is everyone on PS rich?

[woofmama]

Hmmmm, well we live in a very middle class area, and I own a small business so the answer to that would be no. However we are comfortable in life, enjoy working for what we have and are very resourceful. I found PS because I wanted new bling but needed to be frugal. I take great pleasure in knowing I made very smart purchases due to the knowledge I gained here coupled with my frugal choices. The thing I really enjoy about PS is that there is such a diverse group on here yet everyone seems so incredibly nice
I like nob-nobin' with all of you rich folks

 

[rosetta]

Last time this topic came up, someone mentioned that a family of 4 needs $500k to live "comfortably" in Perth. My reaction ~~>

I'm sure you recalled this accurately ForteKitty but really?? You need $500k (I assume that's Aussie dollars)

That's £322,000. I assure you that even in rip off Britain that's a very very high income. Not a comfortable income, but a most luxurious one. Top 1% for sure in the UK.

Is that before or after tax?

And you can't be comfortable in Australia for less than that? Well, I guess cost of living has gone up 10000% since i lived there 15 years ago. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to go back!

 

[rosetta]

I just read your post justginger.

Are you sure you aren't dying of poverty with your "woefully inadequate" salary?

I mean, how much must you be suffering if you aren't getting a comfortable $500k per year??

Shall I pass around my hat to drum up a donation?

The mind boggles.



Seriously, some people need to get a reality check (and i dont mean you justginger!) On which planet is that sum not a huge amount?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I know most of us are rich when compared with the whole world, but I have no idea what the top 20% income in the US is. Our percentage fell a little when I quit working!

 

[ForteKitty]

Last time this topic came up, someone mentioned that a family of 4 needs $500k to live "comfortably" in Perth. My reaction ~~>

I'm sure you recalled this accurately ForteKitty but really?? You need $500k (I assume that's Aussie dollars)

That's £322,000. I assure you that even in rip off Britain that's a very very high income. Not a comfortable income, but a most luxurious one. Top 1% for sure in the UK.

Is that before or after tax?

And you can't be comfortable in Australia for less than that? Well, I guess cost of living has gone up 10000% since i lived there 15 years ago. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to go back!

Pretty sure the poster said $500k... more than once. I remember asking an Aussie friend if that is true and she was terribly offended.

eta: this was on PS, btw, I'm sure I'm not the only one who saw that post?

 

[rosetta]

I'm not doubting you one bit ForteKitty!

But I have great trouble agreeing with a poster who think less than $500k a year is less than comfortable!

 

[justginger]

I just read your post justginger.

Are you sure you aren't dying of poverty with your "woefully inadequate" salary?

I mean, how much must you be suffering if you aren't getting a comfortable $500k per year??

Shall I pass around my hat to drum up a donation?

The mind boggles.



Seriously, some people need to get a reality check (and i dont mean you justginger!) On which planet is that sum not a huge amount?

I'm not all that keen to discuss exact numbers (obviously!), but our household income is still a fair way below HALF that listed amount. We manage to make double mortgage repayments, have yearly 4 week international holidays, paid for our cars in cash, are members of a sailing club with three (eye roll) catamarans, and buy bling to boot. $500k in Perth would mean one person is a senior mining engineer and the other is earning the amount my clinical microbiologists take home. Definitely not "comfortable"...more like bloody filthy rich!

 

[rosetta]

I just read your post justginger.

Are you sure you aren't dying of poverty with your "woefully inadequate" salary?

I mean, how much must you be suffering if you aren't getting a comfortable $500k per year??

Shall I pass around my hat to drum up a donation?

The mind boggles.



Seriously, some people need to get a reality check (and i dont mean you justginger!) On which planet is that sum not a huge amount?

I'm not all that keen to discuss exact numbers (obviously!), but our household income is still a fair way below HALF that listed amount. We manage to make double mortgage repayments, have yearly 4 week international holidays, paid for our cars in cash, are members of a sailing club with three (eye roll) catamarans, and buy bling to boot. $500k in Perth would mean one person is a senior mining engineer and the other is earning the amount my clinical microbiologists take home. Definitely not "comfortable"...more like bloody filthy rich!

