4 ms·
I don't doubt any of these expenses, and this hardly seems like a lavish lifestyle... but at the same time, $38k in 401k contributions is hardly middle class. E
by seem_2211 7y ago
I don't doubt any of these expenses, and this hardly seems like a lavish lifestyle... but at the same time, $38k in 401k contributions is hardly middle class. Especially when the median household income in the US is $59k per year.
If you plug that $38k in 401k deductions, and then add say another $10k in employer contribution, assuming you have two parents at age 30 who plan on working for the next 35 years, and who have, to date contributed $10,000 total to their 401k you end out with a $9.0m retirement fund at age 65, assuming a 7% annual growth rate. Going by the 4% withdrawal method you get a $360k annual retirement income which seems a little high.
- imesh 7y agoLooking at the breakdown it all makes sense, and I don't fault them but at the same time I agree with you and don't think the middle class of the country has ever lived that well. Vacations that require plane travel twice a year? Going out to concerts and ball games for regular date nights? Life Insurance?
- closetohome 7y agoDon't forget your $1.8 million middle-class house.
- seem_2211 7y agoIn SF that absolutely is a middle class house.
- whenchamenia 7y agoThats just how warped your perception is in that hyperlocal buble.
- seem_2211 7y agoWe all live in a respective bubble.
- perl4ever 7y agoIf you know something about SF, I'm curious - on a typical assessment of that sort of house, how much of that is attributed to land, and how much to the house (2br 1300 sq ft, the sort that would sell for <$180K in a normal city in a wealthy coastal state) Also, when people talk about the price of living in Manhattan, the obvious response is - so don't live in Manhattan. Can't you work in the Bay Area without living in SF proper?
- seem_2211 7y agoAlmost all of the value is the land. RE: Cost of living, I dunno, part of the reason the cost of living in SF / Manhattan is so high is that lots and lots of people make enough to be able to afford it.
- perl4ever 7y agoAbout land value, of course that is what one would assume, and what is often claimed. I thought the cost of living in Manhattan or other similar places was so high because people do other things than live there that are highly valuable. Which might be nature's way of telling you "don't live there".