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so what states would be better than FL for the rich? Wont the rich want to save by not paying property taxes if FL eliminates them?
As for $100k incomes, its very high in states with low costs of living and cheap houses. That income can get you several houses if you needed that many LOL.
Mind if ask how old you are and what part of FL do you live in?
FWIW, $100k isn't anywhere near rich. More like upper middle, as some of the other posters have replied.
My sister's home in Pasadena, CA. is valued about $750,000 and it's only a 2 bed/1 bath 1100 sq. ft. house with a one car detached garage in an iffy neighborhood. They earn about $150,000 between them, but carry an almost full mortgage plus a second equity loan, have credit card debt, and lease their SUVs and have their 8 year old daughter in an exclusive private school. They have enough to play with, but they aren't what I'd call living "rich".
My parents have an exquisite home on a 1 acre estate in a golf course community and their home is one of the few directly on the high bank of the river with decks,etc. It's not a big, big house at 1920 sq. ft., but it's valued at $1,000,000 and it is a beautiful home (though their interior decorating I don't like...it's all South Pacific tribal crap from their South Pacific sailing...looks like a natives museum inside...carved heads with "bones" in their noses everywhere and Maori wall hangings, etc. yuck).... and she tried to get me to take some of it... I had to politely tell her...sorry, not even on my deathbed....it's ooglee ma! I like Waterford crystal and fine art, not natives with bones in their noses.
Mine is 2301 sq. ft, custom brick, 4.3 acres, parklike grounds, and it's worth less than $250,000! Location is everything, so are incomes and expenses including personal debt.
My parents are completely debt-free with a very large retirement income (ex. UA pilot and my mother is an ex-plant manager for TriValley growers who supply Libbys, DelMonte, etc.). They also both draw social security because they earned it and are old enough now to qualify. I think they earn together around $8000/month and they own their home free and clear as well. They do whatever they want like RV around the country as they please.
I am not wealthy, but I own my home free and clear. I have no debt of any kind, no credit card debt, have no auto note, have never taken an equity loan (and don't intend to), and my taxes and utilities are ridiculously low and expenses are less than $700 month. I haven't worked since May of 05!!!! But I've been able to take this time off because my living expenses are so low! I live better than my executive sister who's an executive at Warner Bros. in Burbank!
I talked to a great friend of mine today who's making $145,000 a year in Reno and has lived very well. She is a very senior executive with a very well known company and we used to be peers in senior management at the bank we worked at. She's in the middle of a divorce and she told me they have NO equity on their home because they've drawn the equity to the limit and now the price has fallen below what they owe, and she and her husband who are divorcing have...GET THIS!!... $144,000 just in credit card debt!!!!!!!!!! Their minimum payments alone for the credit card bills are $4000. $2000 a month for the house payment that they have no equity in, and then there's a car payment on top of that and we're not factoring in regular living expenses yet. She needs $7,000/month just to break even and that's with sacrificing.....not to mention her daughter's college tuition....
If I earned $25,000/year, I could live comfortably.
Debt, location, expenses...those determine what a person's financial status is really.
My cousin in New York City bought her home for around $700,000 and it's worth $1,500,000 or so. A large home, but old too. She is pretty well known and her husband is a doctor. They're what I call "rich".
My other "rich" cousin lives in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay region in Alamo. Her home is custom-built and worth $2,300,000 and it's gorgeous in a neighborhood of one acre estates following an exclusive road through a semi-valley in the hills near Blackhawk. She's an extremely successful real estate agent who sells million dollar homes in Alamo and Blackhawk regularly. She's also my favorite cousin as she's a freakin' hoot! We howl with laughter when we talk together
Then I have another cousin who doesn't own a thing and lives in a guest cottage on a tropical palm plantation on the big island of Hawaii. She's totally happy!
Well said. Richness isnt just income alone, its the processions you own and how well you budget and if you have any debt at all. Location can be a very big factor in the apparent richness.
A $100k income in California is alot on paper but in reality is not enough for anything but a tiny shack in a bad crime neighboorhood, a 1/1 condo in a safe neighboor or a manufactored house. That doesnt amount to a very good quality of life. Sure you have a desirable location but everything costs so much that your money doesnt go very far.
On the other hand if you live where houses and cost of living is very low, a $100k income can get you soooooooo much. Like a giant 6 bedroom brick house with a huge backyard, able to eat out several times a week, enjoy your hobbies, shop everyday, etc.
