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I, like most programmers, am comfortably in the top 5% and cannot even imaging being able to own a home like you describe at my income level. There is a good ch
by randomdata 14y ago
I, like most programmers, am comfortably in the top 5% and cannot even imaging being able to own a home like you describe at my income level. There is a good chance those people are part of the 1% themselves. It actually doesn't take that much money to get there. Though it has been sold as a domain of people making tens of thousands of dollars per hour, so I can see why some may not even realize where they stand.
- twoodfin 14y agoI, like most programmers, am comfortably in the top 5% and cannot even imaging being able to own a home like you describe at my income level. Sure you can. Anyone "comfortably in the top 5%" can afford a very large home, it just might not be exactly where you'd want it to be. You're choosing instead to devote more of your income to being close to where you work and/or living in an area with ready access to services you find valuable.
- randomdata 14y agoI just did a quick mortgage affordability calculation and someone who earns at the bottom end of the 5% can only afford a $300,000-400,000 home. Even where I live, which is very rural with comparatively cheap homes, only gets you a modest sized home. You need at least $500K to even start looking at 3000 sq. feet homes with big garages unless they are complete dives.
- nsxwolf 14y agoDon't forget about dual income families.
- twoodfin 14y agoYes. Obviously a 3000 square foot house with a three car garage is a bit much for a single person, so I was assuming top 5% household income. Top 5% there is ~$200K/year. I'd be interested to see which calculator and which figures randomdata was using. I have a hard time getting less than $750,000 for a "conservative" figure, assuming your debt isn't absurd and you save up for a $100K down payment (should be very manageable with $200K gross).
- randomdata 14y agoFair, though not all households have multiple earners either. I think it is still quite conceivable for someone to be in the top 1% and still feel like they are failing in life. And what about local wealth distributions? A $100K income puts you in like the top 0.5% in my community. Someone making that much here is part of a 1% group, just not at the country scale. If houses are cheap in your locality, I expect things to be similar.
- nsxwolf 14y agoI should note that I live in Illinois. Your housing dollar goes a lot farther here. I usually make the wild assumption that most people who post here are in San Fran.
- randomdata 14y agoI actually live in farming country where houses are cheap. I can't even imagine how the people in SF do it. A top 1% personal income starts at around $190K per year. A $120K job and a decent investment portfolio and you are there.
- nsxwolf 14y agoI would love to figure out how to make up that $70,000 a year slack with a decent investment portfolio! Any tips? :)
- randomdata 14y agoWhen I posted that, I was really picturing the majority of the occupants being in their 50s or older, so they've had a lot of time for their investments to start to pay off. You won't find many 20 year olds being able to say the same, granted. If you are still young, my only tip is to start investing too. With any luck, your time will come as well.
- aetherson 14y ago"Most programmers" are not in the top 5%. For example: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engineer_%2F_Developer_%2F_Programmer/Salary http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engineer_%2...
- randomdata 14y agoTop 5% starts at around $80,000 per year. I've read from many sources that the average developer earns $92,000 per year.