How much money Americans need to "be comfortable"

[@silversurfer8818]

Why did they use average? median would have been a better predictor - as the highest payed would skew the data set!

[@nicklasveva]

Because it skewed the data, that's why they used it.

[@DeathmetalPersian]

all statistics are lies. statistics only exist to serve propagandists

[@Breadbored.]

You would exclude the outliers or use a weighted average.

[@Alex.Holland]

50 seconds in to this video and I already knew it was gunna be bunk. Its likely intentional, but could be typical ineptitude.

[@Breadbored.]

@@Alex.Holland 5 minutes into the video they use the median income.... Let me guess, you have some reason why that makes the video even worse.

[@dpark189]

233k for a single person to be "comfortable" is delusional. I worked in Manhattan and even in those places 233k isn't just being comfortable for a single person. there is a problem with wages and cost of living in the USA but if you say 233k is just being comfortable, you have a spending problem.

[@dlanbatal]

i've lived off of 1/2 of minimum wage (part time employee making minimum wage). Average annual expenditures for a highly comfortable life as a single in my area imo is ~40k. this video is just delusional and shows how well you can lie with statistics

[@Ziggyvu]

At least watch the whole video before commentating kid 😂

[@P0T4T054CK]

Frfr. I'm a single fulltime father raising a kid. We survive off $60k a year. Survive. And I love in an upscale rich ass suburb in a luxury apartment. We'd be comfortable af at 100k. And that's two fucking people.

[@pobregringo88]

That's because the people that watch CNBC couldn't FATHOM moving to a red state with a reasonable cost of living.

[@user-eh9ht1rv2n]

So let me get this straight foods at a 20% raise housing market has gone up 6000% in nyc. It's 4k to 3k for a STUDIO gas prices have gone up there also raising rent every month not not mention phone bills eletric water internet has gone up health insurance 72% Americans cant get 400 dollars together if in a emergency so is it that delusional not to mention if you go to college your already 70k to 100k in debt jobs arent hiring as much they are holding onto the people that have been working for them for years tech just took a huge lay off lawyers are struggling to get into firms

[@Oksobasically2]

The discourse at the end reminded me of a talk with a co worker. Dude was living paycheck to paycheck but owned a brand new car, wore designer sunglasses, went out to eat every lunch break, went to bars every weekend, and made impulsive purchases anytime he walked into any store. All of this was funded by high interest credit. He asked me “bro how do you live off what we make im struggling out here they dont pay us enough” and i tried to explain financial responsibility, the concept of saving now to enjoy more later, emergency funds, what the word affordable actually means and in the end he just got mad that i answered his question. I eventually said that the problem was not the amount we made, it was the rate we spent it and how we spent it and until he gets that under control he will be forever in debt and unable to retire. The mindset of the average american causes me actual pain. We do it to ourselves. Live outside our means then spit on people who dont calling them privileged or out of touch. Dont be envious of the dude driving the new car or boat or whatever because odds are that is funded by debt and they are scared that if the transmission on their brand new truck grenades they will be homeless. I shit you not thats how some people choose to live.

[@rehpotsirk56]

Yeah when we are trained from birth to be consumers it’s hard for people to get into that mindset.

[@Captain_Jack711]

The guy is an NPC

[@timmy-dubs]

I think it has a lot to do with increased social comparison nowadays. Humans were probably never meant to be exposed to so many other people's lives and social media only shows the highlights and good times. The average person now overspends instead of living within their means

[@Kefroth1]

I do think that being underpaid is a problem, but it isn't insurmountable. In my view, the biggest problems are financial illiteracy and pride. The reason for the first is obvious, but pride is worse because when people give you the answers on how to solve your problem, your pride gets in the way and you refuse to listen. Then you see that nice fancy new car and think "I need to appear successful!" because your pride won't allow anything less.

[@nomandatoryvaxing7433]

Me and my wife went to LPN school and after 11 months we made $70k each a year. We bought a house in NY for $289k in 2018. After the pandemic era sent housing prices through the roof we sold our home in December of 2022 for $420k. We took our $60k down payment and $131k profit and put in another $30k and bought a home in southeast Tennessee for $215k with cash. Now we have no mortgage. My wife is able to be a stay-at-home-mom and raise our three kids while I work making $75k. Are we wealthy? No. Are we comfortable? Yes. We have two vehicles both of them paid off. A 2008 Jeep and a 2018 Jetta. We all have iPhones and they’re all paid off (13 Pro, 15, 15 Pro Max). My daughter is going to university of Tennessee this fall on a full ride. My son will qualify for a free two year degree or free trade school. My youngest is in first grade. Quality of life is much better. Is the town a little racist? Maybe. Do they treat anyone less than? Absolutely not. Are there a lot of churches? Definitely. Does it bother me? Not at all. I think people need to do as all humans have done and move to less populated more resource driven regions. I no longer have a mortgage. On top of that my property is literally 40x as large and my house is twice as big. My property tax is less than 10% what it was in NY. My point is people need to not get bachelors degrees. Focus on trades and 1-2yr programs that make you $60k to start and the top end in the six figures. Move somewhere that you can make money and save it. Don’t force yourself to live in the Austin’s, NYC’s and Portlands. Move to the Knoxvilles. You can buy a 3 bed 1 bath home for under $200k in Knoxville and make great money. I can make as a nurse $2500 a week and that’s before overtime. Why aren’t you?

[@olivegrove-gl3tw]

time to go to Tennessee..... wow thats a good price 👏

[@boshaw3667]

Thinking trades really start at 60k yr out of a trade school is the telling part from this

[@kOoSyak]

Bro. What to do zoomer now? Good for you, boomer guy.

[@bicyclekikz14]

not everyone can accommodate to your style but if it works for you then way to go!

[@MRtreeguy904]

Yeah well here in florida an LPN makes 13 an hour to start so 70k? BSN's don't even start in those numbers, most of them are starting in the low 20's an hour 23 is what I made to start. And it's not a 40 hour week it's 36 (3x12) so yeah 70k for an LPN? Not here bro, not even CLOSE, lucky to make 25k a year.

[@mirageh264]

FYI, If you take a federal student loan and opt not to pay, the loan servicers will push the government to garnish your wages at a rate of 15% of your total pre-tax income. Because this is a federal loan, the government will request garnishment from any job that is reported on your tax return. This money is suppose to be used to pay down your loan, however usually it is only "conveniently" enough to cover their interest cost and not pay towards your balance. In effect, allowing them to siphon money from you indefinitely

[@alexapexgod4643]

That’s fucked

[@justhomas83]

It's all true school loans are a self inflected wound. The government systems extract resources by default based on the term of the loans. Just like back taxes it's all inflated

[@StarboyXL9]

And this is why we don't go to college/uni unless we have the dream and ability to become a STEM person (scientist, engineer, mathematician, tech wiz). People forget that universities used to be funded by the Crown to keep them as what they were always meant to be: places of learning and enlightenment. The moment you make it a business that's about making money and not educating the future leaders of your civilization (you don't need to go unless you intend to end up as one) it becomes this...thing we see today: a debt trap dressed up as your ladder to the upper class (it isn't, lol, do you really think they'd let you in to the Carlin Club?)

[@jxecho1192]

Guess they should pay back a loan they took out then.

[@Smokasaurus]

I bet... I owed $1000 on a credit card I got when I was 18, they chased me for over 15 years before they garnished my wages.

[@Medhusalem]

"If you are living by yourself, it is way more." I don't think you understand how much it helps to have two people living in the same home, being able to have all utilities and stuff divided by half.