The bay area is popular for the very rich and those 2+ million dollar houses. I wouldnt be able to touch that house even if I won the lottery or I would just end up broke in a few years due to all those taxes and expenses! Something in the quarter to half million is what id be looking at and still have enough money to retire the rest of my life Half million can get you a mansion in an affordable location.
Our family of five lives off of 16k a year. Barely sometimes. But we have shelter, water, food, electricity. I dont need much to be happy. In fact a lot of material things doesnt make me happy. But the ability to go places and do things does. Thats a big drawback of being lower income. Oh and the reason Americans dont take those jobs that only illegals will do? Because the jobs dont pay enough to live in those areas. From housing, to insurance, to groceries. Those little $200-250 paychecks would be a spec in the sea. If they could actually pull it off and remain in the area, there would be no benefit to doing so. It would just add more stress. Then they would be surrounded by wealthly people and be completely out of place also. You will notice Americans still do all kinds of laboress jobs in areas where it isnt all rich people peddling some bs down the ladder that only illegals will do the work. From the most dangerous fishing jobs, to working at sewage plants, to plains farmers, and your everyday tradeskills like welders, ironworkers, roofers exct.
Last edited by the_pines; 02-22-2007 at 07:53 PM..
Well said. Richness isnt just income alone, its the processions you own and how well you budget and if you have any debt at all. Location can be a very big factor in the apparent richness.
A $100k income in California is alot on paper but in reality is not enough for anything but a tiny shack in a bad crime neighboorhood, a 1/1 condo in a safe neighboor or a manufactored house. That doesnt amount to a very good quality of life. Sure you have a desirable location but everything costs so much that your money doesnt go very far.
On the other hand if you live where houses and cost of living is very low, a $100k income can get you soooooooo much. Like a giant 6 bedroom brick house with a huge backyard, able to eat out several times a week, enjoy your hobbies, shop everyday, etc.
The bay area is popular for the very rich and those 2+ million dollar houses. I wouldnt be able to touch that house even if I won the lottery or I would just end up broke in a few years due to all those taxes and expenses! Something in the quarter to half million is what id be looking at and still have enough money to retire the rest of my life Half million can get you a mansion in an affordable location.
I got curious about what they all pay in property taxes NAH and that info. on Zillow.com is accurate, so I looked and my cousin in Alamo pays a bit more than $20,000 a year. My parents only pay around $3500. My sister pays around $2000, I paid $1479 for 06!
If I had a $100,000 income here in Missouri in my situation, I'd have $60,000 saved the first year.
My sister's home in Pasadena, CA. is valued about $750,000 and it's only a 2 bed/1 bath 1100 sq. ft. house with a one car detached garage in an iffy neighborhood. They earn about $150,000 between them, but carry an almost full mortgage plus a second equity loan, have credit card debt, and lease their SUVs and have their 8 year old daughter in an exclusive private school. They have enough to play with, but they aren't what I'd call living "rich".
My parents have an exquisite home on a 1 acre estate in a golf course community and their home is one of the few directly on the high bank of the river with decks,etc. It's not a big, big house at 1920 sq. ft., but it's valued at $1,000,000 and it is a beautiful home (though their interior decorating I don't like...it's all South Pacific tribal crap from their South Pacific sailing...looks like a natives museum inside...carved heads with "bones" in their noses everywhere and Maori wall hangings, etc. yuck).... and she tried to get me to take some of it... I had to politely tell her...sorry, not even on my deathbed....it's ooglee ma! I like Waterford crystal and fine art, not natives with bones in their noses.
Mine is 2301 sq. ft, custom brick, 4.3 acres, parklike grounds, and it's worth less than $250,000! Location is everything, so are incomes and expenses including personal debt.
My parents are completely debt-free with a very large retirement income (ex. UA pilot and my mother is an ex-plant manager for TriValley growers who supply Libbys, DelMonte, etc.). They also both draw social security because they earned it and are old enough now to qualify. I think they earn together around $8000/month and they own their home free and clear as well. They do whatever they want like RV around the country as they please.
I am not wealthy, but I own my home free and clear. I have no debt of any kind, no credit card debt, have no auto note, have never taken an equity loan (and don't intend to), and my taxes and utilities are ridiculously low and expenses are less than $700 month. I haven't worked since May of 05!!!! But I've been able to take this time off because my living expenses are so low! I live better than my executive sister who's an executive at Warner Bros. in Burbank!
