Worry Less Wealth: Financial Strategies for Those Who Have Over $500k in Assets or Make Over $200K

Learn to be honest in all your dealings and operation please. In reality you never really own a home if you have to pay property taxes and the government can repossess your home Florida is an exception. Stop paying your property taxes. Homes are just another asset to store wealth in. Mortgages are beneficial in avoiding the larger opportunity cost of buying a home out right and a potential hedge against short term fluctuations in housing values.

A person or couple making k a year with very little savings can become lower middle class very fast with poor financial decision making, or say for example the loss of a job. I net k after tax, have k liquid, own a shopping plaza and 7 rental homes, 16 businesses etc…and not to sound whiny, but I DO NOT feel rich at all.

I read in one of the comments that the more you make your definition of rich changes…almost, well exactly like a sliding scale. I am what most consider to be a high net worth 6. I live in a military town, so to You would never know I make and have what I do. My closest friend and mentor has a 60million net worth, and he is like me.. If you feel rich, well who can argue with that.

I feel successful but not rich…. Living in NY and making k is far from middle class for my family. After the mortgage, taxes, bills, daycare etc I am left with a month to spend as I please. No big holidays or fancy cars on my horizon. I completely agree with your assessment of the levels of income and it varies by locale. Just turning thirty and my wife and I gross approx.

We were making k annually a couple years ago, and did not feel rich by any means especially considering kids in near future. I must say though, k in Austin, TX is very comfortable. No state income tax, although high property tax but the housing is not like California or NYC. We were able to get a great place on the lake for k, so shelter costs are relatively low. The area where we are lost is retirement planning and this was very helpful! Hi Mate, K in Austin must be incredible!

Welcome to my site! R U guys in the medical field? This is quite a clique — when most of the country is living with median incomes just shy of 50k, here we are complaining about how really not rich we are. That taxation is an incentive for everyone to do so. We got a good deal, and frankly squandered the two tax cuts that W put on credit card, which just went to a big red debt mound. Reversing that will compel people to put their capital to better work and yields. It has singularly put a number of states including Calif back in surplus for the first time in decades as capitalist sell off their gains now to avoid higher gains taxes later.

I know this is an old post but — this irks me — the Bush tax cuts did NOT cause significant deficit spending. A commonly stated thing but factually off-base. And that was at the previous peaks high which had dotcom bubble and y2k spending. One other thing — the effect tax rate the rich paid during the Bush years was basically the same as the 50s and 60s.

I like how you break it down very well. But there seems to be more to it than just the numbers alone to me. I happen to save more money than they do when all said and done. This all depends on how much you spend and what your expenses are. To me if you can make k but you can live a lifestyle of about 50k your doing great!

But if you make k but your lifestyle is maxed out that your spending k of it. Who is in a better situation in the long run? The best definition I have seen for middle class is times the level of poverty. Hmm, never heard of a multiple based off poverty. Is this not somewhat of a defeatist attitude? Saying you have 5x more income than poverty just sounds weird. I like this article.

I was curious about the various income levels and what people would consider rich or well off. Out of all of the sites I read it seems everyone has their own perception of what rich is. I guess that the term rich is subjective. It seems to depend upon a persons point of reference. A person with lower income would probably feel being rich begins at a lower threshold than someone who has a high level income. I made k last year on logistics, I own no debt, my housed is paid nice 35k rathole , still single engage and owned my first car still Saab. I at my age, 27, I consider myself very lucky and successful, at least compare to the rest of my family.

It was more luck than investment, and or prudent planning to be honest, but you know what they say: Better to be lucky than good. Income and net worth are two different things. The are people with low incomes who are multi-millionaires, and there are people who make K and are broke. It seems that we are using an economic model, whose language is outdated; to describe wealth and the lack of any financial resources.

At the center of this vast hoarding of wealth are billionaires. In fact, earning k a year means you make more money than The median wage in USA is about 32k a year. He is only talking about high cost living areas. My friend just got a lower management job at k salary in SF, and is married with 3 kids.

Who Makes $300,000 A Year?

Not long ago he commented on how he felt more wealthy as a poor single college student, living off small student loans, than he feels now. No house, drives an older civic, and not much debt. Life is expensive and little things add up!! His rent alone is ridiculous for how small his apartment is. Especially not in SF or NY. When it comes to pays cal it all depends on location.

I think your levels are actually a bit conservative. I know a lot of people that make between k per year and not one considers themeselves rich. The very interesting twist is that they had always considered that level of income rich BEFORE they were actually earning it. I am in the same boat. I actually grew up very very poor. I just turned 33, and had my first 7 figure year last year…. Once I hit that level it was very underwhelming once I realized how much I had to give back to the government, as well as how expensive it is to live well in this country.

First hand experience trumps second hand opinions. I have a unique perspective on living both extremes on the wealth spectrum and can honestly say that anyone that thinks k is rich is either extremely frugal or they have simply never hit that income level. They live a rich lifestyle. If you live in SF, k is barely middle class. Your article is accurate considering you specifically stated that your only referring to high COL areas when you are talking about income levels.

Based on the economic definition of upper middle class, that certainly qualifies as upper middle class income. Your still upper middle class in terms of income but probably towards the top of the range when considering individual income. This is such a load of BS!!!

Do not listen to this pile of crap and do not be discouraged. Plenty of ignorance here. Wealth and income are two different things. Wealth is about net worth. You can have a high net worth with ZERO income, or a low net worth with a high income. I have a question. My big worry was when I was planning on savings, debts, lifestyle, etc. So, my question is, how can people with less, justifiably ask for those with more to pay more, when I myself would be making more than the national average but not making enough to be what I consider rich?

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Also, what ways can I save money from federal taxes? I plan to move to Washington state where there is no state income tax. I live in Texas at the moment, so even if I had to work for a year here before moving, I would still not have to pay state income tax. I plan on being single as long as possible. Above this income I think income taxes are much more of a concern.

We have a high State tax rate. Part luck, part work, part being appreciative. I think class is more than just wealth. Free time with good health and a stable living situation is the ultimate wealth to me. Eventually a mansion is just like any other house and a bentley is just like any other car once you get used to it. The problem is most very high earners sacrifice their time for money, and never even get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Saved time, reduced stress, no commute, no depressing cubicle, no workplace politics etc as a result from working remotely is the ultimate freedom.

You could be working from the beach in the south of France if you wanted to and no one would be able to tell. In fact I would be more depressed from the stress. One thing that I have realized is that in US majority of people are obsessed with wealth…. I have experienced a civil war in my own country and have actually seen true value of materialism… basically it is 0… I realized that when I had liitle I was happiest then so now All I do is travel at any opportunity I get.

