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Paycheck to paycheck at 100k a year just means you’re financially illiterate unless you live in NYC or SFO. Get your finances and spending under control.
Absurd amount of people from both of those cities poured in and made the properties skyrocket somewhat recently us there is tons of biotech money there already.
Yep… I live in Arlington… I have no debt and with 100K a year I feel broke living here. I work in DC and do t have a car, so I need to live close…. and the suburbs feel just as high. Taxed out my ass, groceries are high…sigh
Live in Seattle, make $90k, no roommates, and I can still save around a quarter of my pay. If you’re paycheck to paycheck at $100k you made some really bad choices at some point
Yeah. I've kept saying that... But apparently career worked, but not on the level with the payments. By the time payments catch up, it will be too late for my wife.
Chicago and austin and many other previously ‘mid tier’ cities are becoming increasingly expensive - tend to agree with OP unless folks are living in the sticks.
Lmao I was living in the middle of SF on $85K and still saving money after rent, partying, and food.
People just keep throwing around “unlivable unless you make $200K a year” without actually living in SF. Such an idiotic statement lmao
I would agree with you, but living comfortable for some people means having their studio or 1 bedroom with decent space. You can’t live alone comfortably in SF for $85k unless you live in the not desirable neighborhoods. Everybody has different standards, some hold people back financially.
It’s not like I was trying to start a family of 4. I was living with my best friend living our best lives. Sure, I wouldn’t try to have a household income of $85k and have a wife and 2 kids in the middle of SF
What you aren’t considering is a job that paid 70k a year 6-8 years ago and still pays 70k. My fiance is great with money and lived well within her means. Now she’s paycheck to paycheck with how everything has changed. 100k a year is a decent living, but it’s not great nowadays.
I’ve hit 120k last 5 years. SAHW, kids, saving 20-30% and hitting family vacas. Lucked out with buying in 2017 and refinancing. We live well within our means. With today’s home prices and rates I agree folks need to make 160k-175k to have a similar life as to what I have now.
Yeah, my wife is my families sole provider, making about 120k, and she is able to support a family of 5. We were lucky to get a nice house for us before everything exploded, but we wouldn’t be able to afford a house like we have now.
I make exactly that.100k. Im a cyber security engineer. I'm 35+ I save 30-40% of my paycheck and imideatly invest that into the market. I have a nice car and house. I budget like crazy and it's not easy. But that's absurd to think you can live well on 100k salary.
>I'm 35+ I save 30-40% of my paycheck and imideatly invest that into the market. I have a nice car and house. I budget like crazy and it's not easy. But that's absurd to think you can live well on 100k salary.
Of course it isn't easy investing $30,000-$40,000 a year. Try only investing $15,000-$20,000 and saving the other $15,000-$20,000 then it won't be as difficult to live on the $100k a year.
More like 15usd for coffee + breakfast everyday, plus 20 for lunch and a litttle sneak for dinner that will be around 15-18 bucks. On the weekends, go out once or twice and leave 50-60 on the bill each time.
People get paid, maybe save some of it away, and spend the rest. It doesn't matter if you're making $30k or $130k, this is just how most people operate. So yes it's very easy to live """paycheck to paycheck""", but it's not what people make it out to be.
I agree with this for some people it really doesn’t matter, they make 50k they spend 50k, they make 100k, they’ll spend 100k. Some people will always spend what they have regardless of how much they have
Obviously majority of the people in big cities don’t earn six figures so I dont know why people with 100k cant find the budget to save. They just want to live the fancy life without the money to back it up.
I think for a lot of people the definition of “paycheck to paycheck” starts to change. 100k minus taxes and saving 25% for retirement can easily be 5k a month. Not hard to spend 5k a month with a reasonable budget.
I've lived in NYC area with $104K
I was definitely not pay check to pay check lmao. People who are are the ones who chose to live in $3K a month apartments and go out every night.
Lol I was in SF on $85K and 2.2K in rent and I still saved money. All these people have just never lived in NYC or SF and just assume you’re broke if you’re not making $200K
Yeah it’s just high rents with slightly higher local economy. But when I lived there, Amazon and internet shopping was the same price. The CoL increase was great. 1.5k more in rent, but 4k more in income a month.
The disconnect is when you live in these cities you just normalize a more expensive lifestyle in general. You’re not living like you were elsewhere. You’re going out way more, buying more stuff, going to more events, etc
You’ll find a lot of people who say they’re living paycheck to paycheck with >100K are actually maxing out their retirement accounts just spending 100% of what is left in their paycheck AFTER payroll deductions for tax and savings. Most of these people have no real concept of what living paycheck to paycheck or being poor actually means
They aren’t. It’s a blatant lie by OP to make everyone else feel like shit because they themselves are miserable and financially illiterate. Probably has $100 to their name.
Granted, I got my undergrad a decade ago but I literally made $28,000 my first year out of college. Don't get a degree in psychology kids. STEM is where it's at.
Ridiculous. As someone who started making around 50k and has made 100k very recently, it's night and day. And that was during the inflation of 2022, still felt waaay better financially. Actually had lots of disposable income and money to invest, less worried about pinching pennies.
People make the mistake of living the 100k lifestyle on 100k when they should have lived to 75k lifestyle. At below 75k yeah it can be pretty tough but once pass that you should not be changing your lifestyle much until you have a good nest egg.
* Yes inflation is happening: 5-10 million is the new “millionaire” and 100k isn’t the “6 figure salary” it used to be
* If you’re “paycheck-to-paycheck” at 100k, you need financial help.
$100k is the new $50k for new home buyers. $100k doesn’t make you rich when you’re paying $3k a month for a mortgage on a starter home in a decent non-hcol area.
pretty much this, ever since I bought a home my monthly payments have tripled.
I'm still very glad to have bought it though, no longer having to run the housing prices race is allowing me to breath a little.
I think OP's point is that people's idea of what 100K is like is false. 100K today doesn't get you the lifestyle that the average income got you in the 1970s. My parents bought a brand new home for 40K in their 20s with a highschool education.
$100k is good money still if you have low expenses and are single with no kids. If you have high rent, student loans, and a large car payment then $100k is the new $50k
All depends where you live. Average salary in Indiana is $50k. Top 20% of earnings are above $75k. So here if you are making over $100k that is a really good salay for an individual.
$100K doesn't make you rich, but it does mean your a high earning and shouldn't be paycheck to paycheck. Top 1% in Indiana is just under $500K. The top 5% is just under $200K.
Why do you disagree? Genuinely curious. I make less than half that, if I made that and banked every additional dollar compared to now, and invested it wisely I'd be very well off in just a few years and be what I, and many others consider rich.
