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Humans naturally anchor to their social network. If those people grew up in rural West Virginia with coal miner family income they would tell you that 250k/year
by bob33212 7y ago
Humans naturally anchor to their social network. If those people grew up in rural West Virginia with coal miner family income they would tell you that 250k/year is wealthy.
You have to actively resist this anchoring behavior. You have to remind yourself that just because your neighbor has a 50k car, it doesn't mean that your 10k car is not a good fit for you.
- geggam 7y agoI came from a poor area. I used to think 80k/yr was rich. Time passed, I got work in Silicon valley with a wife and kids. Living there I think 500k would be middle class. Not even upper middle class. Perspectives change as you are exposed
- silverfox17 7y ago80k/yr CAN be rich, it all depends on location. 80k/yr would be poverty in the valley, most of that money going to just having shelter.
- gnaritas 7y agoYou're way off base, median income in Silicon Valley is $110,373; 5x median income is not middle class by any stretch of the imagination. There is no city in the world where 500k a year isn't rich.
- ac29 7y ago80th percentile household income in Santa Clara County is $200k/yr [0]. The linked dataset doesn't go any higher, but I suspect 500k/year is 95th percentile or above, which puts you in the upper class. Even in the Bay, $500k/yr is the "own two homes and a few Porches" level. [0] http://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/income http://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/income
- geggam 7y agoIf you are single maybe. I think of a middle class man being what my old man was. Single income, wife stayed home and he provided for everyone. 4 kids. Good luck having 2 homes and some porsches with only 500k in the valley supporting a wife and kids
- brokensegue 7y agoplenty of people support a family on $60k/yr so take the remaining 440k minus taxes and buy two porsches outright. You should be able to save enough for a down-payment on each house given a year of saving.
- geggam 7y agoNo one supports a family on 60k a year. Healthcare alone for a family runs 20k/yr plus simply for insurance
- brokensegue 7y agoYou typically get free insurance when you have a job paying 500k/yr...
- geggam 7y agoIts not free. CFO is very aware of your total cost and its starting to show up on W2's.
- brokensegue 7y agothat's besides that point? When you quote 500k/yr salary that typically includes perks like insurance. But are we really quibbling about $20k in expenses on a 500k salary? Even if I grant you 80k/yr to run your family that still leaves more than enough for your two porsches.
- jjeaff 7y agoA $2.5m mortgage would cost you around $13k a month, Porsche lease less than $1k a month. You've got about $15k a month left in take home pay what in the world are you going to spend that on and still feel middle class?
- brokensegue 7y ago500k/yr is definitely, at least, upper middle in the bay area.
- ikeyany 7y agoI know you mean well, but people tend to want to fit in with their milieu.
- gowld 7y agoMilieu is made of people. You can improve your milieu by being a leader, not a follower.
- dgabriel 7y agoI grew up with an engineer's family income, and 250k still seems pretty wealthy. That puts you in the top 5% of US earners.
- cr0sh 7y agoI own a Jeep. That thing keeps increasing in value massively on a yearly basis... /just add up everything I spend on it...