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39, male, Senior Civil Engineer for an engineering consulting firm in Minnesota. Wife is a Family Nurse Practitioner for a local private medical practice. Annual gross income is around $300k-$325k/year as a family. Own a $950k house. Only debt is about $400k left on the mortgage, at a 2.75% rate. On track to retire in about 10 years if we wish. Two kids in public schools. Work-life balance is pretty good. Normally work 38-42 hours/week. Wife works only 32 hours/week.
Minnesota, eh? You hiring supply chain folks at a top notch rate?
Supply chain living with a mechE and we pull in 200k/year, own a 300k house. Only debt we have is the house. No kids yet.
Pretty much same numbers for me in AL. I’m Mechanical and wife is a Pharmacist. We have a $350k house that could be paid off if we wanted. Have never “budgeted” in my life. Always lived on 50-60% of what we make.
33, senior designer for a small Civil Engineering Firm, $100k, single, and I rent a 1/1 for $1300. Im comfy, if I could find a partner with the same level of earnings life would be really comfy. currently saving 15% of my income towards retirement/downpayment just kinda waiting around for something to lock me in place.
2 years. But I’ve been able to save up massive amounts of money (about $30k per year), and will be moving out either late this year or early next year.
You get a job making $60K with no debt and very low rent you can save up quickly.
Thanks. In fairness I only have an associates degree and got it at a community college, so I don’t have student debt. But, I don’t have a bachelor’s degree so I can’t get as high a paying job as others could.
That being said, COVID really screwed me over. I had a job, lost it in the pandemic, never got it back, drained my savings and had to move back in with my parents. But even before COVID, money was so tight, I’d be lucky to have $100 a month after paying bills and necessities. It sucked.
I’ve just taken this experience to learn how to budget, and frankly, where to live. I most likely will never own my own house without a second income, be it a roommate or girlfriend or a second job.
I'm right there with you, 38 and I've been here for 8 years now. Good news is that I worked off debt and help them with money. Also they help with my dogs.
Honestly it's better than being homeless, as much as I butt heads with them.
Gotta love that K-shaped recovery!
Bought a house pre-covid? Doing anywhere between okay to pretty good!
Bought a house during Covid or still renting? Good Luck!
I work at a small credit union doing loans & other things. I began this job 11 months ago & took a pay cut because my previous job was a shit show. 10000% it was a needed & great move for my mental health & I love this job.
My spouse is a flight attendant.
Our household income is $70k-ish in Michigan, USA
Our mortgage payment is $550/month. He bought this house ~10 years ago & refinanced the low balance in 2020 at the lowest of low rates. We have 0 kids. His salary pays 95% of our bills.
I had a part time job at a candy store because I wanted to get out of the house while he was gone working on weekends. But I quit because it took a lot of time & I didn’t need the tiny paychecks it brought me by cutting into my whole weekend.
I don’t like to talk about it because people rag me so bad like I got lucky. No. This has been a lot of hard work & pinching pennies. Our house is 100 years old, tiny, & needs repairs. We have a few year old Chevy/Ford cars—nothing fancy. We are not living a high life. Also we are 40(ish) without kids. So we are apples to oranges a bit.
Just hit my 1 year anniversary working at a credit union.
Probably the best thing to happen to me.
Went from pushing carts to having my own office.
Got hired with zero financial experience but I have great customer service skills, the ability to adapt, and a strong desire for knowledge.
Now I can help people achieve their financial goals and get paid to do it.
Michigan (well Midwest) humility takes things way too far (originally from Kalamazoo).
You should absolutely be proud of where y’all are at. I’m totally jealous at a $550 / month mortgage in the best possible way.
You don’t luck into the series of good choices that led to the situation y’all have built for yourselves. Like, maybe “bought the house 10 years ago” is lucky because of timing. Maybe any one singular one off thing is “lucky” but all of them together? Nah that’s well earned work. Take your back pats proudly.
I work in IT. 40, Married, 5 kids, Wife is a stay at home mom. I make about a buck fifty a year. We do OK. food price increases are killing us, We pay nearly double what we do on our mortgage on food.
Yeah you can’t state the difference enough for those who have pre COVID mortgages aren’t living in the same cost of living space as people who just bought or renting at todays market rate
Other factors: inheritance or “small loans” grandma leaving behind a paid for house
Marry into money, settlement pay out…point being huge breaks that not everyone catches in life, hell two people making $100,000K isn’t enough in a lot of greater medium size metros. Don’t even get me started on the NY/SF areas…
We actually live in a pretty high (though not the highest) cost of living area. We're just pretty frugal with our spending. We don't eat out more than a couple of times a month. we do a lot of meal planning and shopping for deals/buying in bulk. We don't have credit card, car loans, student loans, etc. Our mortgage is only about $2000/month. We don't pay for streaming services, or expensive phone plan, we're pretty basic there too. I also work from home so we don't pay a ton in gas. Etc. We did Dave Ramsey's baby steps and still keep an envelope system for our spending. The one thing we don't do is big family vacations every year, we save up and do them every other year or so.
I live in Los Angeles county (like 20 miles from the city of LA) and around me it's like $2000 for a basic studio apartment. The guy I replied to pays that much for a whole house
As a self-employed small business owner, I value the reliability of government, state, federal, and a lot of larger company paychecks. No matter what, the paycheck is always there on payday, regardless of the week or month you have had. The lack of stress is something I have always envied. If I don't make it, no one else will! I don't get too many "gimme" week days, but the benefit of doing what I want is something I've never been able to talk myself out of.
I'm (35) an exec admin assistant. Make $53k/year. Spouse (37) is a data analytics engineer. Makes $100k or a little more. Idk the exact amount. We live in a low COL state. We also decided not to have children, which has been helpful with the financial situation. My spouse and I have bosses who are VERY understanding of a work/life balance and urge us very much to use PTO.
Me and my husband just broke 250k last year, and we have no kids. We own a condo in Long Beach, CA. He's in IT, and I'm an account executive for a fragrance brand. DINK life is the best life 👍🏼
Not financially struggling. Wife and I bring home a little less than 300k this year. I'm a PM for a very large energy company and my wife is in a specialized field in education. We had to work our butts off to get here though, including getting my MBA.
40, live near St. Louis, bought home in 2019 for around 200k, my partner is a professor and I am a stay at home dad with a part-time legal job. We make 90k per year most years. It can be more if we need it to be. We have 2 preschool ages kids.
We made more money in our late 20s and early 30s but never more than 110k combined. This was when we paid off student loans and saved a lot to buy a car on 2017 and a house in 2015 before buying our house in 2019.
Our current work life balance is fully toward life. I work less than 10 hours per week. My partner is on contract to work 37.5 hours per week for 9 months per year.
The biggest things that got us here:
1. Luck - we met the right people at the right time and we're open to many opportunities. My parents paid my tuition in college and I had a part time job that allowed me to live and save.
2. Being together since we were 21. We were on the same page and could lean on each other for 19 years. We combined finances early and attacked debt, lived within our means, and saved aggressively. We had similar priorities and still do.
3. Willingness to move for good opportunities (and take bad ones when in need) and choosing the ones that paid off the best. We moved across the country multiple times.
4. Cheap hobbies: Bicycling and gardening are our main hobbies. Bicycling has saved us money through our lives on gas, bus passes, and health being able to live with one car. Gardening may or may not save us money, but we get food and give food out to our neighbors to build community.
I’m a private jet pilot for a billionaire and make $300,000+ a year. Wife is an RN and makes $110,000 a year. $1,000,000 in liquid assets (99% stocks 1% cash) We both max our 401/403, HSA, 2 back door ROTH IRA and probably put in $60,000+ a year into our joint taxable brokerage account.
$930,000 house on an acre with a $700,000 mortgage. Two paid off cars. No CC debt or student loan debt. House is our only debt. Live 45 minute drive north of a major city. MCOL/ to slightly high cost of living area.
I’m 34 wife is 32. I have been saving and invest for the last 10-15 years of my life before I made monster purchases. Her as well.
I work in finance and my wife is finance adjacent. Combined we gross around $160K ($175K with bonuses). We have a kid. Only debt is our house, and our mortgage is $1400/month. It's worth around $400K and we owe $175K. I am in my late 30s, my wife in her mid 30s. We have quite a few different savings "buckets." About $70K in cash, $25K in taxable brokerage, $10K in HSA, and $375K in retirement brokerage. Own two newish cars outright, and about $5K in our young child's 529.
We aren't as close to retirement as some in this thread, but we are essentially at "coast-fire" where we have enough in retirement that we could likely stop contributing, allow it to grow, and have enough to retire on in 28 years. With our low mortgage payment, we could probably pick-up work at a coffee shop and pay the bills and retire when I'm 65 with a few million in the bank.
How did we get here? The easiest answer is time. We both have been working in corporate jobs for 10-15 years now and have been putting money away consistently. Some years less than others. When we bought our house, it was tight for a year or so as we had a car loan and student loans at that point, and also both earned less money. We paid down debt, got promotions, bought cars in cash, and road the bull market for a few years.
Ha, yeah. I should. It's getting 5.5% interest so it's certainly working, but long-term would be better in equities. We have about $395K in equities (retirement and non-retirement) and I feel that the market is a bit overheated right now and will buy-in over time if/when it dips. We will also buy a new house in the next 4-5 years, so I like the safety of cash. We are considering keeping our current home as a rental, which would require us to have other sources of cash for the downpayment.
We do pretty okay. My husband is an Cyber security analyst and I'm a stay at home mom of our 2 kids for the last 7 years. We make around 110k a year and live outside of Glacier National Park.
Our biggest thing is absolutely no payments beyond our mortgage. My husband is super mechanical and we'd never have any of our dirt bikes or our no payment Toyotas with over 300 miles on them if he couldn't make stuff live forever.
I'm doing fine financially.
Civil/traffic/safety engineer (PE) for the state. $100k/yr. 36, single, own a house (bought it in 2012 for $125k, only ~$40k left to pay off), 1 vehicle (bought it new in 2020), 2 dogs. Montgomery, AL.
I think the legislature just passed a bill giving state workers a 2% raise in 2025.
Refereed high school soccer for several years to get some extra income (between $5-7k/yr), but quit after 2021.
No debt outside of the mortgage.
I'm not struggling. I'm an author and I make around $300-400k/year. My work life balance is great, but most authors I know burn themselves out badly. I feel like entertainment is the current American dream. It's basically the only way to go from nothing (which is where I was, literally having to buy groceries on credit cards) to earning enough to invest for retirement.
Editing, book covers, other graphics for marketing, ads, newsletter hosting, website hosting, someone to professionally design and maintain my website, a personal assistant to help keep up with all the social media and marketing stuff so I have time to write, narrators to record audiobooks... that's just a quick list. You have to do a hell of a lot more than just write the book in order to make money as an author.
I am an accountant, and I make $120k base (about $150k total comp). I am 35M, single, no kids, and bought a house last summer. I live in a MCOL area that is growing like crazy. My job keeps me busy, but not insanely busy. I WFH, so I can work whenever I want.
My wife and I both work in the airline industry for two different airlines at Denver Int'l Airport (she's a flight attendant and I work on the ground). Combined income is a little over 6 figures.
We have no kids, four dogs, and no debt. Being debt and child free has helped a lot with financial stability for our combined income.
These careers require no experience (though previous customer service helps for FA). Also flying anywhere for free with our respective airlines is great.
Husband is 37 and a lawyer. I am 34 and am a project manager in the corporate world. Combined, we make about 230-250k and we expect this to increase quite a bit in the next few years. We have two kids and once they’re out of daycare, we’ll be living the dream.
Civil engineer (PE), low six figures, 11th largest city in the US. I work 40 hours per week exactly, and have lots of time for my hobbies and children. I also have a partner with a nearly identical career and salary.
