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Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

nytimes.com

21–30 of 76 posts

Re: Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

#21
post #4

As I was going through the list I still don't feel any sympathy for these bankers. The whole idea of budgeting for the majority of people is to make do with seemingly limited resources. It's what everyone does to manage their own money. Why can't someone who is supposed to manage everyones money practice a little self restraint?

I think this article is supposed to be a joke... or, to clarify, its supposed to make bankers feel good about themselves while ridiculing them.

Re: Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

#22

If a person is married with two children, the weekly deductions on a $500,000 salary are: federal taxes, $2,645; Social Security, $596; Medicare, $139; state taxes, $682; and city, $372, bringing the weekly take-home to $5,180, or about $269,000 a year, said Martin Cohen, a Manhattan accountant. Martin needs to check his figures. Social security, for example, is 6.2% for the first 106k of income, which is a weekly de…

And you're not even factoring in that most of their income comes in the form of grants or options that pay the capital gains tax rate.

Re: Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

#23
post #21
post #4

As I was going through the list I still don't feel any sympathy for these bankers. The whole idea of budgeting for the majority of people is to make do with seemingly limited resources. It's what everyone does to manage their own money. Why can't someone who is supposed to manage everyones money practice a little self restraint?

I think this article is supposed to be a joke... or, to clarify, its supposed to make bankers feel good about themselves while ridiculing them.

I understood the hyperbole.

I was just suggesting that even taking the obvious exaggeration as literal fact, I still don't feel sympathy for these bankers...

Re: Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

#24
post #9

> Nanny: $45,000 a year. Of course, no banker would dream of paying his nanny less than $500,000 a year, considering the difficulty of surviving on such a salary in NYC.

Amen. Every time I hear the "waily waily waily you can't live for less than $90k in California" I think "for God's sake you've interacted with several people today who are doing it -- think back to the last ten times you physically handed money to anyone, they're not making $90k".

This problem is not unique to California or Manhattan. I get the same from people who choose to live in Nagoya apartments which cost about my monthly salary, then whine how impossible it is to get ahead in this city. Hey, I work five minutes from where you work yet my rent is $450... considered a lifestyle change, maybe?

Re: Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

#25

How about a $500K salary cap for presidents of universities that accept federal grants and loan subsidies? Heh heh.

Its actually football coaches at big universities that make all the money. Median salary is over a million dollars last I saw. The academic salaries are much more reasonable. Mostly in the 100-200K range for upper level profs and administrators.

If you want to win at football, you most definitely need a good football coach, and the markets for pro football coaches and college football coaches are hardly separate. So you have to pay college football coaches somewhere in the ballpark of pro football coaches.

What has never been properly explained to me is the utility of winning football teams to universities. I really would like to hear about that.

Re: Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

#26
The total costs here... are $790,750, which would require about a $1.6-million salary to compensate for taxes.

Wait a second, 50% taxes? Not the marginal rate, the effective total rate? That is truly gobsmacking if it is accurate.

I did a little math, too, and it doesn't seem impossible, particularly if you're actually spending most of that money (and thus hitting the 8%+ NYC consumption tax). 35% federal bracket, 7% state bracket, 3% city bracket, plus property and consumption taxes, and you'd be paying more than fifty cents out of every dollar in taxes. And since your total tax rate approaches your marginal rate as your income increases, their total tax rate may well be in excess of 50 cents on the dollar.

Glad I don't live there. I don't make anywhere NEAR $1.6 million a year but if I ever do, I will live somewhere that values having me around.

Re: Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its actually football coaches at big universities that make all the money. Median salary is over a million dollars last I saw. The academic salaries are much more reasonable. Mostly in the 100-200K range for upper level profs and administrators.

If you want to win at football, you most definitely need a good football coach, and the markets for pro football coaches and college football coaches are hardly separate. So you have to pay college football coaches somewhere in the ballpark of pro football coaches. What has never been properly explained to me is the utility of winning football teams to universities. I really would like to hear about that.

Top football programs basically fund entire athletic departments. So in order to maintain a top brand, paying an excellent coach 10% of your budget doesn't seem to be a bad investment.

See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122853304793584959.html?mod=...

Re: Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its actually football coaches at big universities that make all the money. Median salary is over a million dollars last I saw. The academic salaries are much more reasonable. Mostly in the 100-200K range for upper level profs and administrators.

If you want to win at football, you most definitely need a good football coach, and the markets for pro football coaches and college football coaches are hardly separate. So you have to pay college football coaches somewhere in the ballpark of pro football coaches. What has never been properly explained to me is the utility of winning football teams to universities. I really would like to hear about that.

The football teams at most major universities are profitable, and the coaches' salary come out of the teams earnings. At my university, the football team ended up funding most of the athletic teams in unprofitable sports.

Re: Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

#29
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also only applies to the top N executives at those firms, where last I checked N was 5.

Seems like there's a glaring loophole there. Let's say they want to pay their top five people ten million dollars each. And let's say they can think of five VP-level people who should be earning around $500K each. Why not say "Oh, these VPs are crucial to our survival. They're worth $20 million a year. Sadly, we can only pay them $500K of that." At that point, the VPs get about what they would normally get, and the t…

I guess it depends on the final drafting. Drafting the cap as "top 5 highest paid people can't make more than $500k" should solve the loophole you just wrote about.

Re: Trying to Live on 500K in New York City

#30
wait! so in a time when many are without jobs and struggling to survive, the bankers whose salaries are coming largely from taxpayer money might have to keep wearing their old $1k suits, cut back to 1 $8k vacation per year, take public transit, take their children out of elementary schools that cost more than instate college without even giving room and board, and have their personal trainer come only once a week?!

Those poor, suffering souls. I'm sure that someone will form a charity where ordinary people donate small things they don't need anymore, like their old $15k dresses, so that the bankers don't have to risk being starved of their luxuries.

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