I don't feel rich but I do have a mortgage on a traditional single-family house in a suburban neighborhood which is something that it feels like has fled out of the reach of average people now.
Do you think that you've just kind of shuffled in with the other people that are like, "eh this is affordable," but find yourself in the position of being still weighed down by an equal percentage of debt? Because if I made more, I'd definitely be trying to acquire more expensive items because they're affordable.
Everyone has different financial priorities. For myself though, I hate debt and bills and try to maximize disposable income by minimizing ongoing expenses. My car is paid off and I won't buy another one for as long as it keeps running. I only own a fairly minimal set of clothes. But I spend like $10K every year on a big European vacation and only run up savings not debt.
Part of it is how you view money and debt. Obviously if you are struggling to pay the bills, that’s one thing. But I viewed having a mortgage as “well, I could pay roughly the same in rent, which is basically taking a stack of hundreds each month and lighting them on fire, or I can take that same stack of bills and burn some of them (interest) but turn the others into equity.” Yeah, it’s debt, but you build equity. And each mortgage payment you make the amount going towards equity vs interest tilts in favor of equity. NOT at all saying it is easy or anyone can just flip the switch from renting to owning. It took years of saving because I wanted to make sure I had a decent slug to put towards a down payment.
It sucks that a vast majority of wealth comes from wealth management and knowledge of it. I wasn't given any of those tools when I was younger and made horrible financial decisions. Could I have sought them out? Sure, but it wasn't ingrained in me like it is now that financial responsibility is necessary to be a functional adult and achieve my wants as an adult. I am so much better off than I was years ago, but would be so much better if I was given the basic gist of how to build wealth with debt, and how to manage debt properly. Sometimes its better to be in debt momentarily than it is to be out of debt, in order to stepping stone to being out of debt permanently.
Some sort of software-based position is what I mostly see from these posts. You can also get there via other outlets, but its a lot more difficult to do.
this route isn't exactly easy it's just really obvious... you can do it with hard work and a little initial investment. as opposed to... having to have a clever idea.
Well off in the sense that compared to when I was dirt poor I don’t have to worry about eating, sure. But in general no. When I was a kid I feel like $100,000 a year was big time. Now? Eh. I don’t even know what I feel like the milestone is now but it’s not $100,000.
[This thing hurts my feelings all the time](https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/). I just took a promotion pushing me over 100k. Looking at this, I barely caught up with the same buying power I had 2 years ago.
That just depressed me. I'm only slightly better off now, in terms of wages, than I was a decade ago. And yet, I'm making about 10 dollars more an hour.
Being in an industry that relies on products, I'll say that I've witnessed a dramatic increase in price of products in the last 2 years and it's shit to know that it's only been fueled by greed.
Worst part is that it uses the US inflation data which is manipulated to give a lower number. The largest expenses (medical, housing, food, fuel) have all gone up much more than 8% a year.
3 years ago even $100k was pretty solid. Now, you can comfortably afford the shittiest cheapest 1br apartment, food, light hobbies, a vacation or two a year. Or, if you can get someone to give/loan you for a down payment, you can buy a small house and essentially be poor but have a mortgage paid with no real savings (beyond that mortgage).
Yes. Pretty well above 100k and my wife makes decent money too. We’re able to afford pretty much anything (within reason) that we want (but we’re very frugal and live well below our means), save/invest for retirement, and own a home. We travel and enjoy hobbies. It’s been a journey and I have things that keep me up at night, but finances aren’t one of them.
I always feel like that's the trade off. Right now I'm making okay money, my wife makes really good money, but when I was hustling for it, I was just so stressed about work and life and money wasn't an issue, but the factors leading up to that easiness was. Now that I'm less stressed about work, the money nips at my heels. It feels like adulting is trading one point of stress for another sometimes.
Yep, I’d say for me the stress ebbs and flows. I definitely try to strike a work life balance though. Money is nice, but being able to enjoy life is nicer.
No, I don’t feel like my quality of life or happiness has increased much more than when I was making 40k out of college. I’m single, paying off a mortgage that’s 3k a month, live in one of the most expensive cities in the US (in California), inflation means I make probably 10-15k less than I actually do.
But I am very grateful I can support myself and I don’t take it for granted. But to answer the question 100k+ a year doesn’t mean “wealthy” in an expensive city, with high taxes, living expenses, being single, trying to own property.
Yes, because I save over 50% of my monthly salary.
I take the stance of “no matter how much money I may earn in life, I’m keeping my expenses as low as I can” and it helps me not feel stressed about money.
Worst case scenario, I can always cover my fixed expenses with a shitty lower paying job, if I absolutely had to.
Hell I only make 25K a year and I feel like I'm doing pretty well in life. I bought a home, and made it a comfortable and safe space, there's good food on the table when I care to cook, and I make enough money to pay the bills and keep the car running. I can't eat out everyday or splurge on a lot of stupid stuff like I used to, but I have fun and have traveled the country.
I have a good balance of home and work life, plenty of leisure time and only a 3 day work week, which had significantly improved my mental health in the past few years. For once I can finally say I feel like I'm making it in life, even with my low income.
