The Rich Are Poor!
Filed under: Business BlitzThe shiteous economy is hitting everyone - hard.
This may be hard to believe, but….
Some 21% of those with salaries of $100,000 or more say they are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a new survey.
Tough to pity people making that much money, though.
Be wiser with your finances, y'all.
Posted: September 11, 2008 at 4:15 pm
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If they got a job taking a dork up the shit slide like I do, they wouldnt be HURTING (for money that is)
My husband and I make just over $100K a year. However, with our housing costs (including water/sewer/garbage/lights/gas) we are barely breaking even. Add student loans, gas and paying for our one car there isn't much left over. Believe it or not, we live pretty modestly, our house is small, our car was purchased used but it all adds up. I guess if we lived in some other part of the country, not the Seattle area, our housing costs would be a lot lower, but the flip side is, we might not make as much.
i hate rich people, lol. i'd like to kidnap them and eat them though.
Just so you all know, if you live in LA and have two kids 100,000 grand isn't much money at all. Especially with the cost of gas and groceries.
This is an awesome article, Perez. I just had an interview yesterday and they said that no one else is hiring right now due to the mortage crisis. KPMG just laid off 70 people. I feel like I am in a Great Depression. I am an accountant with years of experience and can't find work anywhere in Los Angeles. The guy said 2 years ago, I would have been able to work at any accounting firm I wanted to. This is horrible.
Wow 100 K sounds pretty dang good. But it's certainly not when you live in SoCAL that's for sure. Im a stay home mom with the hubster working and though he makes a little more than that it's certainly not the "high life". We're not living paycheck to paycheck but we act like it. Savings is what is great cause when you do want something like our weekenders to VEGAS! it's possible because we save save save when you don't "need" to buy something. It's called responsibility. It can't be blamed on anyone but yourself. Cut the bull coffee buying, getting your nails done, leasing a new car every two years, always having new clothes crap and deal. Though if you make over 100 K in California I believe you are taxed 9.3% so that is high…i belive one of the hightest in the nation, but all you have to do is give some away, make sure to have your receipts for write offs and BAM you get a refund. Works for us any how. People just need to have self control.
xoMarinaxo: Universal Health Care is a red herring for you silly conservatives. You always conveniently leave out the fact that you (if you are lucky enough to have health insurance) are ALREADY paying for healthcare, whether it's through payroll deductions (if your company doesn't pay it in full) or through lower wages (if your company pays it in full). SO… if we had UHC in this country, not only would that drastically lower per-capita health costs (look this up: economies of scale), but any rise in taxes to fund this will be fully offset by the fact that employees no longer need payroll deductions to pay for insurance, and employers no longer have to absorb the costs of healthcare. The net-net is that the cost of doing business will go down and we all have a healthier population.
Just admit it… you don't want to pay one red cent to contribute towards other people's well-being. And don't you even think of saying that all uninsured or underinsured people are just lazy, because that couldn't be farther from the truth.
Oh, and by the way, other industrialized countries with significantly higher taxes than us also provide universal education (grade school to university and beyond) and a much more generous social safety net for the unemployed and underemployed, not just universal health care. So UHC alone won't have nearly the impact on American taxes as your lying talking heads would have you believe.
UMM NEWSFLASH this is becuase of shit people like OBAMA wanting to tax the fuck outtta the peopel who WORK for a living in order to pay for all u lazy ass people sitting on welfare!!
It's not about being wiser with finances, it's about doing your research Perez (and all you commenters who obviously have no idea how higher education works) The people who are making over $100k are often young professionals (think doctors, lawyers, etc. just out of school) who had to pay about $200k for their college and graduate schools, and are now saddled with huge student loans to pay off (often to the tune of about $2-3k a month) on top of their mortgages/rent (hello, anyone hear about the mortgage crisis) and other business/basic living expenses in this increasingly shitty economy. It's not being wasted on Beemers and luxury goods- why would you even assume these people have any car at all if they're city dwellers - it's a consequence of having spent the years, hard work, and $$ on school to even get a professional job that pays that much. And you have to pay all that shiz back, surprise surprise, even if you started out dirt poor yourself and by being smart enough, got into a grad school to try to change your lot in life.
Telling people to be more careful with your money when they don't live where you do is an ignorant statement. It's standard to live paycheck to paycheck in New York City on a $100,000.00 yearly salary. Maybe L.A. is more affordable, but add up rent for a studio of $2000 a month, Electricity avg of $150 a month, Public Transportation $80 a month, plus cellphone, food, cable, internet, phone and other day to day living expenses, and you are S.O.L. if you make less than that!