[@faultline3936]

It's a lot to factor in. One people obviously needs less food and all that, but has to pay the entirety of the rent/mortgage, utilies, etc. Having more people cuts the cost of those things, but also increases the other things like food, the use of water and electricity will also go up. So it's really kind of hard to tell, unless you actually factor in how much each person needs.

[@Justaguyuguys]

​@faultline3936 I often find it cheaper to feed me and my partner than to feed just myself. When you're thinking about just one meal, then yeah, you can do that cheaper, but when talking about doing the monthly shopping, it comes out close to even. Very few meal foods are sold in single servings, it's much harder to find a pack of 2 hotdogs than a pack of 8 and the 2 pack isn't going to be significantly cheaper than the 8 pack. Smaller loaves of bread are more expensive, a half gallon of milk costs 80% what a gallon does, and a half a dozen eggs cost 75% what a dozen of eggs cost, so your paying like 150% more per egg. Add in that you're now splitting the food bill and you're spending 10-20% less to feed yourself with much less waste. Food cost doesn't significantly go up until you add a third person.

[@Airbender131090]

That makes no sense. At all. 2x people = 2x expenses.

[@Justaguyuguys]

@Airbender131090 you pay a service fee for all of your utilities on top of being charged for how much you use. So 2 people paying the same utility bill results in a lower payment for both of them. Rent doesn't increase when you move somebody in so your largest monthly expense is cut in half. Multi serving foods cost less then double what single serving foods meaning you pay less in groceries. there are very few circumstances where adding a second person to your home doubles your expenses. even if that extra person doesn't have an income, your expenses only go up 25-50%

[@Shawn-mm3oj]

Yes it helps if 2 people are working as you can share the expenses of a living space but none the less it’s a sad state of affairs in the 50s you could live comfortably in a family of 4 on 1 blue collar job we have a lot more tech and innovation now in every sector of production why has the cost or living increased so much compared to income when it should be much easier to live today..

[@Judgeharm]

People also don't realise how easy it is to fall behind even if you are ahead. I am a PhD Psych and I took ~3 years to care for my grandma where I was working on weekends only. I was pretty well off when I started had my own house when i was 27. When I could no longer care for her I had about 20k in the bank; which was about 80k when I started (I had planned to lose about 20k a year so that was fine). I then broke my back and I am now disabled. I went from 6 figure income in 2018 to disability pension because I can't practice on the only meds that make the pain subside. If I didnt have a house before hand I would never be able to get one.

[@20IA]

i mean yea. People don't realise they could lose any part or whole of what makes their life the next day/moment etc. But that is life.

[@TheUnseenKrab]

That's exactly why I'm cautious about doing things that could have severe aftermaths

[@Chayliss]

Do what alot of other patients do. Just buy them fake meds with fent in them. Then goto work.

[@rabenfedersonnenhut]

@@20IA That does not need ot be life, if we get the society to work again for everyone...

[@Judgeharm]

@@robotron1236 Psychologist*. Oh and thanks, that is AMAZING I had NO IDEA telehealth existed. Thankyou for opening my eyes!!!! Do you not think if something is obvious to you as a layman then it must also be at least as equally obvious to me? The issues are that telehealth is shithouse and it still doesn't change the fact that I am off my face on meds for half the day. So when I do work the choices are 1) go into work and actually make a difference or 2) sit on zoom and let 10 people in a row tell me some BS so they can get their workers comp certificate. I would literally no longer practice than work telehealth.

[@dandmkempton7063]

When I was single I lived very comfortably on 45000. Now I have 4 kids. I live close to comfort at 80000. I live in the middle of nowhere. If your struggling in the big cities do whatever you can to move.

[@jayknight139]

if you move to a desolate town there are not very many work options which is why I moved. doesn't matter if it's cheaper to live in a place if you can't find a job.

[@gdstro4814]

​@@jayknight139exactly and if you look at the prices in the sticks property is still insane.

[@titolovely8237]

i live in texas and when im working all the time and dont have time for trips or anything really other than work, eat and sleep, my yearly cost of living is around $17k. i make around $110k/year. there are places in the US where the incomes for outpaced cost of living. if youre feeling broke youre probably just needing to relocate. ive moved 4 times in 13 years since i started working. each time i moved i got a pay raise and lowered my cost of living. the truth is in todays society putting down roots in 1 area for decades likely means you'll stay poor. companies know that people wont quit their jobs if they need a job in that area, and so wont pay you more than the bare minimum. the biggest raises ive gotten is when i change jobs because employers will pay extra when theyre desperate for people. most people dont want to relocate, so it's difficult to fill specialized job roles in lower cost of living areas where the labor pool is much smaller, hence the large pay vs living cost. that said, im a fringe case, and a bit of a shut in anyway, so the life suits me. for most people, you're just kinda fkd. cut all non essentials out and work like a slave for 2-3 years and you can get out, but it's hard, but worth it, especially if you realize just how expensive it is to be poor. you dont want to be poor in a society where money literally determines everything, even marital longevity.

[@Jacob-py9mx]

Hey where have you moved around to and from? And how do you like Texas? I have to move just like you

[@titolovely8237]

@@Jacob-py9mxI moved from Lubbock to Houston to Corsicana and then to Bryan/college station area. I like Texas it’s very reasonably priced in many areas and there are a lot of decent paying jobs

[@Uhohareyouokay]

I spend 1700 a month on rent and I live in a poor area in Canada, I would relocate for 110k a year but I’m a plumber so the only way to make a decent wage is if I work 90 hours a week. My cost for just rent without utilities is 20700 a year. Now put insurance, utilities, gas( which is 1.91$ a Litre) etc. I can barely buy groceries let alone save. I also get taxed 33%. Most boomers tell me “you must be loaded because u work in trades” then proceed to complain about the price of whatever I have to fix.

[@donteatpaint]

America: We buy things we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't like.

[@ProducerRichie]

Yeah, food and shelter. Thanks Dave Ramsey.

[@jackcarterog001]

Yep!

[@realdutchdave]

I can feel the inner George Carlin in you 😄

[@DickCheneyXX]

The secret is to give exactly 0 fucks at what the plebs around you think.

[@livebassngames]

@@realdutchdave I also go to places that are "Meh" just to shove my vacation plans to the face of my most hated colleagues

[@bluephoenixguy1094]

48:00 VERY rich people say that the first million is the hardest. That's what the guy was talking about. If you have $15 left over a month after the absolute bare minimum, it doesn't matter how good you are with money. You can't afford school to earn more and any savings you DO try to acquire is whisked away with a single accident. Money earns money means that the more spare money you have, the more you can invest and the less losing everything becomes a concern. That barrier STARTS ~90k in the US. It's easy to say that "just save and earn" when you already shot WELL past that barrier. You are right that some people are that way because of their own stupidity, but for the vast majority of people, they're saddled with high rent taking half their income and having to budget food, car payments and car insurance to even GET to their job in the first place. Some people may have handicapped themselves but it doesn't just justify you telling people who've had their legs forcibly chopped off by the system to just get up and walk. And all of this is coming from someone earning half the Median wage and only about a year out from buying a home. I'm not salty either. I have every right to be, given the fact that I was basically Title IX'd out of a full ride scholarship to an Ivy League School because I earned the ire of a girl and she started some nasty rumors. The modern political environment is why I got kicked from my career path as an Engineer and am making ~45k now. I'm not bitter as I learned to just accept reality a long time ago... but that also isn't going to let me ignore how I fought and struggled for YEARS to even get where I am. And I'm cream of the crop to most employers and usually outperform most everyone at my job. Not because I'm better as a person, but because I learn fast. I don't say that to toot my own horn, but to illustrate that if the system is shitting on you, you can improve... but even someone like me who has just about every personal non-monetary advantage and knowledge has basically worked myself to the utmost limit is barely squeaking by on what minimum wage could do 30 years ago... And I'm doing this earning ~$22/hr in the cheapest state in the US. I'm not going to expect the average American to do ANYWHERE close to how I'm doing. I grew up with holes in my floor and I sold doughnuts at school to pay for sewing supplies to fix my clothes growing up. I may not have had money, but I was given tools that the average American never was.

