This Is How Much You Must Make To Join The "Top 0.001 Percent"

Banjo · Feb 22, 2018

"They say the "top 1%" runs America, so why not just join them?"
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero)

lawrence-lugar · Feb 22, 2018

Banjo said:
They say the "top 1%" runs America, so why not just join them?
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-22/how-much-you-must-make-join-top-0001?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+zerohedge/feed+(zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline,+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero)

You only need so much money to be happy. And that happy level is approx. in the top 35-45% of Americans.
Anything beyond that becomes just a somewhat meaningless scorecard.

And more is never enough, you're kind of constantly depressed...just thinking about money, and how to accumulate and grow more of it.
After a certain level, you may desire Power or political power over people. Dictate their values and ideals and the way they should live their lives.

Handle123 · Feb 22, 2018

lawrence-lugar said:
You only need so much money to be happy. And that happy level is approx. in the top 35-45% of Americans.
Anything beyond that becomes just a somewhat meaningless scorecard.

And more is never enough, you're kind of constantly depressed...just thinking about money, and how to accumulate and grow more of it.
After a certain level, you may desire Power or political power over people. Dictate their values and ideals and the way they should live their lives.

Money is just a tool for paying bills and collecting. If you not happy before, it often makes life worse.

prc117f · Feb 22, 2018

People need to worry less about what others have and spend more time just enjoying life.

Just looked at the chart, Wow I am actually in the 1%er level. My AGI just gets me on the 1%

I guess I am part of the evil 1%ers if you saw me driving my 2004 Jeep Wrangler in a ratty t-shirt and shorts,sandals you would never think it.

lolTRICKDu · Feb 22, 2018

Hm. I'm surprised they're saying that 1 in 100 Americans earn $480,000+ a year. I would've thought earning half a million a year was rarer than that. Could be I'm just having an idiot moment and read that wrong.

toc · Feb 22, 2018

lawrence-lugar said:
You only need so much money to be happy. And that happy level is approx. in the top 35-45% of Americans.
Anything beyond that becomes just a somewhat meaningless scorecard.

And more is never enough, you're kind of constantly depressed...just thinking about money, and how to accumulate and grow more of it.
After a certain level, you may desire Power or political power over people. Dictate their values and ideals and the way they should live their lives.

Somewhere I saw on TV/Internet that 65-70K is the optimal to feel good about life and $95K is where one feels really solid. Beyond this, the money has diminishing marginal returns.

Those in $200K and above brackets are more unhappy and stressed as they have to compete with others in the income group regarding expensive toys and vacation...........just to show off to others.

RedDuke · Feb 23, 2018

toc said:
Somewhere I saw on TV/Internet that 65-70K is the optimal to feel good about life and $95K is where one feels really solid. Beyond this, the money has diminishing marginal returns.

Those in $200K and above brackets are more unhappy and stressed as they have to compete with others in the income group regarding expensive toys and vacation...........just to show off to others.

Such BS, try to live on 100K in tri state area (not Manhattan) with family of 2 kids. NJ transit to city monthly path is around $400, just to give you some idea.

JSOP · Feb 23, 2018

toc said:
Somewhere I saw on TV/Internet that 65-70K is the optimal to feel good about life and $95K is where one feels really solid. Beyond this, the money has diminishing marginal returns.

Those in $200K and above brackets are more unhappy and stressed as they have to compete with others in the income group regarding expensive toys and vacation...........just to show off to others.

That depends on where you live in USA too. If you live in California especially Silicon Valley, $65-70K won't even allow you to rent a decent place to live; it's kinda hard to feel good about life when you are living out of your car and have to go to gym or mobile shower just to take shower to change for work everyday. Whereas in other parts of United States, making just $50K would allow you to live comfortably.

And for the $200K, this I find would depends on your mentality and your philosophy of life. I mean if you are going to always keep up with the Joneses, no matter how much you make, you are ALWAYS going to be unhappy. Whereas if you just live your live for yourself, you can still be happy making $200K and above. And I find you would even be happier if you make $200K and more because now you would FINALLY have the means to actually make a difference in the world, to actually make things happen. Things that you have always wanted to see accomplished but never could because you didn't have enough money, well now, you can. You want to see how cells get damaged enough to turn cancer and how to stop it? Now you can privately fund a lab to carry out the research to find out. You want to save your local mill from closing and save all the jobs of the people who watched you growing up? Now you can buy that mill and even hire management consultants to run it better and hire all the people back. So now you don't just made money and die, you are actually able to leave your legacy. People will remember what you did after you are long gone.

So the relationship between happiness and amount of $$ you have really depends on how you see life and happiness.

toc · Feb 23, 2018

RedDuke said:
Such BS, try to live on 100K in tri state area (not Manhattan) with family of 2 kids. NJ transit to city monthly path is around $400, just to give you some idea.

Wow!! with such economic brutality, I would get experience for 2-3 years and then move to some "more sane and normal" state like Kansas or Iowa or Colorado and live like a human being rather than stand on the crowded subway with "balls jolting" for two hours each day.

ironchef · Feb 23, 2018

RedDuke said:
Such BS, try to live on 100K in tri state area (not Manhattan) with family of 2 kids. NJ transit to city monthly path is around $400, just to give you some idea.

It is hard for me to believe every family in the tri state area are making more than $100K a year. Yet people survive on less and by choice they live there instead of moving to Kansas. Maybe happiness is a state of mind once the basic necessities are taken care of?