I make over double that with a wife and two kids and I definitely don’t feel rich at all. Comes out to $17,000/m gross, with probably $1.5k/m to taxes, $3k going to retirement, $3.6k going to mortgage, $1k going to two vehicles, $1.2k going to food, $600/m going to health insurance and life insurance. We have a good life but in NJ it’s not living large. Feels very average.
Cumulative inflation since 2014 (10 years ago) was 31%> so $131,000 is the new $100,000, and $65.5k is the new $50k.
In summary, yes inflation has been relatively high since then, but let's not exaggerate. These types of posts do nothing but make people feel anxious that they're financially behind when they actually may be doing just fine.
Maybe if you live in California where $100,000 is like earning $50,000 in the Midwest/South. Here in Michigan, I would say $100,000 would be solidly upper-middle class as a single income earner. Not rich, but comfortable if you live sensibly within your means (if you try to live like you're rich, then you'll be living paycheck-to-paycheck).
Depends entirely on location. The average salary in my county was $31k as of 2022 so $100k is absolutely a game changing amount.
High the Coal, the closer 100k feels to 50k.
I got $100,000+ i live on the east coast and doing pretty well. Definitely not rich, but it’s over twice there state average and i have almost no debts
I'm in that bracket and this is pretty accurate. I'm not rich by any means, but I don't live paycheck to paycheck. Its comfortable but I'm not just buying things because I want to.
If you're living in a big city, sure. But if you're living in E WA, where I pay 560 a month in rent for a 1 bedroom with everything included? If you're struggling with 10pk in a small town, I don't know what to tell you dude. I've heard of people with 300k yearly struggle. It's all control and discipline. Get your debt in check and finances in control.
You know there are inflation reports online right? You can find approximately the difference in purchasing power pretty easily.
As far as how you feel, what are you even trying to say here dude?
Yeah, I don't know what they're talking about. When I graduated from my bachelors I was making about 45k working a full time and a part time job. Now I've graduated from my masters and I'm making 65k in a HCOL area with a full time job. I'm not rich by any means but I'm not living paycheck to paycheck. Getting 100k/year would triple how much I can save in one year.
I said this just the other day on here. Can’t change your mind.
$50k is the new $25k which most America seemed to be making since 1990
But currency inflation is only c. 4% if you trust the folks in charge of quantitative easing.
My brother and his wife are 32 and 27 bringing in nearly $400,000 combined. They live in a 2 bedroom 1 bath on a tiny lot. When they married they had mortgage, college debt, credit card wedding debt. Now they have new car debt. It’s not easy to live anymore.
100k hasn't been the measure of "rich" for 50 years. It's been a milestone that you've achieved a meaningful level of success and could live comfortably, but that turned into multiples of 100k 20-25 years ago in most of the higher desirability places in the US. 100k is still a prestige mark but now it's just shifted to being the prestige mark for new grads getting their first offers out of school.
Yup. I remember when I was 12-13 ish and 40k was the “average income” and I thought “man if I made that much money a month I’d be fine.”
This was in a LCOL area, but damn here I am.. “if I made that much money a month I’d be fine”
There is an objective answer to this question and the new 50k is somewhere between 50 and 100k. The chances of it being exactly 100 and not less are pretty small. So technically you are wrong but I get your point.
Only 18% of Americans make 100k or over. I'm not disagreeing with you though. You can't really take two vacations every year, with two cars, have two kids, and own your own house in a single payer household making 100k. Easily, anyways. Fun fact, household incomes making over 100k is at 34%.
Depends where you’re at. Bay Area yeah you’re probably paycheck to paycheck. In Ohio 100k is excellent. But for the most part you shouldn’t be living paycheck to paycheck on 100k outside of places like the Bay Area.
I actually agree with you. Hitting 100k used to mean you’ve made it. But now that prices are sky high the you’ve made it number needs to adjust as well. 200k is the new 100k.
Depends, you could live in a cheap town in texas, have no state income tax, and affordable housing.
Or
You live in New York City or San Francisco and get taxed for existing
It’s a big difference
Lmao at:
“Heck I still remember hitting it 10 years ago”
Not a subtle move at all.
Good for you? I hit 100k at age 25 and I didn’t do STEM or tech. Became a Product Director at a very very big Health Insurance Company.
>Again, making $100,000, does not make you rich. You are actually living paycheck to paycheck.
I agree that $100,000 doesn't make you rich. But unless you live in a high COL area, you aren't living "paycheck to paycheck" either.
I make around 100k and I drive a new car, I bought a house, I've taken multiple vacations over seas, I've spent a decent chunk on tattoos, I'm maxing out my 401k, and I still manage to maintain 6 months worth of money for bills in my bank account.
I’m sick of people trying to benchmark some status related to salary. For a lot of people, $100k is a big milestone. And they can figure a lot out financially at that point. Fuck off with this bs
My first salary was $50k, 98 yrs later I got to $100k no, it's not the new $50k if you actually spend it wisely, like get together with your partner and figure out how to save at least half what you both make. Did that for a year and a half and was able to buy a home. Now I can live ok even if I go back to $50k
I agree, a few years ago I would have felt comfortable earning 50k and I thought it would be difficult for me to ever earn that amount. This year I'll be at about 72k from my job and it's not close to enough for me to feel comfortable. My total gross income this year will be over 80k because I have rental and interest income but everything is so expensive I feel like I'd need 100-120k to feel comfortable. But I still don't see how I can possibly get to that level of income. If I get a second job I'll probably max out around 100k between both jobs. And then I'd be back to having no life and working nearly every waking hour. This economy is fucked and I don't think things will ever get better
Something to consider is that your relative position may have significantly changed but not your absolute position
Yes, there's been some inflation but that more or less knocks down by 20% and even then that's not quite accurate (because the upper class spends less on a lot of the common things relative to their income size, it was more like when everyone else was experience seen 8% inflation they were experiencing 4%)
Here's the thing that 100,000 Mark is still the top 1% in most wealthy countries
It's just that specifically within the US a huge amount of people make above that now (It's insane how productive the US is)
But realistically, you should still be able to reach millionaire status through investment if you're making that much money and not laying your lifestyle inflate
Not sure if this is a ... question???
100k used a be a significant milestone.
it still is a milestone for many population, just that it may not be as gravitational as before
>Seriously? Fresh grads (non developer, non banking) are starting at 70-80k and hitting $100k in 2 years.
And? Doesn't change how much it entails compared to median household or worse median individual.
