OK. A Career Builder poll done by Harris of 3500 folks and reported by CNBC. Just a few holes though. For one they were non-governmental employees. Second they reported people being in debt and think they always will be. Well who isn’t? Being in debt doesn’t mean being under water. Then of course a lot of people making 100K or more living paycheck to paycheck. Maybe but its kind of like garage space. The more you have the more stuff you put in it. I couldn’t tell but it looked like the sample was from Atlanta and Chicago. Whatever, I’m sure there are a lot of people feeling stress. But then again cash flow is only one indicator. Total net worth is another.
One thing that is interesting to look at is the percentage of people from one state to another who own their homes free and clear. It’s quite impressive. I haven’t looked at them in a while but a conservative state like South Dakota has a very high percentage of home owners and also those with no mortgage. Even though income is lower, debt is lower, but net worth is higher.
When people with six figure incomes are living “paycheck to paycheck”, I’m inclined to investigate exactly what their definition of “living paycheck to paycheck” is.
I think of living paycheck to paycheck as having no savings. By this definition, only about one out of four workers fit that description.
It seems like that three out of four figure comes from defining “living paycheck to paycheck” as having only six months of savings in the bank and not counting assets that can be liquidated.
Anyone who is earning 100K a year and living paycheck to paycheck, I have no sympathy for. They will live that way no matter how much they earn. They live a life not knowing what it’s like to drive a car that’s paid for and living in a house that’s paid for because instead of paying those things off, they trade up to whatever car and house they can now afford the payments on.
Must have been 1968 but we were forced by our counselors to watch a movie about a guy climbing the corporate ladder but eating macaroni every night. He worked for one of the automakers as a junior level exec. Made a good living but had to spend it on the appropriate car, the appropriate country club, the necessary client and co-worker entertainment, and the appropriate house in the suburb, all designed to show how successful he was and thus the shining corporation. All he needed was the next promotion and things would be better. Yes sir, no sir, thank you sir. I’ll be there sir, with my darling wife, sir. None of us watching or at least most of us were not impressed with the rat race being shown to us as a warning of what was to come. A lot of us thought it important to have a stash of FU money so instead of saying yes sir, you could say FU and walk away.
Many areas the houses and rents are so expensive, I could see not being able to survive on 100k. I moved out of CT because I couldn’t afford it anymore. I couldn’t imagine living in CA.
I live in Los Angeles, a fairly expensive place, and I’m a homeowner
Anyways, one of my coworkers is currently looking to buy a house. He’s looking for a house in the $400K range, and he’s quickly realizing that a house in that range is either in poor shape, in a crime-infested area, or WAY out there. He wants a house in good shape, in a great neighborhood, and close to work. he’s getting bummed out, because it’s not going to happen
Commodities effect wholesale prices…NOT retail. The day after Harvey local gas prices started going up.
I’ve seen Orange crops wiped out with early frost. Didn’t effect the retail market for a couple months. Sure wholesale market went crazy…but not retail. As I said gas is different.
Yes, I agree 100%.
Unfortunately, many people seem to think that living with debt constantly hanging over their heads is “normal”. Perhaps that is the way that they were brought-up, but that is absolutely NOT the way that I was raised.
Back in the days when credit card interest was deductible on one’s 1040–the same way that mortgage interest is deductible–I wasn’t fazed when it was announced that this deduction was coming to an end, simply because I never paid any credit card interest in my entire life. I was fairly early in my working career, and my boss received a salary that was easily twice my salary. Additionally, his wife was employed, so their household income was probably close to 3 times what my personal income was.
Well, my boss was on the verge of going into a panic attack when he heard that credit card interest would no longer be an income tax deduction. He then revealed that he typically paid ~$2k per year in interest charges on his credit cards. Even though it didn’t appear that he lived a lavish lifestyle, he was clearly unable to live within his means. Go figure!
Incidentally, this was the same strange guy who only bought gasoline $3 or $4 at a time. When I asked him why he didn’t just fill his tank, he gave me some convoluted, bizarre “explanation” of how the gas station could cheat him if he didn’t specify an exact amount.