I make half of my cousin but I have twice as much time to spend with loved ones. Enjoy every moment that you can grasp because you will never get it back. Many people never even reach retirement age. As long as wealth is concentrated at the top poverty will remain. Even middle class people in america depend on the exploitation of billions of people to extract cheap resources and manufacture cheap clothing and food.

We live on a planet with finite resources which we must all share to survive. However a small amount of people control those resources which is why more than half of all people on earth make less than a dollar a day. This wont change from having a better outlook or mindset thats bullshit the rich make up to make stupid people think they can work themselves into wealth. Do you realize how many people are being neglected from the US shit social services? How many people are dying from lack of healthcare families who are struggling to make it on our criminal minimum wage.

That being said we could easily provide free healthcare education and housing if we didnt spend half of our budget on imperialistic wars for oil. IMO if you can comfortably afford food healthcare and a place to live you are rich since only a small minority of people can say they have this. I made very little when I was young. I lived at home thru most of college and have always worked very hard. I was given some opportunities but created most of them.

Over the years I obtained three degrees. Let me tell you how this really works. Some do it in a bit more style. Some are very disciplined and they save a good part of it savings also know as delayed consumption. Then when they are in the last years of life and they are lucky enough to have savings, health care costs will take up a great portion of the estate and in many cases drive the people into near bankruptcy. I had a parent in assisted living and it can run k a year depending on the level of care.

That will wipe out most estates quickly. Unless you are crazy rich then money gets divided between the government and heirs pretty quickly and will disappear relatively quickly. In most situations the best you can hope for is to lead a conservative life and teach your kids good values and morals as well as give them the skills to fend for themselves. Because unless you are in the. So to the angry people who looks at the rich in disgust.

Most worked their ass off to give their families a decent go of it. So you are paying for that, and you enjoying the luxury of having money. Lets not even go into private school…. It is kind of frightening though how much real estate prices have moved beyond the normal income levels in SF and NYC though. You talked about those with capital and very little income and about how it could be quite good. You also talked about how there are many different ways of being in that position.

Then you went on to define wealth by income alone. Put three kids through college and find out that they are going to graduate school and you could see that plummet. It turns out you are a pauper. You might not want to sell your securities that are appreciating the most on the grounds that they represent the best companies and are best in the long run.

Yet it does show that income can be whatever you want it to be, has little to do with net worth, and if you decide you want to be rich in a given year so you can buy something big, you can do it. From what location did you determine these numbers? I only ask because you made reference to a Californian city to equate spending power of a certain salary.

I am from Alabama, a generally rural state with one of the lowest cost of livings. Southern living is fairly affordable. In live in SF bay area and a 3 bed 2 bathroom house in a nice but not amazing suburban area cost at least 1 million. A 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house in sf city in a nice area would cost at least 2 million. I have trouble believing some of the figures that you mention regarding tax and all of that stuff. So how is that someone making k pays close k in taxes? Sorry for the confusion. Wealth is determined by net worth, not income. Many high income earners often do not save or invest.

Live below your means, no matter your income. Wealth is having choices. Learn to cook and make choices about what is worth a splurge. Pick a good spouse and invest in your marriage if you get married. Do not be follower. Take care of your health. Do not equate your value as a human to your wealth.

Also, never take advice from people who have not achieved what they advise about. I am sorry, but you are way off. I am not sure what circles of friends you hang around with. Nor do I know what your personal income level is as well as any of your friends. Comments like that normally come from Rich people… Because that much money is nothing to them and they can only equate it to terms of middle class they are so rich. I am 54, and I am a working-class man.

I am self-employed and do quite well in life. I have friends that range from crack addicts to CEOs. They are waiters and waitresses, cooks, electricians and plumbers, carpenters and real estate agents, auto mechanics and landscape people. And once again, annual income level is a joke anyway. Not income anyway, but savings account balances and how much free money they have yearly is the ultimate clue of wealth. I would gather to say, without being too sarcastic, you my friend are a millionaire.

Because only rich people could possibly think that income level is middle-class. Talk to anybody who truly is middle-class, and they would kill to earn that much money. Take any area in the country, and divide the median home price by , and I would say that is pretty middle class e. Are you actually trying to equate income levels with median price home sales??? Listing as an example no yet, two of the most expensive markets in America? No wonder it is askew.

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You want to say for people who live in San Francisco, that is the middle class range, fine, whatever, conversation over. But using an income level that adheres to a vary narrow and specific market, than using it as a blanket calculation over all of citizenship in America, is not only inaccurate math, but frankly, a very bizarre math.

Have you factored in places like Kansas, Wyoming, Tennessee, Kentucky, areas where there are many other median home prices, or just the two most expensive in the nation? Income and home sales are tied. Ratios helps readers who visit from all over America with different cost of living standards. So, let me put it this way. I own a year-old, updated home in a fantastic, suburban area. We bought the house in It took us about 3 years to pay the mortgage off entirely. We also own outright a Maxima and a Honda Fit. Our home is fully decorated, our fridge, freezer, and pantry always well-stocked, and my wife has an impressive collection of shoes and clothing.

My wife also just began studying to be a pharmacy tech, which will earn us an additional 30K annually. That is absolutely irrelevant. I love the city I live in, and I have a very comfortable life. I would absolutely consider myself upper-middle class. Sorry, I feel I should clarify — my point is that rich is relative, and ill defined, but that this article also does a pretty miserable job of adequately defining it. I am certain that by the definitions of many, I would qualify as rich. I pay about as much in income tax as my wife is expecting to earn when she starts working her job making well over minimum wage.

Even my own definition is arbitrary at best. But to stick to the facts of the article, if you do not believe in the governments definition of rich, the IRS definition of rich, my definition of rich that is fine. But at least try to add some value and define what you think is rich instead of renting against this article.

Come on, step up and provide some value and academic rigor behind the definition of rich. What I define as rich is largely irrelevant. I believe this perception is common among people in that income category that is, the majority of Americans. They would almost certainly say yes.

The fact that I still feel that it is debatable is the entire point. A decade ago, I would have agreed with them. I actually just asked my brother about this, in response to this conversation, and I mentioned the houses we were looking at. His feedback was that the fact that the controversial issue keeping us from simply buying one of these houses which he straight up considers to be mansions right now is that, if we waited a couple years, we could pay cash, means that we are rich.