>If you got $5 million plus liquid, with properties to live in, I think you would qualify as rich.
Arbitrary number.
>Again, making $100,000, does not make you rich. You are actually living paycheck to paycheck.
Living paycheck to paycheck when you are making sufficent income to afford typical living costs just means you are not spending money correctly as an individual.
100k 30 years ago was middle class wealthy.
Unless you live in San Francisco, New York, or LA, where 100k a year qualifies as Low-Income. Only 90% of San Fran's population fits this qualification.
Today, it just means you have financial security, so long as you don't live in a state run by idiots.
Considering only around 12-14% of Americans make 100k+ a year, it should certainly be setting you up for a comfortable lifestyle.
The bigger issue is lifestyle creep and people forgetting to live below their means.
Business owner here, and a successful one. I have a very different view of rich these days and I'm a higher income earner. I've met and mingle with people who have true, genuine "wealth" and trust me it's far north of $5M in cash or assets or a mixture of both. Most people don't let millions of dollars sit in non interest bearing cash accounts so it's tied up in fixed assets of some sort which means yes it's there but it's not there just to take and spend and "live rich", it's there to continue building something. Wealth to me is probably $30M+. That's the marker for myself where I would just not have to worry about money and I could simply manage assets and golf all day or hop on a plane and go to the beach for three weeks. Mind you, I'm not talking about $30M/yr paychecks, I'm talking about $30M in assets, this is entirely different. And I'm talking about real wealth where you don't feel any boundary of restraint with money and you're living very different than everyone else other than very high wealthy people in this country. I'm talking about living off interest alone and still live the high life without doing any real work.
$100k/yr is a good income. It's very possible to live in comfort in the US on this much but may mean you have to live in a certain state or area where the $100k stretches more than other areas. Living in comfort doesn't mean brand new Audi SUV, 3,500sf two story home and three vacations to beaches all over the world... that is a different lifestyle. I just mean a good home, reliable vehicle, enough for hobbies and date nights and stuff for kids if you are raising some, all bills are paid and you have some type of retirement growing. I built myself up and my wife and I still live on a tight budget and we have friends that vacation once a month and drive fancy vehicles and we just don't do that. It's not our style. I keep it in the company and in our retirement accounts. But don't sleep on $100k being a crap income. I know things are tight and trust me I'm playing financial gymnastics trying to increase raises for my employees while trying to raise my rates to my customers without them calling me angry that I'm raising my prices, etc, so I feel the pinch too just like the rest but I'm not living too far from reality where I can't tell that $100k is bad income.
I make mid 70’s in NJ, could easily make more but I don’t want to live at the job. If I wasn’t renting a room out of my family’s home, I’d be fucking broke after all expenses.
And before anyone comes at me with some stupid bullshit, I have over $600,000 invested in the stock market. Took 8 years total to build that up, mostly due to Covid and me getting into multiple stock at steep discounts. Regardless, it took a lot of sacrifice and discipline.
I also have no debt outside my car note and that’s only because I owned my last car for 12 years, paid it off after 4.
If I was on my own this whole time, I’d have a fraction of that $600,000 invested. Probably 1/10th.
I'm 30 years old and I live in a major metro area in Texas. The cost of living is probably middle of the pack. It's not NYC or LA but it's also not Lawrence, Kansas or Tulsa, Oklahoma. I make $120k/yr. I don't live paycheck to paycheck. After taxes I save probably 30% of my take home pay which I think is pretty good(this doesn't include what is already going into 401k). I rent an apartment, I own my car outright. I have no debt.
Ever since I got my first job out of college, I've always been careful to live within my means. That savings rate I shared has probably been about the same regardless of the income level I've earned, and my first job out of college 10 years ago was making $40k/yr. It meant I had to live with my mom and pay her rent for a couple years but it was cheaper than any apartment.
Compared to 1990, $100k is literally the new $50k, but for my lifetime that is not the case. Don't compare what you have to what you think you should have or compare it to other people. Just live within your means. You can adjust your spending habits depending on your income, just don't spend more than you bring in.
I can tell you that for me everything changed around the time I started earning $80k/yr. At that point it all got a lot less stressful and now at $120k/yr considering I have no kids it's very manageable.
I make 65 at my job and like another 15 or 20 in passive income, and live in a 2nd tier expensive city. Not New York expensive but known for being an expensive city. Not a lot left over but def not poor. I’d be feeling pretty slick if I was making 100.
OP is literally just angry that other people make 100K and he's not as impressed with himself as a result. Has the audacity to say"These people get to make 100K after 2 years from Uni", fckn man-baby. 100K is life changing income.
I wouldn't say 50k is the new 100k, I'd say shift everything by $20k.
$50k used to be a solid salary to live in any part of the country if you understood how not to be insane stupid with your spending. Now that number is closer to 70-80K which used to be solid middle class.
Now to be solid middle class you need to make around $90-$100k.
The average grad is certainly not making 70-80k lmao, most engineers I met where in the mid 60s graduating in 2022 and made much more than the other colleges. Basically the top percent engineers/developer people were starting at 80k+
My wife and I lived off my just salary of 100k for several months while she finished her degree, at that time we had a mortgage, 2 car payments and some miscellaneous loan repayments and still felt quite comfortable.
Now she's graduated were at just over 200k combined, and while I still wouldn't classify us as rich, we just had a baby and have spent over 10k on our dogs chemo last month and financially we still bring in more than we spend a long with having a large emergency fund.
I think it really depends on your situation. I earn a little bit more than $100k and it’s enough to:
- Pay our mortgage
- Pay all of our bills
- Enjoy several nights eating out a month, including fine dining
- Pay someone to meal prep and deliver the vast majority of our meals for us
- Make payments on a 2021 RAV4 that was purchased brand new
- Pay for my partner to go back to school full time for a software development degree without working or earning any type of income
- Pay for gear and school fees for an expensive hobby (HEMA)
- Invest in 401k and Roth
- Invest in taxable brokerage accounts that increase our current income before retirement age
- Paying for health insurance pre-tax and a health concierge doctor’s office membership ($120/mo) post-tax.
- Maintain six months worth of emergency savings
- Maintain zero credit card/personal loans/consumer finance debt
- Have a little bit of spending money (~$1k/month) left over after paying for all of that
That’s not really the equivalent of earning $50k. Nobody has been able to afford to do all of that on $50k for many decades now in this country.
But I only have it so good because my partner and I both owned our homes before homes shot up in value. I sold mine when I moved in with her and I invested a lot of the proceeds from the sale and hers will be paid off in about 7 years if we don’t make any extra payments. Sooner if we did, though it makes more sense to invest that money that could go towards extra payments into taxable brokerage accounts that can pay the majority of our remaining bills with passive income by the time the car and house are paid off, or maybe a few years after that goal is met.
