Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [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)
 
Old 02-03-2010, 08:19 PM
 
20 posts, read 25,996 times
Reputation: 16

Advertisements

I came from a household that has a business that earns about $350,000 to $400,000 after tax and it doesn't feel rich. Over the past few years, sometimes the earnings went up, sometimes it went down.Let say about $30,000 a month. My first house in Singapore of 4.5 million USD (with outstanding principle of 1.2 million at 2.99%) mortgage needs to pay around $6000 a month for mortgage plus maintanance fees. Second house of 2 million USD in Shanghai (with outstanding principle at 0.5 million at 4.5%) which needs to pay around USD$3000 on mortgage. The 2 apartment maintenance fees cost about $800+ a month. So $30,000 - $10,000 for housing upkeep= Which left my family at $20,000 for the rest. I have 2 younger sisters who is taking college class in Los Angeles. Their monthly expenses including tuition fees is $7000 USD. $20,000 - $7000 = $13,000. After my 2 younger sisters, there is still me, my father, my mom,and younger brother. My father and my mom uses around $4000 for their monthly expenses. I get $2000 a month for monthly expenses. My younger brother whom is a high-school student uses about $500 a month for school fees and daily spending. So $13,000 - $6500 = $6500.
$6500 is deposited into the bank monthly for emergency fund or for vacation sometimes.


Do I think I am blessed? Yes I think I do and I thank God for this. Am I rich? No. I still haven't got a Ferrari so I wouldn't consider myself living luxuriously.
My definition of rich is one where a family could live in USD$10 million mansion, has a private jet or yacht. I am still far away from achieving this lifestyle. Governments around the world should put the dividing line between middle-class and rich at $1 million a year IMHO.

 
Old 02-04-2010, 09:29 AM
 
Location: Bradenton, Florida
27,232 posts, read 46,578,960 times
Reputation: 11083
How many ramens could I buy on $300K a year?
 
Old 02-04-2010, 09:39 AM
 
Location: Fort Worth Texas
12,481 posts, read 10,205,553 times
Reputation: 2536
Quote:
Originally Posted by spunky1 View Post
Here we go again. . .and the answer remains NO.
If one makes that much a year and they spend it and have nothing to show for it they are definately NOT rich! Example: I have a friend who is a golf professional. He easily makes that much a year, however he has to fly to all the tournaments, stay in hotels, and basically lives a lifestyle that he spends nearly everything he makes. Is he rich? NO.
I totally agree with you. While he is flying staying in hotels he is also helping the overall economy
 
Old 02-14-2010, 03:54 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,489 times
Reputation: 12
The greatest tragedy in America is that almost everyone is "rich". The average American family enjoys luxuries that the rest of the world can only dream about. Where else in the world can you find an "average" family that takes at least one vacation a year, has multiple cars, eats out every week, has pets, toys and so many other luxuries that we all take for granted?

We do not feel rich, because in a country where everyone is rich, it is harder to feel "richer". Rich is a state of mind, and it is usually relative to what you see everyday.

My wife and I take home a combined $200K+ a year on average. We are very fortunate to be doing this at a relatively young age (we are in our early 30s). Do we feel "rich"? Absolutely. I do not need a Ferrari or a Yacht to feel this way. Rich is the absence of lack.

We do not believe in status symbols. I myself drive a 7-year old Honda Civic, and my wife drives an SUV we purchased used. Because we have no need to display status, we do not feel "poor" compared to our neighbors who drive BMWs and Porsches.

But we count ourselves as truly blessed. We are both immigrants to America and we have seen what true poverty and lack is in our respective countries. In a country overflowing with abundance, people tend to lose perspective. Only in America can you find people making $300K a year who say they are NOT rich. Truly unbelievable.
 
Old 02-28-2010, 09:22 AM
 
Location: Earth Wanderer, longing for the stars.
12,406 posts, read 18,935,415 times
Reputation: 8910
Quote:
Originally Posted by makeitby40 View Post
The greatest tragedy in America is that almost everyone is "rich". The average American family enjoys luxuries that the rest of the world can only dream about. Where else in the world can you find an "average" family that takes at least one vacation a year, has multiple cars, eats out every week, has pets, toys and so many other luxuries that we all take for granted?

We do not feel rich, because in a country where everyone is rich, it is harder to feel "richer". Rich is a state of mind, and it is usually relative to what you see everyday.

