What he HELL does everyone do in OC to make money? (Anaheim: renters, compensation)

[HyperionGap]

Originally Posted by expatCA

If the return on the invested money was as high as listed it could make sense. But today it is hard to find 1 or 2%

Well there's this thing called the stock market...

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by SoCalCroozer

And just how do you suggest lower classes "priortize" education nowadyas considering the costs of college have risen faster than anything else in life???????? People like you are pretty out of touch when it comes to "lower classes" and blue collar folks. When mom and dad have to work just to pay bills and put food on the table it's hard to want to come home and spend hours teaching little Jimmy basic algebra.

And not only are middle class and lower class Americans not moving up the socioeconomic ladder, many are moving down. Let's face it America is dissolving into the wealthy and the have nots. It has little to do with self motivation, priorities, willingness, yadda yadda.

The one single thing that would help the most would be to reduce the 40% out of wedlock birth rate. No wonder people can't move out of the poverty class if they're having kids outside marriage. That just doesn't work. Even the liberal researchers are admitting conservatives were right about this all along:

20 years later, it turns out Dan Quayle was right about Murphy Brown and unmarried moms - The Washington Post

They might also adopt the values advocated in The Triple Package by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld, which show why some cultural groups in the U.S. do well economically and others don't. Bottom line is they DO make education a priority. And they also value deferred gratification....which leads to academic achievement, few kids out of wedlock, achievement at work, etc.

The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America: Amy Chua, Jed Rubenfeld: 9780143126355: Amazon.com: Books

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by k374

Also take into account that besides low home prices inflation adjusted salaries were higher, pensions existed and cost of living was lower decades ago as well. In addition job security existed during those days, today the worker has become a completely disposable commodity.

Eh, no. The bolded part is simply not true. Job security hasn't existed since at least the early 1980s...and the 70s were actually pretty rocky for a lot of people as well. People have this annoying tendency to look at the past with rose colored glasses.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by StanSwitek

Want to rent in O.C.? You need to make $30.92 an hour for two bedrooms, report says Want to rent in O.C.? You need to make $30.92 an hour for two bedrooms, report says - The Orange County Register

So rent a 1BR if you can't afford a 2BR...or share a 2BR with a roommate.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by motobecaneti

People in my neighborhoods who bought recently are all white collar professionals with a minimum of $150k annual household income. Stay in school kids.

Don't just "stay in school", but also choose the right major. I majored in liberal arts. Bad choice on my part...and this was in the early '90s. Prospects for liberal arts majors were bad then. They're worse now with student loan debt factored in.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by HyperionGap

I make less than that and it's quite simple, you don't pay $4000 a month in rent.

I make less than 75K as well in the Bay Area and I do the same. And no, I don't live paycheck to paycheck.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

The truth is everyone is right and the financial situation of most people varies. Whatever the case, 150k is enough to live in OC, but one will not be living a lavish lifestyle.

I think 150K for a single person is quite lavish. I live in the SF Bay Area, where the COL is comparable or higher than OC. I make 1/3 of that and still save a non-trivial percentage (i.e. more than 10%) of my income here.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by k374

That calculator it totally bogus. That is part of the problem here..the definition of what is "affordable" has itself been re-written.

One thing that so many people fail to realize is that the higher income jobs are much more volatile, i.e. in a bad economy they are the first things to get cut and they are the most difficult to replace. The confidence with which people thing their jobs will last forever is downright laughable.

Buying a home requires an extreme dose of conservatism that seems to be all but missing with today's population encouraged by idiotic calculators like this that tell them it's OK. It is NOT OK to spend $850,000 on a home making $150k/yr unless you have substantial levels of liquid net worth as backup. Most likely the people who buy these types of homes exhaust all their savings on the downpayment and cross their fingers that they don't lose their jobs. Well, you can also go to Las Vegas and play roulette there while you are at it.

^^Spot on.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by HyperionGap

Well clearly lol.

I think it's just the mentality that they (Jews also share this perspective) want their children to be better off each generation.

Compared to some other cultures which have the opinion "I didn't need no darned book learnin and I did just fine plummering all ma life. I reckon little Jethro think he's getting a bit too big fer his britches wanting to graduate from them thar high skewl! "

You just described the essence of the book The Triple Package

http://www.amazon.com/Triple-Package...triple+package

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by incognitoe

So what does everyone do here?

I'm a self-employed graphic designer. I have no healthcare because I don't qualify for Obummer Care. And I can't get regular healthcare because of a "pre-existing" condition called High Blood Pressure.

The only way I can qualify for Obummer Care is to take more deductions. But if I do, I won't qualify for a Mortgage. So I am in a weird situation here.

Only thing I can do is save up and buy it cash or wait for the crash.

Just a tip...high blood pressure can often be brought down naturally with a healthy diet (i.e. a diet that has become alien to most Americans). Don't expect most doctors to do anything but give you pills for it. They don't learn about nutrition in med school. The book listed below is for reversing diabetes, but the author mentions the same diet that reverses diabetes also reverses high blood pressure.

Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs: Neal D. Barnard: 9781594868108: Amazon.com: Books

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