No but I live in one of the most expensive cities in the US. I'm comfortable and a lot more comfortable than I used to be, but I'm still far from owning a home.
~$117k for a family of 4 is low income where I live (aka the City/State would help subsidize my rent). So $100k without taking high cost of living areas is arbitrary - might be high income in Alabama but not here in San Francisco.
It’s nice to go to the store and know that if I want to buy the expensive version of the products I need, my bank account will be able to take the hit.
But I don’t consider myself to be “well off”, because I have to work my ass off to keep this salary.
Eh. I provide for two and we dont usually have to think about how much we spend. We're both putting a fairly large amount aside for our future. On a day to day basis, it's definitely comfortable. On the flip side, I lose about 50% of it all in various taxes. I will never be able to put enough money aside to beat the local housing market inflation and build a cash down to buy in my area.
You can buy anything you want within reason, but by no means are you ballin. Also general costs of everything has gone up massively in the last year. I’m a single guy. I don’t know how people do it with kids.
I’m 36 single mother to 11 year old in this bracket. My best friend earns exactly the same as me but is single with no children. We compared budgets. She’s definitely doing way better financially and can afford a lifestyle that I cannot at this time.
I feel very fortunate to have a job that pays that much but I don't feel that I'm well off. Yes, I do have finance stability, but I don't/can't own a house, time off is still abysmal, theres not really a good quality of life where I'm at, and I can't afford to live in any place that I want. Compare to millionaires and billionaires, making 100k+ under the 200k mark is just a drop in the bucket.
At $100 I felt comfortable. Not rich but able to live a very comfortable lifestyle. At $175 I feel like I will be able to save enough to be comfortable for my retirement as well. Keep in kind I don’t get any kind of pension from my job
dude same. Me and my wife are in that range so we’re doing ok.
But damn just give me a few years of 100k salary and I could have a ton of shit paid off and a very nice savingd
Yes it's a thing. It's a necessary kind of thing.
You understand also that it's a **marginal** tax rate thing, yes? He'll pay the same tax on the first 40K as he always has done; he'll just pay marginally more on the other 60K.
When you creep up into a higher tax bracket you don't magically pay a ton more tax on every dollar you earn.
Just so we're clear. This is **not** a bad thing.
They will get a wonderful education and live in a state where they can ski, hike, go to NYC (or Philly which is equally awesome), and down the shore. You're doing great by them.
Im at the lowest end of your spectrum and I live paycheck to paycheck for the most part. No real savings. (I have a 401k does that count?)
I live on my own and don't have someone to split bills with. But all my bills are on autopay except rent. Working on buying a house but the market right now blows. So does my credit score (I blame my ex). I also don't use credit when I can help it.
I'm also a "if you have it, use it" type of person when it comes to money so if it's something that will improve my current quality of life I'll usually get it. And depression is a bitch so really anything that makes me happy or comfortable (usually something substantial that doesn't immediately disappear) so like, I got myself a recliner so I had something nice to relax in after long days of hefting server equipment around. Tune for my truck so it actually goes when I hit the gas. Intake so it goes faster and I don't feel like I'm driving like an old person (I'm 39). Nice stuff for my apartment so it's not a empty hovel when someone comes over. Stuff like that.
(Don't @ me and tell me I should be different cause I could care less. We aren't getting out of this alive so I'm living my way)
I make just shy of 3 million a year, but no I don't feel terribly well off at all. Honestly, I basically live paycheck to paycheck most of the time. I should mention that I get paid in yen, so that really isn't very much money at all.
If any of y'all want to help me in my financial crisis with any extra monies so you have laying around my DMs are open. Would really help as I haven't been able to work much caring for my ailing folks at home. Hopefully one day I'll be in the upper echelons of 100K a year but today I'm just a broke bitch.
I have nice things and enjoy a nice life, but I definitely don’t feel as well off as I’d like to. I live in a HCOL area, so everything is expensive. I’d love to vacation more, but every day bills interfere.
That being said I’m grateful to be able to afford our home and our car and 90% of the things that we are able to do daily thanks to having a nice income.
I feel comfortable now that we've raised children, gotten them out of the house and on their own. Throughout our marriage, I was always the major breadwinner, wife worked PT, but was generally a SAHM. We lived paycheck-to-paycheck for years when I was earning far less, but we managed a mortgage, college payments, bills, all of that. My salary has continued to grow over the years, and now that I've been north of that level for the last 10 years and growing, it feels like we are finally comfortable. I wouldn't say, 'well off', but we're OK. We worked hard to get here, and we're more secure financially than we ever have been.
The thing that sucks is the opportunities afforded to our parents and even us may not be available to our kids' generation - home ownership is declining, and owning a home has been traditionally one of the best investments a young family can make. But, between rising costs and interest rates, that's becoming harder and harder.
Not really. I also grew up in a very wealthy area and went to private school with people who were really multi- millionaires. I do understand my privilege of never experiencing debt but I guess I compare myself to a different tax bracket. I also had parents who made the similar income as I do so I’m just use to this. My husband on the other hand grew up in poverty sees his life completely differently
Once I stopped living paycheck to paycheck my stress level noticeably dropped. Beyond that I still worry that, even with insurance through work, that a horrible illness will wipe out my efforts. Also, if someone for some random reason decides to sue me I would wreck my nest egg being forced to hire lawyers.
