How do people who make around $100k/yr struggle, assuming normal situation?

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

I'm maybe paid like what in USA would be around $90k, like top 25% salary and I've no idea how people making that amount or more should struggle, assuming living alone and having normal expenditure, living in an average cost of living area. Reading various places it seems like a bunch of people making like $100k complain about it not being that much or they even struggling. Like at those salaries I don't think you should ever feel like you won't have enough money to make the months need.

If you make $100k in USA, you probably get around $6000 each month, using the 50-30-20 rule, you should spend $3000 on needs (which seems to fit into the average cost of living in USA), $1800 on wants (so probably very luxurious lifestyle) and save $1200 which is enough to become a millionare in like 30 years according to compounding interest caculator.

Sure I guess USA may be a country in which high paying jobs only exist in very expensive areas, but I don't know and don't think that would be the case and also high paying jobs probably come with perks like 30 paid days off, free drinks and candy and such. Even a person with $100k student debt but making $100k should be far far better of than somebody making $50k and 0 debt in the same location and the difference probably will just grow with age.

To be fair I feel the stuff of internet make the whole economic situation look much worse than it is in reality, I saw the 90s and do remember people being far more materially poorer than today, not only are the rich richer but normal people very much are that as well, like the whole society was poorer in the past from what I remember.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Average USA rent - $1700 per month
Average USA vehicle payment - $600 per month
Average USA student loan repayment - $250 per month
Average USA health insurance payment - $500 per month
Average USA vehicle insurance payment - $130 per month
Average USA food bill - $390 per month

$3570 is a lot less than $4800, so there should be no struggling.

To maximize struggling on a $100k salary:

1) Live alone, pay the full rent and not half.
2) Live in a democrat-run big city. The cost of living needs to be as high as possible. A modest retirement account in high cost of living area will fund a great retirement in a red state like Florida later. Or a kingly retirement overseas.
3) Only drive a brand new car that is extremely expensive to maintain. Like $300 oil change and $1000 for a headlight repair.
4) Have a terrible driving record. DWI + multiple accidents should push full coverage (required if making car payments) to around $300 per month.
5) Be near 60 years old. Health insurance costs go up each year from $500 at 40 until they max out around $1000 per month around 60. Most noticeable if self-employed and there is no employer to pay some of it.
6) Get divorced. Losing half your shared assets is tough, especially a paid-off house. Whoever keeps the house usually has to cash out their retirement account to write a big enough check to their partner to buy them out of their share.
7) Only eat out at restaurants. This should get the food bill up to $600 per month.
8) Get a doctorate in pottery. $100k+ in student loans that can never be removed even in bankruptcy lasts a lifetime, just like the learning and education.

I'm sure it is possible to struggle on a $100k salary somehow.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Most likely it is debt; mortgages, CC, car payments, and the like can pile up easily. Older folks who don't have insurance can have medical debt too.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

I don't even have a drivers license which is not needed for me to get to my office.

$100k jobs seems pretty accessible, like a normal engineer or similar probably going to make that amount, without needing to live in an expensive location, maybe start at $80-90k and promoted to $100k after a few years. Like 1 out of 5 people who work make like that amount today if not more.

 

[Birdjaguar]

The question is though, do folks who make $100,000 struggle? What percentage of them do and where do they live? Anecdotes often don't tell the whole story.

I don't even have a drivers license which is not needed for me to get to my office.

If you don't live in the US, your situation doesn't matter. You asked about living in the US.

 

[Cutlass]

It's certainly possible. Just mostly it takes bad financial management.

That said, if you have a high debt load from college, and the job you need is in a very high cost of living location, then yes, it's possible without incompetence.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

If you don't live in the US, your situation doesn't matter. You asked about living in the US.

I assume not everyone need to drive in USA either.

That said, if you have a high debt load from college, and the job you need is in a very high cost of living location, then yes, it's possible without incompetence.

Well in such case I suggest you find work somewhere else.

The question is though, do folks who make $100,000 struggle? What percentage of them do and where do they live? Anecdotes often don't tell the whole story.

I don't actually know anybody who struggle. Everyone from my knowledge was poorer and worse of in the past like the 90s compared to today, pretty much no matter profession.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I assume not everyone need to drive in USA either.


Well in such case I suggest you find work somewhere else.

I don't actually know anybody who struggle.

The US is a car driven culture and has been since the 1950s. Yes, there are places where one does not need a car in some metro areas but for the most part cars are essential. Often two cars are needed if both adults have jobs outside the home. Teenagers want/need then too.

From your OP:

I'm maybe paid like what in USA would be around $90k, like top 25% salary and I've no idea how people making that amount or more should struggle, assuming living alone and having normal expenditure, living in an average cost of living area. Reading various places it seems like a bunch of people making like $100k complain about it not being that much or they even struggling. Like at those salaries I don't think you should ever feel like you won't have enough money to make the months need.

You brought up the struggling part.

Comparing a small European country to the US is a fools game. There are so many differences that little of what one might compare is worthwhile. Sweden has 1 city over a million people and one over 500,000. The US has many more. Each one is different. etc.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

The US is a car driven culture and has been since the 1950s. Yes, there are places where one does not need a car in some metro areas but for the most part cars are essential. Often two cars are needed if both adults have jobs outside the home. Teenagers want/need then too.

I suspect that is changing towards moving back to using more public transit options. Atleast that seems to be the case in europe in which cars is becoming disfavored for other transportation options.