[@Xibyth]

I imagine this is why a lot of couples don't merge finances. They split shared expenses but paid their own cars, phones, etc...

[@Danny_Deleto]

Probably a factor, but there's many other reasons why people decide not to merge finances.

[@IRdatank]

In my experience, merging finances is generally a matter of trust. I would never merge finances unless married.

[@argo7155]

I would never merge unless under my authority, i dont believe you people any more​@@IRdatank

[@Wahinies]

​​@@IRdatankeven then given the divorce rate, the guy is risking everything. It just doesnt even make sense to live with someone else.

[@Pytliczello]

Financial advisor: "It's not your fault". Very helpful...

[@donteatpaint]

/s

[@liarwithagun]

The real advice is this: be rich already, or when you are in highschool pick a profession that you are most likely to earn a lot of money even if you only put in average amount of effort. If you are already an adult and haven't done that, you're either screwed, you need someone else's help to pivot to a different profession more easily, or you have to give up the majority of your free time to slowly making the change yourself in profession yourself over the course of years living like a monk.

[@Pytliczello]

@@liarwithagun so there is always a choice. 1 year is nothing and you can be pretty good at many skills after 3 months

[@PerfectTyler]

"It's not your fault." is just the fastest way to move past the protestations from someone who has been making bad choices. It's a psychological trick, so the solution can be discussed without a shitshow of complaints and excuses.

[@Azillia]

​​@@liarwithagun what if i dont want to pick somethimg to do for the rest of my life for 8 hours a day? That would get pretty boring

[@SirDexus]

I make 80k a year , have a family of 5 to provide for and we are BARELY making it. Some days I do not eat so my kids can. The sad thing is, I'm not the only father going thru this.

[@Diestroy2r]

as asmon said, just save something xDDDD

[@cremonster]

Make your kids get jobs

[@DblTapSlapMcGap]

Bro 5 kids wtf....

[@MrJanikkinG]

@@DblTapSlapMcGap3 kids

[@eneveasi]

Is it all on your income then? 5 kids is a lot to support .. I’d expect it to cost more than just 80k

[@jo3yhoang]

In Sydney, Australia - average home here is around $1.6 million ($1.07m USD) and 2BR unit is 800K (500kUSD). Sydney average salary 82K. So a house is 20X average earnings. The repayments here are around 6KAUD ($4KUS) per month for 1million at todays interest rates.

[@Kay8B]

Using averages with salaries in a capitalistic country is a joke. When it comes to money, especially the question of "how much to be comfortable" its always going to skew high. The median is probably a lot lower at 100k or so.

[@Brandon82967]

median income is like $40k according to the FRED

[@Kay8B]

@@Brandon82967 The median of 100k I said above is to the question posed at the beginning. "How much would you need to be financially stable?" I reckon 100k would be the median if asked to general america not 223K.

[@Brandon82967]

@@Kay8B I know. I was saying that the vast majority of people are far below that

[@Kay8B]

@@Brandon82967 Gotchu 👍🏽👍🏽

[@ILoveGrilledCheese]

The median varies but it’s somewhere between $40k and $60k

[@vengeance8924]

in Texas It is common for people to be making 25k- 35k a year. These people are single full time workers that do not have a "career" but just a normal regular old job. They would have to save their entire salary 10 times to be able to pay off a house unless they want to live in a mobile home. The housing market is in a very bad state and you don't want to buy junk for 150k that will just rot away after you buy it. Cars are an entire years salary unless you buy used which is totally fine. I would like to add that these people are a lot of times over qualified for their job. No felonies, only thing holding them back is the job market. People everywhere aren't getting overtime like they were before Covid. Companies took a hit, the entire nation took a hit. But thats besides the point. People need at least double what their salary is. You can barely find an apartment for 1000 a month. which means if you make 25k a year and somehow find a 1k monthly rent somewhere, it would still be 50% of your salary. Not including your personnel bills, internet, phone, car, electric, water, etc. IT is extremely hard and ultimately not sustainable. however In most cases apartments are 1300 or higher. So then it becomes even worst. to the people that make 250k plus a year, i have to say that they are really just bad with money. They could just buy a house in cash if they saved correctly. Taxes are cheap cheap compared to rent. under 5k a year, and for them thats chump change. My grandparents are a 100k a year household. They still owe over 150k on their house. Tell me why they just bought 2 new cars at the age of 70. Even if they sold the house, They would probably only get 300k. which means they would only have a buying power of 150k to buy a NEW house. Which is not realistic for their needs and taste. They have had this house for 20 years and oh yea, they owe 10k in taxes. The rich simply are not good with money. But then you have people moving to rural areas and to Austin tx to buy houses because they make california and new york money and then come down south to invest in real estate or buy a house in cash and fucking retire because THEY are doing it smart.

[@CuteAnimeGirl]

If you can luck out and get a cheap place to rent even making 30k a year isn't a problem. I live with my siblings in a house my parents gave us, it's paid off. Only have to pay property taxes and utilities which is about $300 a month all together. However that is a privilege to have a place like that to live, most people don't get free houses which I acknowledge. I only make about 40k a year but it's enough for me. I live pretty good on that salary, can eat whatever I want, buy random things all the time and still save tons of money each month.

[@vengeance8924]

@@CuteAnimeGirl yea that’s so nice. 40k isn’t bad.

[@StarboyXL9]

"Tell me why they just bought 2 new cars at the age of 70" I despise Boomers.

[@StarboyXL9]

@@CuteAnimeGirl Lol lucky you. You can stand to live with your siblings! Most of us can't.

[@fuzzylumpkins6034]

As a European that lived in Texas for 20 years I can confirm the American's have been steered to a false sense of self importance and status. The time we lived there we had a modest house, 2 modest cars that always ran with a back up car in case of a breakdown or accident. Our neighbour had some atrocious bass boat and pontoon boat with a massive truck and 3 car garage. We knew everything he had was to reach this idea of the American dream but he did not have the means to support his lifestyle. And in suburban north Dallas this was the standard for our neighbourhood. Within 6 years his home was in foreclosure after selling both boats and a motorbike all at a loss and he was divorced before the home went up for sale on foreclosure. We bought the home and used it as a rental property to borrow against (because that is how you gain wealth without paying tax on having cash in the bank) knowing how much this man had done to the property for appearance. I do not need a flash car to get to work or go on family trips. I need a reliable vehicle with a back up plan. I do not need the latest greatest super overpriced RTX4090 when the RX7900GRE will serve my needs perfectly for the next 7 years. I do not wear brand name shirts and jeans just for the sake of it, I have nice clothes and shoes that suit my needs that might happen to be branded or expensive while they serve a comfort and presentation purpose for my career. Our family home is exactly suited to our family needs and is up to spec and maintained at all times. There are things I might like and at this point could absolutely afford but they would only be for a passing gratification. Our children and their children will want for nothing, not because we will have the funds to support them but because they will work and be financially responsible for themselves and this will allow us luxury holidays a few months a year with family and friends. We knew of so many that would eat out several times a week to entertain equally financially unstable friends. It only started making sense the closer I was to leaving. Marketing, social media, trends. Americans like being told what to like, what to buy and to be as poor and enslaved by finances to achieve something they will only have short term.

[@texmex8220]

You hit the nail on the head, it's overconsumption. Keeping up with the Jonses' has blinded people to the reality of what is needed as opposed to what they want.

[@zerocal76]

Its called "American consumerism" I don't think any other country consumes more per person. And all the major companies are always coming up with ways to get Americans to spend more and more on things they don't need. And the dumbest part of it all is that all that spending, no matter how often its done or on what, doesn't usually lead to happiness; not long-term. If it did, USA would be the happiest nation in the world by far.

[@fuzzylumpkins6034]

@@zerocal76 The smartest marketing tool and company had in America while I was there was kids. Companies would hype up athletes that were convicted felons to sell shoes and brands to kids, the Paul brothers were owned and licensed by Disney to market to an entire gen of kids and now all any company has to do is send an extreme amount of money to 1 kid to stream and that kid will say buy all this garbage (Kai Cenat, Sneako, mr beast, so many I cannot name all but in the top 100 is will be 90% people that were groomed to market to kids.) The product placement alone is insane. An insignificant amount of people broadcasting to 100s of millions of people. And far cheaper than a billboard or commercial during a program.

[@bradpittman3821]

There definitely are too many people being stupid with money but what scares me is that I just want a modest house and two reliable cars for my future family and that's becoming increasingly unattainable every year. Doesn't matter how much I save on consumption, there's only so much saving I can do and it still might not be enough.

[@fuzzylumpkins6034]

@@bradpittman3821 For under 35s right now that boat has sailed. I am not happy to be older, just fortunate enough to have come up in the time of excess and spend accordingly instead of the yolo crap all of my piers were doing.

[@dakkenly]

Love the comments like "It's not bad if you're not a moron, just spend as little as possible making your own food and staying home all day, don't bother having kids, and cut out all pleasures and vices" No wonder people are going psycho mode in public more than before

[@fett_420]

Yeah you can ignore all that and do what you want, just stay away from credit slavery, that's the real issue.

[@aarholodian]

Who is saying that here? Do the comments telling you to stop eating out every day constitute a franciscan poverty lifestyle

[@dembi2770]

Mate, just don't go to mcdonalds everyday and you are going to be fine. And you can go out without spending all your money lol.

[@YoshiTheOreo]

Haven't read that yet. Is it under new comments?

[@dlanbatal]

i've lived off of 1/2 of minimum wage (part time employee making minimum wage). Average annual expenditures for a highly comfortable life as a single imo is ~40k in my area(I know that some folks have different definitions of comfortable, so there is some range). This video is just delusional and shows how well you can lie with statistics. Basically my situation was A. be single B. share house with 5-6 other people C. be smart in food purchases.D. learn how to be more content with circumstances and make the most out of what you have. And i still saved money during that period. Now that approach would not be sufficient for all people. If i'm maried or have kids, the price goes up and it would be more unlikely i would live in a community house. And i'm more minimalistic with my entertainment costs. But the intent is not to stay at that point its that a large part of the population can be comfortable in much much lower income thresholds then this video suggests. This is a big problem with "average" metrics is that almost nobody lives an "average" life. Not everyone should be expected to afford the "average" home unless all homes are standardized. Low skilled high school workers need to be able to get a job for personal growth and personal spending. That job should not need to provide for an "average" life as these workers are likely still living with guardians. The numbers are just over simplified so that people take crazy take aways without much critical thought. Also making your own food is just generally wise. Staying home all day is not necessary even if your living cheap, there are plenty of pleasures that can be had on a budget, and vices are specifically carrying the connotation of being something that you know you should try to get rid of, but don't want to. So the kids, and all pleasures parts of your statement are concerning if people are actually promoting that, although i've not seen a lot of that in these comments. Even in there exists room for some wisdom relating to timing planning children, but not to the degree of "don't have kids" and accidents happen.

[@alliedbrandon1355]

I don’t know of a single young adult that makes $4,000 a month. Not even close. There’s no way that’s the average. Everyone I know makes around $2,000 a month and half of that is gone just from rent.

[@gdstro4814]

It isn't by age. You gotta realize they're factoring in all the rich older people too.

[@Whoareyoucalling]

You don't know many people then. Take home $2k a month is $500 a week or $16 an hour before taxes.

[@matthewgarner8728]

Maybe venture out more

[@overtstayred]

As a renter that makes only 65k/year your telling me I shouldn’t be buying 500+$ vintage Pokemon cards??? 🤔

[@Tejaneaux-ic8dp]

You make more money then me. And your renting?!?!?!?!? Wtf man!?

[@StarboyXL9]

>only 65k a year >only

[@bradleymoore2797]

@@StarboyXL9 If a part time job gets you about 30k. I think a full time job should be around 60k. on the lower end of full time jobs. I would categorize it as 'only' 65k a year. Wait, what states do you guys live in? That could make a big difference too.

[@StarboyXL9]

@@bradleymoore2797 Where I live finding a job that pays 65k per year requires God smiling on you unless you have previous work experience or a degree. The degree puts you in debt, and the work experience is only achievable by someone who has worked for free (essentially) for several years. I have over a decade of experience working in heavy industry as well as more customer service-type work, I still get zero callbacks after sending out hundreds of resumes/applications a day to jobs offering between 40k and 55k. You would think with my work experience I'd be landing jobs in the 50k-60k range at least. Apparently not.

[@rainyriderr1112]

​@@bradleymoore2797yeah that's a huge factor. I make about 85k but I live in Seattle. Even with no car payments it's a lot less than it sounds. Normal bills here are about $4000/month with zero car payments. $50k net a year to just not die

[@droyal18able]

This video is a perfect example of why averages are stupid.

[@SideBit]

They used median for most of the main driving factors behind the statistical questions presented as averages. The average American needs 233k, but the median of various costs across the country is what drove that answer, meaning it's a stable integer. Statistics are hard to present to the regular joe, but this study did it well. Maybe read the study or try to understand the nuances behind these statistics before stating that they're bad - it seems like you don't, honestly.

[@Hahahorde]

@@SideBit If you think you can get good statistics from so many elements that are different per town/region and then throw it upon 333 miljion Americans, I wonder who needs to understand the nuances.

[@steveozone4910]

It's ok to be 5.5 inches.

[@simshengvue5799]

​@@SideBitno way it's median because that would drop the number dramatically. You think half of the US population makes over 200k?

[@sten260]

well best thing to solve high prices are high prices.. once people can't afford something they stop buying it or are forced to move to another state and then the prices will come down

[@willd.8040]

Btw, Zack explains amortization incorrectly. What it means is how a loan payment is divided between principal and interest. When you take out a mortgage, you get an amortization schedule, and it shows each payment and how much of the monthly payment goes towards paying the loan balance down (the principal) and how much goes towards interest. Banks want to get paid as quickly as possible, so let's say you have a 30 year mortgage, it's 360 payments. Let's say your monthly payment is $2,000/month, the beginning of the loan is going mostly towards the interest. You might be paying $800 towards the principal and $1,200 of interest. Each month, the amount going towards interest goes down, and the amount going to pay the loan off goes up. That's why if you try to sell a house after only 4-5 years, you will see that your loan amount has barely gone down. Your payments have mostly been going to pay the interest. At the halfway point, 15 years, your payment goes equally towards principal and interest, and from that point on, your monthly payments start going more and more to the principal and less and less is for interest. You pay a 30 year loan off FAR faster after 15 years than you do in the first 15 years.