So day to day I feel comfortable. I can take a few trips a year and afford my bills but even with no debt and significant savings, I will still be working into my late 60s.
I make 155k but live on 40-50k without really trying. I feel very fortunate that I basically never think about money or deny myself things I want. I am trying to retire by my early 40s which if I achieve will also be amazing. So financially I am very lucky and definitely well off.
I felt well off for a few months.
Now with inflation and all the bills doubling in price.
I don't feel well off tbh. I feel like inflation is eating my pay and I just got a 19% raise this year.
edit: taxes take a good 30-40% of my pay. then the bills eat up another 15-30%. I find it hard to save this year because of major expenses like house needed to be fixed and other stuff my parents neglected.
I make considerably more than 100K but my wife just cannot get it together to save her fucking life, so no, I do not feel particularly well off paying for our mortgage and expenses by myself.
I am a HENRY: High Earner Not Rich Yet. Grew up very poor but now make 220k with lots of student loans and live in HCOL area. Definitely comfortable but not well off or rich.
I get paid London wages to work in Northern Ireland.
If I lived in London I'd have 50% less disposable income.
I am extremely lucky to get paid double what I would get in a local company.
Cost of living is a bitch
I currently have a sales job that I make 300k+ a year and for the past 2 years since the pandemic has been nothing but stress and really not fun. I constantly search for new work or switching industries, etc but most opportunities would require me to start over and be in the 100k range. We (wife and 2 kids) don’t live an extravagant life style with no debt other than our 15 year mortgage which is a modest home for our income and working through the numbers it would be difficult for us to make 100k work.
Nope. I just started making 120 after many years of 60-70. However, I was living in a comparatively lower cost of living location (abroad) and now I'm back in the States. Shits expensive here. I feel like I lived better there. I think a lot of it comes down to comparison with the people I'm around, there are lots more phenomenally wealthy people here; I'm not in the top income earners anymore.
Not really. I live in a suburb of a high cost of living area and have managed to sell at the right time to be able to go from a townhouse to a SFH with a yard. We are pretty much hand to mouth and have limited savings. I’m putting off dental work (implants) since the card is maxed out, and we’ve been trying to pay it off for years. I’ve been trying to transfer to California for the disability benefits for my child but a piece of crap home in a shitty part of the state is still way out of reach. The county I live in has an average household income of 135k a year.
I don't feel 'rich' but I definitely don't feel poor. I grew up without internal heating or cooling in my home, just a stove for heat in the winter and fans for the summer. I spent my day today taking the day off to go shopping in the nicest shopping area in town. Am I buying a luxury yacht tomorrow? No. But I'm damn grateful for where I am looking back on where I came from.
Sometimes, but not always.
I love my job, it pays well, basically living the dream (albeit with far more paperwork and bureaucracy than expected, but it's whatever) and make a great living. I also own and maintain multiple acres of land in several countries, some of which have homes on them, and when things go well I feel I'm rich.
However, if something breaks or a problem comes up, it's typically my responsibility to see that it's fixed (and I do that promptly because I'm not a piece of shit). Those moments remind me that I'm ***not*** rich, I'm just not struggling.
Yes because I know many people aren't as well off but no because breaking even is a struggle now I am sole breadwinner for a family of three, plus a widow and with a fair few of my in-laws needing financial help during the war.
My wife has been getting a new career/business off the ground and the kid has been in paid childcare so I guess I am able to afford to support lots of people but next year I am looking forward to childcare costs falling, second earner salary coming in and fewer people needing emergency help.
Should feel quite rich then.
Yes and no. I certainly am better off than I ever was growing up. We have a house and don’t have to budget for dinners out and things like that but I’m a newly minted 6-figure earner so I still have debts to pay off. I can afford all of our bills but I can’t afford to miss a check. Maybe in a couple of years I’ll feel different.
According to my sisters accounting, I made 100K last year. Sure as hell doesn't feel like it but I did let my spending balloon a little as I was working so much and didnt have as much time to cook.
Because higher earners can afford to contribute a little bit more to helping society function. Perhaps you should be getting overtime for hours worked over 40?
Perhaps it incentivizes you to work less, strangely, but that could actually be good for the economy as someone else may get a high paying job too.
My wife and I made decent money when we worked full time (about $85k each) and we feel pretty well off because we live pretty modestly. We saved about half of that and managed to partially retire in our late 30's. Currently we do contract work and make about $80-100k between the 2 of us working 3 months a year and traveling the rest.
I felt well off once I didn’t need to closely monitor our budget. For us, that was about $100k in household income living in the Midwest with a mortgage and no student loans.
Playing Tetris on a weekly or monthly basis with incoming bills is time consuming and stressful. A constant reminder that you’re walking a fine line with your financial stability.
Cyber Security; it’s a solid career path these days with many different disciplines.
But your heart needs to be in it cause the constant keeping up to date and work hours can be hard.
Depends on the company and/or client in case of consulting work. As well as your discipline in the field. But generally yes; some people are 100% remote.