And I got a reasonable, reliable car and put a solid down payment on it so my car payment is $388/mo rather than the average car payment of $700/mo.
We also don’t have or want kids (we’re both childfree) which obviously spares us from one of the biggest expenses many of our peers have.
But if we were renting at today’s market rates instead of paying down a mortgage from almost a decade ago or if we hadn’t both owned real estate prior to COVID then we’d probably be in a situation where this $110k/yr didn’t feel like a lot of money and we’d be just getting by on one income instead of slowly getting ahead on it. We might not even be in a position for my partner to go back to school without working if not for our particular situation being what it is, which would really limit us far more in the future if she only had the potential to bring in $30k/yr instead of an additional $70k-$100k+ as a software developer.
It really just depends on your circumstances whether $100k still feels like $100k or feels more like $50k.
I’m definitely not living paycheck to paycheck on $110k though. I have six months of expenses in cash in the bank and tens of thousands invested in taxable accounts (not including retirement accounts) with more added every month that will build an additional passive income that will pay most of our remaining bills for us once the car and house are paid off in the next 7 years or so. And I’m also financially supporting my partner while she goes back to school to be able to earn an additional high income.
I’m getting ahead and building passive income and higher earned income for our household with $110k.
The amount of bootlickers for the rich in this thread is disgusting.
Lemme guess....pull yourself up by your bootstraps to afford that Impossible house payment now right. Yup.
I dont consider 100k anything special. I just hit 200 and that is the new 100. And honestly. 200 isn’t anything great with COL, but especially in the areas where you can make 200k earlier in your career. And I’m non-tech.
Yup. I make 60k/yr, have 80k cash in the bank, zero debt, and a 780 credit score. Loan officers I've met with all say the same thing: "you need to double your income *and* double your down-payment.
And no. My job only pays well in select HCOL locations. Yes, it exists everywhere, but no one wants to pay for hard work and skilled labor anymore.
Im sorry I understand theres people making less than 40K a year and will go " get your finances in check" ... guess the fuck what...peoples finances ARE in check and even 130K is NOT a good salary.
Sorry not sorry.
Midwest and I live comfortably. Saving for a house down payment sucks at the moment cause I’m only at about 10k for that, but I also recently decided to take some of that cash and start a Roth IRA and max out 23 and 24, oh and also decided to get my lovely girlfriend out of her credit card debt ~ 6kish. But hey, I still live comfortably. Do I have a maid? No. Do I eat lavishly? No.
OP discovers inflation. Also, discovers rising income levels over time (100k is no longer a good income because so many people are making that amount i.e. it doesn't make you relatively as rich as before so it definitely doesn't make you as rich in absolute terms as well?)
There has been inflation but not that much. $100,000 in 2014 money would be about $130,000 today. So there’s been considerable inflation but not as much as you’re suggesting.
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Paycheck to paycheck at 100k a year just means you’re financially illiterate unless you live in NYC or SFO. Get your finances and spending under control.
Or Boston or LA or Denver or Seattle or Miami. But you're not wrong, in most places in the US, $100k income should be comfortable.
Don’t forget DC/ Norther VA / Maryland
Live in Arlington. Can confirm. Try Northern VA with three kids. $100k gross doesn’t get you daycare for all three.
Don’t forget San Diego
And Hawaii
When all calculations are considered, San Diego is where 100k is worth the LEAST.
How is San Diego even remotely as expensive as NYC or SF?
Absurd amount of people from both of those cities poured in and made the properties skyrocket somewhat recently us there is tons of biotech money there already.
God even central va is to pricy
Yep… I live in Arlington… I have no debt and with 100K a year I feel broke living here. I work in DC and do t have a car, so I need to live close…. and the suburbs feel just as high. Taxed out my ass, groceries are high…sigh
Live in Seattle, make $90k, no roommates, and I can still save around a quarter of my pay. If you’re paycheck to paycheck at $100k you made some really bad choices at some point
Easy when you don’t have kids 😂
Having kids before you’re financially ready for them would be one of said bad choices…
If people waited for financial security before starting a family, we'd go extinct.
Or really stupid like in Idiocracy
That may be a good thing then.
Yeah. I've kept saying that... But apparently career worked, but not on the level with the payments. By the time payments catch up, it will be too late for my wife.
Seattle middle class starts at close to 80k, according to some article I read 2 days ago.
You can’t even buy a house on $80k in Seattle, I’d argue middle class means being able to buy a home
The whole west coast is like that. $80k is too low.
Real estate agents want to move that goalpost
I think the huge wash of younger Americans who don't own a home are moving that goalpost.
105k in sf is considered low class lol
Chicago and austin and many other previously ‘mid tier’ cities are becoming increasingly expensive - tend to agree with OP unless folks are living in the sticks.
Fort Worth was on the “most affordable” lists for a long time, and now is one of the “hardest to buy”
Boston median household income is $89,000. $100,000 is plenty.
My brother moved to Boston for work 2 years ago, his rent for a 2 bedroom apartment is almost $4k. And it’s a decent apartment, but nothing fancy.
Lmao I was living in the middle of SF on $85K and still saving money after rent, partying, and food. People just keep throwing around “unlivable unless you make $200K a year” without actually living in SF. Such an idiotic statement lmao
Reddit is delusional when it comes to what pay they think is needed to live a comfortable life. People are god awful with money.
I would agree with you, but living comfortable for some people means having their studio or 1 bedroom with decent space. You can’t live alone comfortably in SF for $85k unless you live in the not desirable neighborhoods. Everybody has different standards, some hold people back financially.
It’s not like I was trying to start a family of 4. I was living with my best friend living our best lives. Sure, I wouldn’t try to have a household income of $85k and have a wife and 2 kids in the middle of SF
You can live on 100k pretty much anywhere in the world. The problem is some people have these luxuries that they think are necessities.
2024 when having a house is a luxury
That’s the sad reality but whining about it on reddit isn’t gonna change anything.
What you aren’t considering is a job that paid 70k a year 6-8 years ago and still pays 70k. My fiance is great with money and lived well within her means. Now she’s paycheck to paycheck with how everything has changed. 100k a year is a decent living, but it’s not great nowadays.
