What's up with all these NYC jobs paying $25-40k/year?!?!?! (Kent: foreclosures, tax)
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A $40k salary COULD be good in NYC, but it depends on your situation. If you are right out of college with 1 or 2 roommates, you could live AOK. If you are 38, with kids, and are trying to support them on your own..NYC is not the place for you. Even if you can land an affordable housing apt, the schools suck, and the neighborhoods you will be forced to live in would probably make you unhappy.
A $40k salary COULD be good in NYC, but it depends on your situation. If you are right out of college with 1 or 2 roommates, you could live AOK. If you are 38, with kids, and are trying to support them on your own..NYC is not the place for you. Even if you can land an affordable housing apt, the schools suck, and the neighborhoods you will be forced to live in would probably make you unhappy.
Exactly, it's all about expenses and obligations.
I make that amount and choose to still live with my parents. I pay for all the households utility and cell phone bills which come out to about $1000/ month averaged out over the year. 40k/year for a single person is about $575/ week after taxes.
If I lived with a roommate in Brooklyn, I'd guess I'd be spending the same amount for rent + utilities. However, I rather help my parents out.
If I had to live alone, even as a single guy, 40k before taxes wouldn't seem nearly as much obviously.
I have 2 friends that each make around 60k but live in a 3k/month midtown high rise apt. Our discretionary incomes are about the same even though I make 20k less.
If I were living at home, I would be fine with 40K. But at my age and with my experience, why would I settle for such a low salary? I would only take that if I was unemployed and desperate.
I make that amount and choose to still live with my parents. I pay for all the households utility and cell phone bills which come out to about $1000/ month averaged out over the year. 40k/year for a single person is about $575/ week after taxes.
If I lived with a roommate in Brooklyn, I'd guess I'd be spending the same amount for rent + utilities. However, I rather help my parents out.
If I had to live alone, even as a single guy, 40k before taxes wouldn't seem nearly as much obviously.
I have 2 friends that each make around 60k but live in a 3k/month midtown high rise apt. Our discretionary incomes are about the same even though I make 20k less.
I think you're proving the point. There is nothing wrong with living with your parents, but it's kind of sad that salaries these days are so low that it is practically a necessity for some. Nobody went to college in order to take a job that requires a college degree but doesn't even pay enough for them to live on their own, let alone think about savings, investments, and retirement.
I think you're proving the point. There is nothing wrong with living with your parents, but it's kind of sad that salaries these days are so low that it is practically a necessity for some. Nobody went to college in order to take a job that requires a college degree but doesn't even pay enough for them to live on their own, let alone think about savings, investments, and retirement.
To be honest, I think your notion is filled with too great a sense of entitlement.
Why are 23 year olds entitled to live their own? Because the boomers did? The boomers are an abberation in American history as it relates to finances/ income. If I made 60k, maybe I'd live on my own but I'd rather save then give up most of my income to a landlord.
It depends on one's priorities.
Currently in the US we have a twisted notion of "independence" as it relates to kids/parents. Some guy making 40k and living on his own but living paycheck to paycheck will be labeled as "independent" while someone like myself won't be.
We celebrate financial stupidity. Mainly because it lines some people's pockets.
Last edited by wawaweewa; 07-11-2011 at 02:18 PM..
I moved out on my own when I was 26...and looking back, I probably would have stuck it out at home for longer. I wish I would have saved more and taken advantage of not having to pay rent. I was so eager to just be on my own at the time. And my parents didn't want me to leave either, but my stubborn butt wouldn't listen.
To be honest, I think your notion is filled with too great a sense of entitlement.
Why are 23 year olds entitled to live their own? Because the boomers did? The boomers are an abberation in American history as it relates to finances/ income. If I made 60k, maybe I'd live on my own but I'd rather save then give up most of my income to a landlord.
It depends on one's priorities.
Currently in the US we have a twisted notion of "independence" as it relates to kids/parents. Some guy making 40k and living on his own but living paycheck to paycheck will be labeled as "independent" while someone like myself won't be.
We celebrate financial stupidity. Mainly because it lines some people's pockets.
Some good points, but living with one's "rents" isn't always an option. Take my case when I got out of college. I get along great with my mom and dad, and I'd rather have lived with them than with roommates when I was starting out. But like a lot of people the room I grew up in was awesome for a child/teenager but not so much for an adult. There literally would have been space issues with having grown up items like a double bed and a home office there.
So for me it wasn't independence at all but practicality. I know many people who don't get along with their folks, and many more who do but don't want to strain the relationship by living with them as adults.
But if none of those issues apply there's certainly nothing wrong with it and it can have a lot of advantages.
To be honest, I think your notion is filled with too great a sense of entitlement.
Why are 23 year olds entitled to live their own? Because the boomers did? The boomers are an abberation in American history as it relates to finances/ income. If I made 60k, maybe I'd live on my own but I'd rather save then give up most of my income to a landlord.
It depends on one's priorities.
Currently in the US we have a twisted notion of "independence" as it relates to kids/parents. Some guy making 40k and living on his own but living paycheck to paycheck will be labeled as "independent" while someone like myself won't be.
We celebrate financial stupidity. Mainly because it lines some people's pockets.
Being able to afford your own living quarters is considered having a sense of entitlement? Heck, I think someone who just spent 4 years of their life and took on a huge debt load is entitled to the basic necessity of housing.
Again, there's absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to live with your parents in my opinion, but it should not be a necessity!
Being able to afford your own living quarters is considered having a sense of entitlement? Heck, I think someone who just spent 4 years of their life and took on a huge debt load is entitled to the basic necessity of housing.
Again, there's absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to live with your parents in my opinion, but it should not be a necessity!
Yea I didn't get that comment either. Some people actually want their own space and not be 25+ still shacking with mom and dad. I learned that living in a place like NYC will make you comfortable with things you shouldn't be comfortable with. A grown man in his 30's should NOT be comfortable renting a room with 4 or 5 roommates almost half his age, nor should a person who makes $40k a year live off Ramen Noodles and Dominos Pizza and commute 2 hours each way to work. However most do it because they have no other choice, not because they actually want to. I don't have an issue with folks living with their parents either, but don't act like there's something wrong with a an adult actually wanting to do somethings that adults are supposed to be doing.
Being able to afford your own living quarters is considered having a sense of entitlement? Heck, I think someone who just spent 4 years of their life and took on a huge debt load is entitled to the basic necessity of housing.
Again, there's absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to live with your parents in my opinion, but it should not be a necessity!
The truth in this world is no one is entitled to anything. People have had to fight for everything.
It's a sad truth but a truth nonetheless. There are of recent college grads making nice change in NYC. What's preventing you? Who can you blame? I mostly blame myself for my position. My friends who are making 60 or 75 or 100k at 25 aren't any more special than me. I just made some poor choices/ as too lax in college. It's on me.
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