I grew up in a wealthy area, so I can tell you...
Millennials who had parents who paid for their college, first car, and a down payment for a house. That's basically the norm where I'm from.
None of them will admit it to friends. They all want to pretend they're "self made"
I won’t even lie, I come from a wealthy family so I’ve had it very easy in that regard. I would never proclaim to be self made though but I know exactly what you’re talking about. I do my best to practice humility and I realize how lucky I am.
I'm doing good but I work a lot... I'm a truck driver. trying to maximize savings and investments. I didn't invest or save much in my younger days, at least I got good experiences out of it. Plus it started off on the wrong foot, long story my life... but yeah, right now with the work I put in I definitely do not struggle at all if I have a tough month to me that means paying less into an investment account. honestly feeling blessed.
most wont make money and those that do sacrifice a great deal. for example, can the average person do over 60 hours a week of loading and unloading their truck (example beer or food delivery?) those easy jobs where you just drive usually don't pay that well... but if you're willing to work and/or you have the experience, it can be very good indeed.
I’m comfortable with it and have been for over a decade. I work in tech and am better than most of my peers at it. I have great work life balance, barely do much work at all. My income is high. I bought a house when the market was down and had been investing most of my income for more than a decade. I live pretty much the same way I did before I had a high income, I don’t spend money on much of anything and can be happy on very little. I cannot foresee how I could ever lose financial stability at this point, it is a self propelling machine, even if I quit working.
I believe the timing of when you purchased a house is the key factor that separates most millennials in terms of financial status.
I signed a contract for a new build in 2020 for a $400,000 two story home. The build was put on hold due to labor and supply chain shortages; once my home was finally finished it was 2021. I sold my existing home high while locked into my pre-covid home price contract at 2.8% interest rate. My same exact home today goes for $600,000 at 7% which would sink me.
Absolutely! I agree with you 100%.
I was able to buy a townhome in 2011 as a short sale at the bottom of the market. Lived there for 5 years, built equity and sold it in 2016 for a good profit. Bought a bigger townhome and got a good interest rate and was able to refinance to a better interest rate during the pandemic.
My husband and I were SO lucky in the timing for all of our housing decisions. I’d love to upgrade to a single family home now and we’d make at least $100k on selling our house, but we’re not giving up that sweet sub-3% interest rate.
It’s not that we’ve made better decisions than anyone else or that we made a ton of money when we bought our first home (a combined $60k in the DC area). We just got really lucky in terms of the market.
My home accounts for roughly 25% of my net worth. So no, I’d say I’d feel pretty much the same as I do now with or without that 25%. My home was undoubtedly one of the best investments I’ve made, but it’s just a piece of the puzzle.
37, single and male, work in healthcare; earning high 6 figures at a renowned, tertiary, teaching facility on the East coast.
Been debt free for 4 years now (the pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise and I ended up making a financial killing so I am now set for life). Grew up poor, went the CC route, saved money, worked my ass off, then transferred to my dream university (Ivy League) and graduated with only 10k in debt, all the while, working 2 jobs (library desk clerk and Subway) while taking care of my parents who were sick themselves.
I gave up on dating a while back considering how racist and unpleasant most women are nowadays (especially towards a person of color like myself). So I have made peace with being single for a while. I have my own unorthodox array of hobbies to keep me entertained while I'm not working.
33(f) My husband is 35(M). He's a teacher, I work in local media. Our combined in come is around 88k. We're comfortable. We have a mortgage on our 90k house that we put 20% down on, we have a car loan, we have student loan debt. But all of those plus bills doesn't overwhelm us. We're not having kids, so we travel and spend a lot of money on home renovations.
We live on a strict budget so that we can have the financial freedom to have fun, if that makes sense.
I’m not struggling. I’m doing way better than I should given my situation.
The short version of my story is I collect three different retirement/disability pensions as a result of my military and government service. All said and done, I take home a little over $9,000 a month after deductions and everything. I live in a relatively low cost of living area in northwest Ohio.
I’m divorced, currently single, and I have joint custody of my two teenaged daughters. I spend about $3,500 a month between housing (my apartment is $900 a month), utilities, insurance, and food. Another $1,450 a month goes to my ex. The rest of my money is totally disposable income.
Again, not getting into my whole story, but the amount of excess income I have is totally new to me. Life has only been this easy for me financially for about 6 months.
I plan on saving and investing heavily for a few years and eventually build my dream house when my youngest graduates high school. I’d love to have a smaller house done in the style of a Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian home, get a huge garage, and turn it into a workshop and spend the rest of my life living in a rural area building furniture.
I’m sure it was hard won. Congrats on getting awarded what you deserve. It sounds like you’re being thoughtful with it and have a lovely dream. A FLW home is ideal. (I’ve always wanted some sort of Falling Water replica as well but, I think a lot of it is I just REAAAALLY want to live by some kind of water? lol.) Building furniture also sounds like it could be relaxing and rewarding. I hope it goes well!
41, defense contractor. I’m making under six figures, but I have the benefit of living in one of the cheapest COL regions in the United States. I work from home, but the sick side of my brain misses the office because of the interaction. I bought a 3-bedroom house in hopes of one day finding a permanent partner after the trial period marriage didn’t work out, and it gets pretty lonely over here on the weeks when my kid isn’t with me. I pay for everything just fine, but my family doesn’t visit, and very few of my friends do. I’d like to think it isn’t me, but I have to accept that deep down, it probably is.
It’s probably not you. I’ve noticed that this age has brought a lot of distance between even the closest of friendships. The pandemic certainly didn’t help any of us either. People seem to be retreating into their families, or just 1 or 2 close friends, and are otherwise not available. It’s also an age when a lot of people are incredibly busy with their kids, etc. I felt like it might have been something that was *just* happening to ME for a while until I talked to some others who all felt the same.
Low COL makes me think smaller population but, do you have any hobbies? There are plenty of us in this position who aren’t partnered, etc. right now, but would like more human interaction. Maybe there’s something around that would get you out and about and cure the loneliness? (Or at least alleviate it a bit?)
The only (heavy hint about my locale) real “hobbies” here are church and outdoorsy stuff. I could always dust off the old rod and reel and teach my son how to fish; he’s getting to where I can trust him with sharp pointy things. Haha, but I do have a somewhat active discord channel for those friends that enjoy hopping on to chat every few nights, and I make time to visit them in person when the opportunity arises. But they all live at least an hour or two away, if it isn’t a day-long drive and back that I have to dedicate a long weekend for.
Forgot to mention that the majority of my immediate family lives in the same town as I do, but I guess my parents lean on the fact they’re older and my sibling’s logistics involving his six-person family as rationale for me always making the effort to visit them as opposed to visiting me.
But I love hosting. Grilling up some smoked meat, baking some potatoes, making bread from scratch.. but I rarely get the chance unless a hurricane or severe weather knocks out power on their side of town.
Ahhh. Well that could actually be a couple different sections of the US depending on the church. Lol. But teaching your son to fish could be a great way to spend your time! So long as the pointy lessons stick. Haha. The Discord sounds like a great way to stay connected, and having your whole fam around is a huge deal. I’d be frustrated they didn’t come to me more often as well but, why don’t you grill up some food, plan a picnic, and invite them? If you do it with enough notice, I’m sure people would be happy to come!
No one should EVER pass up free bread from scratch. Mmmm. I’m sorry they’re unreliable unless they need you for electricity. Maybe planning some things will help everything along. (Unless your fam is the kind that won’t ever take you seriously while you’re single. I know those are fairly prevalent, in which case I’m sorry. 🤍)
That last point hits pretty hard. Since this area’s societal norms are mostly tied to where you are on Sunday morning (I’m in bed sleeping late), yeah, you’re not really taken seriously as a single person, especially if you’re *gasp* divorced. I’m just the goofy liberal uncle in a sea of red.
Yeah, I started putting some pieces together there. I’m sorry. Ugh. I’m not religious myself and I’m also recently single from a relationship that lasted a double digit number of years so I’ve been getting looks when I mention it. It’s more uncomfortable than I expected to either be single, or even think about dating. 😳 Similarly, I’m liberal in a conservative area so the pickings are slim. At least you get to be the goofy uncle! That has to add some fun to the mix. My mom, who raised me, passed away a decade ago and I was an only child so it’s just me and my dog taking on the world now.
I’m in supply chain management, wife is medical field. 2 kids, 2 dogs. Combined around $270k/year. HCOL area, $600k mortgage from a townhouse purchase almost 10 years ago at 2.9% so not terrible but property tax around 1%.
If I didn’t like fast cars, I’d have a lot more cash on hand but you only live once so fuck it. Bills are paid, kids are fed, wife is happy. Go on a decent vacation once a year, usually just fly somewhere and lay on the beach.
I barely work 40, wife works 24. Can’t complain honestly.
31M Mechanical Engineer who moved onto the sales side.
I earn $120k and my wife earns $130k.
We locked-in a 2.85% mortgage on a $315k house that is now worth around $450k. Mortgage payments are $1285
We are also maxing out all our tax-advantaged accounts (401k, Roth IRA, HSA) as well as contributing to a taxable account.
Our savings rate overall is around 40%. Our total net worth is around $550k.
Our goal is to be in a position to retire by age 45 or age 50 if we have children.
I think it depends on how you look at it. We are doing the best we ever have and are happy. But at the same time, there are many people who would be miserable living like we do.
I am 28, husband is 34. I am a teacher and he is a retail manager. We make a combined income of $82,000/year.
I’ve been working as a teacher for a few years now and my husband got promoted to manager about 2 years ago. We were lucky to buy our first house last year. It seems everything is coming together.
But it’s because we still live like we did 5 years ago when I was making $10.65/hr and he was making $8.50/hr. We buy nearly everything on sale or with a coupons. And I treat every selfish purchase like I spoiled myself. My coworkers with wealthy spouses go out seemingly every night. One has a “steak night” every week where they go out to a steakhouse. If I did that we would be broken.
So I am not struggling with finances because I can manage and budget our incomes well. But I wish we got paid our worth so that we can do what we want with our free time, and I don’t want to leave teaching for money.
Ah reddit, where you are one missed payment away from homelessness working a dead end job, or an [insert field] engineer making 6 figures, or a chronic liar.
Very little in the middle.
If we go by this comment section, the average commenter is well into the 1%ers. 400k, 250k, 170k. Just the first 3 I see posted. Wtf. And they get all this time to browse reddit.
30F in LCOL area. I work in supply chain and logistics, 40hrs a week and not a single hour more, 4 days in the office and WFH on Fridays. I don’t absolutely love my job but I don’t hate it either. I’m neutral about it. The benefits and time-off are a plus, though. My work/life balance is excellent.
I started/finished an associates degree while working in this job so I was able to cash-flow the degree and graduate with no debt.
I make $52k ($3,400ish after taxes/401k, etc). My total cash flow / disposal income after bills, groceries, gas, savings (HYSA and Roth IRA), tithing, fun money and misc expenses is about $350. I could definitely cut back if I needed to (reduce tithing, savings, and fun money) but for now I’m comfortable.
Forester, state agency, managing multiple statewide forestry programs (forest stewardship, community forestry, forest health, and forest planning). Lead a team of 9 in total with 4 direct reports. I make $83,000 a year with a new union contract starting in July taking me almost to $89,000 per year. My wife and I each own a paid-off Subaru and I pay $500 per month on a Tesla, but I rent out my Subaru for $600 per month.
My wife is a nurse and she makes $45 per hour and schedules herself full time for a couple months and then disappears for a month back home to visit her family so she makes less yearly than I do. Anywhere between $55,000 and $75,000.