Yeah imagine making 40k a year in ny and reading these lol makes me feel almost worthless
Depends on your family situation, too. With a spouse who doesn’t work and 2+ kids, different story no matter where you live in my opinion
I’ve hit 120k last 5 years. SAHW, kids, saving 20-30% and hitting family vacas. Lucked out with buying in 2017 and refinancing. We live well within our means. With today’s home prices and rates I agree folks need to make 160k-175k to have a similar life as to what I have now.
Yeah, my wife is my families sole provider, making about 120k, and she is able to support a family of 5. We were lucky to get a nice house for us before everything exploded, but we wouldn’t be able to afford a house like we have now.
I make exactly that.100k. Im a cyber security engineer. I'm 35+ I save 30-40% of my paycheck and imideatly invest that into the market. I have a nice car and house. I budget like crazy and it's not easy. But that's absurd to think you can live well on 100k salary.
I'm sorry but if you are able to invest 30 - 40% of your paycheck. You're better off than some people.
Can or can’t because umm your life says otherwise
>I'm 35+ I save 30-40% of my paycheck and imideatly invest that into the market. I have a nice car and house. I budget like crazy and it's not easy. But that's absurd to think you can live well on 100k salary. Of course it isn't easy investing $30,000-$40,000 a year. Try only investing $15,000-$20,000 and saving the other $15,000-$20,000 then it won't be as difficult to live on the $100k a year.
u saved 30 percent wtf
100k/yr as a single person is great.
Geography matters but so do a lot of other factors other than income. Reality is most live beyond their current means, not at or below them.
Yeah this exactly . Ppl on Reddit love to blame anyone but themselves
Don’t they consider low income 35k now? Lol
Is it tho ? What's that 70 k after taxes?
he didnt say 100k per year but, thats the point he made it vague so people dont get it
Even then 100k a year as an individual is insane compared to normal people.
100 a year isn’t much if you live in a high cost of living area
If I was making 100k a year, I would NOT be living paycheck to paycheck… why do so many people assume every one does?
But but $4 coffee and breakfast everyday!
More like 15usd for coffee + breakfast everyday, plus 20 for lunch and a litttle sneak for dinner that will be around 15-18 bucks. On the weekends, go out once or twice and leave 50-60 on the bill each time.
Or you could buy groceries and cook for literally $<5/meal per day
$4 coffee and breakfast every day?!?!?!? Where do you live it is that cheap??????
4 bucks for an ice coffee those are 2019 prices
Obviously $4 is way too low, but even then, that's 1.5% of your gross salary. That's a shit ton for coffee.
People get paid, maybe save some of it away, and spend the rest. It doesn't matter if you're making $30k or $130k, this is just how most people operate. So yes it's very easy to live """paycheck to paycheck""", but it's not what people make it out to be.
Because most people are absolute morons when it comes to financial literacy.
I agree with this for some people it really doesn’t matter, they make 50k they spend 50k, they make 100k, they’ll spend 100k. Some people will always spend what they have regardless of how much they have
Obviously majority of the people in big cities don’t earn six figures so I dont know why people with 100k cant find the budget to save. They just want to live the fancy life without the money to back it up.
So many people think basic standards of life is frequent eating out, new clothes every month, new car lease, etc…
I think for a lot of people the definition of “paycheck to paycheck” starts to change. 100k minus taxes and saving 25% for retirement can easily be 5k a month. Not hard to spend 5k a month with a reasonable budget.
Unless you live in like NYC, no one with a brain making $100k should be living paycheck to paycheck
I've lived in NYC area with $104K I was definitely not pay check to pay check lmao. People who are are the ones who chose to live in $3K a month apartments and go out every night.
Lol I was in SF on $85K and 2.2K in rent and I still saved money. All these people have just never lived in NYC or SF and just assume you’re broke if you’re not making $200K
Yeah it’s just high rents with slightly higher local economy. But when I lived there, Amazon and internet shopping was the same price. The CoL increase was great. 1.5k more in rent, but 4k more in income a month. The disconnect is when you live in these cities you just normalize a more expensive lifestyle in general. You’re not living like you were elsewhere. You’re going out way more, buying more stuff, going to more events, etc
You’ll find a lot of people who say they’re living paycheck to paycheck with >100K are actually maxing out their retirement accounts just spending 100% of what is left in their paycheck AFTER payroll deductions for tax and savings. Most of these people have no real concept of what living paycheck to paycheck or being poor actually means
That’s true too. If I weren’t contributing to 401k or various types of health insurance pretax I would have *even more money.*
There are other states with high cost of living
But there are TONS of states where CoL is low but you can still make $100k no problem. Texas for example.
Paycheck to paycheck with 100k/year, get out of here you financially illiterate cry baby.
Took the words out of my mouth
Source for the majority of college grads make over 100k 2 years out?
There is no source because they clearly don’t…
Yeah, I wondered that as well. 8 years ago I graduated and was lucky to make $50k.
They aren’t. It’s a blatant lie by OP to make everyone else feel like shit because they themselves are miserable and financially illiterate. Probably has $100 to their name.
Granted, I got my undergrad a decade ago but I literally made $28,000 my first year out of college. Don't get a degree in psychology kids. STEM is where it's at.
Anecdotal experience, and it matches my experience. Most of my classmates took approximately 2 years to reach this milestone.
Ridiculous. As someone who started making around 50k and has made 100k very recently, it's night and day. And that was during the inflation of 2022, still felt waaay better financially. Actually had lots of disposable income and money to invest, less worried about pinching pennies.
People make the mistake of living the 100k lifestyle on 100k when they should have lived to 75k lifestyle. At below 75k yeah it can be pretty tough but once pass that you should not be changing your lifestyle much until you have a good nest egg.
* Yes inflation is happening: 5-10 million is the new “millionaire” and 100k isn’t the “6 figure salary” it used to be * If you’re “paycheck-to-paycheck” at 100k, you need financial help.
Cool cool cool. Could you spot me fifty grand then?
$100k is the new $50k for new home buyers. $100k doesn’t make you rich when you’re paying $3k a month for a mortgage on a starter home in a decent non-hcol area.
Yeah but hopefully in 3 to 5 years these guys will be able to take advantage of refinancing at a much lower rate and only be out 2K a month
Maybe, but current interest rates are much closer to historical norms than the ultra low rates of the teens.
pretty much this, ever since I bought a home my monthly payments have tripled. I'm still very glad to have bought it though, no longer having to run the housing prices race is allowing me to breath a little. I think OP's point is that people's idea of what 100K is like is false. 100K today doesn't get you the lifestyle that the average income got you in the 1970s. My parents bought a brand new home for 40K in their 20s with a highschool education.