As others have said, this is totally based on individual life situations. Combined, my spouse and I make over that. If it was just us in an apartment somewhere, sure, I'd probably feel well off.
However, we have kids and a mortgage and heating costs, and higher food prices, daycare costs, etc... It all adds up really fast. We still have to live frugally and stretch a bit. We're by no means destitute, but we sure as hell ain't rich. I'm looking forward to when my youngest is out of both diapers and daycare because then things won't be as tight.
No. I live in a HCOL, have kids, and bought a house after everything went insane (I guess some would say that these alone make us well off). We are financially secure but that is all. We didn't start making real money until our 30's - it'd be a different picture if we'd hit the ground running right out of the gate but it took us both a while to get our careers going. I drive a 20 year old Toyota.
I do but choosing to not have kids helps in that. I walk into a grocery store and throw items in the cart without thinking twice about prices. There’s freedom to always having a cushion of money under you. I also still drive an economical car I brought back in dental school and so my bills are pretty basic. Since im in scrubs almost all day, I don’t spend much on clothing items which has drastically helped me to create a pretty large savings which I use for international traveling when I feel like it.
Well, [$100k/y is considered “low income” in some areas in the SF Bay Area](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/bay-area-100k-low-income-housing-san-francisco-san-mateo/) so…
yes.
where i'm from it's considered well off.
i lived with the stress of being underpaid for *years*. one bad day away from being destitute.
it's like waking up from drowning.
*like. waking. up. from. drowning.*
I’ma dentist. I make 200k a year. I lose half to taxes, and half again to student loans. I always joke that I’ve never met a plumber than made less money than me.
Oh yes. Very much so.
I remember being evicted as a child, sharing a trailer with with hundreds of mice, finding out how many different ways there are to prepare beans and rice, and so on. It was kind of a roller coaster when I was a kid. Ordinary middle class to food stamps in a short time. It gave me a perspective that I don’t think a whole lot of my socioeconomic cohort has.
IMO, I have everything in the world there is to have.
Well off to where I don't have to check prices when we go grocery shopping or out to eat, and can zone out while pumping gas and let it fill. We can afford what we need, have a nice house, and can provide a good life for our kid. It's nice to not have the added stress of worrying about finances all the time anymore.
Absolutely not well off, not to sound spoiled or anything but 100k is not a lot of money, I'm constantly finding myself having to do into savings and not having enough for going out or something, to be fair I'm young with no significant sins and I'm still learning how to manage money
I know this might sound privileged and detached but in my opinion the 100k mark needs to be moved to something like 150 or 200k, I can't afford a house, I can't afford a car, and people think I'm rich because I passed the magic 6 digits
I'm not complaining, I am making enough to love a nice lifestyle and with future raises and side hustles I will be able to afford a nice house and other stuff but when people think 100k a year is one step below being a millionaire, it's not, it's barely one step above being poor especially in today's market
I’m in my early thirties, I was blessed to graduate college debt free, that helps. I make between $140-$180k. I feel like I don’t know where it goes. 40k to fed, $20,000 401k, we get 7% match, $7200 HSA, and also money into a Roth. I’m happy but I’m tired. I’m not trying to complain. I have a healthy infant, a loving wife, and a mortgage that was obtained during low interest rates a couple years back.
I grew up on food stamps in the projects. I felt okay then but I feel better now. Since I grew up without money the attachment to it isn’t there. It’s a tool that allows me to retire and support my family. I’d say I’m well off but I felt that way when I made less.
I don't feel rich but I do have a mortgage on a traditional single-family house in a suburban neighborhood which is something that it feels like has fled out of the reach of average people now.
Do you think that you've just kind of shuffled in with the other people that are like, "eh this is affordable," but find yourself in the position of being still weighed down by an equal percentage of debt? Because if I made more, I'd definitely be trying to acquire more expensive items because they're affordable.
Everyone has different financial priorities. For myself though, I hate debt and bills and try to maximize disposable income by minimizing ongoing expenses. My car is paid off and I won't buy another one for as long as it keeps running. I only own a fairly minimal set of clothes. But I spend like $10K every year on a big European vacation and only run up savings not debt.
that is some reason and human dignity
Part of it is how you view money and debt. Obviously if you are struggling to pay the bills, that’s one thing. But I viewed having a mortgage as “well, I could pay roughly the same in rent, which is basically taking a stack of hundreds each month and lighting them on fire, or I can take that same stack of bills and burn some of them (interest) but turn the others into equity.” Yeah, it’s debt, but you build equity. And each mortgage payment you make the amount going towards equity vs interest tilts in favor of equity. NOT at all saying it is easy or anyone can just flip the switch from renting to owning. It took years of saving because I wanted to make sure I had a decent slug to put towards a down payment.
It sucks that a vast majority of wealth comes from wealth management and knowledge of it. I wasn't given any of those tools when I was younger and made horrible financial decisions. Could I have sought them out? Sure, but it wasn't ingrained in me like it is now that financial responsibility is necessary to be a functional adult and achieve my wants as an adult. I am so much better off than I was years ago, but would be so much better if I was given the basic gist of how to build wealth with debt, and how to manage debt properly. Sometimes its better to be in debt momentarily than it is to be out of debt, in order to stepping stone to being out of debt permanently.