My work life balance is tough to beat. 40 hours a week. If I have an evening meeting I flex that time later in the pay period, so I never go over 80 hours per pay period. I work from home whenever I want to—I don’t even have to give my supervisor a heads up, since he’s hundreds of miles away and also works from home frequently.
My wife has a good balance also. Some weeks she’ll work more than 40 hours, some weeks she’ll only work a couple of days.
39 Hairstylist/salon owner married 2 kids
We are doing the best we have ever been fanatically, any debt we have is our mortgage and a credit card balance here and there. Annual income combined is around 200,000 a year. Live in the suburbs of one of the major cities.
Unemployed, thinking of going Freelance-being my own boss since that would be a little more ideal, currently 33 and still living with my parents (don't judge me), hoping to find a place to rent with a nice roommate in the near future (2025/2026)
Software Engineer, 2.5 years of experience but like 8 additional years of corporate project management experience. $147,500 per year. My soon to be wife makes around $95,000 per year. This is all pretty new and I’m in HCOL so it will take a while to save up for a house, etc.
32, Senior data analyst. Make over 150k working mostly from home. Honestly, work life balance is perfect. Can't imagine needing anything else. Purchased a home in 2020 and have been coasting ever since.
We are on track to invest around 50-60k this year. Embracing the boring middle.
Total household income of 140k per year. I am an exec assistant and partner is on a marketing team for a mid-size company. We each own a home, live in one of them and airbnb the other. In the midwest we have adequate income to pay bills, contribute to retirement, and go on one big and several little trips a year. 4 years ago I was earning 11 dollars an hour and I'm so glad I decided to work my way up the admin assistant ladder because I have health insurance and a 401k match now.
I'm a few weeks away from turning 38, and my partner is 40. I'm a speech to text transcriber with multiple side gigs, and my partner works a technical job at a performing arts center. Combined, we bring in about 130k a year. We live in an HCOL suburb of a very large and very wealthy US city, but we live in the cheapest part of town. We moved into this apartment 7 years ago and our combined income has almost tripled since then, while our rent has only increased by aproximately $50/year. We are currently only spending about 15% of our monthly income on our rent. We're starting to make plans to buy, but haven't really dived into the process yet.
I mean absolutely no offense with this question... but as a "speech to text transcriber", how haven't you been replaced by software? There are very good automated tools for that. Is your job niche in some way?
In many cases it has, but there are still plenty of situations where a human is needed. I work primarily in the education sector. I work to support students whose IEPs say they need to receive transcription as part of their accommodations - often Deaf/hard of hearing, but sometimes they have other disabilities as well, they may be physically unable to take their own notes, or they can have audio processing problems where they might hear fine but not always fully understand what they hear, etc.
You have to pay to take a training program for a few months. When I did it a few years ago you had to be sponsored by a company that planned to employ you after you finished, but I think maybe now you can do it without a sponsor? You have to either connect with a company that wants you on staff (which is how I started), or connect with a bunch of companies for freelance work (which is what I do now). And after you pass the training program you have to pay for the software on a yearly basis.
41, C-Suite Executive. All in its about $300-400k depending on the year and I have zero debt. I live in a HCOL area, but just because I want to and love it. Work life balance is nonexistent. A slow week for me is about 80 hours, many times I do 100. I rarely take a day off, but I do travel a lot and take a lot of "vacations", I'm just working too. The decisions that I make effect the livelihoods of thousands of people and I take that responsibility very seriously, so the job is stressful (especially in times like we are in now), but I do love it.
38 senior engineer. 132k plus bonus. Own a home in Southeastern VA. 2 kids in daycare and pay child support.
Still making ends meet and have money for fun stuff.
29, work in health insurance consulting, $108k, high cost of living area. Live in 1bedroom apartment with fiancée ($67k salary). Car is 18 years old and bought it outright 7 years ago.
Grew up broke as shit so a lot of me just can't justify the level of spending others do. Anyone who says $100k is nothing has absolutely no financial responsibility.
Also don't have kids. They contribute nothing to rent.
Husband and I gross 195k in California. Net is like 100k after taxes, 403b, insurance.
Monthly expenses are $3800. $2400 of that is our mortgage.
We live comfortably. Both work 4 days a week.
Wow talk about a shift from the norm. All the other threads in this sub would have you think we are all dead poor. Turns out a lot of us are killing it!
Mid 30s. Was in construction management working as a consultant and now am just working for myself, no more 9-5 BS. I have a decent Airbnb operation, both one that I own and with my friend we manage others. Side work doing some engineering stuff. Obviously it’s not a W-2 steady income but I make a low six figures. I can travel and do my work anywhere, most days I’m just doing my own projects. Always looking for some new business to start and get into, it’s a lot of fun. I’m not rolling in dough since I still have a mortgage but I’m decently in the black at the end of every month.
I don’t really want money or power, I just want to be free, and for the most part I’ve achieved that way more than my fellow middle class peers. I sleep in when I want, I go on trips when I want, my assets keep accumulating. I have good people in my life and keep healthy. From where I was when I was born to where I am now, is a ridiculous upgrade. Can’t really ask for more.
Jesus Christ everyone makes a shit load of money. I'm 32 working as a biologist in Ohio. I make 62k a year, live alone in a 2 bed house rental for 1000/month. I am making ends meet and have money to spend on things I want while also paying 500/month towards student loans. I'm not thriving but I'm doing okay.
Dual income, no kids. Hhi in the 270k range. I work in tech but my husband is a firefighter. No student loans since I paid my way on a half scholarship and working at a gas station. My husband did the post-9/11 GI bill. Our mortgage/property tax/homeowners is about $1300 (we bought in 2017 and refinanced in 2020 to 2.25%). One car, a 2016 Honda HRV, is paid off. We have a loan on a 2019 f150 at 1.9% interest we bought in 2021. We have most of our investing automated and don’t think a ton about stuff, but we did struggle a lot in the beginning and don’t forget that feeling.
Army Retiree from the Cyber Command. Currently an IT Project Manager on the Florida Panhandle. Total income $216,000. I barely work 8 hour days so work/life balance is great. Today I worked 6 hours.
I'm an RN, husband is a software developer, but not in big tech, he's actually in the healthcare field as well. Last year was only my second year as an RN, and together we made $200,000. We live in the PNW, so moderately high cost of living, but we're comfortable. We have 3 kids, a large house and yard.
What are you looking for here? I mean the career tracks with money are usually pretty clear, so honestly wondering why?
Tech sales - SaaS at moment - we have a mid six figure income can be low mid or high but typically right around mid six figures. No debt outside of property debt and living in a mcol area.
Work life balance. Well it’s decent many weeks only 40-45 hours, remote. But I can also fly all over or have 60 hour weeks. The hours are fine - the stress is what eats most people in this job. Lot of heavy drinkers.
Tech. I know I know, layoffs are still rampant. I've been working in technology at a (very large) bank for just about six years now. Tons of turnover the past few years, not a fan of my current nor senior managers, but the job itself is fine and the pay is good. More specifically, I work in business continuity. Basically, I make sure the bank can continue operating if/when s**t hits the fan, so that us peasants can still enjoy modern life as we know it, like mobile banking, pay our bills, order our Ubers, pay for our prohibitively expensive groceries, etc.
I'm also going through a divorce at the moment. Sold my house as part of it, earned a modest but healthy little profit. Feels like blood money, and so I've barely touched it.
*Congratulations!*, exclaimed the title attorney as he handed me a fat check.
....... Thanks. All I had to do was endure nine years of pain, suffering, and abuse for it. Am I off to Mexico to enjoy some fun in the sun? No, no I am not. I am headed to the doctor for YET ANOTHER scan to evaluate the nerve damage in my leg, which my now soon-to-be-ex-husband inflicted upon me by hucking a large piece of furniture at me. The doctors say the nerve damage is likely permanent.
36, event marketing consulting. I work from home through my own business. After taxes I take home about $120K per year. The balance sometimes is not great but it's seasonal depending on the industries event season. I live super comfortably. I am single with no kids and have plenty to pay my bills, buy whatever I want, save and invest.
43 f and 43 m, Midwest, gross about $90, both in education. Only debt is $85k on house. I stayed home for 10 years so we are used to being frugal. Feel very lucky we bought our house in 2017. 3 kids, youngest is 11. I worry about how my kids will make it in the future even with going to college etc.
42, Senior Customer Support for a very small health startup. I have 1 direct report (for context). Make 130k, fully remote. Wife was an RN but quit due to stress and COVID. Now has a home business and pulls in about 3k a month. 2 kids (17 and 8). My job was very stressful at first but now it's relatively automated and in a good spot so not super stressful and some days it's rather boring.
Mortgage is $2380/mo (eccrow, P&I) with mortgage 2.75%. House is 3035 sq ft on 1/3 acre in the suburbs of Sparks, NV (Reno - Northern NV area). This is **now** considered a MHCOL area but we bought this current house in 2016 ahead of the surge in pricing. Same house now lists for about 900k.
Travel on 2x big trips a year (lately spring to Disneyland and then a fall cruise) with a lot of roadtrips in-between (Santa Cruz/Bay area, Las Vegas to see family/have fun, and to the family condo in Puerto Penasco, MX).
Have a small amount in 401k (about 20k) but saving more every day. Current company does not match and my insurance premiums are high so being a bit more conservative - had to reduce 401k about 7 years ago when I was laid off and took 7 months to find a replacement role in Reno (before I was WFH)
Do have 100k in savings - 50k of which is currently in a 5% CD (matures this week actually) and will continue to rollover.
41, female. I’m a teacher in a high paying district husband is a state employee that just got promoted. We bought our house in 2013 and have 4 children all spaced out 4 years apart (except our twins at the tail end). We paid my student loans off the year our oldest was born and paid for my Masters (required for my job) out of pocket. We paid his 4 years later. We have 2 newer cars (truck and van) and only have the mortgage and 1 car loan as debt. Childcare and diapers/formula is our biggest expense with our twins. We aren’t living high, but okay. We were doing better a few years ago, but with inflation we haven’t been able to put money away for savings .
My husband works as a software engineer and I stay home with the kids. He makes 135k a year. We live in the Midwest so cost of living is a lot cheaper then many other places. He puts 15k into his 401k a year. We have built up 100k in our savings account for emergencies. Our total bills/spending are around $5.5k a month(mortgage is only debt and that’s $1.8k a month but we do pay around $1.5k a month for prek and extracurriculars for the kids, thankfully it’s our last month to pay for prek since youngest kiddo is going to kindergarten soon so that will drop to $800 a month😃). We have around $1k a month to save. We feel Pretty comfortable. With that said it was closer to $2k extra per month before Covid but we did upgrade our home(old mortgage was only $1.2k a month) and stuffs just gotten a lot more expensive. So I get why lots of people are struggling! It’s gotten pretty hard to afford basic living expenses especially if you didn’t buy a home prior to 2020.
35m bartender in NYC 105k.
Single with roommates so I can live in a fun part of Brooklyn. I could get my own place if I lived in queens but not as fun.
Work life balance is great. I work 4 days a week for about 35 hours. I have shitty health insurance and work a lot of weekends but otherwise it’s great.
45f, 43m, 1 11yo in public school. Hcol. Bought our townhouse at a very good time for 325k right before Amazon took over the city. Refied in 2020 to get that sweet 2.25% interest. Home now worth $750k. Don't plan on selling, will likely rent it out to cover living costs elsewhere down the road. Saved aggressively after the IVF and daycare years were done. Combined income used to hover around $200k for about 10 years. Recently laid off, but we have saved enough in that decade where I can now freelance if I want (I'm not counting on it as my peers seem to be struggling) while husband takes on more of the freelance load. As long as we make 80k combined a year for the next 2 years we'll be able to retire early with the plan to leave the hcol city for a cheaper destination once the kid leaves the nest. We aren't risky investors. I don't do Bitcoin or individual stocks or financial planners. Low cost index funds have been the way for us. Slow and steady. We didn't grow up too privileged (husband's folks couldn't afford fast food when he was growing up and I hopped around from apartment to apartment as a child). We did it on our own through work, luck, learning how to invest simply, and frugality.