Only rich people do. My bar for that has moved, though, like I said. Now I would say that anyone who is truly financially independent would be considered rich. If I could retire right now and continue my current lifestyle for the rest of my life, then I would consider that rich. I have a sqft home in Richland, WA.

If I lived in San Francisco, I would have to live much, much more simply. I think that most people in America would agree that what Obama defines as rich is, in fact, rich, especially for people not living in the most experience areas in the country. We can throw numbers around all we want, but nothing we can throw around is going to be true for all people. What one person considers abundant is spare to another. That will never change. What has your income earning range been and number of years worked? Have you been chronicling your personal finance journey for the past 7 years?

Another great definition of rich is not having to work for money because your passive income or multiple passive income streams cover your costs completely. Louis Richards is absolutely correct. I have the utmost respect for the people that earn their success and more times than not it IS earned. I can safely say that I will have a fair amount of success as I continue my career and will certainly make over k a year.

One of the most important things that I hope to remember is what a blessing it really is. I would have to assume that you are extremely wealthy. We live in a moderately priced market in California 3 bed 2 ba SF home. Have two incomes, two kids in day care, and after maxing out our Ks and maintaining the 6 months cash reserves balance, we have very little left over.

Not a heck of a lot. That does not make you middle class, although in your area, it would put you in the middle of the demographic. As several others have said, your numbers are way too high. I used to be poor. I used to think like you guys until I started my sm business and when it took off and I reached this level of income. Well it did in a way. After my taxes were done and I was told how much I felt kicked in the stomach. If I had spent the money I would have been in serious trouble. It was a real lesson.

After that I saw income very differently and learned that just because someone has a high income does not mean they are rich. I still feel kicked around each quarter, but I now save and invest to build my wealth. I no longer have the drive or want to take on more responsibility to grow my company or increase my income and instead my drive is to increase my wealth to create passive income.

Erayp, not having to work at all is a great goal. I could never start a business. My point is that it takes a certain type of person to start a business. We should all strive for more, but free time with good health and a stable living situation is probably more important than tax bracket for most people.

Thanks, love the content! You said making over a year is considerd rich. I strongly disagree with that!! It is all relative to life style,If your making more then a year, your expected to live a certain lifestyle. I live in brooklyn ny between my house and house bills , that leavs me with I am not talking reactive to other people it might be called financhel stable but not rich,.

Not wealthy, because of your expenses, but rich. Firstly , wanted to thank finsamurai dude I really like the article , learned a lot! Secondly , want to ask you: But I also need to think how I should pay my loans after I graduate. Basically , I need to choose a major in business field , so after I am done with paying those loans , it could help me in my own business and it has to be specific major , because , I think , nobody needs a person with business , or economics degree.

Tell me if I am wrong , I am flexible and I trust you. Also can I start to earn a lot of money now , not like an average student. And by the way , I am in the 11th grade. And I also thought: Choose a major or any form of education that will help you start and run a successful business of any form. Very few people become rich being wage earners the typical lawyer, doctor, tradesman, path.

And the ones that do, are the ones that have their own firm or business. Your time is a finite 24 hours per day, but once your money works for you, that time becomes infinite. Owning a business allows you to make your money work for you, instead of you working for your money. HOWEVER, If you are completely set on getting a typical degree law, medical, etc at least make sure your end goal is to own your own firm or practice.

Or invest the money you earn from your into creating a business. Invest in people that know more than you and pay them to run the business. This is why you see a lot of people recommend real estate as a way to get rich I personally am not a fan because you are limited on how good your credit is. Once that concept sinks in, your revenue cap basically becomes pretty limitless.

This is coming from someone that works a few hours a week, and owns a multifigure per year business. If 50 grand a year is lower middle class then that means being average is no longer middle class. Middle class is suppose to be the average therefore 50 grand a year. If solidly middle class is grand you need to make double what the average person makes to be middle class.

You can pretty much do whatever you want when you want, including not working any longer if you so choose. However, I still think your expense estimate is a bit too high. Yeah, those were interesting posts to read. I even heard of a Ph.

Why Households Need To Earn $300,000 A Year To Live A Middle Class Lifestyle Today

But some of them still drive a Toyota and live in a rent-controlled apartment. Also, for many of us in Silicon Valley, the fact we make so much money is almost a side effect. So in short of throwing my money away or spending on useless things, I just save them to prepare for a layoff or an early retirement. Living in those places gives you instant access to all the best culture that the world has to offer. Everyone else has to pay thousands to travel to those places to get that. Not manhatten or sf high, but high.

In my job as a high school teacher in Manchester I see what most people experience every day. Have you seen this post Fred? Sure, the example family in the article are not rich, but you really had to hunt for a very narrow demographic to try to make your point. Some might even say they were rich. According to the wsj, the Manchester-Nashua metro area where I live is the 10th wealthiest metro area in the country. People in this country need to start caring about the crazy high poverty levels here much higher than any other developed country.

Your website is contributing to the idea that too much is never enough. All I can say is wow. Wish I was that good at write offs. It still is to be a legitimate business expense. So if you get audited, will they find you overlap expenses? You make much more than us and we pay taxes on double that. Your article makes me want to move to America.

Salaries in Canada are generally lower than American and tax is much higher. So harder to save and accumulate wealth. Am I all wrong or is everybody else crazy including the host. To me u cannot compare incomes in different parts of the country. You must compare disrectionary income after ones basic expences. That should be similar in likeness across the country. A European vacation or a lexus is about the same in Alabama as it is in California and so forth. That to me would be a much better way of telling if someone is rich or not.

In my opinion If you can come up with 10k a month or k a year to spend on whatever floats your boat you have to be considered rich, not filthy rich but for the ordinary Joe, rich. That could be as little as k living off of mommy and daddy or k in SF with divorce and child support payments and a trophy wife with a couple more kids. To me it is all relative to what you have at the end of the day to spend on what you want, be it a vacation home , investments or a couple trips to the nude bar, whatever.

I spend only 2. I have 50 to 55k in discretionary income and have trouble spending that. I still am a value shopper but there is just so many vacations you can go on in a year. Life time habits are hard to break. Never made more than 89k. I live in a k home, slightly above the area norm and I always said pay off debt and spend below your means and save. Even with normal income over time you can accumulate a lot of money and still enjoy life. I always bought brand new homes and cars and paid cash for them, except the first one. Be a smart shopper and and even smarter invester.

I have made more money with investing that every cent i ever made on a paying job. Just my 2 cent. I can spend forever reading all the comments. Our expenses are pretty low. Having no kids saves buckets too. So adjusted for our standard of living, I consider us rich. I know you have already subtracted federal, state and property taxes, because that is more than 30k.

