How much do you earn each year?

[pray4mojo]

Originally Posted by Notorious

You don't look like you're starving.

Thanks to Obama! (I'm kidding don't bring politics into this thread and get it locked)

[SwingLo]

Originally Posted by tweaker_os

I voted,
The way I see it, if you do ALL your own work on your own car then you can afford more of a car. If you can not do ALL your own work on your own car then you are going to need to make more than the others that can for the same car.
Also if you are married you will need to double that income (yours not her's), purchasing parts can only be done after she's tired of buying shoe's. like that could or would ever happen!
The attitude drive it like you stole it is wrong! It is actually drive it like you can fix it yourself, and if it blow's that's the excuse for building a more powerful motor!
Sometime it's hard to justify pulling a perfectly good engine apart!
I have a high school education, no bills and do not make purchases with out the cash on hand, but the cash back bonus from discover is nice.

While I agree, the whole 'work on your own car' thing is just not realistic for everyone.

I travel a lot during the week, then when I'm home, I have 3 kids. Kids have activities.

Telling my wife, who is stressed and has been flying solo all week, that I'm gonna go d*Ck around in the garage for 3 hours on a Saturday is a no go.

So, as much as I'd love to, I simply can't.

[Notorious]

Another thing about the salary/income ranges... the lower tiers are separated finely into +25k chunks, and then you jump a hundred k then two hundred k... need to separate out those more because it is a big difference to climb up over a hundy and claw into the two hundred range... a bit at a time.

[Mr.C]

The currency I'm paid in is not listed

[Notorious]

Krugerands?

[Bane]

Originally Posted by SwingLo

I think there also exists another set of dynamics that others have alluded to. It has everything to do with 'life situation'.

For example, I have 3 kids. If I was single and making my income, I'd be rocking a 458 with my bad self, but kids are INSANELY expensive and they change your income/debt/savings situation drastically.

You can take two people who live next door. Let's say they both paid $750K for their houses:

- One makes $200K plus consistently and rolled a nice chunk of equity from a prior home. His mortgage payment is $3,400. He drives a nice Denali, but it's a 2006. He makes smart decisions.

- The other makes $95K a year. His income is volatile. He bought the house on a 7 year arm and the devil is coming due. He leases a 2011 Denali for $834 a month. His mortgage is interest only now, but will be huge when his arm is up. He has multiple maxed out credit cards.

The point? On paper, they both live 'similar' lifestyles, yet much different financial snapshots.

I think this forum is comparable. I'm sure there are people who own '05 Elises that 'can' afford significantly more expensive 'toys' yet choose not to from a financial smarts standpoint and there are others who own '05 Elises who can barely make the payments and/or have every nickel tied up in their car.

Yep. Our friends live up the street from us and combined they probably make what I do by myself ($100k/year). They have a Ferrari, a Z06, new Fiat Abarth, a boat, 2 jetskis, 2 dirt bikes, 2 quads, an R1, a Ducati 1098, and several other cars. Their mortgage is almost 2x what ours is yet they somehow still keep it together. The husband absolutely refuses to have kids because he knows how expensive they are. This is causing much angst with the wife which is kind of sad...

Pick and choose what you want to spend your resources on.

[RENDERMAN]

I suck at math but but my numbers tell me there are 94 people on here who make more than $100K a year, so under the new tax code and in order to narrow the gap between the rich and poor each one of you has to dish out $744.68 so i can finally purchase an Evora and thus fulfill Obama's promise. You can may send payment to my PayPal account =RENDERMAN4OBAMA@lotustalk.com and we thank you for your support!!

[GuppyCaptain]

Originally Posted by RENDERMAN

I suck at math but but my numbers tell me there are 94 people on here who make more than $100K a year, so under the new tax code and in order to narrow the gap between the rich and poor each one of you has to dish out $744.68 so i can finally purchase an Evora and thus fulfill Obama's promise. You can may send payment to my PayPal account =RENDERMAN4OBAMA@lotustalk.com and we thank you for your support!!