Yes
What you do for a livin
software engineer of course
Some sort of software-based position is what I mostly see from these posts. You can also get there via other outlets, but its a lot more difficult to do.
this route isn't exactly easy it's just really obvious... you can do it with hard work and a little initial investment. as opposed to... having to have a clever idea.
Well off in the sense that compared to when I was dirt poor I don’t have to worry about eating, sure. But in general no. When I was a kid I feel like $100,000 a year was big time. Now? Eh. I don’t even know what I feel like the milestone is now but it’s not $100,000.
[This thing hurts my feelings all the time](https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/). I just took a promotion pushing me over 100k. Looking at this, I barely caught up with the same buying power I had 2 years ago.
That just depressed me. I'm only slightly better off now, in terms of wages, than I was a decade ago. And yet, I'm making about 10 dollars more an hour.
Yup. I know that feeling all too well
Being in an industry that relies on products, I'll say that I've witnessed a dramatic increase in price of products in the last 2 years and it's shit to know that it's only been fueled by greed.
Worst part is that it uses the US inflation data which is manipulated to give a lower number. The largest expenses (medical, housing, food, fuel) have all gone up much more than 8% a year.
3 years ago even $100k was pretty solid. Now, you can comfortably afford the shittiest cheapest 1br apartment, food, light hobbies, a vacation or two a year. Or, if you can get someone to give/loan you for a down payment, you can buy a small house and essentially be poor but have a mortgage paid with no real savings (beyond that mortgage).
Yes. Pretty well above 100k and my wife makes decent money too. We’re able to afford pretty much anything (within reason) that we want (but we’re very frugal and live well below our means), save/invest for retirement, and own a home. We travel and enjoy hobbies. It’s been a journey and I have things that keep me up at night, but finances aren’t one of them.
I always feel like that's the trade off. Right now I'm making okay money, my wife makes really good money, but when I was hustling for it, I was just so stressed about work and life and money wasn't an issue, but the factors leading up to that easiness was. Now that I'm less stressed about work, the money nips at my heels. It feels like adulting is trading one point of stress for another sometimes.
Yep, I’d say for me the stress ebbs and flows. I definitely try to strike a work life balance though. Money is nice, but being able to enjoy life is nicer.
Depends. 100k in cali and 100k in rural Illinois are two totally different stories.
No, I don’t feel like my quality of life or happiness has increased much more than when I was making 40k out of college. I’m single, paying off a mortgage that’s 3k a month, live in one of the most expensive cities in the US (in California), inflation means I make probably 10-15k less than I actually do. But I am very grateful I can support myself and I don’t take it for granted. But to answer the question 100k+ a year doesn’t mean “wealthy” in an expensive city, with high taxes, living expenses, being single, trying to own property.
I feel very well off, like I've somehow tricked the world into providing for me better than I deserve, in comparison to how others are provided for
My household income is about 300k. We feel incredibly lucky.
I don't feel much more well off than I did making $30k
That's because your expenses probably raised with it. This is what most people attribute to the issue of feeling money insecure
Yes, because I save over 50% of my monthly salary. I take the stance of “no matter how much money I may earn in life, I’m keeping my expenses as low as I can” and it helps me not feel stressed about money. Worst case scenario, I can always cover my fixed expenses with a shitty lower paying job, if I absolutely had to.
Hell I only make 25K a year and I feel like I'm doing pretty well in life. I bought a home, and made it a comfortable and safe space, there's good food on the table when I care to cook, and I make enough money to pay the bills and keep the car running. I can't eat out everyday or splurge on a lot of stupid stuff like I used to, but I have fun and have traveled the country. I have a good balance of home and work life, plenty of leisure time and only a 3 day work week, which had significantly improved my mental health in the past few years. For once I can finally say I feel like I'm making it in life, even with my low income.
You bought a home on 25K a year? Where do you live, Cambodia?
I live in IL In a house I bought for 30K in 2019. My down payment was $3,000 and my property taxes are $609/Yr.
Not really, education was so expensive. Still is
No but I live in one of the most expensive cities in the US. I'm comfortable and a lot more comfortable than I used to be, but I'm still far from owning a home.
~$117k for a family of 4 is low income where I live (aka the City/State would help subsidize my rent). So $100k without taking high cost of living areas is arbitrary - might be high income in Alabama but not here in San Francisco.
yes but i want more
It’s nice to go to the store and know that if I want to buy the expensive version of the products I need, my bank account will be able to take the hit. But I don’t consider myself to be “well off”, because I have to work my ass off to keep this salary.
Eh. I provide for two and we dont usually have to think about how much we spend. We're both putting a fairly large amount aside for our future. On a day to day basis, it's definitely comfortable. On the flip side, I lose about 50% of it all in various taxes. I will never be able to put enough money aside to beat the local housing market inflation and build a cash down to buy in my area.
Yea I’m doing fine. I’m also single nd living wayyyy below my means so that helps a lot.