I also think most people underestimate the cost of children. Or refuses to make his own lunch and needs lunch money? I applaud you keeping touch with your roots and saving for a rainy day. And I did know one who would not fix his plumbing no running water or toliet. I would do the vacations now because they get very expensive with a family of 4. I grew up that way as well. I still remember the wish list of clothes I wanted for school that I did not receive I circled them in a catalog!

I think someone who makes 80k passive and needs 60k to enjoy his life is richer than I am. BTW new to the site but loving it! However, I am not counting capital gains and I think that should be taken into consideration for retirement purposes. So I think once you have that capital cushion it really alters the actual net income as most people perceive it. With that said, I could have retired years ago but I enjoy making money being a business owner. The compromise in the […]. Anybody who thinks otherwise has no concept of financial reality. Even the government almost […].

Your email address will not be published. Don't subscribe All Replies to my comments Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting. Sign up for the private Financial Samurai newsletter! Suggested net worth targets by age, income, work experience. Comments I have to say that there needs to be a NYC guide too.

I am fully ok with that tax bill. Socio-economic status has more to do with lifestyle than sums of money. So a amazon ceo is working class? You sir, are insane. Joe, Rob has a good definition of wealth. May I ask, out of all the places in the world, why Buffalo? Let me know when you get there! The bubble of NoCal really skews your perspective on these things.

Above the line…I contribute up to the maximum match from my employer in a k. Guess how much these researchers make on average? Which begs the question: Kris, so what is rich in Hawaii for a family of two in your opinion? Taxes kill the New Yorkers. Not at all in my opinion! I earn more and have saved more than I ever in my wildest dreams imagined. What type of amazing things can you do on k a year and how much is one able to save?

Love this post and the debate it sparked. Which country dO you live in mate? Yes he did — cut taxes — but ALSO — cut deductions, loopholes, credits, etc. All actions have consequences. So Sam, maybe you should write a post about how to find a mentor!!! In Canada our taxes are even higher. Some folks are apparently living in a fairy tale World. Is this based on Household income or personal income? Stupid confusion displayed here.

How about working to make public schools better? Jerry had some weird point of view. Charity and earring is not opposed to each other. How did you acquire your wealth? BTW, where did you get your degree? Seriously, what do you think a flat tax is? Any solutions you want to suggest comrade? We voted big government in, so why complain? The stock market and real estate market are on fire.

People are getting rich! You eat once a day? Please share with us where your anger comes from. Your article, although interesting, feels depressing and out of touch. How far does the middle class stretch?? According to k is about k in San Fran. Abe, great perspective given your income. I consider myself rich, point and simple. With that being said, I inhered all of this from my dad.

Does this mean your dad is no longer with us? Or, does he have other businesses to run? The great thing about savings and real estate is that the process is highly automatic. If you implement the plan and wake up 10 years later, you will inevitably be worth much more provided you keep your job and your home. Given savings and building equity in your home over the next several decades is largely automatic, the X Factor comes out because you have so much more free time to do something else! I have gone ahead and averaged the averages for pre-tax savings, post-tax savings, and real estate equity progress in the spreadsheet below.

The pre and post tax savings can be invested however you see fit and is a topic of another post. Another thing to note is taxation, given pre-tax savings have to eventually be withdrawn and taxed. Again, these are rough estimates to give you an idea of the average net worth of the above average person. There you have it! The key is to stay disciplined with your savings and investing routine.

Of course some of you above average Financial Samurai readers will have a total net worth much higher than the chart. Before Personal Capital, I had to log into eight different systems to track 28 different accounts brokerage, multiple banks, K, etc to track my finances. Now, I can just log into Personal Capital to see how my stock accounts are doing, how my net worth is progressing, and where my spending is going. You also get your net worth amount sent to your inbox weekly. You just click on the Investment Tab and run your portfolio through their fee analyzer with one click of the button.

You can input various income and expense variables to see the outcomes. Where I live, I think a responsible renter can accumulate a higher net worth than a homeowner easily. Home prices in the DC area are ridonkulous. If you invest — I mean really, invest and not blow — the amount you save by renting instead of owning, you should be able to come out ahead of the average homeowner. Later down the road if you wanted to own a home, you could just move to a lower cost of living area, pay cash for a house, and have a more diversified portfolio of assets. If your plan is to invest the difference, then you execute on the plan.

I am a renter and invest the difference. By 30 I expect to be somewhere around depending on returns, extra saving, ect. I currently own an apartment in greater Boston area. I bought it a bit more over k and right now its estimated to be a bit below k. Because I live in my property I got dollar tax exempted so my property tax is only Plus the rest is tax deductible. If I rent my place the rent is about My hoa is about and it includes heat and water and garbage. So my additional utility is really just electricity which is about 50 a month. You have to pay electricity even if you rent. My friend got a place 4 years ago for k and similar story as me.

The opportunity cost of that difference played out over 15 years made all the difference. How much would you have made buying the same condo years ago plus investing in the stock market? A lot of people move on with their lives and live in a nicer places after college.

The Average Net Worth For The Above Average Person

Since rents increase over time…its a growing problem. In equity research on retailers that lease all their stores, analyst often put a figure 7x -9x annual rent as the amount of debt the firm really has. To be fair to the renter. They could over come this liability with an solid amount of investment gains outside of real estate that offsets the liability or inherit a property from mom and dad that they can live forever.

You went from to kk. That kind of out-performance while possible of course is completely unrealistic, so I really need to hear how you got to those numbers. Is this per person or family? What if we have two income earners? We are doing ok by your estimate. The after tax saving is not as high, but our real estate equity made up for that short fall.

I was too aggressive with my stock market investing and I think that hurt me in the long run with the schizo over the past 15 years. Got to count on yourself and hope for the best. We are still ok from the individual standpoint because we are both savers. Once I leave my job, it will be a lot more difficult to stay with your curve, but that is expected. Of course, going back to school and taking out loans will drop me down all the way to negative: Hopefully I can get back where I want to be by the standard of your chart after I graduate… Ahhh, this is making me nervous. By that time I should have property though, so we shall see how that works out.

A snapshot of property is just accounting… but over time, property becomes an important part of your diversified portfolio. Are you living at home or finding a new place during law school? I like what you have written about passive income streams and I am trying to find my niche in that area. I work with investors everyday and what I see scares me. Many retirees are sitting on less than 6 digits. During that time, the renters are paying down my principle while I reap the tax benefits. I believe that the main contributing factor was the lack of retirement accounts in the 70s and 80s.