Don't phucking remind me about the socialism that cometh. I'll gladly give you $744.68 for your new Evora, but I will NOT happily subsidize socialism. Btw, check your PayPal account

[Notorious]

Originally Posted by Bane

Yep. Our friends live up the street from us and combined they probably make what I do by myself ($100k/year). They have a Ferrari, a Z06, new Fiat Abarth, a boat, 2 jetskis, 2 dirt bikes, 2 quads, an R1, a Ducati 1098, and several other cars. Their mortgage is almost 2x what ours is yet they somehow still keep it together. The husband absolutely refuses to have kids because he knows how expensive they are. This is causing much angst with the wife which is kind of sad...

Pick and choose what you want to spend your resources on.

You're my neighbor?

Originally Posted by RENDERMAN

I suck at math but but my numbers tell me there are 94 people on here who make more than $100K a year, so under the new tax code and in order to narrow the gap between the rich and poor each one of you has to dish out $744.68 so i can finally purchase an Evora and thus fulfill Obama's promise. You can may send payment to my PayPal account =RENDERMAN4OBAMA@lotustalk.com and we thank you for your support!!

Don't forget where some of us live... with the cost of living in L.A., I am making the equivalent of about half of what you make, so you have to give me exactly $23,750.46 to make it fair... and also buy me a nice spec Miata for next season.

[SwingLo]

Originally Posted by Bane

Yep. Our friends live up the street from us and combined they probably make what I do by myself ($100k/year). They have a Ferrari, a Z06, new Fiat Abarth, a boat, 2 jetskis, 2 dirt bikes, 2 quads, an R1, a Ducati 1098, and several other cars. Their mortgage is almost 2x what ours is yet they somehow still keep it together. The husband absolutely refuses to have kids because he knows how expensive they are. This is causing much angst with the wife which is kind of sad...

Pick and choose what you want to spend your resources on.

This doesn't really add up for me. A combined household income of $100K - how are they getting financing for this stuff? There's no way they are paying cash. When you say 'Ferrari' - well, it could be a used 308 for $28K or a new 458 for $275K, so big difference.

That being said, I'm doubting they are 'keeping it together'. More than likely their debt to income ration is horrific and they have multiple credit cards with high balances that they are paying the monthly minimum on.

That's the beauty of what I do. Being in enterprise software sales, I do very very well. What's also nice is that there's no top end to what I can do. The more I sell, the more I make. Now, there's the pressure of inconsistency and a lack of security, but the payoff is there. For example, one big deal that pops up and closes in 3 months can me a huge inflow of cash. That can mean buying a sports car (like I did), or a second home, or to investment strategy or to kid's college funds, mortgage paydown, whatever.

I marvel at the people who make X salary, but then get on a special project and they are working 14 hour days. My best friend is in IT and that's his life. Doing a big SAP implementation and he's working insane hours. Working through this weekend (and many weekends) and probably lots of holidays and very late hours. Sure, he might get a Scooby Snack, but he'll make the same salary as if he worked 9-5. That's why I love the variable compensation aspect of my profession. The beauty is that my base salary alone is high enough before I sell dollar one.

[SwingLo]

Another thing I notice is that there are a few people who make between 0-$25K who own Eliges.

Sorry, but that's insane. Assume the car was $25-30K. Buying a car that is effectively MORE than your annual salary is just silly. It's hard to pay ANY bills at $20K a year, let alone for a car like this. Not to mention that people at that income level are most likely very young and are carrying VERY high insurance premiums - so a good chunk of that $20K is going to just insurance.

There's a time and place for everything. If you are making $20K a year, then owning an Elige is just silly.

[good2go]

The question is not really how much do you earn a year but how much do you actually bring home a year? There's a great disparity, especially for me. After tax, medical/dental, life insurance, retirement, deferred comp., union dues, and other deductions, my net income is barely half of my gross income. We live on net, not gross. Funny how the banks qualify people based on gross, not net. All of these even before the monthly living expenses are considered. So, $100K+ is not what it seems. However, I feel extremely humbled and fortunate considering a lot of folks out there have to do more wih much less. It's all relative.

