A Week In Seattle, WA, On A $295,000 Salary

[+OverSword]

13 hours ago, and then said:

Yeah, but just think about all the quality-of-life bonuses  

Like the homeless encampments and the riots?  

[Setton]

23 hours ago, Myles said:

When my older daughter was in college she would find ways to make money.  At the end of the year (when everyone was moving out of the dorms), they had a room where students could put things they no longer wanted but were still in good working condition (vacuums, TV's).   Salvation Army would pick it up and write the university a donation receipt.  My daughter noticed over 100 text books.  She hauled them all to the campus bookstore.  She was able to sell about 1/4 of them back to the bookstore.   She made around $600 for an hour of work.  

Struggling to make ends meet as a student?

Try stealing from charity!

Financial responsibility, the American way.

[Gromdor]

44 minutes ago, OverSword said:

Like the homeless encampments and the riots?  

I do think there are some bonuses.  Her lifestyle isn't different from mine but even though her costs are far higher her income is also far higher.  With discipline she has the potential to save more and potentially turn that savings/retirement into an even greater lifestyle by moving to a lower cost of living place after meeting her financial goals.

There is also the variety of goods and stores in a city that isn't around in rural areas.  Went to Miami a while back and went to a specialty liquor store that was as big as a Walmart for example.  Halloween costume stores, etc. simply don't have the population base to survive in more rural areas.  With the advent of Amazon and telecommuting I think many of the advantages of crowded urban living are declining.

  My wife basically telecommutes to Paraguay. (Well, we ended up setting the server up here in Iowa and making the Paraguay office hook up to here.)  But my wife can basically work anywhere so why not live in a nice low cost of living area where you can maximize the benefits of your income?  Making $300,000/yr looks great on paper, but if you have to spend $290,000 on just living expenses you really aren't doing as well as someone making $30,000 with $10,000 in living expense costs. 

[spartan max2]

14 hours ago, Gromdor said:

You know, I don't recall seeing anywhere where she said she put money away in savings or retirement.

It was at the start. I feel like you didn't read much of her woes  lol (I say lighteartedly, I could care less if anyone actually reads it)

 

Quote

$275,000 (I have $250,000 in stock grants from my company, $100,000 in 401(k)/investment accounts, a home worth $750,000, a car worth $25,000, and $5,000 in a savings account for emergencies. I contribute 20% of my salary and bonuses to my 401(k) and as my stock vests, I convert that to investments. Minus debt.)

Typically rich people stuff.  Complains they have no money while they max out their retirement options.

Edited May 13, 2021 by spartan max2

[Gromdor]

2 hours ago, spartan max2 said:

It was at the start. I feel like you didn't read much of her woes  lol (I say lighteartedly, I could care less if anyone actually reads it)

 

Typically rich people stuff.  Complains they have no money while they max out their retirement options.

Ah , I see it was under her Net Worth.  Yeah, she's not doing to bad overall.  She does have a dedicated savings for emergencies and is contributing towards a 401k.  Personally if I were her, I would have done a Roth as well.  Her 20% salary going towards her 401k doesn't seem to jive very well with it's balance of only around $100,000.  Having a positive net worth of $250,000 put her ahead of the bulk of America already- many in the US are in the negative net worths.

[spartan max2]

34 minutes ago, Gromdor said:

Ah , I see it was under her Net Worth.  Yeah, she's not doing to bad overall.  She does have a dedicated savings for emergencies and is contributing towards a 401k.  Personally if I were her, I would have done a Roth as well.  Her 20% salary going towards her 401k doesn't seem to jive very well with it's balance of only around $100,000.  Having a positive net worth of $250,000 put her ahead of the bulk of America already- many in the US are in the negative net worths.

Yeah that seemed odd to me too. Maybe she only started contributing not too long ago. I don't think they give a timeline.