[@willd.8040]

Actually, I was not 100% accurate on this. I know amortization from loans, but it’s also a principle related to accounting and how assets are valued and depreciated. I never took any accounting classes, so I had never heard of it in this regard. Just wanted to correct myself.

[@jad1079]

"Playing life on solo self found mode" 😂

[@titolovely8237]

hardcore solo self found ruthless or go home bro!

[@jad1079]

@@titolovely8237 What's ruthless?

[@25jaimie]

22:50 for about a 6 month period recently. i made a good plan to save a few hundred dollars every month, around 3-500. but as soon as i made that plan, every 2-3 weeks i got hit with random bills that was costing me between 300 and 1k to fix or pay for. for 6 months straight. i just last month had to pay over 2k in taxes, like 2200 i think. just on taxes alone. its just 1 thing after another basically every paycheck. if i dont spend all my money on something, even on my credit card. some bill is gonna pop up and eat whatever i got i took out like 5200 last year from my retirement savings from the military (all i had in it) which i paid taxes on, had taxes witheld on, and then paid more taxes on. i paid off my car with it to get rid of a 324$ monthly charge. and then boom, soon as i did that. a student loan company was like hey, we never talked or anything for 3 years and you didnt even know we existed. but you owe us 5700$ and you need to start repaying us now. 3 steps forwards, 5 steps back

[@glitchy8429]

Something about walmart is that they often mark the prices up in their system without changing the price on the shelf, and the website price will actually reflect what the shelf price says. Then you get to the register and find out that it’s more, but if you ask someone about it they’ll show you that the item price online says “online only” even though it’s on the shelf. They act like it’s an accident or somehow incidental, but it doesn’t feel like it..

[@LambdaDriven]

Check your state laws. In many states they have to give you the item for free if there’s a price error between what’s on the tag/shelf and what rings at the register.

[@OanaTheMeerkat]

same with Carrefour in my country (Romania)

[@nehguhtiv6873]

The answer is $55k/year ($110-115k household) for a 21 and 26 year old couple as homeowners ($252k house) in South-Central Pennsylvania. I have no student debt, a $23,000 auto loan on a 2019 Volkswagen Jetta GLI ($463.44 @ ~9%) and no consumer debt besides that. My girlfriend (26) has $80k in student debt, a $36k Loan on a 2024 Kia Telluride ($764 @ ~7%) and little to no consumer debt otherwise. Our mortgage is $1965/month, and our other expenses differ to the extent that she feels cramped, and I am able to invest $200/month in the Vanguard S&P (VOO) and save $500/month after investing 15% to my 401k. Don’t dump all your cash into cars and you’re good. It’s not that hard to make $25/hr now guys. P.S. to those interested; I am in diesel engine assembly. She is a nurse.

[@gankdalfthedank9855]

You're just describing the DINK advantage and not being irresponsible, haha. Take note young people the DINK thing is a huge leg up in your life and the data plays this out, cohabiting men and women make significantly more over their lifetime earnings For the record not a basement dweller like I'm sure everyone who was watching that stream live. Mk7 gti is paid off, house is a shit hole but 650 mortgage and income is right around 80-90k annual with expected low 6 figure bump upon getting electrical license at same employer. Single income household live alone w/dog.

[@christopherbrooks6355]

Why do both yall feel u need brand new cars. Buy a used older car and all those costs are gone

[@RyanChewsday]

Problem with housing costs is that companies can compete with everyday americans to buy them and then just hold the houses empty so that their housing investments can be worth more via artificial shortage.

[@damianwozniak3798]

Well can u conclude that u human most advanced and inteligent entity on the planet are slave when rest of animals not connected to humanity are free. Hillarius isnt it ? LOL

[@rolandheinze7182]

Sounds .... Naive

[@Klayperson]

wait until you hear what Nestle does with water

[@Xroix1193]

Yep, that's basically the whole problem. And the funny thing is that is a problem with a clear solution but since is an estatal solution the common us citizen would say "Communist"

[@ruukinen]

@@Xroix1193 There is another clear solution though, just approve building of more houses until the people who think it's a great investment vehicle, have successfully transferred all their wealth to construction companies.

[@meatybtz]

Key points would be Debt to Income Ratio, COL (not the cooked books, actual costs day to day for food, Clean Food, is going to cost on average 4-5x more than stuff that will kill you, for the record), Cost of Housing (most important is cost of a single family residence, not just a 'house', but a place that doesn't share walls lots of walls or dependence on others/corps/landlords, since this is talking about being SECURE/Comfortable, not surviving).. so going off that, look at median home prices and then add cost for food that won't kill you.. and the number is STAGGERING. In order to be "financially secure", not just 'feel', you need a year + of savings. That's not even being added in here. When humans are uncertain, they stop buying, they stop doing a lot of things, like reproducing (Japan, the financial disaster of the 90s lead to now two decades of hopelessness, which means no families, low marriage rates, and a people literally heading towards extinction). If you want to feel even more depressed, consider this, if wages continued on the trend (slower than the 60s, much slower) of rising they had in the 70s to today the median income would be about 340-370K USD. Wage growth slowed in the 80s, slowed more in the 90s, stagnated in the post 2008 era, and continue to stagnate till today. Now, during that same time, the individual productivity (think of it as the ability of an individual to make money for a corporation in a given time period), has increased dramatically every decade. So.... where is all that extra money going? No one really notices the proliferation of billionaires, do they... 90+% of your productivity gains have just been sucked up into a few hands, the less than 10% is your increases in average wages for over 50 years. Young people struggle today? Really? No Shit. It was hard enough when I was in my 20s, and I know, for a fact, that it's even HARDER today. I don't envy the young.

[@michaelnuttall5896]

Bailed out of "society" years ago in my early 20s, I got the msg loud and clear. Inheriting a house, a big house. Planning on selling it to buy a few acres of agricultural land without existing grid energy/water/everything so that im not locked into a disastrous gooberment contract that is salivating to see people like me go the way of the dinosaur. Im at the point where I won't point out why I'll go to such extreme lengths, we all know it in any case. When there is a push back, Im going for the throat and I see an ocean of guys who look like me thinking the same thing. Talking is over, identifying the causes is over, we got the message.

[@uberboat4512]

Maybe we shouldn't have encouraged a system that's min/max is to consolidate some 80% of the country's wealth into 10% of the population

[@TheAshfyr]

With student loans, beware. They can garnish your wages, even in states like here in Texas that doesn't allow garnishment for debt.

[@BadMannerKorea]

Not sure why anyone would into default with their student loans when there's lots of options for repayment.

[@PlasmaGameplay986]

29:13 this may be an unpopular opinion but if you have yourself car debt you deserve it. Don’t lease a car only to have to pay full coverage insurance at like $300-$400/mo. Buy in full and find good deals everything else though like a home or medical bills is different.

[@the_blake_chapa]

Southern CA grocery prices are out of control. What use to be $300 a month now are $700 with less options for coupons and worthwhile deals. From a person who grew up in San Diego, I pray that I can stay and raise a family here but at this rate I don’t think will be able to even afford a mortgage let alone groceries, childcare, and retirement.