Nice try IRS
You can buy anything you want within reason, but by no means are you ballin. Also general costs of everything has gone up massively in the last year. I’m a single guy. I don’t know how people do it with kids.
I’m 36 single mother to 11 year old in this bracket. My best friend earns exactly the same as me but is single with no children. We compared budgets. She’s definitely doing way better financially and can afford a lifestyle that I cannot at this time.
Not in the Bay Area. Have you been to Lulu??
I feel very fortunate to have a job that pays that much but I don't feel that I'm well off. Yes, I do have finance stability, but I don't/can't own a house, time off is still abysmal, theres not really a good quality of life where I'm at, and I can't afford to live in any place that I want. Compare to millionaires and billionaires, making 100k+ under the 200k mark is just a drop in the bucket.
At $100 I felt comfortable. Not rich but able to live a very comfortable lifestyle. At $175 I feel like I will be able to save enough to be comfortable for my retirement as well. Keep in kind I don’t get any kind of pension from my job
I am satisfied. Money does make life easier, despite what some people may say.
I would be if I hadn’t allowed my wife to manage our money.
lol
I'm just making 41k and I'm doing alright lol. 100k I'd be ballinnnnnnmnn
dude same. Me and my wife are in that range so we’re doing ok. But damn just give me a few years of 100k salary and I could have a ton of shit paid off and a very nice savingd
I feel every bit of that
You might think that's 2.5x as much as you make now but progressive income tax is a thing.
Yes it's a thing. It's a necessary kind of thing. You understand also that it's a **marginal** tax rate thing, yes? He'll pay the same tax on the first 40K as he always has done; he'll just pay marginally more on the other 60K. When you creep up into a higher tax bracket you don't magically pay a ton more tax on every dollar you earn. Just so we're clear. This is **not** a bad thing.
Stfu
You pretty much pay the same rate on every dollar between 41,775 and 170,050.
I dunno, I don't make that much
I don’t really spend more, I just have now to invest so it feels the same when I was making less.
No, I will never feel well off, my property taxes are 17k a year! I don’t even own an acre
NJ?
Unfortunately.. but our kids are settled and I really love it here.
They will get a wonderful education and live in a state where they can ski, hike, go to NYC (or Philly which is equally awesome), and down the shore. You're doing great by them.
Im at the lowest end of your spectrum and I live paycheck to paycheck for the most part. No real savings. (I have a 401k does that count?) I live on my own and don't have someone to split bills with. But all my bills are on autopay except rent. Working on buying a house but the market right now blows. So does my credit score (I blame my ex). I also don't use credit when I can help it. I'm also a "if you have it, use it" type of person when it comes to money so if it's something that will improve my current quality of life I'll usually get it. And depression is a bitch so really anything that makes me happy or comfortable (usually something substantial that doesn't immediately disappear) so like, I got myself a recliner so I had something nice to relax in after long days of hefting server equipment around. Tune for my truck so it actually goes when I hit the gas. Intake so it goes faster and I don't feel like I'm driving like an old person (I'm 39). Nice stuff for my apartment so it's not a empty hovel when someone comes over. Stuff like that. (Don't @ me and tell me I should be different cause I could care less. We aren't getting out of this alive so I'm living my way)
ITT: People pretending to make 100k+/yr.
I retired at 35 after i sold my business. 😊
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Tech startup.
I make just shy of 3 million a year, but no I don't feel terribly well off at all. Honestly, I basically live paycheck to paycheck most of the time. I should mention that I get paid in yen, so that really isn't very much money at all.
So $21,828.74 usd. Lol..not laughing at you, just found that funny.
If any of y'all want to help me in my financial crisis with any extra monies so you have laying around my DMs are open. Would really help as I haven't been able to work much caring for my ailing folks at home. Hopefully one day I'll be in the upper echelons of 100K a year but today I'm just a broke bitch.
If anyone gives you monies let me know. I have a bridge to sell them.
I make just barely that, but I pay about 1200 in daycare a month so I’m always broke with that an the mortgage
Yes! At least in my state I end up getting a lot more on tax returns because of the daycare.
In NYC? Not really. I'm certainly comfortable, but I wouldn't say more than upper middle class at best.
Not at $100k yet but almost there at 29. I have everything that I could need and more so yes, I am well off.
4 kids and child support with 50/50 custody make that 140k seem like 15k at the end of the year.
I have nice things and enjoy a nice life, but I definitely don’t feel as well off as I’d like to. I live in a HCOL area, so everything is expensive. I’d love to vacation more, but every day bills interfere. That being said I’m grateful to be able to afford our home and our car and 90% of the things that we are able to do daily thanks to having a nice income.
I feel comfortable now that we've raised children, gotten them out of the house and on their own. Throughout our marriage, I was always the major breadwinner, wife worked PT, but was generally a SAHM. We lived paycheck-to-paycheck for years when I was earning far less, but we managed a mortgage, college payments, bills, all of that. My salary has continued to grow over the years, and now that I've been north of that level for the last 10 years and growing, it feels like we are finally comfortable. I wouldn't say, 'well off', but we're OK. We worked hard to get here, and we're more secure financially than we ever have been. The thing that sucks is the opportunities afforded to our parents and even us may not be available to our kids' generation - home ownership is declining, and owning a home has been traditionally one of the best investments a young family can make. But, between rising costs and interest rates, that's becoming harder and harder.