Phew! Well I can keep my hat on, safe in the knowledge that my Aussie friends aren't walking the streets dressed in rags. In fact, some of them, like justginger, may just be living a rather jammy life!!

 

[Rhea]

DH and I were talking about kids the other day. One of his friends, probably the least well off, is pregnant which sparked a bit of a thinking spree for DH. I think DH & I do well. We're saving to buy a flat, we take a couple of domestic holidays a year, and I visit my family in the US at least once per year. I'd say that we're comfortable. However, DH doesn't think we are. The conversation with children started and I mentioned that we'd be able to raise a child and stay in our current housing for a couple of years (we rent a 2 bedroom flat with a small balcony and DH partly works from home). He thinks that owning a home, and preferably one in which child has it's own bedroom, is a necessity. In the line of this conversation it clicked. DH was privately educated and thinks that his children should be as well. That's £15,000 per year.

So we're years away from DH even considering us comfortable enough to have children. I think he should have married differently. I'm not on a career path where I'll make more, even if I go to management it's less than a 10% wage increase. I bought a pair of OEC earrings this year and DH bought a watch. We're doing fine!

 

[chrono]

We used to have more disposable income as DINKS.

 

[yssie]

I just read your post justginger.

Are you sure you aren't dying of poverty with your "woefully inadequate" salary?

I mean, how much must you be suffering if you aren't getting a comfortable $500k per year??

Shall I pass around my hat to drum up a donation?

The mind boggles.



Seriously, some people need to get a reality check (and i dont mean you justginger!) On which planet is that sum not a huge amount?

I'm not all that keen to discuss exact numbers (obviously!), but our household income is still a fair way below HALF that listed amount. We manage to make double mortgage repayments, have yearly 4 week international holidays, paid for our cars in cash, are members of a sailing club with three (eye roll) catamarans, and buy bling to boot. $500k in Perth would mean one person is a senior mining engineer and the other is earning the amount my clinical microbiologists take home. Definitely not "comfortable"...more like bloody filthy rich!

Phew! Well I can keep my hat on, safe in the knowledge that my Aussie friends aren't walking the streets dressed in rags. In fact, some of them, like justginger, may just be living a rather jammy life!!

I laughed out loud

...and now I'm terribly curious about what sort of life one must live to be merely comfortable with 500k - and what the bling looks like!!

 

[JewelFreak]

I know I'd be a lot richer if I didn't spend it on bling. But not happier!

 

[Rosebloom]

Did a little research.

Based on the Internal Revenue Service’s 2010 database below, here’s how much the top Americans make:

Top 1%: $380,354
Top 5%: $159,619
Top 10%: $113,799
Top 25%: $67,280
Top 50%: >$33,048

In the world, $34k/person puts you in the top 1%.

From: http://www.financialsamurai.com/2011/04/12/how-much-money-do-the-top-income-earners-make-percent/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2082385/We-1--You-need-34k-income-global-elite--half-worlds-richest-live-U-S.html

 

[chrono]

I'm sure it depends on where you live too. The US Southern States may not earn high wages compared to the NorthEasterns but their cost of living is also much lower.

 

[gem_anemone]

I am not rich, but if our bills stayed the same and our incomes went up by like 20%, then I would feel rich.

 

[nkarma]

Yes. We are very rich. We are not in the top 1% of Americans but we are in the top 1% of the world and if that's not rich what is?

This exactly!!!! And I would actually say that everyone on here is in the top 0.1% of the world.

 

[distracts]

My fiance and I are in the 95th percentile of family income (top 5%). So although we don't feel rich, and are still millions of dollars from "supper rich," we're not doing badly. However I'd define "rich" as being able to spend a large amount of money without having to think about it, and our income is such that we DO have to think about how the money we're spending fits into the overall picture of our finances, because dropping even 1k DOES have an affect. We can spend a lot of money, but we have to save it and make sure everything else is covered first, we can't just do it and trust that we have enough left.

In the line of this conversation it clicked. DH was privately educated and thinks that his children should be as well. That's £15,000 per year.

