What’s good money to you

[Stratos81]

Attachment 544705

LOL, touché

[finsh'n'freak]

The more you make the more you spend so it is all relative. The key is to set your budget based on your base income, live within your means, and always save for retirement.

[Stein]

Here's my take on "good money" which takes into account where you live and how you live. If you live on 50% of what you make and bank the rest, you make "good money".

[unknown angler]

You are correct about the toolmakers but I don't know any tool and die makers that only work 40 hours a week. They are in such short supply everywhere that pretty much anyone can work as much overtime as they want. Only 280 hours of overtime or 5 hours a week of overtime gets that $40 person to $100,000.

I agree, up until the last 5 years of my career I averaged 50 to 55 hours a week, when I hit 60 I told them Saturdays are now mine.

[trashmanssd]

In my area which runs on the expensive side i would say For a married couple or Small Family, I would say 100-200K a year is doing ok. 200 - 400K is doing well. 400 - 1mil is doing "REALLY WELL". Anything above that is killing it.

[OconeeMike]

It really depends on how you want to live. $200K would not begin to pay for my lifestyle but you should be able to live comfortably on that.

[ksubasser24]

Depends on when you bought your house.

^^^This is so very true

[BP in ME]

I see it has 2 types of Money
1. Taxed
2. The other is cash

Over 100k would be good taxed money or 60k cash
Perfect would be a little of both, 100k taxed with benifits and 50-60 on the side in cash or side jobs

Have you read the 1040 instructions? They supposedly have that covered now in the section where you have to declare proceeds from illegal activity as income. Also have to count the fair market value of stolen goods as income unless you return said goods within one year. This has been going around UTube recently so maybe it's true and maybe it's a hoax.

I don't see how anyone can afford living quarters in CA if the average cost of a home is now $750,000. Are half the people in Section 8?

[IndianaBassMan]

Don't matter where, Dollars are Dollars.

Wow, what an inaccurate statement.

[GOTTA BIG SACK]

I don't see how you can get by comfortably with two kids these days making under $100 each?

[janky]

My definition of good money was when I wasn't counting down to the first of the month. I will say that $100k with two kids in private school is not enough here.

[basshammerwannabe]

I don't see how you can get by comfortably with two kids these days making under $100 each?

sheesh with day care 5x a week

[BP in ME]

Totally depends on where you live! I taught school for almost 29 years. The most I ever made tea was 50,000 a year. Had to do a second job to make up for only being payed for 10 months out of the year. Wife worked full time also for over 35 years. We managed to get by nicely and were very comfortable. Together we made around 120 grand a year. I was able to retire early. Don’t have a lot of extra to waste but still live comfortable. Cost of living is very reasonable where we live compared to big cities. Good pay around here is less than a 100 thousand a year a person. Sister in law and husband have to make 200,000 plus to do as well as us but they live in the Atlanta area. Some people can’t be happy no matter what they are making. I tried to be happy with what I could afford.

Dave Ramsey likes to cite that the two most common professions among millionaires are/were teaching and engineering. Engineering makes sense if you consider that it generally pays well and the type of people that become engineers are also the type to be very disciplined and pragmatic in how they spend, invest, etc. Unfortunately, I've never heard him explain how teachers get there. I guess professors are teachers as well so they might pull the avg. income upward but teaching is not where most people go to get rich. Is it the pension? Does it allow for lucrative side hustles? Selling grades?

[ksubasser24]

My wife and I have 1 child and another on the way. I make what I think is "good money". At the end of 2021 we moved back to South Dakota from Wisconsin. I took a job that paid 20K more a year and the wife took a job that paid $3.50 more per hour. Fast forward to the start of 2024 and I am making 35k more a year than I was in Wisconsin and she is making $8.00 more per hour. We are comfortable but with all the extra income things are tighter than we ever imagined. We were moving back to a area with lower property taxes and no state income taxes.

When we made the move a equivalent house here was about the same price as the home we left in Wisconsin, but finding a home was almost impossible as they were selling within the hour they listed. We decided to build and by the time we built, houses in the area were up about 150K from when we moved. Fortunately we moved somewhat fast and got things locked in on our new home before interest rates rose above 4%. Add in all the inflation, the extra 50k we are bringing home together isn't going as far as one would think. Property taxes when I built my home have doubled, my mortgage is $1k more than before we moved, groceries are so much more, fuel is more, heck I'm paying $250 more per month on insurance vs when we closed on our home.

[paul40269]

Also depends on how you choose to live.

Nailed it.

[ManxFishing]

Here's my take on "good money" which takes into account where you live and how you live. If you live on 50% of what you make and bank the rest, you make "good money".

I'd think that's just living within your means
I put 25% in the 401K, And still live off of 25% of what's on the check. But I whould say I'm making "Good Money"

[JoshKeller]

Whatever it is, it's never enough. I would be happiest living a 1700s style life off grid with no paycheck

[bass.man65]

Good money you would have to 1st have a fair tax system. I pay more in Fed and State Taxes then 2/3 people make on here. But yet people making less pay no Taxes and get tax credits, great system for lower income earners. Hell we raised 4 kids and never had a credit of any kind now day's the pay you to have kids what since does that make.

[BigFishSteve]

It’s easier these days. Parents are smart. About 60% use the divide and conquer scheme. They
have kids, get divorced and split the cost of the kids. Each only having to pay for every other weekend and let the government pay for everything else. I should have been so wise.

[MI bassassassin]

Double post.