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re: Here's the budget breakdown of a couple that make $500K and still feel average

Posted on 1/26/24 at 11:39 am to
Posted by lynxcat
Member since Jan 2008
24168 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 11:39 am to
quote:

Well they need to quantify what makes up that number because it's clearly more than just federal which would be closer to ~22% (standard deduction) on that salary. Another 3.5% for FICA and assuming they live in CA it's roughly another ~4% bump. It's not good but it's still not 40%.

I think it's weird that they don't have any medical deductions.


Your effective tax rate estimate may be a little on the low side. Would have to assume person lives in a high state/local tax area as well to get to 40% though.

LINK



quote:

But a Tax Foundation study reveals how much the average person pays overall in taxes after income taxes, FICA, business taxes, excise taxes, and deductions and credits have all been accounted for. These were the average total tax rates for various income levels:

Less than $10,000: 10.6%
$10,000 to $20,000: 0.4%
$20,000 to $30,000: 4.1%
$30,000 to $40,000: 8.5%
$40,000 to $50,000: 11.7%
$50,000 to $75,000: 15.2%
$75,000 to $100,000: 17.7%
$100,000 to $200,000: 21.6%
$200,000 to $500,000: 26.8%
$500,000 to $1 million: 31.5%

Above $1 million: 33.1%
Posted by TejasHorn
High Plains Driftin'
Member since Mar 2007
10956 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 11:51 am to
They’re not including electricity/gas, cable/internet/subscriptions, lawn and pool care, repairs, clothing etc. or maybe that’s in miscellaneous.
Posted by Clint Torres
Member since Oct 2011
2662 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 11:51 am to
quote:

No explanation given for $2,500 insurance on a $1.5M home though.


They don’t need full homeowners; they probably have a HO6 policy that covers from the walls in.. don’t need roof/wind coverage as that is handled by the condo association policy.
Posted by Bard
Definitely NOT an admin
Member since Oct 2008
51699 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 12:25 pm to
quote:




That sort of behavior is why Dave Ramsey has made so much money.
Posted by Big Scrub TX
Member since Dec 2013
33481 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 12:52 pm to
quote:

A grand a month for "children lessons" is hilarious
For 3 and 5 year olds, yes. Not for older kids.
This post was edited on 1/26/24 at 12:54 pm
Posted by Displaced
Member since Dec 2011
32715 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 12:56 pm to
Their numbers have to be completely fabricated.

They don't include utilities, phone plans, discretionary spending.

The entire list is BS
Posted by Pintail
Member since Nov 2011
10460 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 1:15 pm to
Where the hell are they getting homeowners insurance at $2500 for a $1.5 million house?

And $5,000/year in maintenance on a $1.5M house?

And $10,000/year in clothes?

They will always be broke being idiots.
Posted by nolaks
Member since Dec 2013
1137 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 2:00 pm to
South Louisiana edition 2024
Income $300K (two at $150 because its LA not NY)
2 401k at $23K (-$46k)
Tax rate of 35% on remainder leaves you with 165K a year or $13.7K a month

$13.7K
($2K) tuition for two kids
(1.2) two car notes at $600
(1K) nola property taxes
(1K) NOLA insurance house
($1K) groceries
(4K) mortgage

Ya'll can pick your poison from there (Disney trip, skiing?, boat note?, car and house maintenance

Posted by frequent flyer
USA
Member since Jul 2021
2991 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 5:02 pm to
They are getting raped by taxes.
Posted by Billy Blanks
Member since Dec 2021
3809 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 5:45 pm to
A sad sight to see someone with that income with no invesment properites. W2 earners spend their full income usually. Business owners making/netting the same...do not...usually.
Posted by Big Scrub TX
Member since Dec 2013
33481 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 5:47 pm to
quote:

They are getting raped by taxes.
Nah. Their tax quote is clearly inaccurate.
Posted by Dr Rosenrosen
Member since May 2006
3339 posts
Posted on 1/26/24 at 7:12 pm to
This is what you get living and working in NYC. Even at $500K, you get killed with the COL and taxes. Plus the weather is lousy. They can keep NYC.
Posted by deltaland
Member since Mar 2011
90723 posts
Posted on 1/27/24 at 12:29 am to
Cut out charity
500 a week for food for family of 4? That’s pretty high. Meal prep, cut that in half
Cut out one vacation.
Over 2k a year in clothes per person? I never buy clothes except a couple pairs of 40 dollar jeans every 6 months. 1 pair of boots a year. My shirts I get enough in gifts every Christmas and bday to last the year.
Posted by deltaland
Member since Mar 2011
90723 posts
Posted on 1/27/24 at 12:34 am to
quote:

2- on the budget itself, mortgage and childcare are two things they can probably trim a lot out of.


I don’t even understand making 500k and having a car payment/mortgage/student loans. I’d live sparsely a few years and buy it all outright then save. Rent a house for 5 years and save up over a million, buy a nice 5-600k home cash, 2 cars, pay off student loans. Then you have only living expenses and put the rest in investments so it grows
Posted by JohnnyKilroy
Cajun Navy Vice Admiral
Member since Oct 2012
35389 posts
Posted on 1/27/24 at 9:30 am to
quote:

I don’t even understand making 500k and having a car payment/mortgage/student loans. I’d live sparsely a few years and buy it all outright then save


Inefficient.


Now you can certainly make the argument that they don’t need cars at all, but trading liquidity and opportunity to save a relatively small amount of interest expense is dumb.
Posted by rocksteady
Member since Sep 2013
1280 posts
Posted on 1/27/24 at 9:44 am to
Note to self: never use financialsamurai.com
Posted by Newgene
Waveland, MS
Member since Nov 2005
7236 posts
Posted on 1/27/24 at 10:48 am to
Taxes are wrong, and statistically impossible. I'm not sure what state they're in, but there is no reality that gets a tax bill that high. 40% effective tax rates don't exist for families making $500k. It could be the author is confusing an effective rate with a top bracket. Social Security has a cap, deductions exist, and you are only taxed on the dollars that land in those brackets. Once you do that right, it likely frees up another $80k or so unaccounted for to save. There just is no reality where someone has that much student loan debt, property tax, interest, etc. and doesn't deduct any of it. It's worst than high school math.

If the moral of the story is taxes are too high, and government spending needs to be checked back, ok. I'm aligned. But this should be about real numbers if it's coming from CNBC. It should.
Posted by Dead Mike
Cell Block 4
Member since Mar 2010
3386 posts
Posted on 1/27/24 at 10:56 am to
quote:

Note to self: never use financialsamurai.com


I’m not sure if these numbers are from the blogger or from a commenter/case study, but financial samurai is a FIRE blogger who retired from tech in their 30s with children, while continuing to live in the Bay Area. They subsequently shared that their early retirement became more tenuous than expected because of (at the time) depressed bond and treasury yields compared to their projection. I can’t recall if this was pre or post pandemic, but I think they were considering returning to the workforce.
Posted by CaptainJ47
Gonzales
Member since Nov 2007
7354 posts
Posted on 1/27/24 at 5:42 pm to
I suspect if I did mine it wouldn’t be much different. Tuition will be ending soon so that will help.
Posted by kywildcatfanone
Wildcat Country!
Member since Oct 2012
119269 posts
Posted on 1/27/24 at 5:47 pm to
I see lots of potential cutbacks in that list.
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