Most large firms did not offer k s until the mid to late 80s. Pensions were also more common than they are today. That will depend heavily on the individual. I definitely believe that on average, homeowners are wealthier than renters, but not necessarily because they are homeowners. I am a renter, but I own three rental homes as well. Basically, a person can be a smart renter or a smart homeowner — both involve assessing your needs and your budget and sticking to both.

ERE mentioned something like this awhile ago: While one is worried about making payments, the other is free to explore the X Factor you mentioned. Never thought about that, but how true. I have some work to do! Hang in their Jacob! Your lesson on cherishing money after that K spent in your younger years will go very very far. Got it out of your system. My goal is to increase my passive income revenue stream.

I attempted couple business opportunities but no real return so far. Any helps, recommendations, leads are greatly appreciated. Looks like you are on a good track Hiro! Knowing you so well Sydney, you are doing great. The point is knowing now so we are better positioned in the future. As a 65 old person, I am in excellent shape, if I include the fixed portion of my retirement into the equation.

I think that is conservative since there is a built COLA and lifetime medical. This is what early planning does for you. What about just dropping everything and doing other stuff Larry? Or, do you love what you do so much that you are happy to continue teaching? Unfortunately, I need to teach just a little longer approx 5years to vest for full retirement and receive lifetime medical. I am putting off taking Social Security until I turn 70 years old to max that as well. Although teaching has changed with my new assignment, I looking into changes there too. Things may change in the next few years, but I am prepared for retirement and other opportunities.

I am renting now and banking plenty of money while doing so. Living in a low cost of living area is a big bonus as well. As Wesley Snipes said in demolition man??? I am about 30…I am much higher in some categories and much lower than others. I think it is pretty aggressive to assume maxing out of a retirement account at 25 especially considering the recent study that said most 50 year olds have less than K in retirement accounts.

Good point on student loan debt. Would it be safe to argue that the above average person got scholarships, help from their parents, and worked jobs to lessen that debt level or eliminate it altogether? This is unrealistic for the average American, by far. There is a student debt crisis that was ever present even when this article was written years ago. According to Forbes and the Fed, student loan debt in the US has reached 1. The article is not supposed to be a representation of the average middle class person.

There are plenty of above average people who have no student loan debt because their parents paid for their schooling. I am well above these figures at 48 years old. I went to a SUNY Binghamton and had lower middle class parents who could not afford to give me a lot of financial aid, so I had student debt at graduation.. You can major in art history at Harvard too. Not everyone coming out of an Ivy League school gets an Ivy League salary. IMO the above average person would not need help from their parents, certainly not a luxury I had or would change because it made me the financially conscious person I am.

You just have to do the calculation over TIME. What is your return on rent after 30 years besides a place to stay? Even through all the ups and downs of the past 10 years, I wish I had invested more in real estate in SF and elsewhere. The cash flow is very good, and thanks to inflation, a fixed or lower rate, things get better practically every month.

A nice structure and guide to reference, that can be tailored to our specific situations. I appreciate your bullishness on leverage. I hope creating wealth really is that simple and that you accumulate more than your wildest imaginations. You have good comments. Just make sure you put things in perspective. Things are NOT as easy as you think. And if you think things are easy and have the audacity to say being wealthy and investing is easy, then you better have the financials to back it up. Take my advice and be more low key with your words on investing.

If not, I guarantee you that your interviewer will slaughter you and never give you a chance. Or not, and continue to rebel against the very gatekeepers that decide on letting you in or not. Being more low key, especially about making money in the markets is a very smart idea when talking to others. EVERYONE in the business has lost money before, and coming in what a cavalier attitude that you never have and are a genius will lead to an instant pass.

We consider ourselves savers, but those kid raising years really are expensive. That been said, we're right in the middle of the range for pretax savings, trending towards the high end of the range for after tax savings and over the top for the HE we have a vacation home. Seems like we're headed in the right direction, thanks for the charts and comments.

I enjoy your blog, seems like you're absolutely headed in the right direction at a young age! However, these ranges are based on what I think are above average net worth ranges for above average folks. I loved the X factor you described. I like how you described it as being more than just some get-quick-rich-scheme because it really is. Everyone has ideas about fast money but to be successful the focus should be on sustainability and building wealth. I think there are wild swings in the first 5 years, but things start smoothing out the older we get.

If we ignored when I was born, and worked off your charts, we would guess my age to be about Once I actually get started, I will go into high powered debt repayment and saving mode. Also, I have often wondered, are these charts for a household, or individual? My husband and I have always just lumped all our money together, except for k contributions obviously. Since I am 44, should I solely have a net worth of k to be above average?

And my husband also have ? Or did you explain that and I somehow missed it? Defining a person is somewhat subjective. It depends on how strongly you believe in your marriage. A person is a single person before marriage. If you absolutely know for sure that your marriage will last, then you can treat your marriage as a person too. Just be prepared to divide the assets up in case anything changes. Well, I will have to accept my substandardness!

However, I would not do anything different. I still would have stayed home with the kiddos and chosen private school. At least I am not a drain on society. All these are really just figures and guidelines. Never the less your post is very interesting Sam. Somehow though the numbers you present are in the ideal world, there are way too many variables for a 30 yr old working for 8 years roughly to achieve that net worth.

There certainly are a lot of variables Eddie. I bake in practically 0 returns on property and savings for all these years to account for the good and the bad. Yes you did address that Sam. One thing that particularly stands out for me in terms of building wealth is that as a single household income, my wealth building income streams are x3.

I think the days of a single income, and getting ahead are slowly diminishing. One observation in the table… at age 55, total net worth is about 1. It goes to show that once you accumulate a lot of money you have to be careful where you put it… if you can put it into a rising market that is a bonus but if not the case you can come up short. Tis true… hopefully when one is 55, one is invested in a stable value fund. Most of it is from k house with k loan back in the southwest. What do you think?

Should I wait another year or so to purchase in the NorthEast? Buying a home is a gamble on your longevity in one place. I found your blog while trying to search for an answer on where my k should be around at my age and profession. I think the search landed me on a very detailed post with clear numbers.

I think these are very realistic numbers for those of us who went to college and have normal spending habits. Mostly from savings, as opposed to appreciation. There are definitely exceptions about your comment on renters versus homeowners, namely myself. Granted, I am living in Texas so cost of living is lower and I have a roommate.