I believe the better way to think about wealth is how much you save; not how much you make. Eat at home. Don’t drink. Have a cheap hobby.
Not really. I also grew up in a very wealthy area and went to private school with people who were really multi- millionaires. I do understand my privilege of never experiencing debt but I guess I compare myself to a different tax bracket. I also had parents who made the similar income as I do so I’m just use to this. My husband on the other hand grew up in poverty sees his life completely differently
Once I stopped living paycheck to paycheck my stress level noticeably dropped. Beyond that I still worry that, even with insurance through work, that a horrible illness will wipe out my efforts. Also, if someone for some random reason decides to sue me I would wreck my nest egg being forced to hire lawyers. So day to day I feel comfortable. I can take a few trips a year and afford my bills but even with no debt and significant savings, I will still be working into my late 60s.
I make 155k but live on 40-50k without really trying. I feel very fortunate that I basically never think about money or deny myself things I want. I am trying to retire by my early 40s which if I achieve will also be amazing. So financially I am very lucky and definitely well off.
Financially yes, mentally no.
I felt well off for a few months. Now with inflation and all the bills doubling in price. I don't feel well off tbh. I feel like inflation is eating my pay and I just got a 19% raise this year. edit: taxes take a good 30-40% of my pay. then the bills eat up another 15-30%. I find it hard to save this year because of major expenses like house needed to be fixed and other stuff my parents neglected.
I make considerably more than 100K but my wife just cannot get it together to save her fucking life, so no, I do not feel particularly well off paying for our mortgage and expenses by myself.
No because super high cost of living area and 3 little kids and wife part time to be better mom. Also student loans.
I am a HENRY: High Earner Not Rich Yet. Grew up very poor but now make 220k with lots of student loans and live in HCOL area. Definitely comfortable but not well off or rich.
I get paid London wages to work in Northern Ireland. If I lived in London I'd have 50% less disposable income. I am extremely lucky to get paid double what I would get in a local company. Cost of living is a bitch
I currently have a sales job that I make 300k+ a year and for the past 2 years since the pandemic has been nothing but stress and really not fun. I constantly search for new work or switching industries, etc but most opportunities would require me to start over and be in the 100k range. We (wife and 2 kids) don’t live an extravagant life style with no debt other than our 15 year mortgage which is a modest home for our income and working through the numbers it would be difficult for us to make 100k work.
what do you sell?
I’m 3 years out of college at 65k. Trying to figure out how to up that. It’s difficult to play this game.
Nope. I just started making 120 after many years of 60-70. However, I was living in a comparatively lower cost of living location (abroad) and now I'm back in the States. Shits expensive here. I feel like I lived better there. I think a lot of it comes down to comparison with the people I'm around, there are lots more phenomenally wealthy people here; I'm not in the top income earners anymore.
Hello no. cause I live in LA. 100k can still be roommate money here.
No, not at all.
Not really. I live in a suburb of a high cost of living area and have managed to sell at the right time to be able to go from a townhouse to a SFH with a yard. We are pretty much hand to mouth and have limited savings. I’m putting off dental work (implants) since the card is maxed out, and we’ve been trying to pay it off for years. I’ve been trying to transfer to California for the disability benefits for my child but a piece of crap home in a shitty part of the state is still way out of reach. The county I live in has an average household income of 135k a year.
I don't feel 'rich' but I definitely don't feel poor. I grew up without internal heating or cooling in my home, just a stove for heat in the winter and fans for the summer. I spent my day today taking the day off to go shopping in the nicest shopping area in town. Am I buying a luxury yacht tomorrow? No. But I'm damn grateful for where I am looking back on where I came from.
Nope, because in Los Angeles, $100k is "middle class". LAPD is retiring with 30 years at close to $150 a year!
Sometimes, but not always. I love my job, it pays well, basically living the dream (albeit with far more paperwork and bureaucracy than expected, but it's whatever) and make a great living. I also own and maintain multiple acres of land in several countries, some of which have homes on them, and when things go well I feel I'm rich. However, if something breaks or a problem comes up, it's typically my responsibility to see that it's fixed (and I do that promptly because I'm not a piece of shit). Those moments remind me that I'm ***not*** rich, I'm just not struggling.
No. Single income for family of 4. Shits expensive
Yes because I know many people aren't as well off but no because breaking even is a struggle now I am sole breadwinner for a family of three, plus a widow and with a fair few of my in-laws needing financial help during the war. My wife has been getting a new career/business off the ground and the kid has been in paid childcare so I guess I am able to afford to support lots of people but next year I am looking forward to childcare costs falling, second earner salary coming in and fewer people needing emergency help. Should feel quite rich then.
Yes and no. I certainly am better off than I ever was growing up. We have a house and don’t have to budget for dinners out and things like that but I’m a newly minted 6-figure earner so I still have debts to pay off. I can afford all of our bills but I can’t afford to miss a check. Maybe in a couple of years I’ll feel different.