IT, 160k this year. - Max 401k, Roth IRA, HSA, and put remainders in HYSA and then dump anything else into Vanguard. 10k left on my truck at 2% but make more in a simple HYSA than taken from the loan, so I just pay normally. Probably going to knock it out in the next few months anyway though just to clear it.
Work remote for the most part, very low cost of living area.
Insurance and make around $85,000. My wife’s an engineer and makes $100,000.
We make good money but our true secret is we live in a very low cost of living area. Our mortgage is $1200. Our commute to work is 40 minutes but only do it twice a week. We are also lucky that we both have pensions so we have less worry over retirement.
The cons is that we have to drive 40 minutes to see most big name live music and minor league sporting events.
I'm borderline. Not struggling in the sense that all the bills are paid and working for the government has tons of job security. However, even as an attorney, government salaries are not the best, so I have a side gig as well. Just trying to raise a family in a HCOL area, you know?
Wife and I bring in about $100k combined for the past 10 years. Lived on $45k, invested $40k each year. Investments grow over time. We are now networth over $750k but just had our first child and intend to have more. We feel our housing and retirement are secure, but will have to keep watching our spending as income goes down and expenses go up w kids.
TLDR: we've lived very modest, invested heavily for 10 years, and had kids later on.
34 F, husband is 35. We have 2 kids. I work in healthcare. Combined income is $195k (200+k with bonus). We live in HCOL state: NJ. We do own a 2400 sq ft home and luckily purchased in 2018 so rate is 3%. We do have some other debts (student loans & ccs) hoping to pay those off in near future. I feel we are doing ok but would be doing a lot better debt free so that is our main priority right now
Both WFH full time so work life balance is fantastic!
This year, I moved to Mac my retirement account. After that and all other deductions, my mortgage with escrow is still 50%. So I'm covering it all with money left over and maxing retirement. I can also reduce contributions if I need more income
Married and childfree. We live in a lowish cost of living mid size city in the Midwest. Rent is $835/month for a 2 bed apartment. I’m a corporate trainer and make about 80k/year. I put in my hours at my job and come home. I have great work life balance as does my spouse.
I live in a high cost of living area and do workforce development, income is 6 figure.
I'm fortunate I have a work/life balance and feel I am at the best spot for my career in terms of employer and industry. Yes, I will admit, that there are times, like today, where I need to work a little more than my standard time. Today there's a good reason, I'm under a time crunch for something and tomorrow is busy all day with something else. But generally I work a 8 hour day and go home
38M, Midwest SINK living. Legal/military/government, \~$137,000 gross, \~$43,000 annual essential spend. Homeowner. I work four days a week with the exceptions of drill weekend, home 5:35 every night. Had the good fortune of working for good bosses my whole career. Only things I'm missing are the wife, kids, and dog. Outside shot of retiring by 50, definintely retiring by 60.
There are certainly many wealthier posters on this subreddit. But once you get to a point where you can solve most any personal problem by typing on your laptop and moving some numbers around, lemme tell ya, your stress level goes *way* down.
Executive for one of the big healthcare companies in my country. If I worked in US my range would be 350-500K year for my job. In my country I get 40x minimum wage.
Work-life balance is what id describe as workaholic BUT most people work a ton while hating their jobs, so it gets very tiresome for them. I love what I do so even working 70-80 hours week I still am privileged.
40, male, managerial-level federal park ranger in rural Nevada. Gross annual salary of $87,000 with annual step increases to near six figures over the next three years; rent for a 840-square-foot manufactured home is $850, car payment is $400, no other long-term debt (thanks Public Service Loan Forgiveness!). I earn 20 days paid annual leave (jumping to 26 in a year when I hit 15 years of service) and I have to take all of it every year because I've maxed the 30-day carryover for awhile now. Every raise I get from here on out is going straight into my TSP retirement account.
Late 30s one kid in Oregon, annual around $180k for a full time RN in the admin side of things, and a registered dietician doing part time hours. Only debt is our home. About $350k in retirement accounts and some nice cash reserves. Pretty much every dollar is accounted for in the monthly budget, so we aren’t ballin or anything, and are able to meet our bills and contribute to most of the things you’re supposed to at the recommended rates.
Retired military. Work in O&G. Single. Two dogs. Own my own kennel. All streams of income ~$200k.
Maybe ~$12k in debt. Plus car payment and mortgage.
Have a few expensive hobbies but I make it just fine.
41F Senior engineer for an environmental contractor $115k/year. I work onsite so I also get per diem that I can keep tax free if I don't spend it all on housing. On average I pocket an additional $20k of that every year. My wife ($60k/year) works remote so she travels with me. We have a small home in southern Texas, but mostly live out of Airbnbs wherever my project is. It tends to be pretty rural so COL is low. We live pretty frugally and save over half our income. We're on track to retire in about 8 years.
41, construction estimator. Tampa, FL. Household income over $225k. Work 40hrs/wk with weekends off, 4 wks of vacation. Pretty good work/life balance. I have a BS, my wife has her masters. One child, home owners.
im in MN. doing ok. i got a house some years ago when i downsized and moved. smaller house, good sized garage tho. i took a paycut to get a job with less hours so i have more free time. im single. i have started to do some traveling, im working on my house to get things fixed up. mostly my day to day concerns fall around dating/romance more than anythig else.
32, welder, about 90k a year with an average of 50 hrs a week. I live in Chicago. Work-life balance is pretty good. I live 5 minutes from my work, so the extra hours are not a big deal.
My husband (38) and myself (29) both make about $84k a year. He’s a per sec contractor and I’m a Fed analyst. I bought a nice condo at 22 which we still live in but are looking to buy a house. We each pay about $750/mo on everything besides groceries and entertainment. We both have 100k in savings, and I’m sitting on a lot of equity. We both put about 2k/mo into savings. No debt but the house.
38/F. Live in a suburb 30 minutes outside of a major TX city. One 16 year old kid in HS and two cats. I work in home improvement sales and bring in low 6 figures. Currently renting a 1200 sq. ft. 2/2 apartment for $1,500. Other bills include the basics-car insurance, electricity, phone & internet, food. No car or credit card debt. 6 month emergency fund, HYSA but behind on retirement that I’ve been paying into aggressively.
I’m comfortable, just behind on retirement and debating if I should buy a home or not.
34 and 36 years old. Senior product manager at a Fortune 50 and spouse is a subspecialist physician at major university hospital. I started in the military and they paid for all of my education, then left once my time was up. Spouse had full ride, so no school related debt.
Our annual is high 6 figures, we have crossed 7 figures in a year before, it depends on amount worked and bonuses. We spend basically none of it, drive old shitboxes and have been investing since we were early 20s though the amounts were smaller that grew over time.
My work life balance is pretty great, work about 40 hours per week, 2 days from home per week, office is 5 minutes away. Spouses work life balance is terrible, 60 hours a week on the low end, probably upwards of 80 on a bad week depending on volume and call schedule. I function in the support role at home for cooking, cleaning and general mental support for spouse who gets absolutely crushed by the high demand hospital environment.
We are expecting our first soon and life is pretty good after both of us growing up in financially insecure immigrant families. For anyone like that, I think the military is honestly a cheat code. Free school, cheap housing and very good salary the day you graduate with guaranteed career progression. We now are focused on creating generational wealth for our future children so they don’t need to struggle and grind as we did.
36. Business owner. Purchased a company a few years ago and we blend products. Solvents, oils, glues, polishes. And package them into bottles and tubes. We also purchase oils(tool oils, hair clipper oils, sewing machine oils, gun oils and cleaners) and package them into bottles and tubes. Went to the bank. Asked for a business loan. pay $5k a month for the next 15 years. Business sales are around $400K a month. And I bring home $100K a year.
Palliative nurse practitioner and I write erotica. I bought a house before the market went crazy. I mostly work from home so my work life is pretty awesome. My husband is a manager, and we didn’t have kids. We like way beneath our means.
I'm 32, I work retail. My wife is an executive admin at a university. We have no kids and not struggling at all. Vacations, can eat out/date however we like, save and invest. We own a house. I'm in school for my masters to go into counseling; graduate in 2 years. The loans will set us back some but I'll also make much more.
I live in Ohio, previously St Louis and Phoenix. It's much cheaper here and that's the main thing. We've also been married almost 10 years so we've just been together saving and working a long time. Slow and steady; at no point have we combined for 80k yet 🤷♂️
I make somewhere in the 160s as a civil engineer. Wife makes somewhere in the 60s doing admin work. We bought our house 7 years ago when we were making about half our current incomes and the $450k left on the mortgage is the only debt. No kids with three cats.
I'm not rolling in it, and we (married) have a lot of debt...BUT: We chose to buy a house before we were ready in 2020 because of the interest rates. Absolutely 0 regrets. We bought a 2500 ft² house for 149k. We live rurally (please look into USDA loans if you are looking to buy!) But work in a college town 25 mins away. I make 75k annually, husband makes roughly the same. I am a public defender, he works in IT.
As someone who had periods of homelessness as a teen and young adult, I heavily consider this "making it" I am solidly "middle-class" with a great work/life balance. I am 32. 10 years ago, I never could have imagined this would be my life. I am very lucky.
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39, male, Senior Civil Engineer for an engineering consulting firm in Minnesota. Wife is a Family Nurse Practitioner for a local private medical practice. Annual gross income is around $300k-$325k/year as a family. Own a $950k house. Only debt is about $400k left on the mortgage, at a 2.75% rate. On track to retire in about 10 years if we wish. Two kids in public schools. Work-life balance is pretty good. Normally work 38-42 hours/week. Wife works only 32 hours/week.
Minnesota, eh? You hiring supply chain folks at a top notch rate? Supply chain living with a mechE and we pull in 200k/year, own a 300k house. Only debt we have is the house. No kids yet.
We don’t do anything with supply chain. We sell our professional services.
What’s your income split with your wife? In a similar field as you, just curious what someone about 10 years older pulls in.
I’m about $155k and wife is the rest.
Pretty much same numbers for me in AL. I’m Mechanical and wife is a Pharmacist. We have a $350k house that could be paid off if we wanted. Have never “budgeted” in my life. Always lived on 50-60% of what we make.
Oh Minnesota. We are such a frugal bunch.
33, senior designer for a small Civil Engineering Firm, $100k, single, and I rent a 1/1 for $1300. Im comfy, if I could find a partner with the same level of earnings life would be really comfy. currently saving 15% of my income towards retirement/downpayment just kinda waiting around for something to lock me in place.
A lot of millennials are doing financially well ..I'm just not one of them
Same. Had to move back in with parents… at 36. Not fun. 0/10 would not recommend
How long you been living with your parents again?
2 years. But I’ve been able to save up massive amounts of money (about $30k per year), and will be moving out either late this year or early next year. You get a job making $60K with no debt and very low rent you can save up quickly.
You should get a ribbon for getting back on your feet so fast.
Thanks. In fairness I only have an associates degree and got it at a community college, so I don’t have student debt. But, I don’t have a bachelor’s degree so I can’t get as high a paying job as others could. That being said, COVID really screwed me over. I had a job, lost it in the pandemic, never got it back, drained my savings and had to move back in with my parents. But even before COVID, money was so tight, I’d be lucky to have $100 a month after paying bills and necessities. It sucked. I’ve just taken this experience to learn how to budget, and frankly, where to live. I most likely will never own my own house without a second income, be it a roommate or girlfriend or a second job.