I talked to a great friend of mine today who's making $145,000 a year in Reno and has lived very well. She is a very senior executive with a very well known company and we used to be peers in senior management at the bank we worked at. She's in the middle of a divorce and she told me they have NO equity on their home because they've drawn the equity to the limit and now the price has fallen below what they owe, and she and her husband who are divorcing have...GET THIS!!... $144,000 just in credit card debt!!!!!!!!!! Their minimum payments alone for the credit card bills are $4000. $2000 a month for the house payment that they have no equity in, and then there's a car payment on top of that and we're not factoring in regular living expenses yet. She needs $7,000/month just to break even and that's with sacrificing.....not to mention her daughter's college tuition....
If I earned $25,000/year, I could live comfortably.
Debt, location, expenses...those determine what a person's financial status is really.
My cousin in New York City bought her home for around $700,000 and it's worth $1,500,000 or so. A large home, but old too. She is pretty well known and her husband is a doctor. They're what I call "rich".
My other "rich" cousin lives in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay region in Alamo. Her home is custom-built and worth $2,300,000 and it's gorgeous in a neighborhood of one acre estates following an exclusive road through a semi-valley in the hills near Blackhawk. She's an extremely successful real estate agent who sells million dollar homes in Alamo and Blackhawk regularly. She's also my favorite cousin as she's a freakin' hoot! We howl with laughter when we talk together
Then I have another cousin who doesn't own a thing and lives in a guest cottage on a tropical palm plantation on the big island of Hawaii. She's totally happy!
Very well put, MoMark. I see too many people that want the perception of being wealthy. People mortgage their lives away to impress others and I see no point. I sold a home a couple weeks ago to a young couple in their early 30's; it was a beautiful home located in a golf-course community for $1.2 million. But they could not financially support such payments on a house of that price, they literally mortgage their life away.
If was EXTREMELY difficult to get them approved for a loan based on a horrible past credit history. Their combined income wasn't enought to support a milllion dollar home and I suggested that they look at a few more properies before deciding on this particular one. But they insisted it was the home for them and unfortunately I feel that it will be foreclosed on within 2 years.
My parents are probably the exact opposite. They rarely will ever use a credit card, they don't spend lavishly, and they keep their finances in order. They own a beautiful, winter home down here on a gated, lake community worth in the neighborhood of $1.1-$1.2 million and they also own a main home in Iowa worth a whopping $130,000. My dad wasn't a high-powered lawyer or doctor; he was a plain old farmer. My mom kept medical records for Hospice. But now they are both retired and are enjoying their reward. I'd consider them rich because they have their family, their health, their vitality, and well....enough money to last them a couple lifetimes.
If you have your friends, your family, and your health; then my friend you are the richest of them all.
Our family of five lives off of 16k a year. Barely sometimes. But we have shelter, water, food, electricity. I dont need much to be happy.
I also dont need much to be happy but whats your secret on five people living on $16k? That comes out to $3,200 per person per year! My dad thinks I need at least $2k a month just to make it in a very affordable location like Oil city. The cheaper I can live on, the more ill have saved for retirement
I also dont need much to be happy but whats your secret on five people living on $16k? That comes out to $3,200 per person per year! My dad thinks I need at least $2k a month just to make it in a very affordable location like Oil city. The cheaper I can live on, the more ill have saved for retirement
We live in a two bdr house with my sister and her kid. Her kid goes and stays with her grandma and dad most of the time. My sister gets foods stamps that help out(groceries add up very quick in Fla).My three girls sleep in her bedroom which is more like all the kids room. The baby in her crib the other two share a bed. Me and my wife took the old shed outback(put vinyl tile that looks like Italian sandstone, painted it a contemporary theme, bought some decorations, bamboo blinds, matching rug, comforter set, feather pillows, looks nice for what it is exc) and made it into our bdr with income tax money. Futon for a bed, tv, wall unit ac, computer im on. My sister pays the rent with her child support, we pay the utilities and other expenses. Plus my sister didnt have a car so she drives our minivan to do her stuff. There are two bathrooms so we dont have everyone using the same one. Its not the best, but the idea is to get my sister on her feet(she cant move because of her kid), and my family move somewhere else with the next income tax. Othwerise we would be in an apartment $600-700 a month. Even a trailer, but Fla isnt the best place for a trailer. My oldest girl is in a very good elementary school, the other two are to young yet.
Im not really happy with any of it though. The girls schooling is the main concern right now. I dont know how it will work out in the end. I never really planned anything or stuck with anything longterm.
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I had to politely tell her...sorry, not even on my deathbed....it's ooglee ma! I like Waterford crystal and fine art, not natives with bones in their noses.
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