[@hollywu7768]

It is a worldwide trend. The world is in war. Even countries not engaged in it suffer the cost of living increase. The hell, even China who benefit from it just raised train ticket prices for 20% since 2021.

[@frankxu4795]

Not before long, there will be only be software engineers from big tech and robots serving them left in CA.

[@DustynKaleb]

Im also here in so cal 21 and out on my own. It feels impossible to find anywhere to stay that's not outrageously priced and I'm stuck in my pos car

[@jasonweishaupt1828]

You Calitools keep voting for the higher prices.

[@Bloogly89]

Time to move out of Cali

[@Not_Soundwave]

For some areas, this number changes. In my city, they say it would cost around $90k annually to live "comfortably," whatever that means. I guess "comfortable" means that 50-30-20 spread that hasn't been a thing _ever_ for an average person.

[@Vickolai]

What is the 50-30-20 spread?

[@Not_Soundwave]

@@Vickolai It's a budget technique. 50% of your check to needs (bills, groceries, debts, transport), 30% to wants (hobbies, entertainment, new appliances/tech), 20% to savings. So what I'm saying is that perhaps economists are still looking at that specific budget technique to determine what the "living comfortably" annual income should be.

[@LeviticusMoriarty]

75% rent-50% groceries-0% hobbies-25%gas and car insurance-0%savings-250% for unforeseen problem, illness, car repair, life maintenance issue Like and subscribe for more budgeting tips

[@joshr8666]

​ Sounds like some Scott Steiner math. 😂

[@skaternutxOriginal]

If you bring home anywhere near 60k a year after taxes, and can get rent at 1k or less and keep utilities, food, and gas expenses under 1k. And have a fun budget of 500 a month. You can save about 30k a year. (Even if you dont stick to it perfectly) Then stick this position out for 3-5 years you have a down payment of about 100k-150k extend this out another year or 2. For an extra 50-60k for emergencys and drop the full origional 100-150k to eather buy a cheap house or to pay about 50-80% of the house cost up front with a loan and only have a roughly 500$ monthly payment, hopefully making cost of living with utilitys and internet and tv for the cost of about 1k total or just a bit above. Cost of maintaining living standards= 1k-1,500 Emergency fund= 30-60k Food cost=500-1k (assuming family) Monthly Excess money to split between fun, savings and other needs 3,000 And non of this included having a second income. People are just to lazy to move for cheaper cost of living or better jobs, or hang tight not over spending for the big payoff. And treating debt like its normal. Are their exceptions to being able to do this sure but thats why its called an exception.

[@OnDaLowWidIt]

Bro rent under a 1000 is getting rarer and rarer as the days go by. Maybe apartments but realistically what good homes are available for under 1000 rent?

[@skaternutxOriginal]

@OnDaLowWidIt can't disagree with ya, your lucky to find a house for 1250 these days. Apartments were primarily what I was thinking. But I just meant its possible to get ahead and not by any crazy stretch. Especialy if you have a room mate, or in a relationship with someone who can help lower bills enough to help meet the goals.

[@skaternutxOriginal]

@OnDaLowWidIt I've lived all over the country and been homeless for a few months, and vaulentarily homeless for a year or 2 just to save some cash (1 or 2 yeah homeless spot is just a technicality though since I took advantage of work related benefits since I had a cdl. So long as you have what you need and can avoid comparing your self to others while managing your wants. Going from 20-30 or 30-35 can mean some crazy life changing situations that to everyone around you appears to have come out of no where.

[@OnDaLowWidIt]

@skaternutxOriginal I feel ya man, it’s sucks that you had to be homeless for a while but I respect the grind. I’m a bit more understanding when it comes to ppls feelings about wealth now and days because it honestly sucks that you even had to be homeless in the first place. It seems like if you’re not born rich you have to work yourself to death and that still won’t guarantee you’ll be at least middle class. For some physically/financially life may not be difficult but MENTALLY, it seem like everyone burn out, depressed, or flat out scared.

[@skaternutxOriginal]

@OnDaLowWidIt honestly man I used to be more carefully about people's feels, but the fact that I'd been through it and realized some things and maby I've grown a bit desensitized but I don't think that quite right eather. I realized Being homeless for any extended period is a choice. But explaining why is kind of it own long conversation. Being rich isn't really the goal though like yeah it may be nice but why? So you can waist your younger years working 80+ hours to maby be a million are by 40-60 or take a chance and hopefully be one of the few that goes from broke at 18 to rich at 20? I think most people forgot what a good normal life is. Middle class is what the amareican dream was back in the day not being rich. Sure it tougher and tougher to be a successfull middle class but that just means you gota get a few less wants for a while and live cheaper than your income let's you think you think you can afford. (But because you living under what you could your saving more and can actualy afford to take some time for your self and family. While also.being able to afford the house in 5-10 years hopefully.

[@Helikzhan-s7p]

Frame of reference I live in a cold climate so I have to ramp spending in the fall. But then it comes down over the winter to being lower than any other time of the year. That is the time to pay off debts. I do live alone. So the cost of property upkeep is mine alone. I do whatever I can to avoid hiring other people whether it comes down to fixing windows, rotten wood, spalling foundation, water invasion issues, etc. If you contract this stuff out they will hit you with tens of thousands in debt. It's just not worth it. DIY and don't skimp on tools/fasteners/materials because you are going to save a lot of money not hiring contractors anyway. The real reason I am not drowning in debt is that I DIY. By EOY I usually have more than ten thousand left over from an annual base of seventy thousand. But full disclosure I also trade cryptos. So sometimes when that is up I roll that over to pay off debts.

[@Dopamined]

I'm from Canada. I'm active and need to eat a lot. Despite a good salary, I can't order food and rarely buy meat anymore. I've needed to min-max my groceries to eggs, rice, canned beans, canned veggies and tuna to make most of my meals. It's nutritious and get the job done but I spend a significant amount of my day to buying, prepping, cooking and washing dishes. I usually go 2 times a week at the grocery store and even then, it's never under 100$ each time. God forbid is you want some beers to relax or if you want to bring your girl out for a restaurant more than once a month. Food feels like a luxury right now.

[@JD-mz1rl]

Doesn't sound like a good salary

[@de14jabs]

@@JD-mz1rlfor what's available in Canada, most likely is. Look into our costs here because we have a stupid "carbon tax" which goes straight to paying our politicians bonuses. We don't get a say in anything that happens. Communism is Canada

[@QuasselQuokka]

this, dude i could copy and paste your comment. Its literally that accurate. German fella here.

[@sten260]

well Canada is a communist country so I'm not surprised

[@Dopamined]

@@JD-mz1rl Well, it ranks in amongst the top 20-30% of salaries here. I feel like it should be a good salary, yeah. I live alone, have a small but nice 3 1/2 and a recent but entry-level car. Not poverty, but nothing to flex about. All basic expenditures, utilities and food eat up more than 3/4 of my income easily. It's getting worse.

[@MannyQuid]

Not paying your student loans kills your credit score and eventually can impact your taxes and take home pay. It is not recommended .. Cost of education in the US is insane !

[@Ruddline]

Basically what you actually supposed to do and Asmon doesn't exactly know about to say it is go on SAVE Spending plan which takes a small portion of every paycheck out, should be hundreds less dollars a month for loans and if you don't have a job you pay 0.

[@liarwithagun]

You can have an acceptable credit score even with unpaid student loans as long as you do good on everything else.

[@rolandheinze7182]

Edumuhcation

[@kralexprofill4571]

It's not insane there. It's just that you as a student have to pay for it because the government does not. 30-40k a year per student is like the bare minimal to keep the university alive

[@karathkasun]

Don't take out crazy student loans in the first place, and go to a school that can transfer credits. In the US you can spend ~$5000 a year (~$2500 a semester) getting the majority of your credits out of the way at a small school and then transfer to a big university to finish up a 4-year degree instead of paying tons of money to the large university for basic boilerplate credits. If you plan well enough you can spend your early 20s living with roommates and splitting costs to allow saving significant amounts of money so you can actually afford to go to school without getting loans. Splitting rent/utilities 4-ways instead of going solo opens up a ton of cash-flow for self improvement, even if you are only making minimum wage.

[@WiscoDbo]

Just moving up to $55k and feeling rich confuses me. Rent is $1500, elec/water/internet is ~$120, and my work gives me a free bus pass instead of charging $1100/yr for a parking pass. Idk where this $233k figure comes from.

[@stephencorbin4043]

People that need fast food 3 meals a day ($30+/day), going out every weekend ($100/weekend), need Netflix/Hulu/Disney+/Amazon Prime, the newest iPhone every 6 months, lease a car or trade in their car every 2-3 years. The list could go on and on

[@ChristinaMagma]

You say rent, to afford a mortgage nowadays 233k isn’t far off.

[@Crowski]

@@ChristinaMagmaI make $50k a year and can’t afford a studio apartment where I live. 😢😢😢 Everybody is moving away. I don’t wanna move but I might have to with how insanely expensive rent is now….

[@mynameiscal3478]

​@ChristinaMagma what house are you buying? A single person doesn't need 233k to live "comfortably" maybe in LA but that doesn't speak for the rest of the country

[@mitryanlanenkins7364]

Living in big cities is the issue, I make 40k a year and live like a king and I still live within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area

[@BeaverZer0]

25:15 I don't have overdraft fees because I have a line of credit that they will pull from. People who have money don't pay more money for things others do. It's true.

[@Born_Sinner1990]

I don't have any of this shit. Maintainance fees? Overdraft fees? Go find a good CREDIT UNION, not a bank.

[@MerlinTheCommenter]

Nailed it.

[@justhomas83]

Facts 🔥

[@jareddembrun783]

Just open a Capital One account. It's all online and I've never dealt with these fees.

[@cblue3581]

@@jareddembrun783 Terrible advice. Go with Sofi and its 4.6% interest. Ppl need to make their money work for them.

[@bailey125]

Better yet, dont use credit at all...

[@DJToMyHits]

People never understand cost of living adjustment.

[@damianwozniak3798]

Isnt hillarius that most evolved animal (human) on the planet is slave and rest of animals (not conected to humans) are free ??? LOL

[@raygrenade1697]

is that life style inflation ?

[@xenn4985]

​@@raygrenade1697no, its adjusting for the cost of living. Example, your water bill is cheaper in upstate new york (near the great lakes) than it is in nevada (a desert)

[@trevors6379]

@@raygrenade1697 Yes, but they won't admit it. You don't have to fucking live in New York City, but apparently they do, right? Pft

[@donjulioanejo]

@@raygrenade1697 no, more like, different places have different living costs. IE your rent in Atlanta might be $1000, but your rent in San Francisco is going to be $4000 for a shittier place.

[@DeathmetalPersian]

people dont make 75% after taxes we take home 60%. incom tax plus sales tax plus property tax and then state and city tax and then insurance premiums.

[@holyfire11]

Dont forget about social secuirty/medicare tax

[@onam3000]

Jesus, how is that not enough for the government to provide quality education and healthcare? Many European countries manage to provide that while taxing median wage earners way less. Does it all just go into the military?

[@Thecloudmon]

@DeathmetalPersian he is in texas that hold true for his experience.

[@DeathmetalPersian]

@Thecloudmon texas doesnt have income tax. not true for most other states

[@sokacsavok]

Which is much better than most other countries. Of course, on the flip side hospital bills can also bankrupt people in the US.

[@KKzErstorung]

“There are no solutions, only tradeoffs.” -Thomas Sowell This legend said this mainly in the viewpoint of an economist because that’s what he is. This applies to nearly everything.

[@tsotnedvali8432]

Thomas Sowell lol, guy with barely passable definition for economics.

[@Brandon82967]

"this one school had higher graduation rates before integration, therefore segregation isn't a bad thing!" - Thomas Sowell

[@RaifSeverence]

Thomas Sowell. A man smarter than both of the brainlets in the responses and smarter than 90% of the people on the internet because they can only insult him rather than refute his claims.

[@Brandon82967]

@@RaifSeverence what claims? That segregation was good?

[@KKzErstorung]

@@Brandon82967 Can you site where he said this and to who he was speaking to?

[@jotv7224]

if it would take you over five years to get to 10 k- those are the people who just spend their money. because they are stuck. because saving money gets them no where in such a long period. so you just sit there. nothing new. wait and wait and wait. or say you manage to save some - some bs comes up with your car or health or living situation and in an instant its gone. You have to make enough to cover all the basic needs plus live your life and pursue interests and hobbies plus create a savings at a reasonable rate so that when big expenses come it doesn't entirely deplete you of everything you have. i knew a lady who worked and grinding saving at walmart her whole life. by the end of working she had plenty to get a nice home and retire somewhat comfortable the thing is she was in her sixties- what did she do the last 40 years? Nothing. work. not she can finally step back and enjoy it but her health isn't that great and she spent 40 years doing nothing but saving. she doesn't even know how to live now. is to old to fully enjoy the savings. can't fully take care of the home on her own. Imagine you spend 40 years thinking you are doing the smart thing the right thing and you just realize in the end life is to short for this absolute bullshit. its way to damn short.

[@Cameeb]

39:30 this is because social security is not optional You're forced to pay in so I would expect some return as well.

[@joonashannila8751]

Goddamn rent is ridiculous in USA. I am from Finland, a first world country.. We have a 78 square meter home, and our rent is 645€ inside the city area... but over 2000+..??!! Goddamn thats ridiculous.

[@billw.overbeck8913]

what city? in capital region that's impossible

[@ccox4669]

I’ll learn Finnish for 645€ rent! Lol, how’s the internet speeds and other costs? Like flights?

[@rtyzxc]

You are lying, you can't get anything like that, you are a lucky one living in a taxpayer funded place, you are not paying the actual price of that place. I briefly checked the prices in the capital metropolitan area. For absolute entry level 540€ you can rent a 26 square meter run down place from a remote location, that has likely mold, an upcoming pipe rework within the next 5 years (you have to move away) or that is going to be demolished soon, and you are going to have bad time. Alternatively, you can get an old 16-20 square meter place from city central with compromises to basic stuff. These kind of offerings range up to 650€. For a place for actual living, around 650€ you can get 22-32 square meter place, that might be in better location and that has pipe rework done recently. Over 70 square meter places equivalent to the shitty ones (not recommended) seem to be 850€ and up, less shitty ones 1000€ or more, and these tend to be in remote locations because they assume having kids and car. These are at most mid-tier places, for more modern places, add +200-300€

[@FullXThrottle]

I’m currently paying $2800/mo in Denver, Co.

[@vuman007]

Is that 645/week? That's way cheaper than Sydney (if you're looking around the city area)

[@nmalele0909]

Wage is only part of the problem. If a person likes to spend, they can make $1 million a year but could be less financially stable than someone making $100k.