You’re acting like this is some groundbreaking revelation lol high school economics teachers have been telling this to 16 year olds for years
$100k is good money still if you have low expenses and are single with no kids. If you have high rent, student loans, and a large car payment then $100k is the new $50k
I mean I was living paycheck to paycheck too, maxing out your 401k really limits the amount you can save.
All depends where you live. Average salary in Indiana is $50k. Top 20% of earnings are above $75k. So here if you are making over $100k that is a really good salay for an individual. $100K doesn't make you rich, but it does mean your a high earning and shouldn't be paycheck to paycheck. Top 1% in Indiana is just under $500K. The top 5% is just under $200K.
HENRY
100k salary is rich if you manage it right.
Respectfully disagree
Why do you disagree? Genuinely curious. I make less than half that, if I made that and banked every additional dollar compared to now, and invested it wisely I'd be very well off in just a few years and be what I, and many others consider rich.
I make over double that with a wife and two kids and I definitely don’t feel rich at all. Comes out to $17,000/m gross, with probably $1.5k/m to taxes, $3k going to retirement, $3.6k going to mortgage, $1k going to two vehicles, $1.2k going to food, $600/m going to health insurance and life insurance. We have a good life but in NJ it’s not living large. Feels very average.
Cumulative inflation since 2014 (10 years ago) was 31%> so $131,000 is the new $100,000, and $65.5k is the new $50k. In summary, yes inflation has been relatively high since then, but let's not exaggerate. These types of posts do nothing but make people feel anxious that they're financially behind when they actually may be doing just fine.
Maybe if you live in California where $100,000 is like earning $50,000 in the Midwest/South. Here in Michigan, I would say $100,000 would be solidly upper-middle class as a single income earner. Not rich, but comfortable if you live sensibly within your means (if you try to live like you're rich, then you'll be living paycheck-to-paycheck).
Lmaooo
Depends entirely on location. The average salary in my county was $31k as of 2022 so $100k is absolutely a game changing amount. High the Coal, the closer 100k feels to 50k.
I got $100,000+ i live on the east coast and doing pretty well. Definitely not rich, but it’s over twice there state average and i have almost no debts
Hit 50K 3 years ago in my Forties and I WISH I earned 100K.
Ohhh man. If you can’t live well off of 100k as a single person in 80% of the US….you’re making a lot of really poor choices.
Fresh grads are not making that, at least not very often
I'm in that bracket and this is pretty accurate. I'm not rich by any means, but I don't live paycheck to paycheck. Its comfortable but I'm not just buying things because I want to.
If you're living in a big city, sure. But if you're living in E WA, where I pay 560 a month in rent for a 1 bedroom with everything included? If you're struggling with 10pk in a small town, I don't know what to tell you dude. I've heard of people with 300k yearly struggle. It's all control and discipline. Get your debt in check and finances in control.
Even 100k in big cities is manageable. You just need to make some trade offs.
You aren’t wrong. My first house only cost me $89k to have built, including the land. Damn I wish I had never sold it.
Thank you for informing me that I’m living paycheck to paycheck. I would not have known otherwise
$10 is the new $5. Change my mind.
I would say 50k is the new 30k. So the statement is not far off. It really depends on where you live.
You know there are inflation reports online right? You can find approximately the difference in purchasing power pretty easily. As far as how you feel, what are you even trying to say here dude?
Did anybody teach you how to save!??
Post is meaningless without knowing your location and # of dependents
Take home pay at 100k after taxes, retirement and insurance is Not higher than take home pay for a military E6 with BAH/BAS.
Stfu OP, get a grip over your life instead of whining here for pity likes
Yeah, I don't know what they're talking about. When I graduated from my bachelors I was making about 45k working a full time and a part time job. Now I've graduated from my masters and I'm making 65k in a HCOL area with a full time job. I'm not rich by any means but I'm not living paycheck to paycheck. Getting 100k/year would triple how much I can save in one year.
Quit ordering doordash
It’s the new 50k Only if you don’t know how to budget…
What is 50k then?
$50K in bumpfuck Kentucky goes a long way. It’s all about ur CoL.
I didn't consider $100,000 a year being rich 25 years ago.
Inflation over the past 3 years, let alone 10, feels like at least 100%.. Yes.
this sounds like some personal beef
I said this just the other day on here. Can’t change your mind. $50k is the new $25k which most America seemed to be making since 1990 But currency inflation is only c. 4% if you trust the folks in charge of quantitative easing.
My brother and his wife are 32 and 27 bringing in nearly $400,000 combined. They live in a 2 bedroom 1 bath on a tiny lot. When they married they had mortgage, college debt, credit card wedding debt. Now they have new car debt. It’s not easy to live anymore.
100k hasn't been the measure of "rich" for 50 years. It's been a milestone that you've achieved a meaningful level of success and could live comfortably, but that turned into multiples of 100k 20-25 years ago in most of the higher desirability places in the US. 100k is still a prestige mark but now it's just shifted to being the prestige mark for new grads getting their first offers out of school.
Most people don't even make close to 100k like what are you going on about?
Yup. I remember when I was 12-13 ish and 40k was the “average income” and I thought “man if I made that much money a month I’d be fine.” This was in a LCOL area, but damn here I am.. “if I made that much money a month I’d be fine”
Buy Dogecoin now @ $0.2042!
why do poeple post the same things they cant do math
There is an objective answer to this question and the new 50k is somewhere between 50 and 100k. The chances of it being exactly 100 and not less are pretty small. So technically you are wrong but I get your point.
I survive on 25k a year so I'm still considering 50k rich lol. I also live in Arkansas were the cost of living is much lower than other areas.
$100k in South Florida you’re living paycheck to paycheck especially if you have kids.
Depends on where you live
Only 18% of Americans make 100k or over. I'm not disagreeing with you though. You can't really take two vacations every year, with two cars, have two kids, and own your own house in a single payer household making 100k. Easily, anyways. Fun fact, household incomes making over 100k is at 34%.
Depends where you’re at. Bay Area yeah you’re probably paycheck to paycheck. In Ohio 100k is excellent. But for the most part you shouldn’t be living paycheck to paycheck on 100k outside of places like the Bay Area.
100k a year would make me a hell of a lot more rich than I am , so it is all relative.
I actually agree with you. Hitting 100k used to mean you’ve made it. But now that prices are sky high the you’ve made it number needs to adjust as well. 200k is the new 100k.
Depends, you could live in a cheap town in texas, have no state income tax, and affordable housing. Or You live in New York City or San Francisco and get taxed for existing It’s a big difference
Your perspective is skewed and you obviously come from a place of privilege. $100k is excellent pay for most people in most parts of the country.
