Mine is pretty close to that. But if you made that amount of money, you’re health insurance payment would be ZERO, or very close to it.
I’m not saying it’s easy to live on 15K a year, but health insurance probably ins’t the biggest factor.
I don’t worry about money, and I do fly first class. However, I don’t fly much. Because flying does not agree with me in so many ways.
Experience has indicated that if I have more money I will spend more, but there is no point where I won’t wait for a sale if I know one’s coming. And one is always coming. I can’t see myself not checking the Lands End clearance page first. Ever. It’s like a game to me.
My household is two people and our income has been around $15k for two years now. For several years prior we were living on less than that (hence some of my semi-hysterical threads in the past). Our vehicles are paid off, so that’s a plus, we have low rent, for awhile we were on food stamps, I hit food pantries a couple times, for several years grew most of our vegetables, and we just didn’t buy clothes at all for about 5 years. Or really anything at all other than food, toilet paper, and gas for the cars. Our health insurance is from a special program and heavily subsidized from the state, otherwise we wouldn’t have any.
No, it isn’t. I have Medicare, but my state pays my monthly premium, so I get to keep all of my monthly benefit. I have a Medicare Advantage plan which charges me no copay for a routine doctor checkup. I have Social Security extra help for my prescriptions. I pay no more than about an $8 copay for any name brand drug and some medications are no more than around $2.60. I also do not have a gap. After I spend a certain amount of money, my prescriptions are $0. If you’re low income, part of managing is taking advantage of all the benefits you’re eligible for.
Also, Social Security is non-taxable. I do have to file a return annually, but do not make tax payments.
No, health insurance is NOT zero.
Mine is pegged to 5% of my income. If my income goes up so does my premium.
I do it on less than that.
First, I went to a place with a low cost of living nine years ago. Then I quit driving, which saved plenty. Then I took control of my diet, and I cook all my meals at home, no prepackaged convenience foods. I had cable a while, but I cancelled that.
I never buy clothes, I never eat out, Any home furnishings I need are from thrift shops. I read library books. I never buy “things”, except gifts. I never see anything I “want”. I live in a modern, well-managed apartment, and $750 a month covers my rent, water, heat, ac, lights, phone, internet. Eating at home on $100 a month is easy. That’s $10K a year
On $15K a year I live as well as I feel a need, and I’ve flown around the world twice in the past two years, spending 15 weeks in third world countries, on low-budget meals and lodgings. This year I spent less than $3,000 including air fare for a 5-week trip to Philippines/Brunei and Ethiopia/Somalia.
I have more than that, with savings and a modest inheritance, but I’ve never touched any of that. All of my costs are covered by my SS benefits.
I currently spend a lot less than I earn. Since I believe even the level of consumption I have now is unethical, more money wouldn’t matter.
Acknowledging that I could get along on a lot less than I spend right now, the point of this thread was to try to put yourself in the position of folks who don’t need to worry about money at all. I doubt that I’ll ever be in that position and it’s hard for me to imagine what it’d be like, but it’s an interesting mental exercise.
Yeah, I was that bored when I started this…
I think the most important thing you can do if you come into a lot of money is not think in terms of “What can i buy with all this?” but to just live your life as you always do, knowing that if you want or need something, you can have it. Jack McDowell, a major league pitcher who made quite a few millions, once said, “I don’t really spend my money much, but it’s nice to know that if I like, see an expensive guitar in the window of the music shop, that I can have it.”
Never understood these people who suddenly develop a love for jewelry, art, and fancy cars. An NBA player recently got $750K of jewelry stolen. That’s a good example of a man who is just finding stuff to spend money on.
I think in some cases people need very little money to feel they don’t need to worry about money.
I was sort of in that position when I was earning about $50k a year - if I had not had the aviation hobby I definitely would have been. My housing costs are low and, aside from flying, I have no expensive wants. Don’t want jewelry, super expensive clothes, lots of “toys” - Back then I had people question why I bought a Toyota Echo: “You can afford a LOT more car!”. Well, yeah, I could have bought “a lot more car” but I didn’t need or want more car so I got the more frugal choice and have been very happy with it these last 14 years.
Without the aviation hobby I could probably be in the “not worry about money” category at between $75k and $100k these days (inflation, you know?) and with it around $200k a year. The only hitch is health insurance - my disabled husband has medical costs that, without good insurance, could financially break a millionaire. So, even if I “didn’t have to worry about money” I’d still have to worry about how the medical care would be paid for. To be able to do that out of pocket I’d need a LOT more income.
I don’t need much to be happy, I can live very comfortably on the average wage*, including being able to save up for splurges. It’s not wealth, it’s financial security I really crave.
*There are lots of numbers that get called that, but right now I am referring to around AU$60k before tax.
$15k is closer to what I make each month. My wife earns a bit less. Yeah, it’s nice being able to afford to do what you want when you want to. We can go out to eat when we want. Live where we want. I can get the nicest smart phone (although it is heavily subsidized by work) or any other gadget I feel like. We can travel to pretty much wherever we want and stay where we like. Buy whatever clothes I like. Grab a drinks or a steak dinner with friends without feeling uncomfortable about the bill.