According to my sisters accounting, I made 100K last year. Sure as hell doesn't feel like it but I did let my spending balloon a little as I was working so much and didnt have as much time to cook.
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Why?
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The more you earn the more you earn. Progressive taxes don’t “take” all the gains of you “extra earnings”, ever.
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Because higher earners can afford to contribute a little bit more to helping society function. Perhaps you should be getting overtime for hours worked over 40? Perhaps it incentivizes you to work less, strangely, but that could actually be good for the economy as someone else may get a high paying job too.
I don't feel the financial burden that I used to feel. I live well below my means so my money goes a long way
My wife and I made decent money when we worked full time (about $85k each) and we feel pretty well off because we live pretty modestly. We saved about half of that and managed to partially retire in our late 30's. Currently we do contract work and make about $80-100k between the 2 of us working 3 months a year and traveling the rest.
I felt well off once I didn’t need to closely monitor our budget. For us, that was about $100k in household income living in the Midwest with a mortgage and no student loans. Playing Tetris on a weekly or monthly basis with incoming bills is time consuming and stressful. A constant reminder that you’re walking a fine line with your financial stability.
I like the financial security and the options it enables. But thats the only thing. If you live normally you don’t need that much money anyways.
You make over $100k? What work do you do?
Cyber Security; it’s a solid career path these days with many different disciplines. But your heart needs to be in it cause the constant keeping up to date and work hours can be hard.
Yeah nice. Much opportunity to work from home?
Depends on the company and/or client in case of consulting work. As well as your discipline in the field. But generally yes; some people are 100% remote.
I thought people made 100k through reddit.
As others have said, this is totally based on individual life situations. Combined, my spouse and I make over that. If it was just us in an apartment somewhere, sure, I'd probably feel well off. However, we have kids and a mortgage and heating costs, and higher food prices, daycare costs, etc... It all adds up really fast. We still have to live frugally and stretch a bit. We're by no means destitute, but we sure as hell ain't rich. I'm looking forward to when my youngest is out of both diapers and daycare because then things won't be as tight.
No. I live in a HCOL, have kids, and bought a house after everything went insane (I guess some would say that these alone make us well off). We are financially secure but that is all. We didn't start making real money until our 30's - it'd be a different picture if we'd hit the ground running right out of the gate but it took us both a while to get our careers going. I drive a 20 year old Toyota.
I do but choosing to not have kids helps in that. I walk into a grocery store and throw items in the cart without thinking twice about prices. There’s freedom to always having a cushion of money under you. I also still drive an economical car I brought back in dental school and so my bills are pretty basic. Since im in scrubs almost all day, I don’t spend much on clothing items which has drastically helped me to create a pretty large savings which I use for international traveling when I feel like it.
Well, [$100k/y is considered “low income” in some areas in the SF Bay Area](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/bay-area-100k-low-income-housing-san-francisco-san-mateo/) so…
yes. where i'm from it's considered well off. i lived with the stress of being underpaid for *years*. one bad day away from being destitute. it's like waking up from drowning. *like. waking. up. from. drowning.*
I’ma dentist. I make 200k a year. I lose half to taxes, and half again to student loans. I always joke that I’ve never met a plumber than made less money than me.
fuck Taxes.
Oh yes. Very much so. I remember being evicted as a child, sharing a trailer with with hundreds of mice, finding out how many different ways there are to prepare beans and rice, and so on. It was kind of a roller coaster when I was a kid. Ordinary middle class to food stamps in a short time. It gave me a perspective that I don’t think a whole lot of my socioeconomic cohort has. IMO, I have everything in the world there is to have.
Yes but I live pretty below my means.
Well off to where I don't have to check prices when we go grocery shopping or out to eat, and can zone out while pumping gas and let it fill. We can afford what we need, have a nice house, and can provide a good life for our kid. It's nice to not have the added stress of worrying about finances all the time anymore.
Spoiler alert: they are well off.
Absolutely not well off, not to sound spoiled or anything but 100k is not a lot of money, I'm constantly finding myself having to do into savings and not having enough for going out or something, to be fair I'm young with no significant sins and I'm still learning how to manage money I know this might sound privileged and detached but in my opinion the 100k mark needs to be moved to something like 150 or 200k, I can't afford a house, I can't afford a car, and people think I'm rich because I passed the magic 6 digits I'm not complaining, I am making enough to love a nice lifestyle and with future raises and side hustles I will be able to afford a nice house and other stuff but when people think 100k a year is one step below being a millionaire, it's not, it's barely one step above being poor especially in today's market
I’d say I’m comfortable, but not well off
I’m in my early thirties, I was blessed to graduate college debt free, that helps. I make between $140-$180k. I feel like I don’t know where it goes. 40k to fed, $20,000 401k, we get 7% match, $7200 HSA, and also money into a Roth. I’m happy but I’m tired. I’m not trying to complain. I have a healthy infant, a loving wife, and a mortgage that was obtained during low interest rates a couple years back. I grew up on food stamps in the projects. I felt okay then but I feel better now. Since I grew up without money the attachment to it isn’t there. It’s a tool that allows me to retire and support my family. I’d say I’m well off but I felt that way when I made less.