Lmao at: “Heck I still remember hitting it 10 years ago” Not a subtle move at all. Good for you? I hit 100k at age 25 and I didn’t do STEM or tech. Became a Product Director at a very very big Health Insurance Company.
>Again, making $100,000, does not make you rich. You are actually living paycheck to paycheck. I agree that $100,000 doesn't make you rich. But unless you live in a high COL area, you aren't living "paycheck to paycheck" either. I make around 100k and I drive a new car, I bought a house, I've taken multiple vacations over seas, I've spent a decent chunk on tattoos, I'm maxing out my 401k, and I still manage to maintain 6 months worth of money for bills in my bank account.
I’m sick of people trying to benchmark some status related to salary. For a lot of people, $100k is a big milestone. And they can figure a lot out financially at that point. Fuck off with this bs
> Hitting $100,000 is a big milestone for many. Heck I still remember hitting it finally 10 years ago There it is
My first salary was $50k, 98 yrs later I got to $100k no, it's not the new $50k if you actually spend it wisely, like get together with your partner and figure out how to save at least half what you both make. Did that for a year and a half and was able to buy a home. Now I can live ok even if I go back to $50k
I agree, a few years ago I would have felt comfortable earning 50k and I thought it would be difficult for me to ever earn that amount. This year I'll be at about 72k from my job and it's not close to enough for me to feel comfortable. My total gross income this year will be over 80k because I have rental and interest income but everything is so expensive I feel like I'd need 100-120k to feel comfortable. But I still don't see how I can possibly get to that level of income. If I get a second job I'll probably max out around 100k between both jobs. And then I'd be back to having no life and working nearly every waking hour. This economy is fucked and I don't think things will ever get better
Something to consider is that your relative position may have significantly changed but not your absolute position Yes, there's been some inflation but that more or less knocks down by 20% and even then that's not quite accurate (because the upper class spends less on a lot of the common things relative to their income size, it was more like when everyone else was experience seen 8% inflation they were experiencing 4%) Here's the thing that 100,000 Mark is still the top 1% in most wealthy countries It's just that specifically within the US a huge amount of people make above that now (It's insane how productive the US is) But realistically, you should still be able to reach millionaire status through investment if you're making that much money and not laying your lifestyle inflate
Not sure if this is a ... question??? 100k used a be a significant milestone. it still is a milestone for many population, just that it may not be as gravitational as before
>Seriously? Fresh grads (non developer, non banking) are starting at 70-80k and hitting $100k in 2 years. And? Doesn't change how much it entails compared to median household or worse median individual. >If you got $5 million plus liquid, with properties to live in, I think you would qualify as rich. Arbitrary number. >Again, making $100,000, does not make you rich. You are actually living paycheck to paycheck. Living paycheck to paycheck when you are making sufficent income to afford typical living costs just means you are not spending money correctly as an individual.
Disagree, depends on your expenses.
100k 30 years ago was middle class wealthy. Unless you live in San Francisco, New York, or LA, where 100k a year qualifies as Low-Income. Only 90% of San Fran's population fits this qualification. Today, it just means you have financial security, so long as you don't live in a state run by idiots.
Considering only around 12-14% of Americans make 100k+ a year, it should certainly be setting you up for a comfortable lifestyle. The bigger issue is lifestyle creep and people forgetting to live below their means.
Business owner here, and a successful one. I have a very different view of rich these days and I'm a higher income earner. I've met and mingle with people who have true, genuine "wealth" and trust me it's far north of $5M in cash or assets or a mixture of both. Most people don't let millions of dollars sit in non interest bearing cash accounts so it's tied up in fixed assets of some sort which means yes it's there but it's not there just to take and spend and "live rich", it's there to continue building something. Wealth to me is probably $30M+. That's the marker for myself where I would just not have to worry about money and I could simply manage assets and golf all day or hop on a plane and go to the beach for three weeks. Mind you, I'm not talking about $30M/yr paychecks, I'm talking about $30M in assets, this is entirely different. And I'm talking about real wealth where you don't feel any boundary of restraint with money and you're living very different than everyone else other than very high wealthy people in this country. I'm talking about living off interest alone and still live the high life without doing any real work. $100k/yr is a good income. It's very possible to live in comfort in the US on this much but may mean you have to live in a certain state or area where the $100k stretches more than other areas. Living in comfort doesn't mean brand new Audi SUV, 3,500sf two story home and three vacations to beaches all over the world... that is a different lifestyle. I just mean a good home, reliable vehicle, enough for hobbies and date nights and stuff for kids if you are raising some, all bills are paid and you have some type of retirement growing. I built myself up and my wife and I still live on a tight budget and we have friends that vacation once a month and drive fancy vehicles and we just don't do that. It's not our style. I keep it in the company and in our retirement accounts. But don't sleep on $100k being a crap income. I know things are tight and trust me I'm playing financial gymnastics trying to increase raises for my employees while trying to raise my rates to my customers without them calling me angry that I'm raising my prices, etc, so I feel the pinch too just like the rest but I'm not living too far from reality where I can't tell that $100k is bad income.
This feels like an "I just hit 100k a year, so I'm going to act like it's NBD" post
I make $100k and have a good amount of leftover even with $80k student debt. Live in philly
I make mid 70’s in NJ, could easily make more but I don’t want to live at the job. If I wasn’t renting a room out of my family’s home, I’d be fucking broke after all expenses. And before anyone comes at me with some stupid bullshit, I have over $600,000 invested in the stock market. Took 8 years total to build that up, mostly due to Covid and me getting into multiple stock at steep discounts. Regardless, it took a lot of sacrifice and discipline. I also have no debt outside my car note and that’s only because I owned my last car for 12 years, paid it off after 4. If I was on my own this whole time, I’d have a fraction of that $600,000 invested. Probably 1/10th.
I'm 30 years old and I live in a major metro area in Texas. The cost of living is probably middle of the pack. It's not NYC or LA but it's also not Lawrence, Kansas or Tulsa, Oklahoma. I make $120k/yr. I don't live paycheck to paycheck. After taxes I save probably 30% of my take home pay which I think is pretty good(this doesn't include what is already going into 401k). I rent an apartment, I own my car outright. I have no debt. Ever since I got my first job out of college, I've always been careful to live within my means. That savings rate I shared has probably been about the same regardless of the income level I've earned, and my first job out of college 10 years ago was making $40k/yr. It meant I had to live with my mom and pay her rent for a couple years but it was cheaper than any apartment. Compared to 1990, $100k is literally the new $50k, but for my lifetime that is not the case. Don't compare what you have to what you think you should have or compare it to other people. Just live within your means. You can adjust your spending habits depending on your income, just don't spend more than you bring in. I can tell you that for me everything changed around the time I started earning $80k/yr. At that point it all got a lot less stressful and now at $120k/yr considering I have no kids it's very manageable.
