| How much is enough? (annual income) - Click HERE for Original Thread |
| Perilous_Enterprises |
I just recently signed on to a new job. During the interveiw one of the managers said to me that they want all their new associates to make at least 50k their first year. Now I'm all for making 50k+ but it makes me wonder... I don't really NEED that much money to live, and this job leaves the door open to make upwards of 250k per year.
We all know that money can make monsters of good people, so I put out the question to all of you, how much money is enough for you?
Does life really begin at 50k per year?? |
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| seevik |
| it's never enough. the more you earn, the more you spend, getting used to spending more as well. |
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| JoshP2002 |
I agree.. the more money you make, the more you spend - the less, the more you manage.
I think 50k is a good starting point though. |
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| Blaze |
I think in this economy, and with the inflated cost of living, $100k is the new $50k.
Now the trick, as seevik alluded to, is keeping a good portion of it rather than increasing your spending right along side your earnings.
Worse yet, a lot of people that make this kind of money (the kind that almost anyone would refer to as "well off") spend it even faster than it comes in. One of the best examples of this is in the movie Boiler Room. If you've seen it, you know.
"Anybody who tells you money is the root of all evil doesn't fucking have any." |
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| Graphicdude |
| 50K is good to start but it doesn't help if your trying to buy your own home. Unless you have 50% down for a mortgage. But if you have 2 incomes coming in, good start for sure |
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| euro777 |
quote:
Originally posted by Perilous_Enterprises
Does life really begin at 50k per year??
i think so in our economy
that income puts you in line to be able to afford a starter place and probably live decently, if you have two incomes (double income no kids) and both make 50 g's you can do very well with that these days, but only 1 person covering expenses there is prob not much left. Toss in some student loans and if you like having a nice car that 50 g's is still putting you paycheck to paycheck. |
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| Perilous_Enterprises |
So for a single man paying rent with no debt and no kids, I should be able to make it without worry.
I agree, the more money made equals more money spent. Been there done that, and now that money's gone!
So maybe blaze is right, 100k is the new benchmark for easy living. 50 to cover the basics, 50 to fall back on.... Factor in a family and all of a sudden the 100k barely cuts it. Like, doesn't it cost 25k per child per year? |
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| STiPWR |
25k per child? WTF.
I personally think that a household income of 80-100k is livable. You still need to budget, but you arnt scrounging up change digging in your couch cushions for gas money.
But to really LIVE comfortably... Like not having to have a strict budget and being able to buy what you want... Its hard to say. Depends on your lifestyle I guess.
My personal goal is to make over 6 digits a year on my own. I dont think thats too much to ask for, and its fairly achievable if I apply myself in the industry I am in.
Household income.. around 180-200k.
I'm not getting into kids, cause i have no idea what they cost. |
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| Perilous_Enterprises |
quote:
Originally posted by STiPWR
25k per child? WTF.
Just a number.. I don't what it cost to keep a child well fed, educated, and clothed. I figured 25k would be a fair approximation... |
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| AudiInProgress |
$50K is about right I think...
And fuck paying for kids. Kids can provide for themselves.
:lol: :lol: :lol: |
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| CKXtreme |
I think 50's okay. Its kinda scraping it if you want a mortgage in Alberta, but as a general rule, its all in how you live.
You could make 50k, drive an older econocar or something (word being: paid off) and probably do well either renting a place, or investing in a starter condo, or conversion. You'd probably have some change left over at the end of the year for a savings account and maybe a reasonable holiday.
Or you could make double that, blast it all on a mortgage and a car payment, and then spend the next 5 years figuring out how the hell to get out of it all. And to those who say "a house is an investment" - you still have to make the monthly payments, and put food on the table!
My personal advice: If you can (cause 20k jobs dont really allow for this) live 20k below your means. If you make 50-60, live like youre getting 30-40. Even 10k below would be a good start. You'll appreciate the results of this advice inside 1 year. |
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| anschutz_93 |
How much you need really depends on how you live. I work with people who manage just fine on 40-50k/yr. That being said they do not drive nice cars, those who own houses bought long before this boom and are still paying mortgage. It is not a lifestyle that I would choose to live but it works great for them. They don't go home stressing over work, but they are doing really physical work that can be hard at times.