Ah, the private/public school argument. Fiance and I know this one well. I went to a private school and, as the more recently educated and the more politically active, know just how atrocious public schools have gotten. Fiance went to a public school in a wealthy suburb that has decent schools so he doesn't get it. He'd never move to the kind of suburb that has good schools because he hates suburban life (as do I). We're at an impasse now, will probably wait until we actually have kids to make decisions, lol.

 

[Rhea]

In the line of this conversation it clicked. DH was privately educated and thinks that his children should be as well. That's £15,000 per year.

Ah, the private/public school argument. Fiance and I know this one well. I went to a private school and, as the more recently educated and the more politically active, know just how atrocious public schools have gotten. Fiance went to a public school in a wealthy suburb that has decent schools so he doesn't get it. He'd never move to the kind of suburb that has good schools because he hates suburban life (as do I). We're at an impasse now, will probably wait until we actually have kids to make decisions, lol.

This is us but backwards! We now live in London and aren't near the best schools. Not only do I think a child does not need to have it's own bedroom (gasp!) but I also don't think that it's important to own a home before having a child (Gasp!) or that private education is important (GASP!).

I don't think we'll have children, but a friend getting knocked up has really caused us to start talking about all of this. I'm in my early 30s and DH in his late 20s. He has such a particular view of what type of environment children should be raised in while I think children don't need things just so - especially if he not around to have input (he's self employed and travels for his job a lot). DH has become slightly more flexible as he's gotten a bit older and I hope it continues. This realization about schooling hit me like a brick from the sky mid-conversation. Everything is either a reaction against his childhood (such as the amount of space needed, he grew up in a very small house), or exactly what he had if he thinks it was a good decision (such as privately educated). Sigh.

But yeah, we're fine. Comfortable. And we have enough money to raise children if you ask me, just not if you ask him.

 

[madelise]

A few people have made some disguised snide remarks about my affair with jewelry, and how I "must be rich". I quickly shoot them down, and point to how much $ they spend on drinking alcohol and partying.

The last time SO and I joined our friends for a bar in LA, it was $20/shot. Thank god I'm a cheap date, cus it only took him $40 to get me wasted.. but gee, the normal people spend hundreds per night! I know a bunch of people who party often on Thurs-Sunday. 4 x $100 = $400 x 52 = $20800 a year, if you go party four Th-Sun every single weekend in a year. Now, I don't think I know anyone who does it religiously, but I do know many people who drink very very often. The guys will buy rounds for their friends, and buy drinks for girls. It's a very expensive habit. I would guess they spend ~$10k/year just on drinking. That's not including all the concert and rave tickets. Last I checked, Electric Daisy Carnival was a few hundred bucks a night.



We have joked a few times that our engagement ring has paid itself off in the amount of money we both saved from not partaking in these "youthful activities" for the past 3 years.

 

[woofmama]

Okay too late to edit my comment- It should read hob-nobbin not nob-nobbin. I only nob-nob with my husband

Back to lurking now

 

[VRBeauty]

I am rich beyond measure.

 

[rainwood]

Am I rich?

Yes, I am rich. I am filthy, stinking rich. So rich that I could have that diamond-encrusted Mercedes posted here, so rich that I throw my trash in a 24k garbage pail, so rich that one of my assistants types all my Pricescope posts as I dictate from my sable-covered chaise lounge while another assistant drops peeled grapes lightly dusted with platinum into my mouth when I pause to gather my thoughts. Oh, wait. I think I hear the dryer going off. I need to go fold towels.

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

Am I rich?

Yes, I am rich. I am filthy, stinking rich. So rich that I could have that diamond-encrusted Mercedes posted here, so rich that I throw my trash in a 24k garbage pail, so rich that one of my assistants types all my Pricescope posts as I dictate from my sable-covered chaise lounge while another assistant drops peeled grapes lightly dusted with platinum into my mouth when I pause to gather my thoughts. Oh, wait. I think I hear the dryer going off. I need to go fold towels.

Hahaha! I thought I would catch up on one more thread before I went to sleep and I'm glad it was this one! Cracked me up!

 

[chrono]

I don't know about the platinum dusted grapes - might give me a bit of indigestion.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

A basic rule I once heard for determining if you are rich is: If you can comfortably live off the income of your income, you are rich. If you have to work for your living, you are not rich.

