You have to make 80k plus in America to live a normal life. With inflation taken into account, these people have experienced little salary growth over the past 20 years. I look at family members in Corportate America and they are doing well by any traditional standards. However, you have to take into account that they have to move to were schools are decent and that costs more money. The cost of college for kids is outrageous now (way overpriced and nothing but politcally correct rat traps). IMO, you have to make quite a bit of cash to stay in the game in America.
Crash is Upon Us
- Thread starter Pabst
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You have to make 80k plus in America to live a normal life. With inflation taken into account, these people have experienced little salary growth over the past 20 years. I look at family members in Corportate America and they are doing well by any traditional standards. However, you have to take into account that they have to move to were schools are decent and that costs more money. The cost of college for kids is outrageous now (way overpriced and nothing but politcally correct rat traps). IMO, you have to make quite a bit of cash to stay in the game in America.
Good post TGM. Central banks keep encouraging risk taking by not pushing up interest rates and keeping them below inflation. There is next to no spread between treasuries and a lot of junk bonds. Does that make sense? Actually yes. When our marketsand world markets operate on the belief the intervention will take place if something goes wrong. Not to mention its hedge funds and i banks not individuals who are buying this crap. Hey its not my money so who cares. Where does this end? When people decide that they are spent up and there debt loads are too high. Are we there yet? I dont know. But there is a lot of debt. And we need to add new debt to create asset bubbles. Central bank intervention and gurantees are going to the world in the end. This is capitalism not the USSR where price fixing was what it was all about.
What ordinary 9-5 people are making six figure range? Teachers, firefighters, police, electricians on average make $40k a year. Average auto mechanic is $30k/yr. Google some of these professions and you find unions and whatnot coming up with a major problem that you hear Lou Dobbs talk about like every goddamn night, the loss of benefits and slow wage increases over the past 5 years.
And where do ya live where one needs to make $80k/yr to live a normal life?
And where do ya live where one needs to make $80k/yr to live a normal life?
$80k/yr here on Long Island, NY places you below middle class. It will allow you to own a house, send your kids to a public school, eat out rarely and not save for retirement.
Many firemen and police in NYC and Nassau and Suffolk Counties make over $100k. Just including their published salaries does not tell you the full story. You need to add overtime, night differential, health and dental, vacation (> 5 weks), etc..... It all adds up to a comfortable total compensation package. Plus they have the benefit of a pension after 20 years and a retirement savings plan.
Many firemen and police in NYC and Nassau and Suffolk Counties make over $100k. Just including their published salaries does not tell you the full story. You need to add overtime, night differential, health and dental, vacation (> 5 weks), etc..... It all adds up to a comfortable total compensation package. Plus they have the benefit of a pension after 20 years and a retirement savings plan.
You can't be serious, eh?
Ever hear of a place called the New York Metro area?
How about most of California?
As far as your claim that firefighters, police, and eletricians make "on average" $40,000 . . . you are so far off that it isn't even funny! Where exactly do YOU live???
County nurses at my local county hospital make $40.00 per hour . . . that comes out to $83,000 per year. A police academy graduate can expect to earn between $62,000 - $76,000 per year at my local police department. And that is for a "town" with a population of 65,000. EMT's in my area make atleast $85,000 per year and with a little overtime are pushing $100k easy.
Again, where exactly is it that YOU live?
The average teaching salary in the U.S. is $48,000 a year. Not bad for a 180 days a year gig that typically includes health insurance and generous pensions of 75% one's last pay after 30 years employment. And that's the average. I can't find any data on the average teacher's salary at retirement but I'd reckon it's at least 60k a year. A pension of 75% on 60k? Nice deal. A self employed trader who receives a T-Bill return of 5% would need a million dollars in the bank to be at equivalency. And in my home state of Illinois the average teacher salary is 55k. That's including all the poor farm communities downstate where salaries are in the low 30's. A tenured 45 year old teacher in Chicago's suburbs makes 80k easy. In fact there's 100 teachers in Illinois earning at least $140,000!
http://www.thechampion.org/teacher/cgi-bin/teacher.pl?ssd=topteach&year=2005
http://www.thechampion.org/teacher/cgi-bin/teacher.pl?ssd=topteach&year=2005
Quote from Landis82:
You can't be serious, eh?
Ever hear of a place called the New York Metro area?
How about most of California?
As far as your claim that firefighters, police, and eletricians make "on average" $40,000 . . . you are so far off that it isn't even funny! Where exactly do YOU live???
County nurses at my local county hospital make $40.00 per hour . . . that comes out to $83,000 per year. A police academy graduate can expect to earn between $62,000 - $76,000 per year at my local police department. And that is for a "town" with a population of 65,000. EMT's in my area make atleast $85,000 per year and with a little overtime are pushing $100k easy.
Again, where exactly is it that YOU live?
Just click over to Salary.com
Typical firefighter in US
Police Patrol Officer
Electrician
Teacher
National averages. Adjust for your area and the site appears to be about right.
Someone above said ya have to make $80k/yr in America to live a normal life which was what I wanted to direct my question to but phrased it wrong.
I was refferring to family members in the Midwest. 80k seems about what it takes to live in a decent suburb and not have to send the kids to a hell hole. I am not talking about barely making it and not saving money etc. I am talking about living a decent life. Alot depends on the area. Chicago costs more than say Detroit (where I grew up). However, in Metro Detroit you are going to pay up or send your kids to a horrible school. So it all levels out in the end. On the other hand if you are in the middle of Iowa and making 55k as a teacher ---u are sitting pretty.