You also have to look at how you are making your money when deciding if you are making enough (in exchange for your time). I'm a student and I've worked 14hr days over summer to support myself over school. I have went many weeks with literally no contact with friends outside of work because I was working 6days/week. Its not worth it, and yet so many people do live this way. Once I complete university, you can fuck overtime. I wont be working for less than $40/hr right out of school, I wont get my hands dirty fixing someone else's broken piece of shit and I wont work in some over the top cock shop hillbilly town like Fort McMurray. Its worth a lot more than the dollars and cents to be able to just work the normal 9-5; people especially in Alberta are too caught up with getting money while they can to realize what they are throwing away. |
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| Twigs_Dee |
Just remember. Can`t get rich from 24G`s a year!!! But more money, mo`problems and mo`spending! Read up on financial books from like Blaine Harris & Charles Coonradt with Lee Nelson ``The Four Laws of Debt Free Prosperty`` (very good book) to educate yourself.
Ask yourself this. Do you want to work until you`re 65? Or be able to retire at a younger age like 50 or earlier? Would you like to be able to kick your feet up durning retirement and decide to goto Greece or something for two weeks out of the blue and not worry as much about the $$?
Thats really what it comes down to boys and girls. How you want your life, and your retirement! |
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| Geofux |
| By the end of this year I'll have made probably around or over $12k (just for this year). With that, if I managed it properly could be used very wisely. Unfortunately, and honestly, I'm not that great at managing my money. :( |
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| Kiddo |
i truely believe you need atleast 150k/year to be financially stable. Most canadians save 2% or LESS of what they make every year when this should really be closer to 10-20% saved into investments OTHER then RRSPs. If you plan on living till retirement and not developing stress issues and chronic conditions related to stress you will always be looking for higher pay.
I'm not saying people can't make it at 50k a year but I can tell you this, if you are retiring with less than 40,000 in your bank account you are going to be working in your retirement. RRSPs don't count on them, you will still get taxed on 100% of the value that you withdraw, little do they know they get slapped with a tax bill at the end of the year... and on top of that CPP will be reduced if you take out RRSPs that year.
For most of us millenials we won't even see a cheque from CPP cause the retiring baby boomers will deplete the fund. And really depending on your pension plan from work... mmm IF I stayed at my crappy job with westfair as the grocery supervisor I would end up with 35000 in pensions. Thats a measly amount and its payed out in RSPs so once again taxable. People don't realize how important it is to save money until its too frickin late.
thats my two cents anyways 50k life does start but if it ends at 50k don't expect a good retirement if you only have 10 years to save.
in my retirement if I want to go blow 15000 on a trip to cuba then I will. If i want to go out and spend 150k on a new car then I will. Because I will be truely financially free and thats the difference. People can make 50k a year and live a similar lifestyle as that only thing is they have to have 30 years to work with or MORE. but if you make more money you can retire at the age of 50 with the same financial freedom. Money shouldn't be an issue when you retire, if it is, then you should of saved alot more and had gone to an advisor. STOP taking advice from people that you work with, people that you hang out with and people that you sleep with. Even stop taking it from your parents. The only advice you should be taking is from a person thats worth a million bucks or on their way to being worth a million bucks. Because they know what works. I would say advisor too, but a fair amount of them don't give a rats you know what unless you have 100k or more to invest. |
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| dc2696 |
50k is a great starting point but I wouldn't want to be there for very long. The way I see it is last year I made 65k but was only making $16/hr for almost half the year! This year I expect to make 80k and with the wife making 20-30k and having a mortgage and a passion for cars I think we will be just fine.
Just remember however much you make be sure to live wthin your means. |
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| 4thGenLude |
| I remember reading somewhere it is on average $250,000 per child to raise until 18 years of age. |
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| Turb0.ed.v6 |
quote:
Originally posted by Twigs_Dee
Just remember. Can`t get rich from 24G`s a year!!! But more money, mo`problems and mo`spending! Read up on financial books from like Blaine Harris & Charles Coonradt with Lee Nelson ``The Four Laws of Debt Free Prosperty`` (very good book) to educate yourself.
Ask yourself this. Do you want to work until you`re 65? Or be able to retire at a younger age like 50 or earlier? Would you like to be able to kick your feet up durning retirement and decide to goto Greece or something for two weeks out of the blue and not worry as much about the $$?
Thats really what it comes down to boys and girls. How you want your life, and your retirement!
My father gave retirement a try at the age of 60, he had the money to retire.. but after 2 months of retirement he went straight back to work. His reason? BOREDOM. |
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| Blaze |
quote:
Originally posted by Turb0.ed.v6
My father gave retirement a try at the age of 60, he had the money to retire.. but after 2 months of retirement he went straight back to work. His reason? BOREDOM.
That's because this whole notion of sitting around doing nothing in retirement is about the worst logic ever. You should keep busy doing something during retirement. It's a time to focus on the things you're passionate about, but you need to maintain some sort of purpose. Build a business, volunteer, raise your grand kids, whatever.