My wife and I take home a combined $200K+ a year on average. We are very fortunate to be doing this at a relatively young age (we are in our early 30s). Do we feel "rich"? Absolutely. I do not need a Ferrari or a Yacht to feel this way. Rich is the absence of lack.

We do not believe in status symbols. I myself drive a 7-year old Honda Civic, and my wife drives an SUV we purchased used. Because we have no need to display status, we do not feel "poor" compared to our neighbors who drive BMWs and Porsches.

But we count ourselves as truly blessed. We are both immigrants to America and we have seen what true poverty and lack is in our respective countries. In a country overflowing with abundance, people tend to lose perspective. Only in America can you find people making $300K a year who say they are NOT rich. Truly unbelievable.
I think a capitalistic culture encourages greed. Greed is Good! Our consumer economy depends on us always thinking the grass is greener on the other side, always competing with others for more, more, more; always evaluating others by their jobs, their zip codes, the private schools the kids go to, etc.

Some other cultures do not have the extremes of wealth that we do here, but have elected rather to funnel their excess wealth in providing for the less fortunate among them: better and cheaper schools, college subsidized for many, medical treatment, decent housing.

We seem to be going the way of many Latin American countries, with a few extremely wealthy families and the remainder in poverty. Other countries would rather that everyone be progressing in knowledge and prosperity together. The progress may not be as speedy, but there are not so many homeless or mad people wandering the streets with hungry children.

Jobs that used to be stepping stones for parents to give their kids a better life, like construction, are being taken over by illegals, thereby lowering wages and freezing some of our citizens into the poverty cycle. Cheap labor is always favored by the wealthy ruling class.

I think the same problems that we see south of the border will be imported here. Desperate people do desperate things. If there are no jobs, even with a college education, people are more prone to choose illegal means to wealth, like drug sales.

A stable society requires channels for upward mobility, which are drying up here.
 
Old 02-28-2010, 05:39 PM
 
Location: Cupertino, CA
860 posts, read 2,200,172 times
Reputation: 1195
Around these parts, $300k/yr, rich? LOL hell no (assuming we are including bonuses and stocks). But it is definately not a bad amount to earn.
 
Old 02-28-2010, 06:14 PM
 
1,842 posts, read 1,705,755 times
Reputation: 169
I lived on $300/month for 5 years in the US I felt rich I drove where I wanted too and lived where I wanted too. I was acutely aware of just how much money and privilege I had. Now I'm down to $165/month and I feel poor. At $300 a month I was in the top 5 or 10% of the worlds income level. A worker in the Philippines is happy to work for $30 a month.
 
Old 02-28-2010, 06:21 PM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
8,998 posts, read 14,762,991 times
Reputation: 3550
Quote:
Originally Posted by F355 View Post
It's been asked at what salary level is someone considered rich, and there has been some very interesting insight.

My question is, if a family has a combined income of $300,000 a year, are they considered "rich". Of course everything is relative, but in most parts of the US is this considered wealthy?

While this figure is clearly a large sum, I think it depends how old one is when they earn this kind of money which determines whether or not they are rich. If it's someone in their 30's or even 40's, I would argue that they are affluent (not rich).

But if it's someone in their 50's or 60's (who has yet to pay off their mortgage, drives luxury automobiles, travels extensively, dresses to the nines, enjoys fine wine and food) I would say they are not.

Even though a salary of $300,000 puts one in the top .9% of US income earners, I still do not consider this figure to be "rich". Do you?
Hmmm... .9% of US income earners....I'd say you're rich.

Funny how SOME denigrate the poor for not spending their money wisely but if you're rich, we're somehow supposed to feel bad for you because you live in an expensive part of the United States?

Considering the economic conditions in the U.S., upward mobility is a thing of the past. If you're making $300,000 I don't feel bad for you at all.
 
Old 02-28-2010, 06:27 PM
 
645 posts, read 1,962,188 times
Reputation: 453
In "most" parts of the United States $300,000 in considered rich.
 
Old 02-28-2010, 06:43 PM
 
6,082 posts, read 6,024,486 times
Reputation: 1916
Quote:
Originally Posted by F355 View Post
My question is, if a family has a combined income of $300,000 a year, are they considered "rich". Of course everything is relative, but in most parts of the US is this considered wealthy?

Even though a salary of $300,000 puts one in the top .9% of US income earners, I still do not consider this figure to be "rich". Do you?
Well if 300K is not rich but middle class, what do you consider the 99.1% of Americans who average 5 times less than that?
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.


Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:25 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