When you have kids and car payments and a mortgage, 100,000 really doesnt go that far in the economy we have right now, especially not if your house has been purchased in the past few years because houses cost much more than they used to. My husband and I make 92,000 per year. We both have a car payment… not expensive cars a nissan sentra and a VW jetta. The only reason we have 2 car payments at once is because we have no other option, both our cars died… timing was bad! We also have a 1600 per month mortgage, not an extravangent house, the basic house, a 50 year old house, nothing brand new. Then there is Gas and electric, water bills, phone bills, cable bills, internet bills, taxes on your home, day care, etc. etc. Now you tell me how you can not live paycheck to paycheck with all those bills… and most of them are NECESSARY bills.
Re: jonesey12 – You're right. It's OUR money. We pay for OUR OWN insurance. We work our ASSESS off for every penny, and we DON'T OWE YOU OR ANYONE ELSE A DAMN THING. Uncle Sam ALREADY takes a GIGANTIC chunk. (seeing as how we are in the highest tax bracket) WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT TAKE ANYMORE OF OUR MONEY TO GIVE TO YOU??????????????????????????????????? This DISGUSTING SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT SICKENS ME TO DEATH. So SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP, FREAKING COMMI LIBERAL IDIOT HANDOUT LOVING JERKOFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SICK TO DEATH OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: justthefactsk – a-freaking-men!
Re: st00nod –
You are absolutely correct. We are all getting screwed in the NYC area. I mean sure, if you live in East Bumblefuck Iowa then sure 100K means you are rich. (no offense to those who do). But when the average house (small, old, piece of crap is 350-400K+) taxes are 10K+ (for those who can do math that is more than most people pay in rent in other parts of the country and doesn't include the mortgage or insurance), and utilities are through the roof - 100K doesn't get you very far. Add a few kids into the mix and you are really in trouble. There are no extravagant cars or vacations. It all goes to the gov't in some form.
I think we all need to wake up and face the reality that $1 does not have the same value as it did in the 80's and 90's. $100,000 isn't rich when your rents are increasing to over $2,000/mth for a one bedroom apartment, or when your health insurance payments increase yet care decreases and you have to make up the difference from your pocketbook, or when the cost of food doubles, or when gas prices rise over 400% in a year and a half. Perez, you should also be smarter than to make overall judgments that $100,000 goes the same budget distance from one city to the next.
$100,000 is nothing in LA…….when you have a $2000 month house payment, car payments (no asshole I don't have a Beemer), health insurance, kids , utilities, gas and food it hardly covers enough to live & pay for all the freeloading fucks on welfare..don't forget the high taxes I have to pay so some illegal douchbag can drop 10 kids after they snuck here and get special ESL classes when all 10 start school being unable to read/speak or write the language ..so then my kids who were born here don't get to take art class or music class or go on field trips because there is no money left ! So please-shut the hell up and when you get real jobs and don't sit on Perez jerking off to your favorite stars that have dicks drawn on their faces…let us now how you survive.
if they didn't have to pay so much $ in taxes….
when you live in a city where 100,000 is more like 50,000 its a big difference. We dont have a big house, actually quite small compared to others. And we do not spend beyond our means nor do we do any traveling. U should not pass such harsh judgment on ppl when you have no clue. Many ppl do go beyond their means, but just as many who are on welfare and less than 100,000 do the same thing. Does that mean hard times are less hard?!
hello broke asses. $150K as a single person is far from rich in most N.E. cities (in the decent, safe places). After taxes, high mortgage or rent, riding public transportation, there's enough for a vacation and some savings. Perez, where have you been?
If you got kids, you're probably living check to check w/ debt.
and this is the problem that I have with the democratic party.
"Tough to pity people making that much money, though."
Perez, I'm usually with you on most issues- however, in this case it's different.
In different parts of the country $100.000 and depending on your own personal situation, could mean 2 different things. Either your living paycheck to paycheck due to your circumstances (such as 3 children in school (and no financial aid-because you make too much) , car insurance payments, mortgages, LIVING IN NJ, etc) …..just because youre making what's considered " a lot" of money for someone living in another area in the country doesn't mean you're living large.
So this has nothing to do with trading back in lexuses nd beamers for toyotas and hondas….it has to do with understanding that in the various parts of the country, the cost of living is drastically different…so take that into consideration when all of you say that you have no pity.
i have no sympathy for people that build mega-homes, have 3 cars in the garage, 2 motocycles in storage, a boat, a sea-doo, and have like 10 credit cards. Boo-fucking-hoo, welcome to the real world of living within one's means, not some overblown Tom Cruise or Donald Trump ideal.
wtf? is everyone here retarded? as a rule, people making over 100k have to pay something those making under 100k generally do not — college education bills. that shizz eats up alot of money.