Comparing a small European country to the US is a fools game. There are so many differences that little of what one might compare is worthwhile. Sweden has 1 city over a million people and one over 500,000. The US has many more. Each one is different. etc.

Real wages in USA have also increased since the 90s, meaning people on average who work should be in better economic situation than in the 90s.

 

[Gorbles]

Atleast that seems to be the case in europe

Birdjaguar literally just said how it was different in his experience in the US. Saying "yeah but in Europe" is missing the point, to put it mildly.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I suspect that is changing towards moving back to using more public transit options. Atleast that seems to be the case in europe in which cars is becoming disfavored for other transportation options.

There is a trend among many millennials to avoid having a car. My son and his gf (approaching 40) got their first shared car two years ago. US cities, for the most part, have terrible transit systems, but many are improving bike paths. Uber and Lyft are relatively new on the scene and diminish the need for owning a car. US cities are designed around cars and that trend is slowly changing, but the existing situation is very much pro automobile. The US is also a pickup truck culture, often the bigger the better. There is so much rural living that that is very unlikely to change. the US is huge compared to Sweden: 3.6 million sq miles versus 173,000 sq miles. even if you take out Alaska the difference is huge. Accommodating the rural nature of the US has been filled with more cars.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Birdjaguar literally just said how it was different in his experience in the US. Saying "yeah but in Europe" is missing the point, to put it mildly.

Yes, but in probably more ways it is perhaps similar to like the Scandinavian countries, like productivity using the OCED numbers put it at the same level as countries like Denmark and Sweden and significantly better than a lot of european countries, their better life index with everything equal rank USA at position 8, higher than Denmark and all major EU countries but behind like Finland and Sweden. So maybe the overall standard of living in USA is more similar to scandinavian countries than many of european countries? Population density is pretty similar for Sweden and USA as well, both being spare populated countries, both have like 90% or more of population being able to speak english. Both countries seems to have very individualistic cultures.

 

[Kyriakos]

I'm maybe paid like what in USA would be around $90k, like top 25% salary and I've no idea how people making that amount or more should struggle, assuming living alone and having normal expenditure, living in an average cost of living area. Reading various places it seems like a bunch of people making like $100k complain about it not being that much or they even struggling. Like at those salaries I don't think you should ever feel like you won't have enough money to make the months need.

If you make $100k in USA, you probably get around $6000 each month, using the 50-30-20 rule, you should spend $3000 on needs (which seems to fit into the average cost of living in USA), $1800 on wants (so probably very luxurious lifestyle) and save $1200 which is enough to become a millionare in like 30 years according to compounding interest caculator.

Sure I guess USA may be a country in which high paying jobs only exist in very expensive areas, but I don't know and don't think that would be the case and also high paying jobs probably come with perks like 30 paid days off, free drinks and candy and such. Even a person with $100k student debt but making $100k should be far far better of than somebody making $50k and 0 debt in the same location and the difference probably will just grow with age.

To be fair I feel the stuff of internet make the whole economic situation look much worse than it is in reality, I saw the 90s and do remember people being far more materially poorer than today, not only are the rich richer but normal people very much are that as well, like the whole society was poorer in the past from what I remember.

Maybe if you have a mobile game paid content addiction ^^

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Maybe if you have a mobile game paid content addiction ^^

Yeah that would probably be one way to explain it, like I've heard somebody spent like $100k or something on Diablo Imortal a while ago.

 

[Kyriakos]

There's an infamous case of a youtuber who is rumored to have spent as much on some trash mobile phone wwf etc games

 

[AmazonQueen]

people make longterm commitments like mortgages and interest rates go up
someone who was comfortably off finds themselves struggling

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Gallup poll
This poll 10 years ago make it out like most european countries median income is significantly lower than the incomes of USA and Scandinavian countries when adjusted for purchasing parity although it have a lot to do with % of people actually working. Probably exagerate the difference but it maybe fit into the real wage growth seen bellow? Seems even more odd given people in scandinavian countries work quite little per worker compared to most other countries. But if those numbers are somewhat correct, few people should probably actually be struggling in USA.

Well in Sweden we have two inflation messurements, one with fixed interest rate and without fixed interest rate and the one given higher real wages since 1995 would be the one without fixed interest rate although the inflation for that one is currently higher than fixed interest rate due to interest rate going up.

Real wage growth (unfortunally in Swedish)
Here is real wage growth per year on average for some countries since 1996 to 2022 in order:

1. Norway
2. Sweden without fixed interest rate
3. Finland
4. Sweden with fixed interest rate
5. Great Brittan
6. Canada
7. France
8. Denmark
9. USA
10. Austria
11. Germany
12. Spain
13. Neatherlands
14. Italy
15. Belgium

 

[IglooDame]

Now assume alimony and child support...

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

people make longterm commitments like mortgages and interest rates go up
someone who was comfortably off finds themselves struggling

Mortgages are usually fixed rate over the life of the loan. If interest rates go up it'll affect revolving credit like credit cards, but installment loans keep the same P&I payment.

 

[amadeus]

Usually fixed but somebody could have an ARM, adjustable rate mortgage, but I think the increases are capped now. I haven’t lived in the USA for a long time now, nor ever been a homeowner so I can’t tell you the impacts.

According to the Japanese tax office, 4.9%
of income earners are in the > ¥10,000,000 group. I am not one of them. If I struggled on that I’d have some serious problems.