However, if I were to buy a home, it would likely be at least , which can get you quite a bit in Texas. With a , home, I would pay roughly a year in property tax alone! That is , x 3. My point is, in Texas at least, it can make sense to rent sometimes because there is no state income tax and I am able to avoid high property taxes — something that probably infuriates you, sorry. For background I am 23 yrs old, no debt. I have 3 rental homes, 65k in taxable stock accounts, 28k in IRA, and 45k in cash trying to acquire 2 more rentals this year.

This is a long post, sorry in advance. I studied way too much in high school but as a result, I graduated top of the class and had options for college. I ended up choosing a state public college for the following reasons:. College credit — I took so many college credit courses in high school that I essentially started college as a junior. Price — Tuition cost me 8k a year for in-state tuition.

Private tuition I was looking at would have cost me 30k a year. Also, state schools are willing to give A LOT more scholarships. My parents were middle class meaning they were too poor to be able to pay for my college but too rich for me to get any freebies from the government. This means a lot of the grants meant for school get squandered away through Macbook Pros, fancy apartments, etc. One large caveat to my story is that my major was petroleum engineering.

There is a huge demand for petroleum engineers right now. It has ultimate job security even in these rough times. This is a result of oil and gas companies not hiring anyone in the 80s and now they are screwed because everyone is retiring with no one to replace them. I definitely believe college is an investment and should be treated as such. Some majors give a lot better return on your money than others. I put down about 15k per home to gain control of them k homes. I do have a question for you though. Could you ever justify not contributing to your k?

My wife is a stay home mom, but she is also managing an online business we have. Looking forward to double the cash and stocks portion of the networth in the next 2 — 3 years. I had a substantially longer than average education due to grad school. I have generally found your numbers to be high relative to my world.

Having a non-working spouse with student loan debt has not helped. But my kid gets the kind of attention we prefer. My first impression is that this seems a little high for the average person. It would also make sense to break this down to location. I would imagine you would end up with a higher net worth in a larger city or more expensive city. Even though your costs are higher, you would have a higher salary and a more valuable asset in your home.

I agree that this person would catch up by 35 or so but the 20s are often about paying down debt fast. One important point to make is: Not everybody wants to be above average. Have already learned a lot and have also very much enjoyed the comments of all. Like you, Sam, I dont order soda when eating out and almost never buy anything unless its on sale, online and further discounted via coupons. On the other hand, if I really like it, I will buy it. But my needs are few and very simple. Would like to comment on whether you should sell your house.

No, you should not. Market is not right and you will not get top dollar. Besides, you seem to love your house, so why not enjoy it? Wait a few years, let the market come and then sell at top dollar. We kept our first house and are glad we did. Another thing you can do: Rent a place for a few months and see if you like it. That way, you can always change your mind and go back to your house.

Even better, rent out your house for a month and go rent an apartment in Paris for a month!! I dont think that a year time projection is enough. I think the market will rebound very strongly only after 5 years. Meanwhile, the price will only go up. But there are several ways to monetize your house…. Or rent out a room to a grad. If you have the space, put an addition to the house and rent that room out.

I really liked your ideas! Like you, I spend a LOT of time thinking about ways to make extra cash without killing myself! I actually did make a little money [6k] selling my paintings, but it was also difficult to let go of some of my art…. Oh, Im a professor and I teach and do research…. Very cool that you are a professor. I have a post on PhDs coming up, which you might want to participate in!

And can help you do some research too…. Let me know how I can help. So my Q is: I agree with one of your earlier comments that some of the studies about people not saving enough just gives most an excuse not to save. I like your aggressive net worth scale, but I will fall behind quite rapidly unless I start earning 6 figures.

There is no law that say houses will go up in value in the long run. Everyone compares rent rates vs. I think the real pros and cons to home vs. Do you want stability, or do you want flexibility? Do you want a customized living environment, or just a good roof over your head? If you never own your own, you will rent forever. That is the true value of your home. Furthermore, the rental stock is inferior to the ownership stock here in SF, hence why I bought.

I wanted a nicer place to live. I graduated with a Ph. I have 0 debt other than my mortgage is that considered debt? The former seems to be more consistent, except for the fact that my salary and income is on a higher trajectory than non-PhDs. The latter seems more appropriate, but obviously I will end up with about 10 years less time to work. I did the calculations a few years ago, and even at the reduced salary of that time, the commitment to the PhD seemed to be a net financial gain. You can classify yourself in either category.

It depends on how long more you want to work. The chart should give you some motivation, or some comfort. I like the info. Averages are a good simple math but distort the true story. This info does not calculate negative equity that many homeowners face, especially those with higher incomes because they bought homes when the market was up too.

Not accounting for student loans is bad because even the financially responsible took out loans to get graduate degrees. I agree they are better off and the article displays that very well. Plus the older people get the more financially unstable they get due to high health care costs. So far I essentially meet your average above average financial qualifications. I got started late, by your standards, at 25 years old. I caught up by investing as much as possible during that and another subsquent deployment. Thus, if I stay in until retirement, and have approximately k in investments at that time plus military retirement, I will be in a way above your templated average above average situation.

The wife and I retired last year with 20 years each, no kids, and no home. Just do yourself a favor and set it in your mind now that you WILL retire at 20 years. Retiring at age 39 my case is not much different than at Still young enough to start a new career, and financially wise enough to make it work without going back to work.

In the private sector, we have to put aside money for ours. I knew going into it at the wise old age of 17 I was in it for the long haul, and it was quite the positive experience, at least for the first 8 or 10 years. In my decision to serve, retirement at twenty years was second only to my desire to serve this great Nation of ours. I am a 52 year old, homeless, unemployed female. The conversations had here have created such a sense of dispair in my heart that it is overwhelming.

Fortunately, I do have rooms to use free of charge just not of my own. I need a plan for purchasing and furnishing a home while still maintaining a reasonably prosperous retirement fund. Got any other ideas? You obviously had a decent career; perhaps you could ply your skills in a new career where living is much cheaper. We considered Belize, on the south-eastern side of the Yucatan peninsula, but retiring to another country seemed a bit extreme for us. And yes part of it was stupid financial decisions early on listened to the wrong people, had the wrong girlfriend…many of us have been there.

However, one big reason is that I spent almost my entire 20s pursuing the dream in music. And then around age 30, I spent a lot of time with startups, only this time I did have a financial education. Still, the landscape was one of working hard, for very little money, but if things took off, the sweat equity would have paid off in spades. It has only been recently that I really focused on current cash flow instead of laying the ground for a quantum leap.

