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$100k is very low. I admit that's not much money. That said, when people don't make a lot, there's not much left with which to save after basic expenses are accounted for. People on personal finance and retirement boards are often relatively high earners .....
I don't personally know anyone in the eight figures of wealth, much less nine figures. It's really a fairly exclusive club around here.
I absolutely can not imagine anyone worth near $100,000,000 wasting their time posting on C-D. You didn’t get that wealthy wasting time on stuff like this place!
I hope this thread doesn't turn into another of the "haves" and "have not" threads. Personally, I've always been below average income and have a bachelors degree. I chose a profession that didn't pay a great deal but one that I believed I would be happy working at.
I'm satisfied and maybe even happy with what I've achieved. I won't have near the assets many here have when I retire next year and I'm more than good with that. I have some regrets in my life, but none of them have much to do with money.
It usually does...and already has. The leveling factor in all this is that we all have to go through the same door. Doesn't matter if you go through it in a Rolls Royce or just walk it. I don't know of anyone who has come back to collect all the millions/billions they left behind. They simply fade into oblivion with time. Some people do not get that! BTW....you've got to leave the Rolls at the border crossing!
those who want to succeed bad enough will find a way even with no money as many have , through creative thinking , skills and other peoples money ---the rest will find an excuse .
that is why most americans will never achieve that level ..they are not creative enough , skillful at it or want it enough
That's why most American's are financially successful and haven't saved enough or haven't saved anything for retirement. I used to have low income jobs for the first half of my working years. Low pay, rotten working conditions, rotten hours, and poor or no benefits. I looked around and saw others working for good companies, making a lot of money and had good benefits, including my wife and her co-workers. I decided I could be more like them instead of the other part of society that had lower income jobs. I put in the effort to educate myself to qualify and get a good IT job, and my income immediately doubled. After about 15 years, I was making six figures. At the same time, we lived well below our means and saved a lot of our income, probably over 50%, so we could have a good retirement. I started counting down my retirement about 14 years before I retired.
Today, when I go to stores and other places, I see people that aren't making much money. I feel sorry for those people, most of them could improve their futures, if they only put in the effort. Not everyone has the ability to learn job skills that would enable themselves to improve their income. Not everyone has the discipline to sacrifice material things so that they can save more money. But a lot of those people do have the untapped ability to improve their lives. I knew many high income earners who spent everything they made, and saved nothing, or next to nothing. I recall that I saved about $1,000 per pay period. When I ran those numbers past co-workers to find out how much they saved, they were shocked that I saved that much, and they saved either a tiny fraction of that amount or saved zero. I never found anyone at my work that saved as much, or even close to my savings rate. My wife saved more than me, nearly all of her much higher income. We did that for about two decades.
If you're income is only about $8 to $15 an hour, there's no way you can save much or any money. All of the money is spent. If you manage to save anything, it will be a very tiny amount, even after decades. The key is to earn more money and save more money. It's very simple. Most people have the untapped ability within themselves to do things that they would never believe they could do. I had that untapped ability within myself that I did not unleash before about age 40. Many immigrants that come to the US from poor and/or communist countries are very successful in America. In those countries, especially communist and socialist countries, your standard of living is held down by government and the society.
You can still retire with a lot less savings, but your retirement lifestyle will need to be dramatically lower. Your retirement years will be much better if you put in the extra effort to improve your station in life.
A good number of seniors can live on less than $2000 a month.
Motley Fool is the Penthouse of yuppie money mongers and City Data Forum is the Playboy of yuppie money mongers.
There's a very large contingent that has nothing saved, and/or have debt and my GF deals with them on a daily basis. Some people don't even get social security.
That's why most American's are financially successful and haven't saved enough or haven't saved anything for retirement. I used to have low income jobs for the first half of my working years. Low pay, rotten working conditions, rotten hours, and poor or no benefits. I looked around and saw others working for good companies, making a lot of money and had good benefits, including my wife and her co-workers. I decided I could be more like them instead of the other part of society that had lower income jobs. I put in the effort to educate myself to qualify and get a good IT job, and my income immediately doubled. After about 15 years, I was making six figures. At the same time, we lived well below our means and saved a lot of our income, probably over 50%, so we could have a good retirement. I started counting down my retirement about 14 years before I retired.
