4 ms·

I think both numbers are really high.

doubleunplussed 9y ago
Really? I'm a millennial on about average wage and I save about 35 percent of my income. I consider myself quite frugal. My biggest expense is rent, which is about 25 % of my after-tax income. It seems pretty hard to do much better. I could provide a breakdown of my finances, which I track fastidiously. I cook all my own food and bring lunch to work every day. My weekly grocery bill is $70 USD. Those savings rates seem normal to me. I have the added expense of flights every now and again since I'm working in the US but my girlfriend and family are in Australia. It's a temporary arrangement. But without that my savings rate would only be a little bit higher. Maybe 45% instead of 35%.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- pikzen 9y ago
  >My biggest expense is rent, which is about 25 % of my after-tax income. Yeah, you're not on average wage. HN is awfully biased, and I'm certain almost none of us here have actually lived on minimum to average wage for a long time. Include comment about personal experience under this post.
  - lazaroclapp 9y ago
    Well, it is technically possible he is at the national average income (not the median wage) and lives in a place where rent is way more affordable than the cities most of HN lives in. U.S. GDP per capita is $55,836.79. That is $44,558 after taxes in Knoxville, TN (I am picking a city, but it could be more extreme, he could work remotely from a rural area in the U.S. or from, say, Belize). This means 25% towards rent is $1163. So, in Knoxville, Zillow says that is a 3 bedroom home. More realistically, that same amount is a small studio in e.g. Austin, TX. Now, the trick is that the average income might be $55,836.79, but the median personal income is ~$41,520 [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_...
  - randomdata 9y ago
    Seems accurate to me. Local average individual income where I live is about $48,000 or $41,000 after-tax. 25% of that leaves you ~$850/month for rent. I see all kinds of listings at $575/month not including utilities. Assuming the parent is including utilities, $275/month for those should be sufficient. I know that would not be possible in all markets, but it would take the same HN bias you mentioned to think that everyone lives in SF or NYC.
  - doubleunplussed 9y ago
    I'm on 55k USD per year pre-tax which is about average (mean) wage I believe. I am not renting my own place, I'm in a share house. My rent is US$900 per month (including utilities). A more accurate calculation shows that this is about 27% to 28 % of my after tax income.

Really? I'm a millennial on about average wage and I save about 35 percent of my income. I consider myself quite frugal. My biggest expense is rent, which is about 25 % of my after-tax income. It seems pretty hard to do much better. I could provide a breakdown of my finances, which I track fastidiously. I cook all my own food and bring lunch to work every day. My weekly grocery bill is $70 USD. Those savings rates seem normal to me. I have the added expense of flights every now and again since I'm working in the US but my girlfriend and family are in Australia. It's a temporary arrangement. But without that my savings rate would only be a little bit higher. Maybe 45% instead of 35%.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
pikzen 9y ago
>My biggest expense is rent, which is about 25 % of my after-tax income. Yeah, you're not on average wage. HN is awfully biased, and I'm certain almost none of us here have actually lived on minimum to average wage for a long time. Include comment about personal experience under this post.
- lazaroclapp 9y ago
  Well, it is technically possible he is at the national average income (not the median wage) and lives in a place where rent is way more affordable than the cities most of HN lives in. U.S. GDP per capita is $55,836.79. That is $44,558 after taxes in Knoxville, TN (I am picking a city, but it could be more extreme, he could work remotely from a rural area in the U.S. or from, say, Belize). This means 25% towards rent is $1163. So, in Knoxville, Zillow says that is a 3 bedroom home. More realistically, that same amount is a small studio in e.g. Austin, TX. Now, the trick is that the average income might be $55,836.79, but the median personal income is ~$41,520 [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_...
- randomdata 9y ago
  Seems accurate to me. Local average individual income where I live is about $48,000 or $41,000 after-tax. 25% of that leaves you ~$850/month for rent. I see all kinds of listings at $575/month not including utilities. Assuming the parent is including utilities, $275/month for those should be sufficient. I know that would not be possible in all markets, but it would take the same HN bias you mentioned to think that everyone lives in SF or NYC.
- doubleunplussed 9y ago
  I'm on 55k USD per year pre-tax which is about average (mean) wage I believe. I am not renting my own place, I'm in a share house. My rent is US$900 per month (including utilities). A more accurate calculation shows that this is about 27% to 28 % of my after tax income.