Did I sell out? Anyway, my net worth is almost 10 years behind what this chart says for my age. Is your friend happy? Because although a lot of us work hard and have a lot of stress in our jobs, many of us are also very happy. I DID pursue my dreams, and had some very good success with them—just not the financial kind. I am no longer in touch with that friend…. I do know he worked himself to the bone during his mids, and was developing a problem with alcoholism which he used to hang on. Later I heard he was at the forefront of a major economic expansion with some country, and became quite wealthy.

I will count my husband and I as one unit since we have lived off of only one income for the large majority of our marriage. We wedded shortly after our college graduation, and I only worked for one year before we had our first child. I have been a stay-at-home mom now for the last ten years one child attends a public charter school, one child is homeschooled due to a special needs.

Our net worth is a little less than what you would project for our age. The breakdown of our accounts is quite different than what you have listed, however. We live in the midwest, and though it is smaller than the average home, we like it. Anyway, we wanted to pay off our mortgage first before heavily investing in retirement. At age 30, it was off our hands. We have since invested much more heavily in the k and college savings for our children…while having extra money for special classes and extracurricular activities for the kids.

When our kids are in college, I plan to work I hope to also do part-time work in a couple of years from now, too, if we are able to find an appropriate school for our oldest child. Sounds good to me Renee! Seems you guys are on the right track, and the 28K for college education can be considered savings. Thanks for the advice, FS!

Just curious, is there a reason that you suggest on this post maxing out the k but make no mention of IRAs? We have two income earners and are doing ok by your estimate. We are in the above average group. We do have a lot of retirement savings though and real estate equity. I think we are headed on the right path as far as growing our net worth. Basically your first 10K is tax free. After that, here are the rates: And for the most populous province, Ontario, the provincial rates are 5. Canada has done well. I have a real estate appraisal business and have worked in this field over 30 yrs.

The real estate market will never be the same here. I am in New England. For young people it isimportant to to be fluid You are being told that you will change jobs every few yrs and have several careers. That does not create stability in a society. It is not a healthy environment. The depth of the fraud by Wall St.

Is ten times worse then you can imagine. Both parties are very corrupt. Just had a seminar on this. They were tl be in addition to your pension. Oh right those are gone. Your figures for an above average net worth, for our age, is exactly what we have. Our parents could never afford to send us so we started working out of high school. This makes more sense than CNN stat as it is being skewed due to age range. I also have sizable k , but my real estate portion is much larger. That means were less than half of where you say we should be for AAPs. A variety of banks made very risky loans and those loans were repackaged as investments and sold on the market to put it simply.

Any single person making that amount has an above average income. Any single person at or above that is above average. Seems this article serves the purpose of making financially secure people feel insecure about where they are. Any single person who is meeting these targets is doing very well, and far above average compared to the rest of the US in my opinion.

Your net worth estimate belies your net household income. What on earth are you spending it all on? I agree with you on what got us into the mess with the housing market. We really wanted to pay cash for our first home, but it was going to take too long to get there and we, like you, were throwing money away on renting, setting us back further.

Our next home purchase, if ever, will most certainly not involve a mortgage. I am below average on my savings. I earn 90k, and my wife stays at home taking care of my son. But i already achieved your financial goal. This was a great article; I really enjoyed reading it. My wife and I are quite a bit above the average. My wife stays home with our two kiddos. Hope to retire around age Welcome to Financial Samurai!

Glad you enjoyed the post.

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Feel free to subscribe to the RSS or e-mail feed and keep in touch. I didnt meet the average goal of where i should be, and this refocus my savings goal. The best part is the X factor. I highly doubt these stats are accurate. They may be, but what percent of persons or families are you basing this information on. Or better yet how many people in total really have these amounts of cash at age 45 or fifty. I am 44 years old and about to hit 45 in few weeks. Thus I do not have a high school completion nor any other schooling afterwords. Five years ago I had a very bad accident where I almost lost my life and had a two year span of rehabilitation.

I bounced back and took on life by the horns. I live in Toronto Canada where our winters are not that bad and our spring and summers are very beautiful and warm. Where else can you leverage your asset s like you can with real estate. Now the interesting thing is I am always an optimist in life, I believe no matter how bad things look, there is always a route around the mess some how.

I grew up some what poor until the age of 12, my parents where European immigrants that came to Canada with not a penny to their name and worked hard. With no insurance, no real savings, and no real assets accept some real estate, I learned a hard lesson in life when my father had is issue with health.

I know I am an above average earner, and I took many chances in life, I have no regrets. My beautiful wife and two children are my reward to all my hardships and accomplishments. Yes Canada has a high personal income tax structure, but our corporate tax structure is quite low compared to most G7 countries. Get some good accountants, bookkeepers and lawyers behind you and enjoy life. I own my own home and own a rental property. I made the rest of my money when I sold my business, I started. There is no better way to accumulate wealth then having a business. I never thought I would sell my business or that anyone would want it, which is why I saved a lot in retirement and non retirement accounts.

This is a great site and just what I was looking for. It is amazing to see all the people that are doing extremely well saving too, it inspires me and humbles me to read some of the stories. I have been incredibly blessed there is no denying it and will be retiring in a few more years to focus on my family. The Financial freedom my work has provided me, has definitely taken a toll on my family and it is time to priortize them as number 1 and enjoy life before it slips away.

That is what I am learning to do now, I actually never thought it would be that hard, but I guess I was wired to just think about ways to make money so for me it continues to be a struggle, but it is a challenge I will overcome. For all you savers, take it from me and enjoy the ride along the way to your fortunes, after all that is what life is about. I was a pro sportsman in a minor but global sport for 12 years. To me this is a necessary investment if you can deal with the stress.

ROI is still good even if using cash. End game is a mid-sized luxury multi-unit run by property managers. This also seems to be a good way to write off some necessary living expenses like car, home office, paying family for work, etc. If all goes pear-shaped, we keep our own assets.

Due to this, I judge my assets on personal walk-away not from my son! I have a lot of quality time to spend with my family, freedom and a little cash to think about other investing ideas. To me this is like death by blonde and bland Stepfordness. Perhaps take a job, though definitely open an LLC, even as a consultant, to funnel expenses through. Invest in rental properties, though understand cap rate and other relevant indices. Get the fundamentals right, and maybe one day you will have a bit of spare cash to throw at higher-risk investments or start-ups, or better yet, explore other ideas unrelated to the accumulation of wealth.