I mean there is a reason people work hard to make a lot of money.
That said, we don’t spend extravagantly. I will typically buy 5 Charles Tyrwhitt shirts on line for the price of one Thomas Pink shirt. We eat in a lot. I drive an old hand me down Volvo. A lot of my commute and phone are subsidized through work. Hand me down clothes and toys for the baby.
Our expenses are a lot higher too. Taxes here are higher. Mortgages are higher. We generally need to wear more expensive clothes for work. Nanny for our son while we are at work.
True for some people. Wife and I are fortunate that our spending tendency is well below what our income could probably afford; the result is that we’re rapidly saving for retirement, and will likely be able to retire quite a bit earlier than most folks. We’d have to try pretty hard to get our spending up to where our income is. We earn enough to not have to consider sales or coupons, but not enough to throw money down the drain.
We go to Japan once a year. Through vigorous use of AmEx credit cards that earn frequent flyer miles, we’ve enjoyed one (or both) tickets free every time. We then spend $350 each to upgrade to Economy Comfort Plus, which gets you several extra inches of leg room and a seat near the front of the economy cabin (you’re among the first off and can get through customs/immigration quicker, which matters when a plane is unloading 300-400 people). An upgrade to the first-class cabin would cost somewhere around $4000; we could probably afford it, but every time we eyeball it, we think, “that’s about $170 extra for every hour we sit there;” I’m sure first class is nice, but it becomes awfully hard to justify when viewed in those terms.
I feel very similarly. I’m not retired, and make between your $120 and 200k, but can’t bear to pay for first class. Don’t fly often - each trip we discuss it, and next trip I may cave.
Someone else mentioned spending less than you earn - a la Uriah Heep.
If you have been financially responsible all your life, don’t have especially expensive tastes/habits, and don’t live in one of the most expensive areas, haven’t had significant health crises…, by the time you reach a certain age you ought to be awfully comfortable with anything north of $100k.
I could buy any $20-40k car I wanted for case - but I haven’t seen anything that would be that much of an improvement over my 5 yr old Matrix. If my wife wants jewelry, clothes, whatever - she can buy it. But as I said above, we both want less and less in terms of belongings. I was trying to convince myself to buy a new vintage standup bass for around $3500, but my wife (a luthier) has my $1000 cheapo sounding so good, I couldn’t convince myself to buy one.
It is really nice to be able to buy holiday decorations, presents for our granddaughter, or nice food/drink for entertaining, without even considering the bill. Or occasionally picking up the tab after a dinner out.
I assure you, that you can live VERY nicely on well under $200k. One reason it boggles my mind when I hear folk who make so much more complain about their taxes, or overpaid government workers, and such.
The plain truth is that if I got a sudden windfall, I would buy absolutely nothing with it, nor change my current living style… If it was any amount less than, say, $20K, I’d jut put it in the bank with the rest of my money. Any more than that, I’d probably start distributing some to people I know who really need to get over a hump, or some nice gift they’ve always wanted.
That’s not for everyone, of course. I have the advantage of being an age at which my only remaining goal is to die in my sleep. Nobody’s future depends on me being responsible for it.
I have a client I do odd research projects for. The latest was doing preliminary work for a trip he wants to give to one of his executives. This would be a week to two week trip for two to wherever in the world they’d like to go. It will be I’m sure a very nice trip – he’s planning on it costing him around $30,000.
The only condition he’s put on the trip is that they NOT fly first class. The travel consultant I spoke with at Abercrombie & Kent said that business class has gotten so good on international carriers that there’s really no reason to fly first class.
First class is an extravagance, no doubt. But I spent my entire life traveling, first in the military and then in the private sector. Every job I ever had (other than briefly selling RVs) required travel, and it was always in coach, putting up with cramped seating, obnoxious children, BO, etc. When I retired, I promised myself that I would never fly coach again unless it was an emergency. Since we were fortunate to see a lot of the world when we worked, trips overseas really aren’t part of our retirement plan, so it’s not that big a deal to pop the extra money.
Yeah, I would have to teach myself to be a spender. And why would I do that?
I keep a wish list at Amazon, and when I see something I want, I add it to the list. At the same time, I remove stuff from the list that I don’t really want anymore. I never actually buy anything from the list.
The main thing I want money for is to give it to my kids.
That’s kind of what I mean. Unless you are a mega-millionaire, you will always need to be mindful of how much you spend. And even then. Ideally, you just settle into a comfortable lifestyle where what you naturally spend money on is less than what you earn.
Generally, as people start making more money, they start feeling pressure to spend more money. Whether it’s peer pressure to keep up with the Joneses or just a natural desire to do more things.
It is like having $1000.00 in your bank account and going into a dollar store. You can buy whatever you wish… However you would most likely only buy what you needed. And would not buy something which was an obvious rip-off.
So same thing with rich people, but instead of the dollar store, it is car dealers, real estate, yachts, etc. Note it is a hassle to keep things maintained, so many may intentionally choose to own fewer “toys”!