Re: jonesey12 – "Just admit it… you don't want to pay one red cent to contribute towards other people's well-being." BINGO. Why would I, or anyone else, who has worked very hard for their living want to do that? Granted, there are people who do need the extra help due to some circumstances that I understand; however, I've witnessed too many people of this country mooching off our government's assistant programs, and the working class' tax money to even fully appreciate the fact they are being helped. It's sickening and I fully don't agree with it.
If we had UNC everyone would die before they even got a chance to walk into a doctors office.
$100K ain't what it used to be…especially in Southern California!! And I don't drive a lexus or a Beemer…can't afford it…neither one of our cars is less than 3 years old. And my checkbook is balanced and I haven't had a vacation is over two years!
Blame the fucking government, not the people.
Here's how 100K disappears over a year: You're single with no children so you lose 35% right off the top to taxes. Now you've got 65K. The mortgage on your mint 1972 ranch house that you bought during the housing boom because you thought you were investing in your retirement is now bust and costing you 27,600K per year and it's value is steadily decreasing. You spend another 12K a year on utilities and taxes. You have NO car payment because you drive a piece of crap. You have student loans costing 10K a year. Now you're down to $1283 per month. That has to cover EVERYTHING else - food, clothing, medical bills, Christmas gifts for your family, chipping in on office gifts ad nauseum, insurance, charitable donations. And that is for just ONE person. Imagine how fast that money would go when you have kids or elderly parents needing help or children in college. 100K is middle class in metropolitan areas. Mario is an ignoramus. Let's see how well he's doing when VH-1 calls him in 10 years for a "Where Are They Now?" special.
Hmmm, for those of you living in Iowa and such, let me break down for you how difficult it can be to live on your own in a metro city area:
Pre Tax Income: $100,000
CA State Income Tax: -$10,000
Federal Income Tax: -$32,000
Rent on 1-Bedroom Apartment in SF, CA: -$2,100 * 12 mos = -$25,200
Health Insurance Premiums: -$325 * 12 mos = -$3,900
Student Loan Payments: -$600 * 12 mos = -$7,200
Car Payment on Toyota bought in CA: -$275 * 12 = -$3,300
Auto/Renter Insurance in SF, CA: -$325 * 12 = -$3,900
Gas and Electric in SF, CA: -$350 * 12 = -$4,200
Garbage Service in SF, CA: -$175 * 12 = -$2,100
Parking at Work in Oakland, CA: -$300 * 12 = -$3,600
Gas for work and back @ $5/gallon in SF: -$400 * 12 = -$4,800
—————————– NET INCOME: -$200 per year
And that is having to eat at your friends' houses every night because you can't afford food after your bills.
Dont be naive and think that $100,000 in the year 2008 is wealth for people that live in New York, San Francisco, LA, etc.
But, the rich keep getting richer!
just because i must…
i am a dancer… yes an exotic dancer… we're supposed to make tons of money… i came home the other day with 26 bucks… i went from making 5000 a month… to barely breaking even. its terrible. the economy is shittious… tons of men but none of them want to even spend the money to get a girl naked. i'm beginning to think that we're all go-go dancers now. but i'm sure go-go dancers are atleast guaranteed cash. i work at the fabulous cheetah in atlanta. its pretty high end… we get mostly rich men in there… its just crap. they have no money to spend.
They wouldn't have to if they thought for themselves instead of paying people to do everything from managing their finances to wiping their asses. Make that much money and live like the rest of us do and they wouldn't have that problem. I don't feel the least bit of pity for them. Especially considering how many are just famous for being reality TV personalities (and yes I love reality TV)
I am an elementary school teacher in South Dakota and can't move due to my custody agreement with my ex-husband, but I only make $28,000 a year so when I hear about people making that much money and whining about it, I just want to slap the snot out of them! I love my job and the kids that I teach, but I sure wish our country would pay (and respect) it's teachers better!
its true… my mother makes 100,000 and is living this way.
It's hard to put kids through college when its over 20,000 a year each, plus pay for cars, gas, mortage, food, etc. No lexus or huge house either.
and by no means is making that much money rich. no way.
Wow, really, you guys really don't know much. People who make more also get Taxed more, so just because you technically "make 100k" a year, because of taxes you're making almost no extra money compared to someone in a lower tax bracket. Once you start making around 80k a year you actually start making LESS than you were when you were making just under 80k a year because of higher taxes. Plus if you live in California in an apartment you're paying 1600$ for a 1 bedroom apartment a month. That's already almost 20,000k in rent alone a year, plus utilities, gas, car payment. You people who are talking about "A mansion, 3 cars, 2 motorcycles in storage and a boat" are completely insane, you'd need at least 40 million to support that lifestyle. I'm not impressed PEREZ, do your Homework before you toss around your words.
Re: Conservative Momma – You're awesome!!