You see it too often... people retire with nothing to do, no purpose, and die shortly afterwards. IMO this is because their life no longer has any purpose. |
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| GQsmooth |
| I think if you and your spouse both make upwards of 60K each/yr...That's quite livable. |
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| TrevorK |
quote:
Originally posted by Kiddo
and on top of that CPP will be reduced if you take out RRSPs that year.
I'm not quite sure what you do for a living, but I sure as hell hope it has nothing to do with giving financial advice to people.
CPP is a pension plan, and like all other pension plans it does not go down based on what other income you earn.
CPP is determined by the amount you put in, years working, etc, etc.... It will not go down if you earn other income besides it. Even the extremely wealthy still qualify for it.
quote:
For most of us millenials we won't even see a cheque from CPP cause the retiring baby boomers will deplete the fund.
Another point where you really need to do your research. The administrators of CPP have foreseen the baby-boomers and in the late (It may have been mid-late) 90's adjusted the rates to compensate for this planned event.
Determining what the draw on the CPP system is can be relatively simple for the government; they know who contributes and when they can start withdrawing. It's really not rocket science.
The administrators of the plan review the sustainability of the plan periodically and they are now projecting there won't be a problem with it lasting well past the baby boomers.
There are other social safety nets that are dependent on your income level (The popular ones being GIS/OAS), however those are in no way related to CPP. You have paid into CPP, you will get it.
I'm not sure why people don't understand this, the government gladly posts the financials related to the CPP plan on the internet for everyone to browse. |
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| MAPEX |
quote:
Originally posted by Perilous_Enterprises
I just recently signed on to a new job. During the interveiw one of the managers said to me that they want all their new associates to make at least 50k their first year. Now I'm all for making 50k+ but it makes me wonder... I don't really NEED that much money to live, and this job leaves the door open to make upwards of 250k per year.
We all know that money can make monsters of good people, so I put out the question to all of you, how much money is enough for you?
Does life really begin at 50k per year??
some people who makes 50k per year dont have saving, but those people who work as cleaner they're lots of saving.. |
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| Twigs_Dee |
quote:
Originally posted by Turb0.ed.v6
My father gave retirement a try at the age of 60, he had the money to retire.. but after 2 months of retirement he went straight back to work. His reason? BOREDOM.
Yeah thats one part I forget to think of for most people.... Like me, Over 18 months on WCB. You LEARN not to be bored and take up new things.... A Pre-Retirement crash course I'm calling this!! :lol: :thumbup:
When I was in trades, I knew some old farts (70-80) refusing to retire. Scared they would die like their friends did couple years after retirement. Heart attacks, or asbestos finally won the battle. But everyone is different on why they don't go out fishing and wood working in the garage! :thumbup: |
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| Turb0.ed.v6 |
quote:
Originally posted by Blaze
That's because this whole notion of sitting around doing nothing in retirement is about the worst logic ever. You should keep busy doing something during retirement. It's a time to focus on the things you're passionate about, but you need to maintain some sort of purpose. Build a business, volunteer, raise your grand kids, whatever.
You see it too often... people retire with nothing to do, no purpose, and die shortly afterwards. IMO this is because their life no longer has any purpose.
I guess Twig_Dee has a good point that everyone is different. In my dad's case there isnt many things he is passionate about. Although a great man with a great heart, he never had any passion or hobbies for anything. :dunno: |
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| UR2SLO |
I will tell you that my wife and I make $100000+ per year. We have 2 small kids. The day home alone is going to cost me $1100 per month for both of them. Thats $13200 just for child care. Now factor in diapers, food, insurance, utilities, gas and other odd expenses and you run out of money. Remember we are almost giving 40% of our income to the fucken government so your $50000 after taxes is around $32000 take home. And thats fuck all at the end of the day in todays times. Just when you wage goes up so does utilities, food, gas etc so your always behind the 8 ball unless of course you are a CEO and get real pay increases.
R.K. |
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| stealth |
| Life starts at 500k. |
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| arabian_ryda |
quote:
Originally posted by stealth
i come out of the closet at 500k.
fixed!!!:lol: |
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| stealth |
quote:
Originally posted by arabian_ryda
fixed!!!:lol:
LOL.:asshole:
As far as how much money is enough, it depends on how your lifestyle is.
I think 50k is good for most people per person. |
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| arabian_ryda |
quote:
Originally posted by stealth
As far as how much money is enough, it depends on how your lifestyle is.
I think 50k is good for most people per person.
agreed!!! u can have a new car a house and a small family of 50k per parent. |
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| bboybean |
quote:
Originally posted by arabian_ryda
agreed!!! u can have a new car a house and a small family of 50k per parent.
