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My household consists of my parents and I, and we collectively earn in the $80,000-$89,999 range. My father is a systems analyst, my mother is in retail, and I am in sales.
Personally, I'm poor. But luckily I'm a spoiled college brat and my parents still support me.
I was flipping through my parents tax returns and last year their combined income was approximately $780,000. It's funny, we don't live too luxuriously because we live in an extremely expensive city. You could make less than half of that in the South or Midwest and live more lavishly than we do.
I wasn't sure where else to put it. It doesn't really belong in the "Business" forum, and there's no "Finance" or "Money" forums. I suppose you could argue "Work and Employment" though, so perhaps it will be moved there soon. (Hint, hint).
Personally, I'm poor. But luckily I'm a spoiled college brat and my parents still support me.
I was flipping through my parents tax returns and last year their combined income was approximately $780,000. It's funny, we don't live too luxuriously because we live in an extremely expensive city. You could make less than half of that in the South or Midwest and live more lavishly than we do.
Manhattan is just obscenely expensive. A lot of New Yorkers are now moving to my area and commuting two hours each way to work back in the city due to the exorbitant cost-of-living. The end result is a stressful four- or five-hour long round-trip daily commute, but to some (apparently a rapidly growing number at that), it is worth enduring 20-25 hours of commuting per week to have a large home at an inexpensive price. I'd much rather live in an efficiency apartment and be able to walk to work in Manhattan, but even then small efficiencies are as expensive as nice 3-bedroom apartments in my area.
I'm likewise a college student who just turned 21 and am suckling at the parents' wallets for another year until I'm on my feet as a CPA, at which point I'll move out to my Victorian fixer-upper in the city. I feel guilty now whenever they put money out for college expenditures, but I know not to feel too ashamed because once I'm a high-earning corporate guru I'll make sure they'll be more than comfortable in their retirement years as payback for raising me well (even though they're Republicans, but I digress...LOL!)
Manhattan is just obscenely expensive. A lot of New Yorkers are now moving to my area and commuting two hours each way to work back in the city due to the exorbitant cost-of-living. The end result is a stressful four- or five-hour long round-trip daily commute, but to some (apparently a rapidly growing number at that), it is worth enduring 20-25 hours of commuting per week to have a large home at an inexpensive price. I'd much rather live in an efficiency apartment and be able to walk to work in Manhattan, but even then small efficiencies are as expensive as nice 3-bedroom apartments in my area.
I'm likewise a college student who just turned 21 and am suckling at the parents' wallets for another year until I'm on my feet as a CPA, at which point I'll move out to my Victorian fixer-upper in the city. I feel guilty now whenever they put money out for college expenditures, but I know not to feel too ashamed because once I'm a high-earning corporate guru I'll make sure they'll be more than comfortable in their retirement years as payback for raising me well (even though they're Republicans, but I digress...LOL!)
I get sick just thinking about commuting five hours each day!!
Investing in a fixer up in the city is such a good idea!! Manhattan always seems to be such a good investment because of the high demand (and because NYC is just so awesome)!
I had a friend who bought a really small apartment in the city from a realtive a while ago for maybe $250,000 - $300,000 and just sold it for $1.5 million!!!
I get sick just thinking about commuting five hours each day!!
Investing in a fixer up in the city is such a good idea!! Manhattan always seems to be such a good investment because of the high demand (and because NYC is just so awesome)!
I had a friend who bought an apartment in the city from a realtive a long time ago for maybe $250,000 - $300,000 and just sold it for $1.5 million!!!
Wow! $250,000 gets you a McMansion in my area. It's amazing how relative prices can be. Oh, and by "the city" I should have clarified that I meant Podunk...errr....Scranton, PA. LOL! It has all the benefits of city living minus (most) of the non-economic problems, so I couldn't be happier.
Also, the five-hour round-trip commute has lead to a LOT of overstressed people in the Poconos. There's a reason why the NJ state police troopers like to "hang out" around the PA/NJ border on I-80 and I-78; they know they can catch a lot of PA commuters rushing back and forth to work two states away!
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You should use gross (pre-tax) income.
It has all the benefits of city living minus (most) of the non-economic problems, so I couldn't be happier.