Today, when I go to stores and other places, I see people that aren't making much money. I feel sorry for those people, most of them could improve their futures, if they only put in the effort. Not everyone has the ability to learn job skills that would enable themselves to improve their income. Not everyone has the discipline to sacrifice material things so that they can save more money. But a lot of those people do have the untapped ability to improve their lives. I knew many high income earners who spent everything they made, and saved nothing, or next to nothing. I recall that I saved about $1,000 per pay period. When I ran those numbers past co-workers to find out how much they saved, they were shocked that I saved that much, and they saved either a tiny fraction of that amount or saved zero. I never found anyone at my work that saved as much, or even close to my savings rate. My wife saved more than me, nearly all of her much higher income. We did that for about two decades.
If you're income is only about $8 to $15 an hour, there's no way you can save much or any money. All of the money is spent. If you manage to save anything, it will be a very tiny amount, even after decades. The key is to earn more money and save more money. It's very simple. Most people have the untapped ability within themselves to do things that they would never believe they could do. I had that untapped ability within myself that I did not unleash before about age 40. Many immigrants that come to the US from poor and/or communist countries are very successful in America. In those countries, especially communist and socialist countries, your standard of living is held down by government and the society.
You can still retire with a lot less savings, but your retirement lifestyle will need to be dramatically lower. Your retirement years will be much better if you put in the extra effort to improve your station in life.
many fool themselves and think since it is easier to clip coupons and reuse tea bags that is like earning more money , so they don't have to do a thing on the income side which requires more work ...
surprise , they are not the same .....and one does not replace the other ...
cutting expenses only looks like more income until there is nothing left to cut and expenses keep rising .
LOL... and "alarming number" don't have 100K in the bank when they retire! Give me a break. LOL.
My husband and I don't have anything even remotely like that amount in the bank. We're recently retired and not even a little bit alarmed.
Life is good. There are a lot of ways to arrange your life (and your finances, expenses, expectations) so that a happy, stable retirement life can be lived. You have to look at the component parts of your life and balance them in a way that makes sense for you.
LOL... and "alarming number" don't have 100K in the bank when they retire! Give me a break. LOL.
My husband and I don't have anything even remotely like that amount in the bank. We're recently retired and not even a little bit alarmed.
Life is good. There are a lot of ways to arrange your life (and your finances, expenses, expectations) so that a happy, stable retirement life can be lived. You have to look at the component parts of your life and balance them in a way that makes sense for you.
Sensible approach to life. However, from this thread, achieving that "balance" means different thing to different people. For some, "enough" just never seems to be "enough. Some even lose sight of when that point has been reached....and keep chasing until they go through the "door"! Not my way to live!
A good number of seniors can live on less than $2000 a month.
Motley Fool is the Penthouse of yuppie money mongers and City Data Forum is the Playboy of yuppie money mongers.
There's a very large contingent that has nothing saved, and/or have debt and my GF deals with them on a daily basis. Some people don't even get social security.
I guess that depends on location and if they own their property outright? From what I gather isn't $2000 not enough to cover rent, health insurance, food, and other necessary expenses when living in places like New York and Seattle? That's only 24K a year. I imagine that will go far in a place like Detroit if one doesn't get sick or injured.
I guess that depends on location and if they own their property outright? From what I gather isn't $2000 not enough to cover rent, health insurance, food, and other necessary expenses when living in places like New York and Seattle? That's only 24K a year. I imagine that will go far in a place like Detroit if one doesn't get sick or injured.
at 2k a month here in new york there are quite a few perks and assistance you would or could get.
with more than half of nyc rentals in the boroughs and manhattan stabilized , they would be eligible to never receive another rent increase under the scrie program .
they can get utility help , etc .... very few really live on those low incomes in most cities with perks and assistance programs.
if i was a low income earner this is the city i want to live in .
which is why nyc has more unskilled low end workers than anywhere else .
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