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Living on $100k a Year

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Re: Living on $100k a Year

#131

Post by nunez »

scarface74 wrote: post #118
killercup wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that's something I always forget about when talking to people from the US: I don't have any student loans. A semester at a university in Germany costs around 250€ (plus housing and food), so it's hard to get to a point where you need 10 years to pack back loans. I had a part time job all through university and even saved up a reasonable amount of money.

There is really no reason for an American to have a unaffordable student loan. They could easily go to a state school instead of a private college and save thousands.

That’s not the full equation. There are a lot of jobs out there that you straight up cannot get out of college without going somewhere “prestigious.” That translates into YEARS worth of lost income and a completely different/lower earning career trajectory. Yes, some folks manage to get into FAANG out of state school, but that isn’t the norm. It’s damn near impossible to get into investment banking or management consulting straight out of college from a state school, for example.

I got into $200k worth of undergrad student loans. I am still paying them back and probably could have done things to reduce that burden early on. Regardless, I don’t regret it for a second because I’ll be done paying for them in about three years, and I’ll keep the high income job and great network I’ve accumulated in the process.

Re: Living on $100k a Year

#132

Post by harryh »

jorblumesea wrote: post #130
harryh wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're in the top 0.1%, the actual taxes you pay each year is a far lower percentage than the middle class would pay, due to this unequal system. This is false. Paid tax rates rise progressively with income in the US. https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-... The NYTimes article that you link to doesn't really discuss tax benefits that are valuable to the top 0.1% so much as those that are…

Paid tax rates rise, but the higher income classes don't make much of their money based on income tax. That's why it's unequal, their method of earning money is substantially different from the average person, and taxed differently.

This is also false. I don't know what evidence you think this is for this point of view but it just ain't so.

Re: Living on $100k a Year

#133

Post by Consultant32452 »

scarface74 wrote: post #123
Consultant32452 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. The immigration barrier is simply supply and demand. Just as the H1Bs have been used to keep the wages of the American middle class down, so has the open floodgates of illegal immigration kept the wages of poor Americans down. With regards to protectionism I don't know what more evidence you could need aside from the changes to the US economy brought on by NAFTA, which were all predicted. It's been fine for the…

There are only 85000 H1B Visas allowed each year. There are about 3.5 to 4 million developers in the US. If all of the H1B Visas allowed in the country were developers, it really couldn't depress wages that much. As far as reigning in illegal immigration, there have been reports all across the country that farmers are losing money because they can't find enough people at any price who are willing to do farm work sinc…

>There are only 85000 H1B Visas allowed each year.

85,000 NEW H1Bs are issued each year, they last 3 years and can be extended for another 3. So right off the bat that's as many as half a million. There is no issue limit on H1Bs for universities and non-profits. In 2012 alone, for example, the total number of H1Bs (normal + university/non-profit) issued was 135,530. It's safe to say there are far more than 85,000 H1Bs in the US.

>because they can't find enough people at any price who are willing to do farm work since the crackdown.

I suspect their definition of "any price" is very different than mine.

Re: Living on $100k a Year

#134

Post by nunez »

scarface74 wrote: post #126
abalashov wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know that it's quite that simple; for one, tuition dominates college cost discussions while actual costs consist in large part of living expenses, i.e. room, board, food, misc. Second, there are some impressively expensive state schools out there, and not all have especially affordable in-state tuition, particularly not to those of working class background. Still, I agree with the general idea you're reaching…

How many college students have to stay on campus? How many could go to two year college, stay at home and then transfer two years later? I went to a small state college with a horrible computer science department. Four years out of college I was making just as much as people who had way more debt than I had (I.e. none)

Most people who go to a CC with the intent of transferring to a larger school don’t do it. Too many distractions get in the way.