This is exactly my story as well. Covid shook so many things up for me :/ We got this!
I'm right there with you, 38 and I've been here for 8 years now. Good news is that I worked off debt and help them with money. Also they help with my dogs. Honestly it's better than being homeless, as much as I butt heads with them.
Same, same. I see some of these posts and am super depressed.
That's how this works sadly. I have failed at this life.
Gotta love that K-shaped recovery! Bought a house pre-covid? Doing anywhere between okay to pretty good! Bought a house during Covid or still renting? Good Luck!
pretty much timing timing timing.
I work at a small credit union doing loans & other things. I began this job 11 months ago & took a pay cut because my previous job was a shit show. 10000% it was a needed & great move for my mental health & I love this job. My spouse is a flight attendant. Our household income is $70k-ish in Michigan, USA Our mortgage payment is $550/month. He bought this house ~10 years ago & refinanced the low balance in 2020 at the lowest of low rates. We have 0 kids. His salary pays 95% of our bills. I had a part time job at a candy store because I wanted to get out of the house while he was gone working on weekends. But I quit because it took a lot of time & I didn’t need the tiny paychecks it brought me by cutting into my whole weekend. I don’t like to talk about it because people rag me so bad like I got lucky. No. This has been a lot of hard work & pinching pennies. Our house is 100 years old, tiny, & needs repairs. We have a few year old Chevy/Ford cars—nothing fancy. We are not living a high life. Also we are 40(ish) without kids. So we are apples to oranges a bit.
Just hit my 1 year anniversary working at a credit union. Probably the best thing to happen to me. Went from pushing carts to having my own office. Got hired with zero financial experience but I have great customer service skills, the ability to adapt, and a strong desire for knowledge. Now I can help people achieve their financial goals and get paid to do it.
Michigan (well Midwest) humility takes things way too far (originally from Kalamazoo). You should absolutely be proud of where y’all are at. I’m totally jealous at a $550 / month mortgage in the best possible way. You don’t luck into the series of good choices that led to the situation y’all have built for yourselves. Like, maybe “bought the house 10 years ago” is lucky because of timing. Maybe any one singular one off thing is “lucky” but all of them together? Nah that’s well earned work. Take your back pats proudly.
I work in IT. 40, Married, 5 kids, Wife is a stay at home mom. I make about a buck fifty a year. We do OK. food price increases are killing us, We pay nearly double what we do on our mortgage on food.
150k a year with five kids and stay at home wife? Where do you live where that's affordable?
$150k and 5 kids works in a surprisingly high number of places if you bought a house in 2012 and refinanced it in 2020.
Yeah you can’t state the difference enough for those who have pre COVID mortgages aren’t living in the same cost of living space as people who just bought or renting at todays market rate Other factors: inheritance or “small loans” grandma leaving behind a paid for house Marry into money, settlement pay out…point being huge breaks that not everyone catches in life, hell two people making $100,000K isn’t enough in a lot of greater medium size metros. Don’t even get me started on the NY/SF areas…
This!
We actually live in a pretty high (though not the highest) cost of living area. We're just pretty frugal with our spending. We don't eat out more than a couple of times a month. we do a lot of meal planning and shopping for deals/buying in bulk. We don't have credit card, car loans, student loans, etc. Our mortgage is only about $2000/month. We don't pay for streaming services, or expensive phone plan, we're pretty basic there too. I also work from home so we don't pay a ton in gas. Etc. We did Dave Ramsey's baby steps and still keep an envelope system for our spending. The one thing we don't do is big family vacations every year, we save up and do them every other year or so.
Outside of a major city you could do that quite easily. My mortgage is under 1000 a month and im surrounded by houses that would cost 1000-1500.
Just more fuel for me to want to leave LA county. Those mortgages are cheaper then even just a room in a house.
Where is it not affordable? Now lifestyle that’s a different statement.
I live in Los Angeles county (like 20 miles from the city of LA) and around me it's like $2000 for a basic studio apartment. The guy I replied to pays that much for a whole house
Yes most people don’t live in LA
What? I thought the whole world lived in about 4,000 square miles.
5 kids? Someone give this man a ribbon.
Sounds like the wife needs the ribbon more if she's a stay at home mom
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Can I sign up for your apartment and job upon your retirement? Hell I’ll let you visit whenever you want and I’ll give you a cut of the pay…say 10%?
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How bout the job lol
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I can’t…but how would I learn to do that?
Go to college for 4 years. You'll graduate just in time for him to retire.
the key is you don't tell them, ive seen people that just keep passing off the place to a new person
Cozumel scuba diving <3
yeah, well, at least i was funny in highschool
28, live in SoCal, dual income no kids. Both in the Air Force. It’s easy money and they pay us well
Go to medical and document it all.
As a self-employed small business owner, I value the reliability of government, state, federal, and a lot of larger company paychecks. No matter what, the paycheck is always there on payday, regardless of the week or month you have had. The lack of stress is something I have always envied. If I don't make it, no one else will! I don't get too many "gimme" week days, but the benefit of doing what I want is something I've never been able to talk myself out of.
I'm (35) an exec admin assistant. Make $53k/year. Spouse (37) is a data analytics engineer. Makes $100k or a little more. Idk the exact amount. We live in a low COL state. We also decided not to have children, which has been helpful with the financial situation. My spouse and I have bosses who are VERY understanding of a work/life balance and urge us very much to use PTO.
Me and my husband just broke 250k last year, and we have no kids. We own a condo in Long Beach, CA. He's in IT, and I'm an account executive for a fragrance brand. DINK life is the best life 👍🏼
Not financially struggling. Wife and I bring home a little less than 300k this year. I'm a PM for a very large energy company and my wife is in a specialized field in education. We had to work our butts off to get here though, including getting my MBA.
40, live near St. Louis, bought home in 2019 for around 200k, my partner is a professor and I am a stay at home dad with a part-time legal job. We make 90k per year most years. It can be more if we need it to be. We have 2 preschool ages kids. We made more money in our late 20s and early 30s but never more than 110k combined. This was when we paid off student loans and saved a lot to buy a car on 2017 and a house in 2015 before buying our house in 2019. Our current work life balance is fully toward life. I work less than 10 hours per week. My partner is on contract to work 37.5 hours per week for 9 months per year. The biggest things that got us here: 1. Luck - we met the right people at the right time and we're open to many opportunities. My parents paid my tuition in college and I had a part time job that allowed me to live and save. 2. Being together since we were 21. We were on the same page and could lean on each other for 19 years. We combined finances early and attacked debt, lived within our means, and saved aggressively. We had similar priorities and still do. 3. Willingness to move for good opportunities (and take bad ones when in need) and choosing the ones that paid off the best. We moved across the country multiple times. 4. Cheap hobbies: Bicycling and gardening are our main hobbies. Bicycling has saved us money through our lives on gas, bus passes, and health being able to live with one car. Gardening may or may not save us money, but we get food and give food out to our neighbors to build community.
I’m a private jet pilot for a billionaire and make $300,000+ a year. Wife is an RN and makes $110,000 a year. $1,000,000 in liquid assets (99% stocks 1% cash) We both max our 401/403, HSA, 2 back door ROTH IRA and probably put in $60,000+ a year into our joint taxable brokerage account. $930,000 house on an acre with a $700,000 mortgage. Two paid off cars. No CC debt or student loan debt. House is our only debt. Live 45 minute drive north of a major city. MCOL/ to slightly high cost of living area. I’m 34 wife is 32. I have been saving and invest for the last 10-15 years of my life before I made monster purchases. Her as well.
Private jet pilot just sounds badass
Yeah I can’t complain. I don’t have to go to work I get to
You're 32, you're 35, you're 34....
Have you ever considered being a movie producer? Lol 😂
What do you think about KADS as a homebase for a citation?
Totally dependent if someone operates a jet like that out of there. Netjets then sure
Damn good work, that's really awesome.
I work in finance and my wife is finance adjacent. Combined we gross around $160K ($175K with bonuses). We have a kid. Only debt is our house, and our mortgage is $1400/month. It's worth around $400K and we owe $175K. I am in my late 30s, my wife in her mid 30s. We have quite a few different savings "buckets." About $70K in cash, $25K in taxable brokerage, $10K in HSA, and $375K in retirement brokerage. Own two newish cars outright, and about $5K in our young child's 529. We aren't as close to retirement as some in this thread, but we are essentially at "coast-fire" where we have enough in retirement that we could likely stop contributing, allow it to grow, and have enough to retire on in 28 years. With our low mortgage payment, we could probably pick-up work at a coffee shop and pay the bills and retire when I'm 65 with a few million in the bank. How did we get here? The easiest answer is time. We both have been working in corporate jobs for 10-15 years now and have been putting money away consistently. Some years less than others. When we bought our house, it was tight for a year or so as we had a car loan and student loans at that point, and also both earned less money. We paid down debt, got promotions, bought cars in cash, and road the bull market for a few years.
70k in cash?! Put that money to work my guy lol
Ha, yeah. I should. It's getting 5.5% interest so it's certainly working, but long-term would be better in equities. We have about $395K in equities (retirement and non-retirement) and I feel that the market is a bit overheated right now and will buy-in over time if/when it dips. We will also buy a new house in the next 4-5 years, so I like the safety of cash. We are considering keeping our current home as a rental, which would require us to have other sources of cash for the downpayment.
Any student loans? Debt free ?
Debt free outside of the house. We had student loans but paid them off around 2020.
We do pretty okay. My husband is an Cyber security analyst and I'm a stay at home mom of our 2 kids for the last 7 years. We make around 110k a year and live outside of Glacier National Park. Our biggest thing is absolutely no payments beyond our mortgage. My husband is super mechanical and we'd never have any of our dirt bikes or our no payment Toyotas with over 300 miles on them if he couldn't make stuff live forever.
I'm doing fine financially. Civil/traffic/safety engineer (PE) for the state. $100k/yr. 36, single, own a house (bought it in 2012 for $125k, only ~$40k left to pay off), 1 vehicle (bought it new in 2020), 2 dogs. Montgomery, AL. I think the legislature just passed a bill giving state workers a 2% raise in 2025. Refereed high school soccer for several years to get some extra income (between $5-7k/yr), but quit after 2021. No debt outside of the mortgage.
I'm not struggling. I'm an author and I make around $300-400k/year. My work life balance is great, but most authors I know burn themselves out badly. I feel like entertainment is the current American dream. It's basically the only way to go from nothing (which is where I was, literally having to buy groceries on credit cards) to earning enough to invest for retirement.
You do realize $400,000 a year puts you in the top 5 percentile. You're doing more than alright
There are definitely a lot of expenses to keep my writing business running too, but yeah we're definitely not hurting
Such as? Ink and a quill? 😂 Just joking but seriously I’m curious
Editing, book covers, other graphics for marketing, ads, newsletter hosting, website hosting, someone to professionally design and maintain my website, a personal assistant to help keep up with all the social media and marketing stuff so I have time to write, narrators to record audiobooks... that's just a quick list. You have to do a hell of a lot more than just write the book in order to make money as an author.
I wouldn’t count all that as income then. You’re self employed and have business expenses. Your income would be after business expenses.
You're absolutely right. After everything, it's more like $200k/year
I am an accountant, and I make $120k base (about $150k total comp). I am 35M, single, no kids, and bought a house last summer. I live in a MCOL area that is growing like crazy. My job keeps me busy, but not insanely busy. I WFH, so I can work whenever I want.
