We make 250,000/year. I'm not a f***ing billionaire

Anyone that afford to save for retirement and provide an education for their children has done well for themselves. They ought rightly to be proud of a job well done. And they should have the brains to realize that they're more fortunate than 80-90% of the rest of the country and if they think this somehow makes them victims they should expect to be roundly lectured on the true meaning of victimhood.

True, but I guess I was thinking direct tax breaks, education deductions, and infrastructure construction projects.

Buying those models supports less American jobs. That being said, buying an American car made in Mexico/Canada still beats buying a foreign car that was also manufactured abroad. At least in the former, the profits stay in the US.

I agree with the 1st half of this.

The reality is that most people on these boards probably make under $30k a year. So it's hard for them to hear someone making $250k complaining. But they fail to realize that it's not a single person making $250k with no dependents. It sounds like he has multiple dependents.

Let's say the OP lives in an affluent suburb of Chicago. Let's take Wilmette, IL

Salary = $250,000

Less Taxes = $190,000 = approx $15,000/mo

Mortgage = $3,000/mo (very low for a nice area, assume he's been there for 15+ years)

Taxes = $2,000/mo

Utilities = $500/mo

Assessments = $250/mo

Car Payments = $1,000

Car Insurance = $250/mo

Health Insurance = $500/mo

Those are the basics. So almost $8,000 right off the bat out the door each month. Leaves him $7,000 or $84,000/year for everything else.

Let's go cheap and say for that whole family they only spend $1,000/mo on food. Down to $72,000 for the whole year.

Let's say he has $5,000 yearly in problems with his home (leaky roof, flooded basement, etc)

Down to $69,000

He already said he has not 1, but 2 college educations he's paying for. An out-of-state college education costs roughly $30,000/year with room and board. He's now down to $9,000 total.

Let's say he has a son in HS as well. A private HS in that area is $12,000/year.

He's now at -$3,000 for the year....

Again, I know he CAN live somewhere else and DOESN'T have to pay his kids education, but he CHOOSES to do this. And because he wants to live in a great area, and help his family out, his $250k a year income is NOT that much.

As you can see money can go VERY quickly.

As I originally said, I make $150k a year and have a wife and a baby on the way. And these #'s scare the crap out of me. I don't think we'll ever be 'comfortable' with how much money we make. The American dream has pretty much gone out the window. I don't know anyone that makes $350k+ a year anymore. Times they are a changing.

Yes, I am tired of it. This is the primary reason why he did not get my vote. Over 300K a year in this household and we are by no means living high on the hog. Problems of the privileged I know, so don't go telling me I have no idea how good I've got it. I realize how fortunate I am to be in this position. I also realize how much hard work it has taken us to get here.

My gripe is with the arbitrary cutoff. How can our clueless leader declare that $250K/year is the magic #? 250K a year in NYC or So. Cal for a family of 5 barely gets you through the door and is easily the equivalent of less than 1/2 that in other parts of the country. $250k may be "rich" in Omaha, but it aint squat in LA. So I pay a lot (not "a little" as the President claims - what a load of sh$!) more in taxes, barely have 2 nickels to rub together come April, and grin and bear it. It's only $ right? The People, or more specifically, the dumbsh*! electoral college, have/has spoken; 4 more years of socialism in America.

Let's call a spade a spade. There are entitlements that benefit every social class. Whether it is a welfare check, social security, mortgage interest deductions, or an advantageous tax rate on capital gains, it's effectively money from the government. Ultimately, everyone wants cuts to entitlements--just not cuts to THEIR entitlement.

A few thoughts:

First, there are clearly a range of passionate opinions in this thread, but some perspective is needed. $250,000 per year is a lot of money, pretty much anywhere. It's not astronomical and the OP has five dependents, so it doesn't go as far as some would like to imagine, but it's still vastly more than the majority of Americans.

Second, the OP earning that much is a GOOD thing, not a BAD thing. If he earned his money, then he's entitled to spend it how he sees fit. In fact, his decision to spend that money has second or third order benefits to the people and economy around him. A wealthy person pumps more money into the economy (and ipso facto creates higher tax revenues). That's why government (no matter the party affiliation) generally wants you to succeed.

Third, as several others have mentioned, the tax hike is not as large as would imagine. Under the President's plan, it goes up ~$800 for someone making $250,000. Spread out over 12 months, it's just under $67. The President hasn't done himself any favors by spelling out just how small (relatively speaking) the tax increases would be for the vast majority of those $250,000 and up. Add to that the line of attack by the Republican party throughout the campaign was to describe the increases as horrifically high and you gain the impression the President is hunting the rich. Their effective tax rate for the top 1% now is lower than any time in history.

Fourth, both spending cuts and revenue increases are needed to cut the national debt. Period. Both parties had their turn running up deficits. Both of them need strong medicine.

Sell your cars. That should be an easy one.

Have your kids get jobs and have them pay for more things. They are probably spoiled brats anyways.

It's your own fault for not taking a vacation in 4 years.

Not to mention you are complaining on letsrun.com. Go somewhere else where people might actually care (no where) and go get railed by your wife. She's tired of having sex with all of your friends.