Appreciate the reply and the references. I found the blog because of the thing I was mocking — trying to figure out where I stand. You were diligent, had a plan, and achieved the freedom you wanted at an early age. As is obvious, you still have financial goals, and perhaps need some active income to achieve that.

This is a great achievement and merits a book and a blog. While merited sometimes, other times your comments come off as self-congratulatory and disparaging to others that are making reasonable points. Your story really begins now. Thanks for the feedback Martin. I really appreciate it.

The Three Levels Of Financial Independence: From Budget To Blockbuster

There is a fine balance in defending and arguing a point every blogger must go through. Do you have a blog, or write regularly for readers to criticize? Saves me a lot of time and allows me to focus on writing. Do you mind highlighting a couple specific examples of where my comments rubbed you the wrong way? Puts our net worth at about K — low by your standards we are Also have 60K in s for kids college dont count this towards net worth because its going to be spent!

We make about 80K a year jointly. My advice — we built the bulk of our savings and home equity prior to having children. Once the kids arrive, you are going to want to scale back on work and we decided not to move for job opportunities so the kids can stay in the same schools district their whole education. All the money I made I invested in buying homes cash , and now I collect the rent but the rent is not enough to be a amount for me to start my own business again , it just pays for my everyday expenses.

I at the moment working for a company and getting OK money but nothing special. Just waiting for that golden opportunity. I like the attempt here. The biggest thing this example can show is the years worked. Essentially, make sure to get the K match, as its free money. Next establish a safety net against the unexpected. Third max your Roth account. Once all of that is established, start saving for a home.

However, even beyond that, marry well. Seriously, having a partner that can both contribute and budget is the best financial decision to occur. The light conversation of who would become a millionaire first arose. The guy seriously dating a cougar with a bank account was. Second came an above-average clean cut guy working for the government ok, but not great who was marrying a vetrinarian. Third most likely was a guy who, while losing himself to drugs, was marrying a girl who also shared his interests, but came from considerable wealth. Inheritence still plays Finally came our buddy that was a genius and I drew last.

I agree with what you say. Expect the government to take it all away from you! That way, you can focus on investing and saving your after tax money and building alternative income streams. If SS and your K is there when you are , then great! If not, no big deal. I was very much a fan of field. Defensively, you are less likely to need to raid savings if you have two contributing partners. But the biggest meal ticket is entrance into real estate. For this, one needs to think outside of the stock.

It was made that way by design. It was to replace pensions. Seeing it every day makes us feel rich and not broke, but the reality is that I made two errors. Marry late and stick my savings all in a K. The only clawback is children. They are cherished, but they destroy wealth and time like nothing else. However, it really puts single parents in a difficult spot. Incidentally, of the 5 of us, the predictions were likely correct. But the biggest factor was marriage. Live good lives and the benefits pop up in unimagineable ways.

Think they started only in the mids. So the K amounts seem skewed high for the older folks like me. Thanks for your perspective. Hopefully you can replace the K amounts with just regular savings or a pension. Great net worth for your age, and definitely a valid concern getting your MBA. I got my employer to pay for my MBA and did it part-time. Any way you can do the same? The returns for getting an MBA are going down.

However, you can still strike it big, and if you work long enough, you will definitely earn things back. I am 72 and retired, female and divorced, with graduate degrees and 45 years an academic in higher education. Saved throughout my career and lived well but below my means. I have no debts whatsoever, plenty of cash savings, a very healthy retirement portfolio, a nice home all paid for, a good pension plus above average social security payments, so I am able to travel widely and stay in high end hotels.

I am grateful I was able to live with financial discipline so I can relax and enjoy the rest of my years. Oh, btw, I am Hispanic of European descent. Sounds like consistent savings and investing paid off nicely! Recently sold my home to relocate for a job. ZERO debt; car is paid off, no credit card debt, no house payment anymore. The total net worth numbers for me seem right on. I always roll over my k's when I leave a job so it is difficult to know that total.

I just recently hit a salary mark that makes tax deferred saving difficult; Roth IRA is out of reach and even putting in the max k has been an issue for me in the past top heavy contributor companies resulting in my contributions being returned. Remember no debt, yes I am proud of that. I am very surprised at the numbers and that I am just above average. The people I know even college grads with good jobs have nowhere close to this saved up.

Most spend too much money and are too far in debt. I asked my financial advisor how I was doing last year compared with people under 50, and he said very well. He is not one to overstate this since he obviously wants me to contribute more. He did say he sees lots of people doing well at my age but most have an inheritance… SO, for us that worked hard to get where we are wherever that is keep up the hard work. I think if I can stay single and not have kids I will be able to stay on track.

So much for me thinking I was saving too much and was well above everyone…. Time to cut back and save more! We were lucky, but many friends who also had great careers and great plans fell by the wayside with job, family and health issues along the path of life, so my advice would be to save as much as you can as soon as you can and try to hold on to it!!

Do you feel you have trouble spending after years of savings? I would also like to add, as others have mentioned, that we also lived the lives of our dreams along the way—by the beach in CA—traveling the world, etc. Your numbers are not grounded in reality — where are they coming from? So what may be possible for a few is beyond the daily functioning of an uneducated materialistic generation s schooled by ignorant libtards who care not about bettering the future of anyone except themselves.

Also life just has a way of getting in the way of the best laid plans — I have never seen tables projecting net worths that high as it pertains to the masses. I would fall above the mean in most of the categories and ultimately above in net worth. Not sure I agree with the aggressive buy a home stance. Essentially when you buy a home you are really renting money.

Net I would say buy investment property and rent till you die. I do appreciate owning property but only when you can pay for it up front. This is one of a couple of quick reviews you may find interesting too. Does above average people NOT help other their parents or siblings or contribute to the charity? By absolute amount, above average people contribute way about average to charity. If you make millions a year, you can donate many fold more. Should we attack rich people for being the most charitable people in our society?

We must depend on ourselves. But then you went on, tried to define what an above average person really means. Does it really matter how they got there? Things get a little confusing when someone has most of their net worth in their home. I live in an area with low home prices and my house is paid for.

Well I am sorry I sis this search, we xome no where close to these averages. I started teaching myself everything about making money at the age of I found out trading to be something I easily picked up. I started out with just paper trades and a virtual account. I found out that certain stocks would go up depending upon how much publicity it would get.

I carefully selected certain stocks that had the best probability to go up based on a trading formula I devised. I feel once you make a certain amount of money, life changes for the better. You are free to do more hobbies, activities, and enjoy better meals. I saved up for everything to have a constant capital flow. I could not date, drink soda with my meals, or anything extravagant.