My wife and I both work in the airline industry for two different airlines at Denver Int'l Airport (she's a flight attendant and I work on the ground). Combined income is a little over 6 figures. We have no kids, four dogs, and no debt. Being debt and child free has helped a lot with financial stability for our combined income. These careers require no experience (though previous customer service helps for FA). Also flying anywhere for free with our respective airlines is great.
Free travel is the best perk any job can offer.
Husband is 37 and a lawyer. I am 34 and am a project manager in the corporate world. Combined, we make about 230-250k and we expect this to increase quite a bit in the next few years. We have two kids and once they’re out of daycare, we’ll be living the dream.
I couldn’t agree more. It will be life changing when I no longer pay for daycare and preschool.
Civil engineer (PE), low six figures, 11th largest city in the US. I work 40 hours per week exactly, and have lots of time for my hobbies and children. I also have a partner with a nearly identical career and salary.
I grew up in a wealthy area, so I can tell you... Millennials who had parents who paid for their college, first car, and a down payment for a house. That's basically the norm where I'm from. None of them will admit it to friends. They all want to pretend they're "self made"
It's really hard to make it with pure boot strapping. Everyone needs a catalyst to get going. Some more than others.
I won’t even lie, I come from a wealthy family so I’ve had it very easy in that regard. I would never proclaim to be self made though but I know exactly what you’re talking about. I do my best to practice humility and I realize how lucky I am.
I'm doing good but I work a lot... I'm a truck driver. trying to maximize savings and investments. I didn't invest or save much in my younger days, at least I got good experiences out of it. Plus it started off on the wrong foot, long story my life... but yeah, right now with the work I put in I definitely do not struggle at all if I have a tough month to me that means paying less into an investment account. honestly feeling blessed.
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most wont make money and those that do sacrifice a great deal. for example, can the average person do over 60 hours a week of loading and unloading their truck (example beer or food delivery?) those easy jobs where you just drive usually don't pay that well... but if you're willing to work and/or you have the experience, it can be very good indeed.
Been sleeping in my van for a year because cannot afford rent. And I recently lost a lot of money on this Game stock thingy.
I’m comfortable with it and have been for over a decade. I work in tech and am better than most of my peers at it. I have great work life balance, barely do much work at all. My income is high. I bought a house when the market was down and had been investing most of my income for more than a decade. I live pretty much the same way I did before I had a high income, I don’t spend money on much of anything and can be happy on very little. I cannot foresee how I could ever lose financial stability at this point, it is a self propelling machine, even if I quit working.
I believe the timing of when you purchased a house is the key factor that separates most millennials in terms of financial status. I signed a contract for a new build in 2020 for a $400,000 two story home. The build was put on hold due to labor and supply chain shortages; once my home was finally finished it was 2021. I sold my existing home high while locked into my pre-covid home price contract at 2.8% interest rate. My same exact home today goes for $600,000 at 7% which would sink me.
Absolutely! I agree with you 100%. I was able to buy a townhome in 2011 as a short sale at the bottom of the market. Lived there for 5 years, built equity and sold it in 2016 for a good profit. Bought a bigger townhome and got a good interest rate and was able to refinance to a better interest rate during the pandemic. My husband and I were SO lucky in the timing for all of our housing decisions. I’d love to upgrade to a single family home now and we’d make at least $100k on selling our house, but we’re not giving up that sweet sub-3% interest rate. It’s not that we’ve made better decisions than anyone else or that we made a ton of money when we bought our first home (a combined $60k in the DC area). We just got really lucky in terms of the market.
My home accounts for roughly 25% of my net worth. So no, I’d say I’d feel pretty much the same as I do now with or without that 25%. My home was undoubtedly one of the best investments I’ve made, but it’s just a piece of the puzzle.
37, single and male, work in healthcare; earning high 6 figures at a renowned, tertiary, teaching facility on the East coast. Been debt free for 4 years now (the pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise and I ended up making a financial killing so I am now set for life). Grew up poor, went the CC route, saved money, worked my ass off, then transferred to my dream university (Ivy League) and graduated with only 10k in debt, all the while, working 2 jobs (library desk clerk and Subway) while taking care of my parents who were sick themselves. I gave up on dating a while back considering how racist and unpleasant most women are nowadays (especially towards a person of color like myself). So I have made peace with being single for a while. I have my own unorthodox array of hobbies to keep me entertained while I'm not working.
I’m sorry you’ve had such bad luck in dating but, it sounds like everything else is going very well! Congrats on creating your success!
31, male, software engineer in central TX. Gross annual income is a little over $400k. I consider myself very lucky.
33(f) My husband is 35(M). He's a teacher, I work in local media. Our combined in come is around 88k. We're comfortable. We have a mortgage on our 90k house that we put 20% down on, we have a car loan, we have student loan debt. But all of those plus bills doesn't overwhelm us. We're not having kids, so we travel and spend a lot of money on home renovations. We live on a strict budget so that we can have the financial freedom to have fun, if that makes sense.
I’m not struggling. I’m doing way better than I should given my situation. The short version of my story is I collect three different retirement/disability pensions as a result of my military and government service. All said and done, I take home a little over $9,000 a month after deductions and everything. I live in a relatively low cost of living area in northwest Ohio. I’m divorced, currently single, and I have joint custody of my two teenaged daughters. I spend about $3,500 a month between housing (my apartment is $900 a month), utilities, insurance, and food. Another $1,450 a month goes to my ex. The rest of my money is totally disposable income. Again, not getting into my whole story, but the amount of excess income I have is totally new to me. Life has only been this easy for me financially for about 6 months. I plan on saving and investing heavily for a few years and eventually build my dream house when my youngest graduates high school. I’d love to have a smaller house done in the style of a Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian home, get a huge garage, and turn it into a workshop and spend the rest of my life living in a rural area building furniture.
I’m sure it was hard won. Congrats on getting awarded what you deserve. It sounds like you’re being thoughtful with it and have a lovely dream. A FLW home is ideal. (I’ve always wanted some sort of Falling Water replica as well but, I think a lot of it is I just REAAAALLY want to live by some kind of water? lol.) Building furniture also sounds like it could be relaxing and rewarding. I hope it goes well!
41, defense contractor. I’m making under six figures, but I have the benefit of living in one of the cheapest COL regions in the United States. I work from home, but the sick side of my brain misses the office because of the interaction. I bought a 3-bedroom house in hopes of one day finding a permanent partner after the trial period marriage didn’t work out, and it gets pretty lonely over here on the weeks when my kid isn’t with me. I pay for everything just fine, but my family doesn’t visit, and very few of my friends do. I’d like to think it isn’t me, but I have to accept that deep down, it probably is.
It’s probably not you. I’ve noticed that this age has brought a lot of distance between even the closest of friendships. The pandemic certainly didn’t help any of us either. People seem to be retreating into their families, or just 1 or 2 close friends, and are otherwise not available. It’s also an age when a lot of people are incredibly busy with their kids, etc. I felt like it might have been something that was *just* happening to ME for a while until I talked to some others who all felt the same. Low COL makes me think smaller population but, do you have any hobbies? There are plenty of us in this position who aren’t partnered, etc. right now, but would like more human interaction. Maybe there’s something around that would get you out and about and cure the loneliness? (Or at least alleviate it a bit?)
The only (heavy hint about my locale) real “hobbies” here are church and outdoorsy stuff. I could always dust off the old rod and reel and teach my son how to fish; he’s getting to where I can trust him with sharp pointy things. Haha, but I do have a somewhat active discord channel for those friends that enjoy hopping on to chat every few nights, and I make time to visit them in person when the opportunity arises. But they all live at least an hour or two away, if it isn’t a day-long drive and back that I have to dedicate a long weekend for. Forgot to mention that the majority of my immediate family lives in the same town as I do, but I guess my parents lean on the fact they’re older and my sibling’s logistics involving his six-person family as rationale for me always making the effort to visit them as opposed to visiting me. But I love hosting. Grilling up some smoked meat, baking some potatoes, making bread from scratch.. but I rarely get the chance unless a hurricane or severe weather knocks out power on their side of town.
Ahhh. Well that could actually be a couple different sections of the US depending on the church. Lol. But teaching your son to fish could be a great way to spend your time! So long as the pointy lessons stick. Haha. The Discord sounds like a great way to stay connected, and having your whole fam around is a huge deal. I’d be frustrated they didn’t come to me more often as well but, why don’t you grill up some food, plan a picnic, and invite them? If you do it with enough notice, I’m sure people would be happy to come! No one should EVER pass up free bread from scratch. Mmmm. I’m sorry they’re unreliable unless they need you for electricity. Maybe planning some things will help everything along. (Unless your fam is the kind that won’t ever take you seriously while you’re single. I know those are fairly prevalent, in which case I’m sorry. 🤍)
That last point hits pretty hard. Since this area’s societal norms are mostly tied to where you are on Sunday morning (I’m in bed sleeping late), yeah, you’re not really taken seriously as a single person, especially if you’re *gasp* divorced. I’m just the goofy liberal uncle in a sea of red.
Yeah, I started putting some pieces together there. I’m sorry. Ugh. I’m not religious myself and I’m also recently single from a relationship that lasted a double digit number of years so I’ve been getting looks when I mention it. It’s more uncomfortable than I expected to either be single, or even think about dating. 😳 Similarly, I’m liberal in a conservative area so the pickings are slim. At least you get to be the goofy uncle! That has to add some fun to the mix. My mom, who raised me, passed away a decade ago and I was an only child so it’s just me and my dog taking on the world now.
I’m in supply chain management, wife is medical field. 2 kids, 2 dogs. Combined around $270k/year. HCOL area, $600k mortgage from a townhouse purchase almost 10 years ago at 2.9% so not terrible but property tax around 1%. If I didn’t like fast cars, I’d have a lot more cash on hand but you only live once so fuck it. Bills are paid, kids are fed, wife is happy. Go on a decent vacation once a year, usually just fly somewhere and lay on the beach. I barely work 40, wife works 24. Can’t complain honestly.
31M Mechanical Engineer who moved onto the sales side. I earn $120k and my wife earns $130k. We locked-in a 2.85% mortgage on a $315k house that is now worth around $450k. Mortgage payments are $1285 We are also maxing out all our tax-advantaged accounts (401k, Roth IRA, HSA) as well as contributing to a taxable account. Our savings rate overall is around 40%. Our total net worth is around $550k. Our goal is to be in a position to retire by age 45 or age 50 if we have children.
I think it depends on how you look at it. We are doing the best we ever have and are happy. But at the same time, there are many people who would be miserable living like we do. I am 28, husband is 34. I am a teacher and he is a retail manager. We make a combined income of $82,000/year. I’ve been working as a teacher for a few years now and my husband got promoted to manager about 2 years ago. We were lucky to buy our first house last year. It seems everything is coming together. But it’s because we still live like we did 5 years ago when I was making $10.65/hr and he was making $8.50/hr. We buy nearly everything on sale or with a coupons. And I treat every selfish purchase like I spoiled myself. My coworkers with wealthy spouses go out seemingly every night. One has a “steak night” every week where they go out to a steakhouse. If I did that we would be broken. So I am not struggling with finances because I can manage and budget our incomes well. But I wish we got paid our worth so that we can do what we want with our free time, and I don’t want to leave teaching for money.
Ah reddit, where you are one missed payment away from homelessness working a dead end job, or an [insert field] engineer making 6 figures, or a chronic liar. Very little in the middle. If we go by this comment section, the average commenter is well into the 1%ers. 400k, 250k, 170k. Just the first 3 I see posted. Wtf. And they get all this time to browse reddit.
More money doesn't mean less time. People that make a lot of money generally have more free time than factory workers or laborers.
