Do you make more than half of all Americans???

[BC Lightning]

If you and your other make more than $40,000, then you make more than half of all Americans

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/103815/Where-Do-You-Stand-on-America's-Wealth-Spectrum
(http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/103815/Where-Do-You-Stand-on-America%27s-Wealth-Spectrum)
"Whenever I slip these tidbits into cocktail party chatter, people are surprised to realize how little money it takes to win a gold star from the Fed. If you and yours are bringing in $40,000 a year, you're doing better than half the households in America. Or, as a Washington think tank recently pointed out: If you're a teacher married to a policeman, your combined household income puts you in the top 25 percent of all households in the nation."

[dboat]

Wow, interesting article... now I know where I stand..

Dana

[SILVER2000SVT]

The median home price is $240K, one politician recently asked "how is a teacher who makes $40K/year supposed to afford an average house worth that much?"

The answer is "They're not".

The messed up part is that I see friends and neighbors that are teachers and factory workers with kids living in $250K homes with two new cars and wonder how they do it.

[dboat]

The median home price is $240K, one politician recently asked "how is a teacher who makes $40K/year supposed to afford an average house worth that much?"

The answer is "They're not".

The messed up part is that I see friends and neighbors that are teachers and factory workers with kids living in $250K homes with two new cars and wonder how they do it.

The answer is that there are two income earners that make $80k in the house.. then, they are mortgaged to the hilt and not putting a cent away for retirement nor have they created their safety fund that will carry them for 5 months if they lose their job.. but when they go to do their taxes, because of the interest on the home mortgage with the property taxes that they pay, their income tax load goes way down so that they can afford the house..
personally, I cant live that way, but that is how it is done..

Dana

[SVTJoseCuervo]

Im way at the bottom.

Dad is at the top :evil

[tiffo60]

well i may make for than half of america but it still isnt enough, especially after the man takes his chunk out:gatling:

[L8 APEX]

Was it Rush Limbaugh that coined the phrase the lower 95....

[03LightningRocks]

The answer is that there are two income earners that make $80k in the house.. then, they are mortgaged to the hilt and not putting a cent away for retirement nor have they created their safety fund that will carry them for 5 months if they lose their job.. but when they go to do their taxes, because of the interest on the home mortgage with the property taxes that they pay, their income tax load goes way down so that they can afford the house..
personally, I cant live that way, but that is how it is done..

Dana

My daughter recently bought a house. Her pre-aproval said she could qualify for a house that would have taken almost half her income, after taxes. I say after taxes because that is what a person actually has to spend. I was completely shocked by this. When I bought my home around ten years ago, they had me at around 25-30% of my take home pay. The relaxed guidelines to buy a home are going to get some folks into real trouble. House poor is an understatement. Thank goodness she is level headed and didn't buy herself into future bankruptcy. She didn't want to have to worry about making her payment each month and chose to buy something reasonable.

It's crazy...simply crazy.


Ninja Edit....now that I think about it...they qualified her at almost 50% for her pre-tax earnings. That would have been more than half her take home pay.

[PUMP]

snip snip ... If you and yours are bringing in $40,000 a year, you're doing better than half the households in America. Or, as a Washington think tank recently pointed out: If you're a teacher married to a policeman, your combined household income puts you in the top 25 percent of all households in the nation."
Yea! and if you stick your head in the refrigerator with feet in the oven, on average you're comfortable:rll:

[Alpine]

Yea! and if you stick your head in the refrigerator with feet in the oven, on average you're comfortable:rll::rll::rll: I wanted to test this theory for accuracy but my refrigerator and oven are on the same wall.:icon_confused:

[danielvalles1]

well i may make for than half of america but it still isnt enough, especially after the man takes his chunk out:gatling:
yeah i here you man same here.

[danielvalles1]

My daughter recently bought a house. Her pre-aproval said she could qualify for a house that would have taken almost half her income, after taxes. I say after taxes because that is what a person actually has to spend. I was completely shocked by this. When I bought my home around ten years ago, they had me at around 25-30% of my take home pay. The relaxed guidelines to buy a home are going to get some folks into real trouble. House poor is an understatement. Thank goodness she is level headed and didn't buy herself into future bankruptcy. She didn't want to have to worry about making her payment each month and chose to buy something reasonable.

It's crazy...simply crazy.


Ninja Edit....now that I think about it...they qualified her at almost 50% for her pre-tax earnings. That would have been more than half her take home pay.
Smart daughter you have there looks like she got it from pops.:tu: