5 ms·

> poor The 90%ile is $129,000/yr individual income. https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-calculator/

tut-urut-utut 5y ago
Poor? No. But wealth and income (from work) don't have anything in common. You may earn those 100k year after year, but it would still take quite a while until you land into the wealthiest 10%, if ever.
- tantalor 5y ago
  The 90%ile of Household Net Worth in US is $1.2 million. Is that poor? https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-net-worth-percentiles/ https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-net-worth-percentiles/
- kelsierFe 5y ago
  From that same site, 90% net worth is ~1.25m. https://dqydj.com/net-worth-percentile-calculator-united-states/ https://dqydj.com/net-worth-percentile-calculator-united-sta... If you contribute 2k a month at 7% interest that would take you 23 years. A long time yes, but certainly achievable on a 100k salary. Of course I know the interest rate might not be that going forward, but the point still stands.
  - nly 5y ago
    No, because in your scenario the people who have $1.25M in assets now are going to have $6M in 23 years (invested at the same rate), so these high earners still won't end up in the top 10%. This is, I'm sure, is what the parent means. Compared to people with capital, people on high incomes are always behind. If you earn more than average, spend less than your peers, and invest wisely then you might move up a bit on the wealth scale, but that's it.
    - medvezhenok 5y ago
      I think the idea is that some of the people that have $1.25M now are not going to be around in 23 years, and that money will have gone to [inheritance, eldercare, etc], so who makes up the top 10% will change simply because of demographics.
      - sudosysgen 5y ago
        As far as inheritance goes, nowadays inheritance will actually concentrate wealth as rich people tend to only have one kid.
  - papreclip 5y ago
    harder to make 100k 23 years ago than it is today. by the time you finish a 2k/mo journey you begin today, 1.25M will be no longer be the cutoff for top 10%
- whakim 5y ago
  While I take your point that wealth is always more unequally distributed than income, income inequality and wealth inequality are definitely related. The degree to which they're related depends a lot on the tax and regulatory regime. In the United States, income inequality is high relative to most other Western countries, and the top 1% and top 0.1% shares particularly so; this means that if you're at the top of the income distribution you can become wealthy faster. In a country like France, where top marginal tax rates are higher, executive compensation is lower, and estate taxes are less progressive, inheritance and bequests play a (relatively!) more important role in the wealth distribution.
999900000999 5y ago
129k a year is not a lot of money. Say you live in NYC, you have a stay at home partner and 2 kids. Your living paycheck to paycheck. I'd consider anything less than 200k for a family to be working class. As in your unlikely to be able to survive for extended periods of time without working. If your monthly expenses are 9k, even your take home is 11k your in for a ride if you lose your job. Unemployment has a miserably low max benefit.
- emerged 5y ago
  Similarly, if you make only $2M/yr and live in a golden penthouse in downtown Manhattan, you’re barely scraping by. Why doesn’t anyone think of these poor souls?
  - nly 5y ago
    His comment seems fair. This random website[0] says the average US living cost for a family of 4 is about $55K/yr. I don't know what $130K after taxes is, but if I take a wild guess and say $85K, that leaves around $30K for savings and investments. Single income living isn't easy in western society. [0] https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/country/united-states https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/country/united-sta...
  - 999900000999 5y ago
    If your job requires you to be in New York I'm not clear what else you can do. Income doesn't scale well in America. If anything taxes are way too high on middle class people. No one making less than a million a year should pay over 30% in taxes.
    - emerged 5y ago
      I keep telling people that my job requires this diamond throne and handsome set of fine watches, but they refuse to give me a raise.

tut-urut-utut 5y ago

Poor? No. But wealth and income (from work) don't have anything in common. You may earn those 100k year after year, but it would still take quite a while until you land into the wealthiest 10%, if ever.

tantalor 5y ago
The 90%ile of Household Net Worth in US is $1.2 million. Is that poor? https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-net-worth-percentiles/ https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-net-worth-percentiles/
kelsierFe 5y ago
From that same site, 90% net worth is ~1.25m. https://dqydj.com/net-worth-percentile-calculator-united-states/ https://dqydj.com/net-worth-percentile-calculator-united-sta... If you contribute 2k a month at 7% interest that would take you 23 years. A long time yes, but certainly achievable on a 100k salary. Of course I know the interest rate might not be that going forward, but the point still stands.
- nly 5y ago
  No, because in your scenario the people who have $1.25M in assets now are going to have $6M in 23 years (invested at the same rate), so these high earners still won't end up in the top 10%. This is, I'm sure, is what the parent means. Compared to people with capital, people on high incomes are always behind. If you earn more than average, spend less than your peers, and invest wisely then you might move up a bit on the wealth scale, but that's it.
  - medvezhenok 5y ago
    I think the idea is that some of the people that have $1.25M now are not going to be around in 23 years, and that money will have gone to [inheritance, eldercare, etc], so who makes up the top 10% will change simply because of demographics.
    - sudosysgen 5y ago
      As far as inheritance goes, nowadays inheritance will actually concentrate wealth as rich people tend to only have one kid.
- papreclip 5y ago
  harder to make 100k 23 years ago than it is today. by the time you finish a 2k/mo journey you begin today, 1.25M will be no longer be the cutoff for top 10%
whakim 5y ago
While I take your point that wealth is always more unequally distributed than income, income inequality and wealth inequality are definitely related. The degree to which they're related depends a lot on the tax and regulatory regime. In the United States, income inequality is high relative to most other Western countries, and the top 1% and top 0.1% shares particularly so; this means that if you're at the top of the income distribution you can become wealthy faster. In a country like France, where top marginal tax rates are higher, executive compensation is lower, and estate taxes are less progressive, inheritance and bequests play a (relatively!) more important role in the wealth distribution.

999900000999 5y ago

129k a year is not a lot of money. Say you live in NYC, you have a stay at home partner and 2 kids. Your living paycheck to paycheck. I'd consider anything less than 200k for a family to be working class. As in your unlikely to be able to survive for extended periods of time without working. If your monthly expenses are 9k, even your take home is 11k your in for a ride if you lose your job. Unemployment has a miserably low max benefit.

emerged 5y ago
Similarly, if you make only $2M/yr and live in a golden penthouse in downtown Manhattan, you’re barely scraping by. Why doesn’t anyone think of these poor souls?
- nly 5y ago
  His comment seems fair. This random website[0] says the average US living cost for a family of 4 is about $55K/yr. I don't know what $130K after taxes is, but if I take a wild guess and say $85K, that leaves around $30K for savings and investments. Single income living isn't easy in western society. [0] https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/country/united-states https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/country/united-sta...
- 999900000999 5y ago
  If your job requires you to be in New York I'm not clear what else you can do. Income doesn't scale well in America. If anything taxes are way too high on middle class people. No one making less than a million a year should pay over 30% in taxes.
  - emerged 5y ago
    I keep telling people that my job requires this diamond throne and handsome set of fine watches, but they refuse to give me a raise.