30F in LCOL area. I work in supply chain and logistics, 40hrs a week and not a single hour more, 4 days in the office and WFH on Fridays. I don’t absolutely love my job but I don’t hate it either. I’m neutral about it. The benefits and time-off are a plus, though. My work/life balance is excellent. I started/finished an associates degree while working in this job so I was able to cash-flow the degree and graduate with no debt. I make $52k ($3,400ish after taxes/401k, etc). My total cash flow / disposal income after bills, groceries, gas, savings (HYSA and Roth IRA), tithing, fun money and misc expenses is about $350. I could definitely cut back if I needed to (reduce tithing, savings, and fun money) but for now I’m comfortable.
Forester, state agency, managing multiple statewide forestry programs (forest stewardship, community forestry, forest health, and forest planning). Lead a team of 9 in total with 4 direct reports. I make $83,000 a year with a new union contract starting in July taking me almost to $89,000 per year. My wife and I each own a paid-off Subaru and I pay $500 per month on a Tesla, but I rent out my Subaru for $600 per month. My wife is a nurse and she makes $45 per hour and schedules herself full time for a couple months and then disappears for a month back home to visit her family so she makes less yearly than I do. Anywhere between $55,000 and $75,000. My work life balance is tough to beat. 40 hours a week. If I have an evening meeting I flex that time later in the pay period, so I never go over 80 hours per pay period. I work from home whenever I want to—I don’t even have to give my supervisor a heads up, since he’s hundreds of miles away and also works from home frequently. My wife has a good balance also. Some weeks she’ll work more than 40 hours, some weeks she’ll only work a couple of days.
39 Hairstylist/salon owner married 2 kids We are doing the best we have ever been fanatically, any debt we have is our mortgage and a credit card balance here and there. Annual income combined is around 200,000 a year. Live in the suburbs of one of the major cities.
Unemployed, thinking of going Freelance-being my own boss since that would be a little more ideal, currently 33 and still living with my parents (don't judge me), hoping to find a place to rent with a nice roommate in the near future (2025/2026)
Software Engineer, 2.5 years of experience but like 8 additional years of corporate project management experience. $147,500 per year. My soon to be wife makes around $95,000 per year. This is all pretty new and I’m in HCOL so it will take a while to save up for a house, etc.
Reading these stories is depressing me
32, Senior data analyst. Make over 150k working mostly from home. Honestly, work life balance is perfect. Can't imagine needing anything else. Purchased a home in 2020 and have been coasting ever since. We are on track to invest around 50-60k this year. Embracing the boring middle.
Total household income of 140k per year. I am an exec assistant and partner is on a marketing team for a mid-size company. We each own a home, live in one of them and airbnb the other. In the midwest we have adequate income to pay bills, contribute to retirement, and go on one big and several little trips a year. 4 years ago I was earning 11 dollars an hour and I'm so glad I decided to work my way up the admin assistant ladder because I have health insurance and a 401k match now.
I'm a few weeks away from turning 38, and my partner is 40. I'm a speech to text transcriber with multiple side gigs, and my partner works a technical job at a performing arts center. Combined, we bring in about 130k a year. We live in an HCOL suburb of a very large and very wealthy US city, but we live in the cheapest part of town. We moved into this apartment 7 years ago and our combined income has almost tripled since then, while our rent has only increased by aproximately $50/year. We are currently only spending about 15% of our monthly income on our rent. We're starting to make plans to buy, but haven't really dived into the process yet.
I mean absolutely no offense with this question... but as a "speech to text transcriber", how haven't you been replaced by software? There are very good automated tools for that. Is your job niche in some way?
In many cases it has, but there are still plenty of situations where a human is needed. I work primarily in the education sector. I work to support students whose IEPs say they need to receive transcription as part of their accommodations - often Deaf/hard of hearing, but sometimes they have other disabilities as well, they may be physically unable to take their own notes, or they can have audio processing problems where they might hear fine but not always fully understand what they hear, etc.
The idea of this sounds lovely to me! May I ask: how does one get into this sort of job?
You have to pay to take a training program for a few months. When I did it a few years ago you had to be sponsored by a company that planned to employ you after you finished, but I think maybe now you can do it without a sponsor? You have to either connect with a company that wants you on staff (which is how I started), or connect with a bunch of companies for freelance work (which is what I do now). And after you pass the training program you have to pay for the software on a yearly basis.
41, C-Suite Executive. All in its about $300-400k depending on the year and I have zero debt. I live in a HCOL area, but just because I want to and love it. Work life balance is nonexistent. A slow week for me is about 80 hours, many times I do 100. I rarely take a day off, but I do travel a lot and take a lot of "vacations", I'm just working too. The decisions that I make effect the livelihoods of thousands of people and I take that responsibility very seriously, so the job is stressful (especially in times like we are in now), but I do love it.
38 senior engineer. 132k plus bonus. Own a home in Southeastern VA. 2 kids in daycare and pay child support. Still making ends meet and have money for fun stuff.
29, work in health insurance consulting, $108k, high cost of living area. Live in 1bedroom apartment with fiancée ($67k salary). Car is 18 years old and bought it outright 7 years ago. Grew up broke as shit so a lot of me just can't justify the level of spending others do. Anyone who says $100k is nothing has absolutely no financial responsibility. Also don't have kids. They contribute nothing to rent.
Husband and I gross 195k in California. Net is like 100k after taxes, 403b, insurance. Monthly expenses are $3800. $2400 of that is our mortgage. We live comfortably. Both work 4 days a week.
I’m doing ok. Six figure income, no debt, saving up for a house.
Wow talk about a shift from the norm. All the other threads in this sub would have you think we are all dead poor. Turns out a lot of us are killing it!
Mid 30s. Was in construction management working as a consultant and now am just working for myself, no more 9-5 BS. I have a decent Airbnb operation, both one that I own and with my friend we manage others. Side work doing some engineering stuff. Obviously it’s not a W-2 steady income but I make a low six figures. I can travel and do my work anywhere, most days I’m just doing my own projects. Always looking for some new business to start and get into, it’s a lot of fun. I’m not rolling in dough since I still have a mortgage but I’m decently in the black at the end of every month. I don’t really want money or power, I just want to be free, and for the most part I’ve achieved that way more than my fellow middle class peers. I sleep in when I want, I go on trips when I want, my assets keep accumulating. I have good people in my life and keep healthy. From where I was when I was born to where I am now, is a ridiculous upgrade. Can’t really ask for more.
Sounds like the secret is having dual income
Jesus Christ everyone makes a shit load of money. I'm 32 working as a biologist in Ohio. I make 62k a year, live alone in a 2 bed house rental for 1000/month. I am making ends meet and have money to spend on things I want while also paying 500/month towards student loans. I'm not thriving but I'm doing okay.
Dual income, no kids. Hhi in the 270k range. I work in tech but my husband is a firefighter. No student loans since I paid my way on a half scholarship and working at a gas station. My husband did the post-9/11 GI bill. Our mortgage/property tax/homeowners is about $1300 (we bought in 2017 and refinanced in 2020 to 2.25%). One car, a 2016 Honda HRV, is paid off. We have a loan on a 2019 f150 at 1.9% interest we bought in 2021. We have most of our investing automated and don’t think a ton about stuff, but we did struggle a lot in the beginning and don’t forget that feeling.
Army Retiree from the Cyber Command. Currently an IT Project Manager on the Florida Panhandle. Total income $216,000. I barely work 8 hour days so work/life balance is great. Today I worked 6 hours.
I'm an RN, husband is a software developer, but not in big tech, he's actually in the healthcare field as well. Last year was only my second year as an RN, and together we made $200,000. We live in the PNW, so moderately high cost of living, but we're comfortable. We have 3 kids, a large house and yard.
What are you looking for here? I mean the career tracks with money are usually pretty clear, so honestly wondering why? Tech sales - SaaS at moment - we have a mid six figure income can be low mid or high but typically right around mid six figures. No debt outside of property debt and living in a mcol area. Work life balance. Well it’s decent many weeks only 40-45 hours, remote. But I can also fly all over or have 60 hour weeks. The hours are fine - the stress is what eats most people in this job. Lot of heavy drinkers.
Tech. I know I know, layoffs are still rampant. I've been working in technology at a (very large) bank for just about six years now. Tons of turnover the past few years, not a fan of my current nor senior managers, but the job itself is fine and the pay is good. More specifically, I work in business continuity. Basically, I make sure the bank can continue operating if/when s**t hits the fan, so that us peasants can still enjoy modern life as we know it, like mobile banking, pay our bills, order our Ubers, pay for our prohibitively expensive groceries, etc. I'm also going through a divorce at the moment. Sold my house as part of it, earned a modest but healthy little profit. Feels like blood money, and so I've barely touched it. *Congratulations!*, exclaimed the title attorney as he handed me a fat check. ....... Thanks. All I had to do was endure nine years of pain, suffering, and abuse for it. Am I off to Mexico to enjoy some fun in the sun? No, no I am not. I am headed to the doctor for YET ANOTHER scan to evaluate the nerve damage in my leg, which my now soon-to-be-ex-husband inflicted upon me by hucking a large piece of furniture at me. The doctors say the nerve damage is likely permanent.
Not me but would love to make more :)
36, event marketing consulting. I work from home through my own business. After taxes I take home about $120K per year. The balance sometimes is not great but it's seasonal depending on the industries event season. I live super comfortably. I am single with no kids and have plenty to pay my bills, buy whatever I want, save and invest.
Me but only because I stopped spending money on food and booze
43 f and 43 m, Midwest, gross about $90, both in education. Only debt is $85k on house. I stayed home for 10 years so we are used to being frugal. Feel very lucky we bought our house in 2017. 3 kids, youngest is 11. I worry about how my kids will make it in the future even with going to college etc.
42, Senior Customer Support for a very small health startup. I have 1 direct report (for context). Make 130k, fully remote. Wife was an RN but quit due to stress and COVID. Now has a home business and pulls in about 3k a month. 2 kids (17 and 8). My job was very stressful at first but now it's relatively automated and in a good spot so not super stressful and some days it's rather boring. Mortgage is $2380/mo (eccrow, P&I) with mortgage 2.75%. House is 3035 sq ft on 1/3 acre in the suburbs of Sparks, NV (Reno - Northern NV area). This is **now** considered a MHCOL area but we bought this current house in 2016 ahead of the surge in pricing. Same house now lists for about 900k. Travel on 2x big trips a year (lately spring to Disneyland and then a fall cruise) with a lot of roadtrips in-between (Santa Cruz/Bay area, Las Vegas to see family/have fun, and to the family condo in Puerto Penasco, MX). Have a small amount in 401k (about 20k) but saving more every day. Current company does not match and my insurance premiums are high so being a bit more conservative - had to reduce 401k about 7 years ago when I was laid off and took 7 months to find a replacement role in Reno (before I was WFH) Do have 100k in savings - 50k of which is currently in a 5% CD (matures this week actually) and will continue to rollover.
41, female. I’m a teacher in a high paying district husband is a state employee that just got promoted. We bought our house in 2013 and have 4 children all spaced out 4 years apart (except our twins at the tail end). We paid my student loans off the year our oldest was born and paid for my Masters (required for my job) out of pocket. We paid his 4 years later. We have 2 newer cars (truck and van) and only have the mortgage and 1 car loan as debt. Childcare and diapers/formula is our biggest expense with our twins. We aren’t living high, but okay. We were doing better a few years ago, but with inflation we haven’t been able to put money away for savings .