 

[Cluless]

Am I rich?

Yes, I am rich. I am filthy, stinking rich. So rich that I could have that diamond-encrusted Mercedes posted here, so rich that I throw my trash in a 24k garbage pail, so rich that one of my assistants types all my Pricescope posts as I dictate from my sable-covered chaise lounge while another assistant drops peeled grapes lightly dusted with platinum into my mouth when I pause to gather my thoughts. Oh, wait. I think I hear the dryer going off. I need to go fold towels.

Oh rainwood you have my holding my belly and wiping tears from my eyes! Thank you I needed a good laugh this morning.

Madame Bijoux what can I say you're a very wise woman.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Last time this topic came up, someone mentioned that a family of 4 needs $500k to live "comfortably" in Perth. My reaction ~~>

I'm sure you recalled this accurately ForteKitty but really?? You need $500k (I assume that's Aussie dollars)

That's £322,000. I assure you that even in rip off Britain that's a very very high income. Not a comfortable income, but a most luxurious one. Top 1% for sure in the UK.

Is that before or after tax?

And you can't be comfortable in Australia for less than that? Well, I guess cost of living has gone up 10000% since i lived there 15 years ago. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to go back!

Pretty sure the poster said $500k... more than once. I remember asking an Aussie friend if that is true and she was terribly offended.

eta: this was on PS, btw, I'm sure I'm not the only one who saw that post?

I recall that comment, FK, but do not remember who posted it.

eta - [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/iyo-what-amount-of-a-high-paying-job.178613/page-2']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/iyo-what-amount-of-a-high-paying-job.178613/page-2[/URL]

 

[perry]

I doubt it. What is the definition of being rich? Truly.

Napoleon Hill probably best described what a rich person was in his classic list of "The 12 Riches of Life" (from: The Master-Key to Riches)

A Positive Mental Attitude
Sound Physical Health
Harmony in Human Relations
Freedom from Fear
The Hope of Achievement
The Capacity for Faith
Willingness to Share one's own Blessings
Having a Labor of Love
An Open Mind on All Subjects
Self Discipline
The Capacity to Understand People
Economic Security

I'm working on achieving getting better at all of those; and I do know a few people who have achieved all of those and are indeed rich.

Concerning the money side of things (part of economic security). Lets see: I don't have cable TV, I don't have a boat, snowmobile, or other Recreational Vehicle. The previous list of things are in fact quite common in my area. I am still paying on a car, and have a mortgage with about 80% of the value of the house outstanding. The rings I purchased this year for Princess Zhanna and I cost 2 years of savings. So, I think this for most people (and most bling on this site) that it really reflects personal choices on where people spend the money they do have.

Have a great day,

Perry

 

[jstarfireb]

I guess it depends on how you define "rich." I don't consider myself rich by any stretch, but I'm also not living paycheck to paycheck and I've built a small amount of retirement savings. I save a lot on housing costs by living in a shoebox-sized apartment.

 

[madelise]

Last time this topic came up, someone mentioned that a family of 4 needs $500k to live "comfortably" in Perth. My reaction ~~>

I'm sure you recalled this accurately ForteKitty but really?? You need $500k (I assume that's Aussie dollars)

That's £322,000. I assure you that even in rip off Britain that's a very very high income. Not a comfortable income, but a most luxurious one. Top 1% for sure in the UK.

Is that before or after tax?

And you can't be comfortable in Australia for less than that? Well, I guess cost of living has gone up 10000% since i lived there 15 years ago. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to go back!

Pretty sure the poster said $500k... more than once. I remember asking an Aussie friend if that is true and she was terribly offended.

eta: this was on PS, btw, I'm sure I'm not the only one who saw that post?

I recall that comment, FK, but do not remember who posted it.

eta - [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/iyo-what-amount-of-a-high-paying-job.178613/page-2']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/iyo-what-amount-of-a-high-paying-job.178613/page-2[/URL]

Wow, really? I feel that's excessive, no? I'd rather MOVE than live in an area where a comfortable living is 5x everyone else's "rich". Competing with the Joneses that much can rather be psychologically harmful, me thinks. I even feel SoCA is getting pretty excessive. I want out!