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You really believe if someone makes 300k a year and spends it all with nothing to show for it is rich? I would much rather make 85K and have something left over to show for it and a future.
I guess it takes all different perspectives to make the world go around.
Well, I think that unless you have a drug or gambling addiction, $300,000 buys quite a lot of stuff.
The typical "consumable spending" items like travel, clothes, restaurants etc afford you quite a lifestyle (which I would consider "rich").
I kinda see your point about the future though and like you I would want to save and invest some $$ so I don't end up like Mike Tyson. I would guess that someday Britney will stop being rich unless she starts squirreling a few nuts away for the winter.
HOWEVER, if someone was able to keep an income of $300,000 in perpetuity(and have whatever increases necessary to keep up with inflation), wouldn't they be rich, regardless of a bank account that always drops below $1,000 by the end of the month? Most people who save and invest will never be able to achieve that level of lifestyle on an average salary.
Entirely not true. Go look at your median incomes in California. $300,000 is a huge income no matter where you are.
He didn't say the state of California. He specifically was speaking of the Bay area. Besides his point wasn't income but the housing prices in San Fran. I believe the medium house price is >800,000. So if someone is making 300,00 with a family there they do not have much disposable income to play with.
Last edited by spunky1; 11-11-2007 at 05:33 PM..
Reason: Added.
He didn't say the state of California. He specifically was speaking of the Bay area. Besides his point wasn't income but the housing prices in San Fran. I believe the medium house price is >800,000. So if someone is making 300,00 with a family there they do not have much disposable income to play with.
I believe that your lifestyle and where you live does play a large role in whether $300K would make you rich. If I still lived in Jacksonville or Dallas, 300K would go a long way but to me even though I'm single w/ no kids, 300K is just okay in SoCal for the lifestyle I choose to live (and no I'm not a shopaholic but I like a nice house, nice car, dining, traveling, all while saving and investing). Rich is never "needing" to look at your bank account to see if you can cover the funds.
"Rich" is a totally subjective term. If you make 300K a year you are certainly not hurting for money. Whether we should use the term "rich" to describe such a situation, I'll leave to you.
It's been asked at what salary level is someone considered rich, and there has been some very interesting insight.
My question is, if a family has a combined income of $300,000 a year, are they considered "rich". Of course everything is relative, but in most parts of the US is this considered wealthy?
While this figure is clearly a large sum, I think it depends how old one is when they earn this kind of money which determines whether or not they are rich. If it's someone in their 30's or even 40's, I would argue that they are affluent (not rich).
But if it's someone in their 50's or 60's (who has yet to pay off their mortgage, drives luxury automobiles, travels extensively, dresses to the nines, enjoys fine wine and food) I would say they are not.
Even though a salary of $300,000 puts one in the top .9% of US income earners, I still do not consider this figure to be "rich". Do you?
If it is one household then yes. You can easily buy a million dollar home. If you were good at saving in 5 years you could have enough to retire and just do some part time business for fun and spending money.
Personally I think about 150K can get you so much just about anywhere in the country that I would consider that rich.
In a four year period you will have earned 1.2 million (if you're making 300k)
If you don't think that makes you rich, then go drive through a slum and see how those people have to live on something like 15K a year, then realize you make 20 times that.
He didn't say the state of California. He specifically was speaking of the Bay area. Besides his point wasn't income but the housing prices in San Fran. I believe the medium house price is >800,000. So if someone is making 300,00 with a family there they do not have much disposable income to play with.
The median household income for a family (according to citydata.com) in SF is $57,000. No matter where you live or how you put it, $300,000 is an extremely nice income.
True about housing, but if you throw out basically CA and NY City (maybe Miami?), yes you are rich with that income.
And the housing crash is going to seriously hurt values there. It just isn't a sustainable market when housing costs are about 14 times what the avg. median household income is.
Yes a lot of those houses were probably owned already, but who can move into the bay area right now? Less than 1% of the people that want to? People don't make enough to buy the houses there, plain and simple.
$300k is about $25k monthly.. Thats a hefty sum. How you manage your finances determines how rich you are. Having a big house or driving a fancy car doesn't make anyone rich. Just determines how much debt someone might have . If you know how to manage your money, live well with extras. Then your pretty rich .
Everything else being the same, compared to my current income, If I was pulling in $25,000 a month I'd classify myself as being rich. On the other hand, If Bill Gates suddenly started pullin in $25,000 a month compared to his current income he'd probably be pretty darned depressed about his ill fortune. It's all in the eye of the beholder.
Blessings...Franco
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. If you know how to manage your money, live well with extras. Then your pretty rich 
.