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how do you know everything? it seems that gays and lesbians have taken over marriage in much of this country. this place is all upside down.
My co-workers talk too much. It is tough to hides things like, marriage, promotions and the purchase of a property in the work place. Twenty somethings are also a little narcissistic.
Last edited by goodlife36; 03-11-2014 at 12:18 PM..
Just reading through this thread as I am looking to move to NYC from Singapore. I am just trying to understand who is middle class here in NYC in the context of what is the best I can bargain for / expect. I am definitely at the upper end of upper-middle class in singapore. I make about US$300k post tax here and thats because taxes are very low. If I do the math of a typical middle class lifestyle just on the basis of the rental base, the numbers look crazy.
I am looking to rent a 2 bedroom in a condo in manhattan. (I currently live in a 3 bedroom here in singapore which is also an expensive city state and pay US$4k in rent). I see the rentals range from $4k to $6k for most decent places that are clean and dont necessarily have many facilities.
So if 30% of disposable income goes towards rent @$4k per month then disposable income has to be $13,333 or $160k per year. Now if I back out all taxes and deductions this means gross pay of at least $350k for a family of two where the spouse doesn't work. She is studying but in her line, I doubt her income will make a dent to this maths..
What am I missing here..I validated the 30% as well by considering non-rent expenses in NYC and saving about $1.5k for rainy days which is another middle class rule of thumb I guess one should be able to save at least 20% of income for future (only factored 10% here).
I didn't factor having a full-time domestic help and a nice 4 litre german beauty I have in the garage here in singapore.
So 2 questions here:
1. Whats the middle class lifestyle really like in NYC. would you go out for drinks at least once a week and dine out once/twice a week at a reasonable $40 per head. Would you spend $6k every year on vacations. How many getaway vacations do you take (we take 2 breaks each for 4-5 days and spend about 8-10k in total)
2. Related to above, does spending 30-33% of your net take home income on rent seem right to you?
Thanks and look forward to hear from the NYC veterans here!
Just reading through this thread as I am looking to move to NYC from Singapore. I am just trying to understand who is middle class here in NYC in the context of what is the best I can bargain for / expect. I am definitely at the upper end of upper-middle class in singapore. I make about US$300k post tax here and thats because taxes are very low. If I do the math of a typical middle class lifestyle just on the basis of the rental base, the numbers look crazy.
I am looking to rent a 2 bedroom in a condo in manhattan. (I currently live in a 3 bedroom here in singapore which is also an expensive city state and pay US$4k in rent). I see the rentals range from $4k to $6k for most decent places that are clean and dont necessarily have many facilities.
So if 30% of disposable income goes towards rent @$4k per month then disposable income has to be $13,333 or $160k per year. Now if I back out all taxes and deductions this means gross pay of at least $350k for a family of two where the spouse doesn't work. She is studying but in her line, I doubt her income will make a dent to this maths..
What am I missing here..I validated the 30% as well by considering non-rent expenses in NYC and saving about $1.5k for rainy days which is another middle class rule of thumb I guess one should be able to save at least 20% of income for future (only factored 10% here).
I didn't factor having a full-time domestic help and a nice 4 litre german beauty I have in the garage here in singapore.
So 2 questions here:
1. Whats the middle class lifestyle really like in NYC. would you go out for drinks at least once a week and dine out once/twice a week at a reasonable $40 per head. Would you spend $6k every year on vacations. How many getaway vacations do you take (we take 2 breaks each for 4-5 days and spend about 8-10k in total)
2. Related to above, does spending 30-33% of your net take home income on rent seem right to you?
Thanks and look forward to hear from the NYC veterans here!
50 percent on rent is normal in Manhattan for younger folks who live alone.
Just reading through this thread as I am looking to move to NYC from Singapore. I am just trying to understand who is middle class here in NYC in the context of what is the best I can bargain for / expect. I am definitely at the upper end of upper-middle class in singapore. I make about US$300k post tax here and thats because taxes are very low. If I do the math of a typical middle class lifestyle just on the basis of the rental base, the numbers look crazy.
I am looking to rent a 2 bedroom in a condo in manhattan. (I currently live in a 3 bedroom here in singapore which is also an expensive city state and pay US$4k in rent). I see the rentals range from $4k to $6k for most decent places that are clean and dont necessarily have many facilities.
So if 30% of disposable income goes towards rent @$4k per month then disposable income has to be $13,333 or $160k per year. Now if I back out all taxes and deductions this means gross pay of at least $350k for a family of two where the spouse doesn't work. She is studying but in her line, I doubt her income will make a dent to this maths..
What am I missing here..I validated the 30% as well by considering non-rent expenses in NYC and saving about $1.5k for rainy days which is another middle class rule of thumb I guess one should be able to save at least 20% of income for future (only factored 10% here).
