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I read an article that said that a family of 4 in NJ needs at least $72000 per year to get by in northern NJ (cant find the source now, but was posted on NJ.com a few months ago), which is kind of scary . Rest of the country can manage well with $50-$55 K per year. If $72000 is barely middle class in Northern NJ, I would like to know what people here consider "rich". When I say Rich, I am talking about the top 15 %, not 1 percenter's alone. I am imagining anything above $165,000, but may be wrong. Boy, a dollar does not go anywhere in this state does it .
Is that HHI? I don't know how these folks in North Jersey do it. I wonder if these folks are leveraged to ****, meaning 1 month without a paycheck and they are doomed? I have been spending a lot of time in the past few months in the Somerset Hills, and I love the area. Been looking at real estate and am shocked at what I am seeing. 60 yr old splits with an 80's reno for 600k??? Thats crazy. We're young, and prob could afford that in the not so distant future, but what for?
My thinking is an HHI of 200k AFTER taxes and deductions is rich and what you need to live "comfortably" in North Jersey
We live in a mortgage free home in Ridgewood, paid for our son's college education and will shortly retire with a 6 figure income.
The "secret" to living well in North Jersey (or anywhere) is:
To be married with both spouses working
To be blessed with good health so you both can continue to work
To avoid expensive, bad habits such as smoking, drinking, gambling, compulsive shopping,......
To avoid leasing autos
To keep your automobiles for at least 10 years
To place savings before spending
To invest wisely
We live in a mortgage free home in Ridgewood, paid for our son's college education and will shortly retire with a 6 figure income.
The "secret" to living well in North Jersey (or anywhere) is:
To be married with both spouses working
To be blessed with good health so you both can continue to work
To avoid expensive, bad habits such as smoking, drinking, gambling, compulsive shopping,......
To avoid leasing autos
To keep your automobiles for at least 10 years
To place savings before spending
To invest wisely
All makes sense, though assume a six figure retirement means you have increasingly-rare pensions.
I read an article that said that a family of 4 in NJ needs at least $72000 per year to get by in northern NJ (cant find the source now, but was posted on NJ.com a few months ago), which is kind of scary . Rest of the country can manage well with $50-$55 K per year. If $72000 is barely middle class in Northern NJ, I would like to know what people here consider "rich". When I say Rich, I am talking about the top 15 %, not 1 percenter's alone. I am imagining anything above $165,000, but may be wrong. Boy, a dollar does not go anywhere in this state does it .
I don't think $72K would get a family of 4 very far. Maybe if you're single it sounds incredulous.
You're at a 25% tax rate right off the bat, so the feds get $18,750 of that. The state of NJ will get close to $4K. So round that off to $22K total and you have $50K left. Spread that out over 4 people, and two kids who are constantly needing/growing out of/eating more and more as they grow up? Toss in rent or mortgage/car payments/insurance, electric/gas & water (infants & toddlers typically don't take quick showers), diapers/baby food, formula (not everyone breast feeds until the kid is 10 or makes their own baby food), food, insurance premiums & co-pays - kids go to the doc a lot. School supplies, clothing & shoes...the list goes on.
Families have much larger bills - and for necessities, than singles or adult couples.
We live in a mortgage free home in Ridgewood, paid for our son's college education and will shortly retire with a 6 figure income.
The "secret" to living well in North Jersey (or anywhere) is:
To be married with both spouses working
To be blessed with good health so you both can continue to work
To avoid expensive, bad habits such as smoking, drinking, gambling, compulsive shopping,......
To avoid leasing autos
To keep your automobiles for at least 10 years
To place savings before spending
To invest wisely
You forgot one very important one.....to be born before 1980.
Most cars don't last 10 years even if I bought it new.
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. Rest of the country can manage well with $50-$55 K per year. If $72000 is barely middle class in Northern NJ, I would like to know what people here consider "rich". When I say Rich, I am talking about the top 15 %, not 1 percenter's alone. I am imagining anything above $165,000, but may be wrong. Boy, a dollar does not go anywhere in this state does it 
.
Makes living in NJ an even bigger challenge.