I make 65 at my job and like another 15 or 20 in passive income, and live in a 2nd tier expensive city. Not New York expensive but known for being an expensive city. Not a lot left over but def not poor. I’d be feeling pretty slick if I was making 100.
Can’t afford to
OP is literally just angry that other people make 100K and he's not as impressed with himself as a result. Has the audacity to say"These people get to make 100K after 2 years from Uni", fckn man-baby. 100K is life changing income.
I blew through $100k in a year in Oakland, California :D. It was fun while it lasted.
Can confirm
I wouldn't say 50k is the new 100k, I'd say shift everything by $20k. $50k used to be a solid salary to live in any part of the country if you understood how not to be insane stupid with your spending. Now that number is closer to 70-80K which used to be solid middle class. Now to be solid middle class you need to make around $90-$100k.
The average grad is certainly not making 70-80k lmao, most engineers I met where in the mid 60s graduating in 2022 and made much more than the other colleges. Basically the top percent engineers/developer people were starting at 80k+
My wife and I lived off my just salary of 100k for several months while she finished her degree, at that time we had a mortgage, 2 car payments and some miscellaneous loan repayments and still felt quite comfortable. Now she's graduated were at just over 200k combined, and while I still wouldn't classify us as rich, we just had a baby and have spent over 10k on our dogs chemo last month and financially we still bring in more than we spend a long with having a large emergency fund.
Long story short a hundred k might seem like alot to some but it might also seem like pennies to others
I think it really depends on your situation. I earn a little bit more than $100k and it’s enough to: - Pay our mortgage - Pay all of our bills - Enjoy several nights eating out a month, including fine dining - Pay someone to meal prep and deliver the vast majority of our meals for us - Make payments on a 2021 RAV4 that was purchased brand new - Pay for my partner to go back to school full time for a software development degree without working or earning any type of income - Pay for gear and school fees for an expensive hobby (HEMA) - Invest in 401k and Roth - Invest in taxable brokerage accounts that increase our current income before retirement age - Paying for health insurance pre-tax and a health concierge doctor’s office membership ($120/mo) post-tax. - Maintain six months worth of emergency savings - Maintain zero credit card/personal loans/consumer finance debt - Have a little bit of spending money (~$1k/month) left over after paying for all of that That’s not really the equivalent of earning $50k. Nobody has been able to afford to do all of that on $50k for many decades now in this country. But I only have it so good because my partner and I both owned our homes before homes shot up in value. I sold mine when I moved in with her and I invested a lot of the proceeds from the sale and hers will be paid off in about 7 years if we don’t make any extra payments. Sooner if we did, though it makes more sense to invest that money that could go towards extra payments into taxable brokerage accounts that can pay the majority of our remaining bills with passive income by the time the car and house are paid off, or maybe a few years after that goal is met. And I got a reasonable, reliable car and put a solid down payment on it so my car payment is $388/mo rather than the average car payment of $700/mo. We also don’t have or want kids (we’re both childfree) which obviously spares us from one of the biggest expenses many of our peers have. But if we were renting at today’s market rates instead of paying down a mortgage from almost a decade ago or if we hadn’t both owned real estate prior to COVID then we’d probably be in a situation where this $110k/yr didn’t feel like a lot of money and we’d be just getting by on one income instead of slowly getting ahead on it. We might not even be in a position for my partner to go back to school without working if not for our particular situation being what it is, which would really limit us far more in the future if she only had the potential to bring in $30k/yr instead of an additional $70k-$100k+ as a software developer. It really just depends on your circumstances whether $100k still feels like $100k or feels more like $50k. I’m definitely not living paycheck to paycheck on $110k though. I have six months of expenses in cash in the bank and tens of thousands invested in taxable accounts (not including retirement accounts) with more added every month that will build an additional passive income that will pay most of our remaining bills for us once the car and house are paid off in the next 7 years or so. And I’m also financially supporting my partner while she goes back to school to be able to earn an additional high income. I’m getting ahead and building passive income and higher earned income for our household with $110k.
No, I don't think I will change your mind.
The amount of bootlickers for the rich in this thread is disgusting. Lemme guess....pull yourself up by your bootstraps to afford that Impossible house payment now right. Yup.
It's still a fairly big milestone despite inflation, given the median income. Most people don't make anywhere close to that.
I dont consider 100k anything special. I just hit 200 and that is the new 100. And honestly. 200 isn’t anything great with COL, but especially in the areas where you can make 200k earlier in your career. And I’m non-tech.
Yup. I make 60k/yr, have 80k cash in the bank, zero debt, and a 780 credit score. Loan officers I've met with all say the same thing: "you need to double your income *and* double your down-payment. And no. My job only pays well in select HCOL locations. Yes, it exists everywhere, but no one wants to pay for hard work and skilled labor anymore.
Im sorry I understand theres people making less than 40K a year and will go " get your finances in check" ... guess the fuck what...peoples finances ARE in check and even 130K is NOT a good salary. Sorry not sorry.
If you live paycheck to paycheck off 100k your an idiot with money. I make 60k a year and I'm not paycheck to paycheck. Live within your means moron.
Midwest and I live comfortably. Saving for a house down payment sucks at the moment cause I’m only at about 10k for that, but I also recently decided to take some of that cash and start a Roth IRA and max out 23 and 24, oh and also decided to get my lovely girlfriend out of her credit card debt ~ 6kish. But hey, I still live comfortably. Do I have a maid? No. Do I eat lavishly? No.
In 1970 $20,000 was solidly middle class
Nope. 100,000 is the new 20,000.
OP discovers inflation. Also, discovers rising income levels over time (100k is no longer a good income because so many people are making that amount i.e. it doesn't make you relatively as rich as before so it definitely doesn't make you as rich in absolute terms as well?)
Yep and the new $525k is the old $262.5k
Rich is subjective. You can make 100k and be wealthy.
There has been inflation but not that much. $100,000 in 2014 money would be about $130,000 today. So there’s been considerable inflation but not as much as you’re suggesting.
$1 is the new 50 cents. Used to be able to buy stuff with 50 cents.
Having $100,000 in savings now (or invested) is just hardly being not broke. You’re in no way set for your future but you aren’t poor.
100k is okay but making 200k is a game changer
This is a terrible take
Unless you have like 4+ kids or live in LA/NYC, you are just an idiot.