This. I make around $125k, and can acknowledge I’m an outlier. Admittedly, I work in the tech field and know plenty of folks probably making more. But it’s not “rich” money, it’s like…. 1990 middle class money, maybe.
I had a house built in 2021, 1050 sq/ft for a bit over $200k, and even that was only feasible because:
It’s in rural bumfuck
I can work remotely, so the move was possible.
It’s a small house, just me and my wife.
I keep costs low and still live like I make 60-70k.
If I still had to be tied to the city due to my career, I’m not sure I’d be able to afford it. The cheapest shithole of a place would cost more than twice what I paid for my house, and rent was the same and more. It’s utterly insane. Even moving to a more rural/ex-urban area, buying an old run down house that needed major work would have cost about the same as having my new home built and owning the land under it; it’s crazy.
I had to wait 11 months for the build to finish but it was worth it, got me out of this insane rat race. I don’t want to care about money, but that’s just life in a capitalist system.
The thing is, they didn’t say earn $130k, they said have $130k of wealth. If your retirement account is below that, you’re not retiring for a long while. With the exception of the few that have pensions.
I probably have that or a bit more if you account the house appreciation and my savings, but I’m not selling or moving, and with costs that’s nowhere close to what I’d need to retire.
Assuming my current living standard and estimating costs cautiously at 70k annual without accounting for inflation, I’d need around 2.4 million to retire today, and that’s assuming I only live into my 70s. No way that’s happening without a powerball ticket, but thankfully I’ve got more than a few years left in me before retirement age.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant by it’s both a lot and nowhere near enough. I also work in tech and I know I earn more than most, I own a duplex, I max my retirement accounts every year. I have well over the $130k, but I’m still 20 years away from having enough to retire. It’s crazy that we have to essentially be in the top 10% of earners in the country to feel like we can actually retire one day. The system is fundamentally broken.
Yep. I struggled for years doing desktop and helpdesk work for fairly low pay. When I finally caught a break and started making “decent” money (aka, around $65k) I was happy initially, but costs kept rising, and at the time I got upset because I realized I could buy toys and amenities, but still couldn’t afford stuff that mattered, like a house or saving for retirement. Financial stability was still an illusion.
Now I earn double that, and I’m careful with money, and it’s still going to take a large amount of care and planning to make retirement possible and pay off the house. Shit’s not easy, and I particularly sympathize with people starting out today, it seems like entering any field but particularly IT now is harder than it’s ever been.
And that’s without the fuckhead in chief constantly sowing economic chaos like he’s speed running American collapse any %. It’s probably only going to get harder from here.
Yeah, I see the same things. Even though I’m making that money, I think I end up saving something like 30% or more of it. After all that saving and my mortgage, I do have enough for toys, but I still keep those even modest. I have a small truck the Hyundai Santa Cruz, a 1965 15’ boat, and a small motorcycle. I realize I have more than most and I’m more comfortable than most, but I feel like I’m at the level everyone should be at. What I mean by that is everyone should be able to afford a comfortable life and modest toys. It shouldn’t be only the high earners. I wish everyone could have this lifestyle. And they probably could if it wasn’t for the greed of the ultra-wealthy.
It seems like entering any field but particularly IT now is harder than it’s ever been.
It’s certainly not the golden ticket it once was. It still has high potential, but it’s just harder to get now. Even for us that are in it already, there aren’t as many opportunities to jump over to a higher paying company because your raises didn’t keep up with your growth like there used to be.
This. I make around $125k, and can acknowledge I’m an outlier. Admittedly, I work in the tech field and know plenty of folks probably making more. But it’s not “rich” money, it’s like…. 1990 middle class money, maybe.
I had a house built in 2021, 1050 sq/ft for a bit over $200k, and even that was only feasible because:
If I still had to be tied to the city due to my career, I’m not sure I’d be able to afford it. The cheapest shithole of a place would cost more than twice what I paid for my house, and rent was the same and more. It’s utterly insane. Even moving to a more rural/ex-urban area, buying an old run down house that needed major work would have cost about the same as having my new home built and owning the land under it; it’s crazy.
I had to wait 11 months for the build to finish but it was worth it, got me out of this insane rat race. I don’t want to care about money, but that’s just life in a capitalist system.
The thing is, they didn’t say earn $130k, they said have $130k of wealth. If your retirement account is below that, you’re not retiring for a long while. With the exception of the few that have pensions.
I probably have that or a bit more if you account the house appreciation and my savings, but I’m not selling or moving, and with costs that’s nowhere close to what I’d need to retire.
Assuming my current living standard and estimating costs cautiously at 70k annual without accounting for inflation, I’d need around 2.4 million to retire today, and that’s assuming I only live into my 70s. No way that’s happening without a powerball ticket, but thankfully I’ve got more than a few years left in me before retirement age.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant by it’s both a lot and nowhere near enough. I also work in tech and I know I earn more than most, I own a duplex, I max my retirement accounts every year. I have well over the $130k, but I’m still 20 years away from having enough to retire. It’s crazy that we have to essentially be in the top 10% of earners in the country to feel like we can actually retire one day. The system is fundamentally broken.
Yep. I struggled for years doing desktop and helpdesk work for fairly low pay. When I finally caught a break and started making “decent” money (aka, around $65k) I was happy initially, but costs kept rising, and at the time I got upset because I realized I could buy toys and amenities, but still couldn’t afford stuff that mattered, like a house or saving for retirement. Financial stability was still an illusion.
Now I earn double that, and I’m careful with money, and it’s still going to take a large amount of care and planning to make retirement possible and pay off the house. Shit’s not easy, and I particularly sympathize with people starting out today, it seems like entering any field but particularly IT now is harder than it’s ever been.
And that’s without the fuckhead in chief constantly sowing economic chaos like he’s speed running American collapse any %. It’s probably only going to get harder from here.
Yeah, I see the same things. Even though I’m making that money, I think I end up saving something like 30% or more of it. After all that saving and my mortgage, I do have enough for toys, but I still keep those even modest. I have a small truck the Hyundai Santa Cruz, a 1965 15’ boat, and a small motorcycle. I realize I have more than most and I’m more comfortable than most, but I feel like I’m at the level everyone should be at. What I mean by that is everyone should be able to afford a comfortable life and modest toys. It shouldn’t be only the high earners. I wish everyone could have this lifestyle. And they probably could if it wasn’t for the greed of the ultra-wealthy.
It’s certainly not the golden ticket it once was. It still has high potential, but it’s just harder to get now. Even for us that are in it already, there aren’t as many opportunities to jump over to a higher paying company because your raises didn’t keep up with your growth like there used to be.