

One of the ways I had artificially reduced the amount of money that makes it to my bank was to put as much as I can into my 401K. Years ago, I reached the $49K 401K contribution cap and haven't found an outlet that offers nearly as much incentive (tax deduction, or evasion? in the case of 401k) to reduce how much makes it into my bank. The less that makes it to my bank, the less (naturally).
I thought it was $16,500 per year for 401K
What bout Roth IRA?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2010, 12:43 PM
 
24,488 posts, read 41,033,436 times
Reputation: 12919
Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas User View Post
I thought it was $16,500 per year for 401K
What bout Roth IRA?
Limit for 401K is $49K. The low $16.5K only implies to employer sponsored 401Ks... and is way too low.

I agree, Roth IRA is a must. I put $5000/year into it. I forgot about it because I never really think about it except when it comes around tax time. (even though its better to contribute in January, lol)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2010, 12:53 PM
 
30,873 posts, read 36,815,390 times
Reputation: 34457
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyAZ View Post
I had an interesting conversation with a co-worker this morning about living above/below one's means. I haven't really noticed it before but it is pretty difficult to live below your means. With a spike in income after a promotion or raise, you adjust your lifestyle accordingly to your new income. Most people don't simply put that new income into a bank or mutual fund, they seem to add another expense to their current lifestyle which takes away that new money. I've even noticed it with myself (ashamed to admit it).

When I started out working, I was making less than half of what I do now but I still lived fairly comfortably. 8 years later, I make more but seem to have more expenses that eat away at the larger income I have. If I was intelligent, I'd sink that money away into a mutual fund and let it grow and live on the amount of money I was making many years ago.

Does anyone else feel it's very difficult to live a lesser life even if you're making an income that allows you to live better?

I can now understand how some lottery winners blow all their money within 5 years simply because they cannot manage such a larger amount at one time, they live like a king even though they don't understand all the costs associated with their new lifestyle.

Not really a profound thought but it was sort of like one of those "Duh!" moments!
Once you get to a certain income level, and I suspect you're well beyond that level, Speedy, spending more or having more stuff doesn't add anything to your sense of well being, and may even detract from it. Psychologists & economists who study the relationship between money & happiness have recently discovered this. The world's major religions have pretty much been teaching this concept for centuries (although I think some have gone too far by idealizing/romanticizing poverty).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2010, 04:58 PM
 
12,671 posts, read 23,746,244 times
Reputation: 2665
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest View Post
Limit for 401K is $49K. The low $16.5K only implies to employer sponsored 401Ks... and is way too low.

I agree, Roth IRA is a must. I put $5000/year into it. I forgot about it because I never really think about it except when it comes around tax time. (even though its better to contribute in January, lol)
Are you getting any match without the employer-sponsored plan?
There isn't a limit for after-tax deductions. Limit on pre-tax.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2010, 05:00 PM
 
12,671 posts, read 23,746,244 times
Reputation: 2665
Quote:
Originally Posted by mysticaltyger View Post
Once you get to a certain income level, and I suspect you're well beyond that level, Speedy, spending more or having more stuff doesn't add anything to your sense of well being, and may even detract from it. Psychologists & economists who study the relationship between money & happiness have recently discovered this. The world's major religions have pretty much been teaching this concept for centuries (although I think some have gone too far by idealizing/romanticizing poverty).
You mean the study that people who make over $75K a year are more happy?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2010, 05:08 PM
 
24,488 posts, read 41,033,436 times
Reputation: 12919
Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas User View Post
Are you getting any match without the employer-sponsored plan?
There isn't a limit for after-tax deductions. Limit on pre-tax.
The rules are different regarding a solo 401k. The company can match or even exceed your contribution up to 25% of your salary. Typically, you own the company outright in this scenario, so it's not quite extra money like it would be in an employer sponsored plan.

Since the pre-tax contribution limit is $49,000, you as an individual would put in $16.5k, and the company would put in $32500 on your behalf (completely tax free). I would imagine that this outweighs what an employer might match in w2 employment.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2010, 05:10 PM
 
12,671 posts, read 23,746,244 times
Reputation: 2665
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest View Post
The rules are different regarding a solo 401k. The company can match or even exceed your contribution up to 25% of your salary. Typically, you own the company outright in this scenario, so it's not quite extra money like it would be in an employer sponsored plan.

Since the pre-tax contribution limit is $49,000, you as an individual would put in $16.5k, and the company would put in $32500 on your behalf (completely tax free). I would imagine that this outweighs what an employer might match in w2 employment.
You have ownership of the company if you buy company's shares.

My company use to match 6% dollar to dollar but now its down to 4.5% which ins't bad either.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2010, 05:13 PM
 
30,873 posts, read 36,815,390 times
Reputation: 34457
Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas User View Post
You mean the study that people who make over $75K a year are more happy?
There are others that show that number is as low as 40K.

We could go back and forth over the numbers, but I think it suffices to say that the first 10K to 20K you earn makes a big difference in happiness. Every additional 10K you make adds less and less satisfaction.

I've visited Latin America 4x and the people there are just as happy, if not happier than Americans and their standard of living is much less than ours is. So clearly, there's something else going on in the equation besides just money.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Economics > Personal Finance
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:30 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top