I didn't factor having a full-time domestic help and a nice 4 litre german beauty I have in the garage here in singapore.
So 2 questions here:
1. Whats the middle class lifestyle really like in NYC. would you go out for drinks at least once a week and dine out once/twice a week at a reasonable $40 per head. Would you spend $6k every year on vacations. How many getaway vacations do you take (we take 2 breaks each for 4-5 days and spend about 8-10k in total)
2. Related to above, does spending 30-33% of your net take home income on rent seem right to you?
Thanks and look forward to hear from the NYC veterans here!
BTW I drive a used car, live in a junky home, park on the street, go out to drinks rarely and make a heck of a lot more than you do. 300K is hanging outside bagel store waiting for them to throw out day old bagels salary.
So Sandyjet you would say agree that the middle class definition here on the link at the start is all wrong should it be much higher?..where would you place yourself? btw u just seem to be having a bad day..maybe influencing your judgement
Just reading through this thread as I am looking to move to NYC from Singapore. I am just trying to understand who is middle class here in NYC in the context of what is the best I can bargain for / expect. I am definitely at the upper end of upper-middle class in singapore. I make about US$300k post tax here and thats because taxes are very low. If I do the math of a typical middle class lifestyle just on the basis of the rental base, the numbers look crazy.
I am looking to rent a 2 bedroom in a condo in manhattan. (I currently live in a 3 bedroom here in singapore which is also an expensive city state and pay US$4k in rent). I see the rentals range from $4k to $6k for most decent places that are clean and dont necessarily have many facilities.
So if 30% of disposable income goes towards rent @$4k per month then disposable income has to be $13,333 or $160k per year. Now if I back out all taxes and deductions this means gross pay of at least $350k for a family of two where the spouse doesn't work. She is studying but in her line, I doubt her income will make a dent to this maths..
What am I missing here..I validated the 30% as well by considering non-rent expenses in NYC and saving about $1.5k for rainy days which is another middle class rule of thumb I guess one should be able to save at least 20% of income for future (only factored 10% here).
I didn't factor having a full-time domestic help and a nice 4 litre german beauty I have in the garage here in singapore.
So 2 questions here:
1. Whats the middle class lifestyle really like in NYC. would you go out for drinks at least once a week and dine out once/twice a week at a reasonable $40 per head. Would you spend $6k every year on vacations. How many getaway vacations do you take (we take 2 breaks each for 4-5 days and spend about 8-10k in total)
2. Related to above, does spending 30-33% of your net take home income on rent seem right to you?
Thanks and look forward to hear from the NYC veterans here!
1. You're wildly overestimating taxes. To get $160k take-home you need maybe $250k in pre-tax income, not $350k. You should expect an effective tax rate of a bit shy of 40% overall at that income level, including federal, state and city taxes.
2. There are very few families in NYC where only one spouse works at the upper-middle class income level. Two spouses making $125k each is a pretty common arrangement, though. (If you get to higher incomes a stay-at-home parent becomes more common.)
3. People here frequently spend a lot more than 30% of their post-tax income on housing. That includes pretty much everyone living in Manhattan except the very rich (income over $1 million/year), who despite making headlines are only a small portion (maybe 2% at most) of the total population of Manhattan.
Also, obviously you also get to spend some of the remaining 70% of your income that's not going to rent... if you feel you need a live-in maid and a fancy car, you have $100k/year to spend on them.
Singapore also has a history of being cheap for a world city due to the government's housing policies, though to my understanding that has been changing recently.
Last edited by BrownstoneNY; 10-02-2014 at 03:09 PM..
BrownstoneNY thank you. That's helpful and kindof what I was looking for. But on deductions front I was told by someone American, not New Yorker that after deducting taxes, social security, 401k, medical, etc. one can expect to get about 55% of gross pay net in hand.
Will look at some tax threads here for clarity.
Thanks again.
From a n asian perspective , private housing is 3rd most expensive in Singapore after Tokyo and Hong Kong within Asia
Last edited by rathoras; 10-02-2014 at 03:38 PM..
Reason: Completing sentence
BrownstoneNY thank you. That's helpful and kindof what I was looking for. But on deductions front I was told by someone American, not New Yorker that after deducting taxes, social security, 401k, medical, etc. one can expect to get about 55% of gross pay net in hand.
Will look at some tax threads here for clarity.
Thanks again.
From a n asian perspective , private housing is 3rd most expensive in Singapore after Tokyo and Hong Kong within Asia
It's unclear to me whether you are debating whether you can still get everything you had in Singapore on the same income or how much you have to pay in taxes. There is a handy tool to calculate this without so much guesswork:
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