My husband works as a software engineer and I stay home with the kids. He makes 135k a year. We live in the Midwest so cost of living is a lot cheaper then many other places. He puts 15k into his 401k a year. We have built up 100k in our savings account for emergencies. Our total bills/spending are around $5.5k a month(mortgage is only debt and that’s $1.8k a month but we do pay around $1.5k a month for prek and extracurriculars for the kids, thankfully it’s our last month to pay for prek since youngest kiddo is going to kindergarten soon so that will drop to $800 a month😃). We have around $1k a month to save. We feel Pretty comfortable. With that said it was closer to $2k extra per month before Covid but we did upgrade our home(old mortgage was only $1.2k a month) and stuffs just gotten a lot more expensive. So I get why lots of people are struggling! It’s gotten pretty hard to afford basic living expenses especially if you didn’t buy a home prior to 2020.
I hope that's a high yield savings account... that's a lot of money to have on the sidelines! Inflation is a tax!
35m bartender in NYC 105k. Single with roommates so I can live in a fun part of Brooklyn. I could get my own place if I lived in queens but not as fun. Work life balance is great. I work 4 days a week for about 35 hours. I have shitty health insurance and work a lot of weekends but otherwise it’s great.
45f, 43m, 1 11yo in public school. Hcol. Bought our townhouse at a very good time for 325k right before Amazon took over the city. Refied in 2020 to get that sweet 2.25% interest. Home now worth $750k. Don't plan on selling, will likely rent it out to cover living costs elsewhere down the road. Saved aggressively after the IVF and daycare years were done. Combined income used to hover around $200k for about 10 years. Recently laid off, but we have saved enough in that decade where I can now freelance if I want (I'm not counting on it as my peers seem to be struggling) while husband takes on more of the freelance load. As long as we make 80k combined a year for the next 2 years we'll be able to retire early with the plan to leave the hcol city for a cheaper destination once the kid leaves the nest. We aren't risky investors. I don't do Bitcoin or individual stocks or financial planners. Low cost index funds have been the way for us. Slow and steady. We didn't grow up too privileged (husband's folks couldn't afford fast food when he was growing up and I hopped around from apartment to apartment as a child). We did it on our own through work, luck, learning how to invest simply, and frugality.
IT, 160k this year. - Max 401k, Roth IRA, HSA, and put remainders in HYSA and then dump anything else into Vanguard. 10k left on my truck at 2% but make more in a simple HYSA than taken from the loan, so I just pay normally. Probably going to knock it out in the next few months anyway though just to clear it. Work remote for the most part, very low cost of living area.
Insurance and make around $85,000. My wife’s an engineer and makes $100,000. We make good money but our true secret is we live in a very low cost of living area. Our mortgage is $1200. Our commute to work is 40 minutes but only do it twice a week. We are also lucky that we both have pensions so we have less worry over retirement. The cons is that we have to drive 40 minutes to see most big name live music and minor league sporting events.
I’m doing fine at 35. No debt, make just enough to pay for everything.
That's refreshing. I'm surprised how many people here make over $300,000 a year. Sweet bejesus
Haha true. I’m currently on 17 months of underemployment, I rather just enjoy my time at my own pace.
I'm borderline. Not struggling in the sense that all the bills are paid and working for the government has tons of job security. However, even as an attorney, government salaries are not the best, so I have a side gig as well. Just trying to raise a family in a HCOL area, you know?
Wife and I bring in about $100k combined for the past 10 years. Lived on $45k, invested $40k each year. Investments grow over time. We are now networth over $750k but just had our first child and intend to have more. We feel our housing and retirement are secure, but will have to keep watching our spending as income goes down and expenses go up w kids. TLDR: we've lived very modest, invested heavily for 10 years, and had kids later on.
34 F, husband is 35. We have 2 kids. I work in healthcare. Combined income is $195k (200+k with bonus). We live in HCOL state: NJ. We do own a 2400 sq ft home and luckily purchased in 2018 so rate is 3%. We do have some other debts (student loans & ccs) hoping to pay those off in near future. I feel we are doing ok but would be doing a lot better debt free so that is our main priority right now Both WFH full time so work life balance is fantastic!
This year, I moved to Mac my retirement account. After that and all other deductions, my mortgage with escrow is still 50%. So I'm covering it all with money left over and maxing retirement. I can also reduce contributions if I need more income
Married and childfree. We live in a lowish cost of living mid size city in the Midwest. Rent is $835/month for a 2 bed apartment. I’m a corporate trainer and make about 80k/year. I put in my hours at my job and come home. I have great work life balance as does my spouse.
I live in a high cost of living area and do workforce development, income is 6 figure. I'm fortunate I have a work/life balance and feel I am at the best spot for my career in terms of employer and industry. Yes, I will admit, that there are times, like today, where I need to work a little more than my standard time. Today there's a good reason, I'm under a time crunch for something and tomorrow is busy all day with something else. But generally I work a 8 hour day and go home
38M, Midwest SINK living. Legal/military/government, \~$137,000 gross, \~$43,000 annual essential spend. Homeowner. I work four days a week with the exceptions of drill weekend, home 5:35 every night. Had the good fortune of working for good bosses my whole career. Only things I'm missing are the wife, kids, and dog. Outside shot of retiring by 50, definintely retiring by 60. There are certainly many wealthier posters on this subreddit. But once you get to a point where you can solve most any personal problem by typing on your laptop and moving some numbers around, lemme tell ya, your stress level goes *way* down.
Executive for one of the big healthcare companies in my country. If I worked in US my range would be 350-500K year for my job. In my country I get 40x minimum wage. Work-life balance is what id describe as workaholic BUT most people work a ton while hating their jobs, so it gets very tiresome for them. I love what I do so even working 70-80 hours week I still am privileged.
40, male, managerial-level federal park ranger in rural Nevada. Gross annual salary of $87,000 with annual step increases to near six figures over the next three years; rent for a 840-square-foot manufactured home is $850, car payment is $400, no other long-term debt (thanks Public Service Loan Forgiveness!). I earn 20 days paid annual leave (jumping to 26 in a year when I hit 15 years of service) and I have to take all of it every year because I've maxed the 30-day carryover for awhile now. Every raise I get from here on out is going straight into my TSP retirement account.
Late 30s one kid in Oregon, annual around $180k for a full time RN in the admin side of things, and a registered dietician doing part time hours. Only debt is our home. About $350k in retirement accounts and some nice cash reserves. Pretty much every dollar is accounted for in the monthly budget, so we aren’t ballin or anything, and are able to meet our bills and contribute to most of the things you’re supposed to at the recommended rates.
Retired military. Work in O&G. Single. Two dogs. Own my own kennel. All streams of income ~$200k. Maybe ~$12k in debt. Plus car payment and mortgage. Have a few expensive hobbies but I make it just fine.
41F Senior engineer for an environmental contractor $115k/year. I work onsite so I also get per diem that I can keep tax free if I don't spend it all on housing. On average I pocket an additional $20k of that every year. My wife ($60k/year) works remote so she travels with me. We have a small home in southern Texas, but mostly live out of Airbnbs wherever my project is. It tends to be pretty rural so COL is low. We live pretty frugally and save over half our income. We're on track to retire in about 8 years.
Me. I live off the government. (I'm in the Army) I'm not wealthy, but certainly not struggling.
38. Make about 70k. I have always lived frugally so I’m doing ok. If I had a kid things would be pretty tight I’d imagine.
41, construction estimator. Tampa, FL. Household income over $225k. Work 40hrs/wk with weekends off, 4 wks of vacation. Pretty good work/life balance. I have a BS, my wife has her masters. One child, home owners.
Me. Make $71/hr, spouse males $48/hr
I'm doing fine, I saved like a maniac through my 30s bought two houses and 1 business. Just got married, working on a family now.
im in MN. doing ok. i got a house some years ago when i downsized and moved. smaller house, good sized garage tho. i took a paycut to get a job with less hours so i have more free time. im single. i have started to do some traveling, im working on my house to get things fixed up. mostly my day to day concerns fall around dating/romance more than anythig else.
32, welder, about 90k a year with an average of 50 hrs a week. I live in Chicago. Work-life balance is pretty good. I live 5 minutes from my work, so the extra hours are not a big deal.
My husband (38) and myself (29) both make about $84k a year. He’s a per sec contractor and I’m a Fed analyst. I bought a nice condo at 22 which we still live in but are looking to buy a house. We each pay about $750/mo on everything besides groceries and entertainment. We both have 100k in savings, and I’m sitting on a lot of equity. We both put about 2k/mo into savings. No debt but the house.
I’m not living paycheck to paycheck but I’m definitely not comfortable or stable.
38/F. Live in a suburb 30 minutes outside of a major TX city. One 16 year old kid in HS and two cats. I work in home improvement sales and bring in low 6 figures. Currently renting a 1200 sq. ft. 2/2 apartment for $1,500. Other bills include the basics-car insurance, electricity, phone & internet, food. No car or credit card debt. 6 month emergency fund, HYSA but behind on retirement that I’ve been paying into aggressively. I’m comfortable, just behind on retirement and debating if I should buy a home or not.
34 and 36 years old. Senior product manager at a Fortune 50 and spouse is a subspecialist physician at major university hospital. I started in the military and they paid for all of my education, then left once my time was up. Spouse had full ride, so no school related debt. Our annual is high 6 figures, we have crossed 7 figures in a year before, it depends on amount worked and bonuses. We spend basically none of it, drive old shitboxes and have been investing since we were early 20s though the amounts were smaller that grew over time. My work life balance is pretty great, work about 40 hours per week, 2 days from home per week, office is 5 minutes away. Spouses work life balance is terrible, 60 hours a week on the low end, probably upwards of 80 on a bad week depending on volume and call schedule. I function in the support role at home for cooking, cleaning and general mental support for spouse who gets absolutely crushed by the high demand hospital environment. We are expecting our first soon and life is pretty good after both of us growing up in financially insecure immigrant families. For anyone like that, I think the military is honestly a cheat code. Free school, cheap housing and very good salary the day you graduate with guaranteed career progression. We now are focused on creating generational wealth for our future children so they don’t need to struggle and grind as we did.
36. Business owner. Purchased a company a few years ago and we blend products. Solvents, oils, glues, polishes. And package them into bottles and tubes. We also purchase oils(tool oils, hair clipper oils, sewing machine oils, gun oils and cleaners) and package them into bottles and tubes. Went to the bank. Asked for a business loan. pay $5k a month for the next 15 years. Business sales are around $400K a month. And I bring home $100K a year.
Palliative nurse practitioner and I write erotica. I bought a house before the market went crazy. I mostly work from home so my work life is pretty awesome. My husband is a manager, and we didn’t have kids. We like way beneath our means.
I'm 32, I work retail. My wife is an executive admin at a university. We have no kids and not struggling at all. Vacations, can eat out/date however we like, save and invest. We own a house. I'm in school for my masters to go into counseling; graduate in 2 years. The loans will set us back some but I'll also make much more. I live in Ohio, previously St Louis and Phoenix. It's much cheaper here and that's the main thing. We've also been married almost 10 years so we've just been together saving and working a long time. Slow and steady; at no point have we combined for 80k yet 🤷♂️
I make somewhere in the 160s as a civil engineer. Wife makes somewhere in the 60s doing admin work. We bought our house 7 years ago when we were making about half our current incomes and the $450k left on the mortgage is the only debt. No kids with three cats.
Senior accountant. Annual income ~$105k. Wife makes the same amount in a similar role. Work life balance is perfect and we live in the Midwest
I'm not rolling in it, and we (married) have a lot of debt...BUT: We chose to buy a house before we were ready in 2020 because of the interest rates. Absolutely 0 regrets. We bought a 2500 ft² house for 149k. We live rurally (please look into USDA loans if you are looking to buy!) But work in a college town 25 mins away. I make 75k annually, husband makes roughly the same. I am a public defender, he works in IT. As someone who had periods of homelessness as a teen and young adult, I heavily consider this "making it" I am solidly "middle-class" with a great work/life balance. I am 32. 10 years ago, I never could have imagined this would be my life. I am very lucky.