How much is 'A Good Living'?

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Re: Is anyone making a good living???

Quote from peppermint:

Yes, "a good living" is relative.
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My personal definition of a decent living is a six-figure annual income in any western country (US$, Euros, British pounds, Canadian or Australian dollars, etc), for someone who enjoys trading for a living.

Whether it is a high six-figures or a low six-figures determines whether it is a decent, good or excellent living.

Alternative definition: The opportunity cost of your earning power at a regular job, plus the annual return available to you on the amount of capital you have.

Example1: Your salary at day job is $75K and you have $25K available for trading. That year's S&P500 return is 8%. Therefore you are earning a good living day-trading if you earn anything over $77K, or 308% annual return.

Example2: Your salary is $500K and your have $2M to invest. Professional managers could produce 15% annual return net of fees. You are earning a good living day-trading if you make anything over $800K, or 40% annual return.

Comments or opinions? What's your annual goal?
 
hmmm...i would define a good living as what you require to live on, comfortably. i think after tax income of 150k would suffice.

but in actuality, if you have little capital, i think 50k would be enough to live on. and if you really enjoy trading, then it makes up for not making more money in salary.

on the other hand, if you're making 300k or better in markets, then half could go to savings, in event of a drawdown, etc.
 
a big thing to consider is where you live.
I'm only 150 miles from 2 major cities. The average price of a home where I live is less than half the price it would be in those cities.
Another good example is just entertainment. One of my favorites is going out with the boys to toss back some beers. In NYC that's gonna cost you a couple hundred in a night. Where I live a fifty dollar bill will last you from 5pm to 4am. Might be a bit more if you hit Denny's at 4am like we usually do.
So, anthing over $100k where I live and you can be VERY comfortable.
Although, if you really want to, you can find some cheap bars in NYC. :D
 
Quote from uptik2000:

Might be a bit more if you hit Denny's at 4am like we usually do.
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Haha good ol' Denny's, always a classic choice ... but have you ever tried that place sober? *barf*

BTW I agree with all the comments above and the OP, it is all relative. Who cares what other people think is a good living. If you are completely happy making X amount of money a year then good for you.

But what the f*ck do I know, I'm just some damn Canadian ... all I require is gas to power my generator to heat the igloo. Damn lcd's really lag when it's this cold.
 
Quote from jho:

Haha good ol' Denny's, always a classic choice ... but have you ever tried that place sober? *barf*

BTW I agree with all the comments above and the OP, it is all relative. Who cares what other people think is a good living. If you are completely happy making X amount of money a year then good for you.

But what the f*ck do I know, I'm just some damn Canadian ... all I require is gas to power my generator to heat the igloo. Damn lcd's really lag when it's this cold.
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I'm with ya, man. Im not a Canadian but far north enough that I feel like one. :)

And like you, I don't care what others think. I'm not into the status thing either. I have nice things, but not flashy. Got plenty of cash in the bank.

As far as I'm concerned I'm wealthy as I ever need to be, because today I got this picture. :D Got a son on the way.
 

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How much is a good living? Sufficient income to afford
  • House payments (or rent) on a comfortable home (or flat) having one bedroom per family member plus a spare "guest" bedroom
  • Life insurance for the parents
  • Health insurance for all family members
  • Car payments (one vehicle per adult)
  • 1,000 gallons of gasoline per vehicle per year
  • Utility bills (phone, heat, water, sewer, CATV, internet, electric, etc)
  • Grocery bills
  • Restaurant meals at least twice a week
  • Clothing bills (includes ladies shoes, includes jewelry)
  • Savings to pay for Ivy League college in case the kids are admitted
  • Airfare for the whole family to take a vacation to the neighboring continent, once a year
  • Hotel rooms for the whole family for a two week vacation, once a year
  • Christmas presents and birthday presents for the entire family
  • 401K - Roth - IRA annual investment contribution @ max
  • Excess equal to 15% of the total of the above, for savings and/or discretionary spending
 
We have traders making $300 a day in the room who consider themselves making a good living. Of course this may be a single guy living on a futon in his one bedroom apartment. That question really must be answered by the individual.

Perhaps one could say if your bills are paid and you have leisure spending capital then your making a good living.
 
50K a year is a good living for somebody with no college education.

100K a year is a good living for somebody who has a college education.
 
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