[Drew09]

Originally Posted by GuppyCaptain

Don't phucking remind me about the socialism that cometh. I'll gladly give you $744.68 for your new Evora, but I will NOT happily subsidize socialism. Btw, check your PayPal account

add me in on that funding!

[Bane]

Originally Posted by SwingLo

This doesn't really add up for me. A combined household income of $100K - how are they getting financing for this stuff? There's no way they are paying cash. When you say 'Ferrari' - well, it could be a used 308 for $28K or a new 458 for $275K, so big difference...

Well they did receive a huge insurance settlement from something that happened in the past... but I know for a fact they have loans out on at least four of the vehicles. I would consider the bank they are going to to be predatory lenders.

Doing the math... $100k income = $5k/month max (with no retirement)

House = $1800, F-car (355 for $46k) = $800, Vette = $600, Truck = $400, Abarth = $300, Total = $3900. They still have $1100/month to buy another car!

The weird thing is that the wife has a smug attitude toward their toys. She'll say stuff like: "Mine, not yours " regarding the 355. My heart sinks every time I look at their massive fleet of cars. I see worry, debt, and a degraded way of life in the future, not happiness.

[GuppyCaptain]

Originally Posted by good2go

The question is not really how much do you earn a year but how much do you actually bring home a year? There's a great disparity, especially for me. After tax, medical/dental, life insurance, retirement, deferred comp., union dues, and other deductions, my net income is barely half of my gross income. We live on net, not gross. Funny how the banks qualify people based on gross, not net. All of these even before the monthly living expenses are considered. So, $100K+ is not what it seems. However, I feel extremely humbled and fortunate considering a lot of folks out there have to do more wih much less. It's all relative.

Yup. Between insurance, 401K contribution (which I max at the yearly allowance), mutual aid, TAXES, and such, I think I net about 56% of my gross.

[Notorious]

Originally Posted by Bane

Well they did receive a huge insurance settlement from something that happened in the past... but I know for a fact they have loans out on at least four of the vehicles. I would consider the bank they are going to to be predatory lenders.

Doing the math... $100k income = $5k/month max (with no retirement)

House = $1800, F-car (355 for $46k) = $800, Vette = $600, Truck = $400, Abarth = $300, Total = $3900. They still have $1100/month to buy another car!

The weird thing is that the wife has a smug attitude toward their toys. She'll say stuff like: "Mine, not yours " regarding the 355. My heart sinks every time I look at their massive fleet of cars. I see worry, debt, and a degraded way of life in the future, not happiness.

The insurance, cell phone bill, cable, groceries, and other small stuff will eat up the rest of their monthly income in no time. Amazing how the small stuff will add up to take a huge chunk out of your income every month.

At least I don't have a coffee habit... but I guess my cigarettes do cost me about $400/year but that is really nothing in the scheme of things when one little stupid part on the car will be $600 before shipping and tax.

As for the bank being predatory... nah... they aren't predatory, nobody put a gun to your neighbor's head to sign on the line for all the toys. He's a big boy, he can take responsibility for his own choices.

[Notorious]

Originally Posted by GuppyCaptain

Yup. Between insurance, 401K contribution (which I max at the yearly allowance), mutual aid, TAXES, and such, I think I net about 56% of my gross.

After all is said and done, I think I am netting around that too... closer to 65% after all the federal/state deductions, voluntary contributions, insurance deductions, retirement contributions (7%), etc., but I have a lot of stuff to deduct on my tax bill.

[GuppyCaptain]

Originally Posted by Notorious

After all is said and done, I think I am netting around that too... closer to 65% after all the federal/state deductions, voluntary contributions, insurance deductions, retirement contributions (7%), etc., but I have a lot of stuff to deduct on my tax bill.

Hey, look on the bright side........you're about to take home even less

[manshoon11]

Hibggg

[Notorious]

Originally Posted by GuppyCaptain

Hey, look on the bright side........you're about to take home even less

I did the math, yes, I know I will be spreading a lot of my wealth... even though I am a solid middle class citizen, but hey, I must be evil because I make more than someone who doesn't work at all. Go figure.