Re: Living on $100k a Year

#135

Post by abalashov »

scarface74 wrote: post #126
abalashov wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know that it's quite that simple; for one, tuition dominates college cost discussions while actual costs consist in large part of living expenses, i.e. room, board, food, misc. Second, there are some impressively expensive state schools out there, and not all have especially affordable in-state tuition, particularly not to those of working class background. Still, I agree with the general idea you're reaching…

How many college students have to stay on campus? How many could go to two year college, stay at home and then transfer two years later? I went to a small state college with a horrible computer science department. Four years out of college I was making just as much as people who had way more debt than I had (I.e. none)

I dropped out of UGA 2.5 years in and moved to Atlanta to pursue a burgeoning tech career. :-)

I can tell you that UGA requires freshmen to live on campus, though in my case I was able to get a waiver because my parents were local. And I get the impression that their housing costs are actually fairly competitive compared to local commercial rent.

Re: Living on $100k a Year

#136

Post by nunez »

Spooky23 wrote: post #69
Y7ZCQtNo39 wrote: post #30

I'm one of those coastal elites. Early career, so ballpark around this salary. I have some student loan debt, but my portion of the rent is only $1,000 a month plus utilities (I split a place). I spend about $2,500 a month. And I sock away the rest (about $60k annually) into investments. $100k still goes far in a high cost of living, coastal area. However, I drive a used car. I'm a renter, and probably will be for aw…

The difference between you and the 1987 version of you is that you are kneecapped from an earning power perspective. Barring equity compensation that appreciates, you’re likely to grow your income until around 35. Then you plateau. You’re also unlikely to retain companies or career skill set through to retirement. So you’re facing a crisis where you need to transition and maintain salary around age 40, where 1987 you…

Don’t forget that it was still common to expect to work at one company for most of your working life back in ‘87 and those companies often offered pensions

Re: Living on $100k a Year

#137

Post by scarface74 »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #133
scarface74 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are only 85000 H1B Visas allowed each year. There are about 3.5 to 4 million developers in the US. If all of the H1B Visas allowed in the country were developers, it really couldn't depress wages that much. As far as reigning in illegal immigration, there have been reports all across the country that farmers are losing money because they can't find enough people at any price who are willing to do farm work sinc…

>There are only 85000 H1B Visas allowed each year. 85,000 NEW H1Bs are issued each year, they last 3 years and can be extended for another 3. So right off the bat that's as many as half a million. There is no issue limit on H1Bs for universities and non-profits. In 2012 alone, for example, the total number of H1Bs (normal + university/non-profit) issued was 135,530. It's safe to say there are far more than 85,000 H1B…

At any price that they could still harvest the food and sell it at a price that people would be willing to buy the food.

Re: Living on $100k a Year

#138

Post by scarface74 »

abalashov wrote: post #135
scarface74 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many college students have to stay on campus? How many could go to two year college, stay at home and then transfer two years later? I went to a small state college with a horrible computer science department. Four years out of college I was making just as much as people who had way more debt than I had (I.e. none)

I dropped out of UGA 2.5 years in and moved to Atlanta to pursue a burgeoning tech career. :-) I can tell you that UGA requires freshmen to live on campus, though in my case I was able to get a waiver because my parents were local. And I get the impression that their housing costs are actually fairly competitive compared to local commercial rent.

If someone's ultimate goal is to graduate from UGA and they are not local, they still could probably find a two year college where their core credits would transfer (English, math, etc.)

Re: Living on $100k a Year

#139

Post by marktangotango »

incadenza wrote: post #28

I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but it would be nice to hear what is eating into their income so much. My thought pattern here is that if you can't manage on $100,000 a year then you'll have the same problem at $200,000 a year, so on and so forth.

$10k per kid per year preschool (minimum) is one thing I’ve heard. Really eats I into a salary.

Re: Living on $100k a Year

#140

Post by Consultant32452 »

scarface74 wrote: post #137
Consultant32452 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There are only 85000 H1B Visas allowed each year. 85,000 NEW H1Bs are issued each year, they last 3 years and can be extended for another 3. So right off the bat that's as many as half a million. There is no issue limit on H1Bs for universities and non-profits. In 2012 alone, for example, the total number of H1Bs (normal + university/non-profit) issued was 135,530. It's safe to say there are far more than 85,000 H1B…

At any price that they could still harvest the food and sell it at a price that people would be willing to buy the food.

I suspect the consumers will get over it once hunger sets in. I'm not really sympathetic to the consumers who may lose access to artificially low pricing subsidized by policies intending to keep wages low amongst the poorest people in our country.
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