Sell your cars. That should be an easy one.

Have your kids get jobs and have them pay for more things. They are probably spoiled brats anyways.

It's your own fault for not taking a vacation in 4 years.

Not to mention you are complaining on letsrun.com. Go somewhere else where people might actually care (no where) and go get railed by your wife. She's tired of having sex with all of your friends.

I agree with the OP wrote:

He already said he has not 1, but 2 college educations he's paying for. An out-of-state college education costs roughly $30,000/year with room and board. He's now down to $9,000 total.

Not a tax issue, but why would anyone pay $30K a year for a bachelor's degree when you can attend state-U for half that or less? Secondly, why would anyone pay out of pocket for either when you can finance it at 4% with deductible interest. Thirdly, why would anyone spring for the total cost of something that ends in a degree/job and a related cash stream? This is a series of poor spending decisions based on nothing but some weird sense of obligation for a kid's affection. It's like driving a $45K suv off the lot rather than paying $20K for something 2yrs used and slightly less ostentatious. It's why a lot of folks feel like they're broke when they could be chilling drinking margaritas on the patio of their paid-off house.

This country is finished because of freaks like you guys.

Obama talks about taxing the rich because they are the ones who've benefited from the growing pie in the last decade, with a decline in median family income. People wonder why 47 percent don't pay federal income taxes, perhaps it's because in an inflation adjusted tax scheme when your income doesn't change and you are placated with additional goodies like the earned income tax credit you slowly slide into a non-tax paying situation. I agree with you that the rhetoric is a bit over the top, but many people in this country don't realize and cherish the opportunities afforded by this country (which is why you are getting attacked). I'm in a similar income situation to you without the college tuition (kids 10 and 7). Perhaps you're really pissed about the ridiculous tuition increases in the last 20 years. Once that passes I'm sure your savings will go through the roof. Good luck in the interim. You are saving your kids a whole lot of pain in their 20's and 30's. Be proud.

I don't have to have my own private jet, but then it would be more hassle to travel with my family around the world every month. I don't have to have a mansion in the richest part of the city, but I need to keep up appearances so my friends will not look down on me. I don't have to have a butler, a chef, a valet, etc., but I don't want my wife to have to work. I don't have to hire private tutors for every subject for every one of my children, but then they wouldn't have every advantage. I know I don't HAVE to do these things, but I CHOSE to.

F^@#ing @$$&0!#.

I don't have anything against people wanting to live comfortably, but if you are both above the poverty line and have health insurance, you could probably live a bit cheaper. It's one thing to argue that there should be an incentive for high productivity in our country, or that economic freedom will help nearly everybody, even if it helps some much more than others, but this is a whole other thing entirely. The argument that a quarter million a year isn't a crap ton of money is a ludicrous rationalization.

The combination of American materialism and American's sense of entitlement has always amazed me.

It's really interesting reading how people waste money. Do people really spend $200/month on a health club membership? $250/month on car insurance?

My health club costs $38/month and my car insurance for two cars is about $90/month. Add in my wife's car and we're up to around $150.

I must be slumming it.

I agree with the OP wrote:

I'll respectively disagree with you on that. If you're making $50k a year, you are NOT living in Manhattan. A CHEAP studio in Manhattan is $2,200/mo. Think about having a place for a family of 5??? Has to be at LEAST $7,500/mo.

Also you have to realize that if you make $250k a year, you still have to pay taxes. So he wouldn't have $160k 'laying around'. He would have 160k - taxes.

And once you have a family, you have multiple extra expenses. There's no room to be buying vacation homes and ferrari's. That would be stupid/foolish expenses.

My point in all of this is that $250k a year is NOT rich everywhere. Sure, it can be. But for people living in certain areas, it definitely is not.

This person gets it. When speaking about cost of living differences, I saw a study a while back that stated that $200k for a family of 4 is equivalent to about $112k in cities such as Milwaukee or Indianapolis.

America has collapsed intellectually and morally. Those of you who want to punish happiness and cannibalize anyone who is happier than you deserve so richly what is about to happen.

yagtash wrote:

t94bell wrote:

0/10.

JESUS CHRIST, FINALLY.

Whether this is a troll or not is irrelevant. There are plenty of people in this position that feel this way. Fire the maid and clean yourself, axe a couple cars, downsize your house, cut out memberships to various places, don't eat out so much. You'd be surprised at how quickly you can save a boatload of cash if you're smart.

You make a lot of money if you make $250,000 a year consistently. Imagine if you made $50,000-$75,000 a year like the rest of us. Get a grip. Taxes for the wealthy are at historic lows in this country since World War II. Imagine if you were a fireman (like my dad was) with 4 kids, would you then not think $250,000 was a boatload of money? It would e like hitting the lottery!!! I think you would think it was a lot of money then.

The Baby Boomers should be renamed The most Selfish Generation of All Time--In ALL of Human History.

g_d

Do you know how many people pay $60k for bachelor degrees in the world? hundreds of thousands. $30k is probably average.

It's not poor spending. It's normal spending.