The result of his gasoline buying habits was that he had to buy gas daily for his big Buick.
Yes, he was a very strange guy.
Well in 2003 I was one of those “nattering nabobs of negativity” for warning of the growing real estate bubble. And for quite a while here I have posted my concern for the generosity of banks in financing automobiles. I wonder how that situation will end. And I know people with incomes well in excess of $100,000 here in the poorest state in the country who are basically broke. They opened equity lines of credit on their homes and are now paying off not only the car they currently drive but the one they traded in plus medical bills, vacations, hair implant, etc., and the payments will continue well past their 65th birthday. But maybe a reverse mortgage will take care of that problem.
But FWIW, I’m just commenting on what I observe and what I read and hear. And who am I? I barely finished high school.
You’re right. The dealers are buying from wholesale every time they fill their tanks, maybe daily. So the retail prices react immediately to changes in wholesale prices.
Depends on where you live. Boston and NYC - 100k with 4 kids is tough…very tough. Average 3 bedroom apt in Boston is $3,500. My daughter is sharing one with 4 friends. And that’s not in the nicest of neighborhoods.
Texas - Every time we have a discussion you keep changing the argument and changing the meaning or argue against something I never said. Sorry - but you’re WRONG. No other commodity or industry changes prices the way gas does. SORRY but your wrong. I know you have a vested interested in gas and always showing it in the best possible light. But you obviously don’t know other markets.
The gas holding tanks here in NH are now just finishing up the gas the wholesalers bought before Harvey. Yet they are selling it at Post Harvey prices.
I agree Gas ALWAYS raises their prices at the pump the second there’s a hiccup in the system. No other item does.
OK Mike, you seem to have a problem with Econ 101. The price you and I pay for anything has very little to do with how much that item cost the seller. It is set by supply and demand. Decrease supply, and prices go up. If I paid $10 for something, and now they’re selling for $100, do I sell it for $10, or $12? No, I sell it for $100. Likewise, if I paid $100 for something worth $10, I’m not getting $100, right?
The wholesale market price for gasoline is set minute by minute in open trading. That is what the gas in storage is worth, not what was paid a day, week, or month ago.
Thanks for proving my point Texas. I never said otherwise. But you want to do a Straw Man Argument.
Sure prices go up…never said otherwise. But GAS prices go up immediately. Other items like commodities or tech DON’T. Prices go up AFTER their current supply runs out. Maybe you should have gotten past the first chapter of your high-school economics course.
That is not the case. Remember when oil prices plummeted, as did gas prices? They dropped in unison, no time delay. They didn’t wait for the millions of barrels of ‘expensive’ oil or gasoline to be used up before lowering the price. And commodity prices do react immediately to supply interruptions, droughts, storms, etc. Pull up corn, wheat, cotton, whatever. Nobody waits for the current supply to run out.
Here’s a handy explanation:
“In a free market, the price for a commodity, or service is determined by the equilibrium of Demand and Supply. The point at which the level of Demand, meets the Supply, is called an equilibrium price.”
Notice that there is nothing about what was paid for the commodity? That really has nothing to do with the selling price in a free market. Of course, if the seller pays too much consistently, they’re out of business.
Again…Straw Man Argument. Always arguing against something I NEVER said.
Yes I know GAS goes up immediately…that’s my whole argument…which you know it is, but you have to do the straw man argument to try to make everyone think you’re actually right.
I’ve said at least 3 times so far…GAS PRICES GO UP IMMEDIATELY…BUT OTHER COMODITIES DON’T. Show me where I said anything different.
Just to go the next step, Hurricane Irma is likely going to be a nasty one that will hit Florida and who knows where next. More flooded cars to come. More destruction is likely. Be safe out there and if it is likely that you are in the path, be proactive and evacuate if possible. No need to wait on the local or federal government to tell you what you should do.
And speaking of the hurricanes in greedy terms, I wonder how the automobile industry is choking back their smiles as they consider the replacement market for all those cars.