WERD, that where me and the wife sit right now. Alot of our money right now (and for the next 20+yrs) is pretty tied up in investments but we do alright. What saves us is that we live with her parents so although we have our boy in part time daycare (300$/mth) we dont have to put him in fulltime.
Im confident our retirement is set (barring a megahuge disaster) and were not counting on CPP at all. Iv said it before it kinda sucks not having alot of free cash right now but It will be well worth it when were 40 . |
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| the_fornicator |
For the average graduate within 3-5 years, I don't know they survive if they make anything less than 60K. With student loans (assume $400 a month), car payments (assume $400/month), insurance ($100 a month), rent/mortgage ($1200/month) and gas ($250 a month), you're looking at expenses costing roughly $28.4K a year. If you want to save, an average amount to put away a month is about $600/month so you'd have to net at least 35.4K a year.
In order to net that, you have to make around $45'ishK / year.
If you're making $50K, do the math on how much livable income you have to spend for the rest of the year. $5000 gross or $3000 net. Nobody can live on $3000 a year for misc costs (food, clothing, bills).
I'm close to making 6 digits a year and I still find myself pinching pennies every so often. 100K is a must these days to live comfortably. |
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| EK9Hatch |
To me, 10.5 - 14.5 Million is pretty decent income annually.
Jamie |
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| joshturbo |
| it seems like i make alot of money till i find out someone i know is getting more , and more and more money then me, if everything is payed for then 50 to 80 would be a great living, but if nothing is payed for then it seems like you are getting no where in life. |
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| JordanJ30A5 |
| I make $52k per year and I feel poor. The rents and mortgages in Edmonton are over 1/3 of my take home pay. I just can't really afford much with that. |
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| 30psi_on4banger |
I guess I'm on the other end of the spectrum, I have NO problems living on 50k a year, I save 10 grand a year right into my savings account. This year my salary is going up 25k and I plan on just saving it:confused:
Well I do drive a Geo Metro beater;) All paid for:P |
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| REFLUX |
Like many ppl already stated, it depends on one's expenses and spending habits.
What is a need vs. what is a want. |
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| Beerking |
My buddy made $75k last year, he lives with his parents and is in debt and cannot afford his own place.
Its all about money management. |
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| Inzane |
| Money is like sex, horsepower and harddrive space. There's no such thing as ENOUGH. |
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| SilverE90 |
lol Very true. If you would have told me 10 years ago how much money I would be making today I would think I was going to be rich. Yet I feel far from it. But like it has been mentioned several times in this thread it depends on what you need/want as to how much is enough.
And a quick comment on the raising kids thing. That 25k a year is way out to lunch. lol If that was the case my 2 children would cost me 50k after tax a year and I would be really poor!
I figure it to be about $300 a month per child for the basics (food/clothing/basic toys). I also put $100/month into a RESP for each child so that makes it about $400/month or about 5k a year per child. This assumes a stay at home parent though as day care gets pricey if you don't qualify for subsidy which pretty much no dual income family in AB should qualify for at todays income levels. |
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| AudiInProgress |
quote:
Originally posted by Inzane
Money is like sex, horsepower and harddrive space. There's no such thing as ENOUGH.
No true'r words have even been spoken. |
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| anschutz_93 |
quote:
quote:
Originally posted by Inzane
Money is like sex, horsepower and harddrive space. There's no such thing as ENOUGH.
No true'r words have even been spoken.
then what do I do with this? My math teacher told me it was true as fuck!
x=y x=1 ---> y=1
You have had enough sex when your dick falls off (I dont know why it just does)...
You have enough horsepower when you can't drive your car without breaking something...
You have enough harddrive space when you have downloaded so much porn that you actually don't have enough time left in your life to possibly watch it all...
There defiantly does come a point where more money will not make you any happier. Obviously this will be different for every person but a complete individual doesn't need infinite resources to be happy. There is a great quote by some actor (im never been good with quotes) but it goes along the lines of "All I ever wanted was an honest day's pay for an honest days work"
I'm still young and I haven't even started university but already I know that I will be able to live the lifestyle I want if I keep doing what I'm doing. I don't have any desire to be a millionaire, all I want is a nice car, a nicer family and a home to be proud of. The career path I am choosing to follow will provide me with all of that. Sure I will never be able to afford the million dollar house or buy the newest Ferrari but I will be able to live my life and never have to worry about money. I would rather be able to live a quiet life and be content than go out and make as much money as possible all the while trying to outdo the Johnsons... Are all of you that vain? |
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| joshturbo |
| if i dont make 285000 this year , the banks going to come knockin, rock star lifestyle for me, you only live once right :) |
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