[@Evirthewarrior]

Most most Americans are drowning in debt, because they are living beyond their means, making minimum monthly payments, that they stretch out as far as possible. 72 month car loans as an example, paying 50+% more for the car they bought.

[@angeluceta5688]

​@@Evirthewarrior this 100%

[@rebotsomat]

wage is still a big part because plenty of people dont even make 100k

[@Anima18911]

Yea I make half that so, I am considered rich poor. Not even lower middle class.

[@Apinanoob]

@@Evirthewarrior Have you ever considered the fact that people get into debt because their finances are already tight and all of a sudden they have an emergency that needs money to be solved, and the only way they can solve it is to borrow money a.k.a take a loan? The reason why people take predatory loans is because usually they are the only loans they CAN get, and on top of that, if they don't take that loan, they would be in even deeper shit. So it becomes a case of shooting yourself dead right now or later down the line with a little bit of hope that you can manage it. But, guess what, if wages had actually kept up with this insane fucking inflation on everything, maybe people wouldn't be struggling as much. Expecting any other outcome except what we are witnessing right now is being dumb.

[@capt.rezzec300]

I feel like when the VAST MAJORITY of people are struggling its because somethings wrong, not because they're fucking weak

[@kingboy280]

The vast majority of people aren’t struggling.

[@capt.rezzec300]

@kingboy280 recent survey shows 66.2% of Americans feel like they're living paycheck to paycheck. That's more than half (the majority) Perhaps I was slightly exaggerating saying vast majority. But it's more people that feel this way than is acceptable, and the problems are only getting worse

[@ashd.6989]

​@@kingboy280vast majority says they are 😂

[@DigitalPand3mic]

@@kingboy280 Bro....thats absolutely f-ing bs. Most americans are struggling.

[@kingboy280]

@@capt.rezzec300 that’s not struggling

[@theobtusemongoose3980]

I'd like to see this broken down by state. 200k is a ludicrous amount where i live and would be considered extremely well off.

[@dianawilliams6802]

The only people who could hear that and believe it are either children or trust fund babies.... $200k a year is WAY more than comfortable living... maybe not if you live in NYC or parts of California... but everywhere else you're living basically like a king.

[@gwTheo]

if you live alone you literally need more money to be "comfortable." there's no splitting anything. and a roommate isn't a significant other so that's instantly less comfortable than if you lived alone.

[@alexcastillo4741]

Damn that's gotta be California prices because I scrape by on far less than that

[@jjthe]

Yep. I make a quarter of that and I'm doing just fine. It's so incredibly dependent on where you live that taking an average for the entire US is a waste of time

[@aidanmckellar7329]

Same here I happily live off $20k a year with rent, tuition and living fees. Anyone who thinks they need $220k/year to live is a grotesque and greedy person

[@dpark189]

233k a year even in CA is not a baseline "comfortable" especially if they are single. if anyone says that to you, that's a good indicator that you can just ignore anything else they say because they are insane. don't get me wrong, CA is expensive but if they are spending nearly 20k A MONTH, they need to be put in a mental institution.

[@lazyfrogeyes5949]

I am living in California and doing just fine. People think they shouldn't have to struggle at any point in their lives and need to stop living outside their means. Then refuse to accept any personal responsibility for their bad financial and life choices. Yes California is expensive but people would rather order door dash everyday and wear 150 dollar pair of shoes instead of cup of noodles and a rational price of shoes like 70 dollars. People always wanna cry one check away from homelessness. Yeah because your bad with money .

[@BasedChadman]

"Scraping by" is quite unlike living comfortably

[@dragons_red]

They figure the monthly take home, after taxes and BENEFITS to be 3,300 and then immediately say this is enough because 1. The cost of healthcare has "skyrocketed". You already accounted for that in benefits. NEXT. 2. Cost of college has "skyrocketed". This is not a "everybody" cost. And where it is, you can get grants and scholarships, go to cheaper schools, etc. I agree college is overpriced these days but put in some effort to make it more affordable or DONT GO. One of the biggest lies is this idea people NEED to go. That lie turned it into the cash grabbing diploma mill business it is today. 3. Housing. This one is the ONLY valid point to the cost of living today. We have had two real estate inflation booms in the past 20 years that have destabilized the economy thanks to WALL STREET and BANKERS, and the gov't still can't be assed to do anything about it, much less hold them accountable. Big surprise there.

[@David-yx3bd]

How much do you need to live comfortably? Depends on the person. Like most things in life, it's subjective. Each of us has a different definition of comfortable. I'm comfortable if my bills are paid and I have a little money to throw at a new video game or PC and still a little left to toss in the bank in the hopes of someday retiring. For me that's as low as 30,000 a year. For others? It might be much much more. The problem with topics like this is the data isn't really accurate because we in the US have a misunderstanding of how much the average person is earning. That's the foundation for any financial discussion of this type, if you don't understand that then the rest goes out the window. They (not this dude who made this video) claim the median is like 60,000 a year. Okay, how many working Americans total exist below that mark? I'm willing to bet everything I own it's more than live at it or above it. If I'm right, how is 60,000 the median? Because it's like taking my income and Zacks (or the other 25 million millionaires in the US) and adding them together and then creating an average. Basically you've got a lot of bloat in the data, but if you remove that bloat - take the same data and remove anyone earning over say 250k/year, well then you'd come to the realization that we see on the news everyday: The majority of Americans are actually living just above the poverty level. That's my bet anyway.

[@brofst]

> the median is like 60,000 a year. Okay, how many working Americans total exist below that mark? ..... the median means 50%ile

[@razercool42]

I think you got median and mean mixed up buddy

[@SongsforSpace]

Average is a more accurate representation than median. You have it backwards. I keep seeing people getting it backwards online.

[@iiRolltide]

I live in bama and I made 65k last year and I feel really good about where I’m at. I’m focusing this year on hitting all my bonuses and I feel like I’ll be ready to buy a house by next year. Needing 200k to feel comfortable mean the place you’re living is ridiculously overpriced

[@roncrudup2110]

Yep but this is also why they make 200k. 200k in San Francisco is basically 70k in middle America.

[@erad3035]

I lived in Bama for much of my life and 65k (or say 120K for a two-income household) is more than enough to live comfortably. My wife and I made roughly ~135k/y when we lived there and we lived like kings.

[@iiRolltide]

@@erad3035 bro life so good I’m fighting the urge to go get a new truck

[@erad3035]

@@iiRolltide don't fall into the trap. If you're going to get a new vehicle, buy one a couple years old. You'll save a fortune. Either way, keep - keeping on.

[@liarwithagun]

This is a non-point. The people paying 5x your living expenses in San Fran are making about 5x your salary for the same job. It also misses the point of that those numbers. That (230k in San Fran dollars) is what it would take for an average person with an average persons habits (50% or more of the population) to "feel" completely financially safe from all threats in San Fran. They are not talking about the extremely fiscally responsible outliers who get by comfortably with below median income or make higher than median salaries for their area. Saying "Well I'm an outlier and that's not what it is like for me," completely misses the point since they weren't talking about outliers like you, they were talking about the average person. I am an outlier as well, and I know they aren't talking about me, they are talking about all my poor neighbors who make similar amounts to me but don't live like monks and actually have a more normal spending lifestyle. When the economic system doesn't work for the majority of people, then something is very wrong. That's a big reason why communism is bad; that it just doesn't work for most people. And the system not working for all the majority can't just be chocked up to "Well those people are idiots." Even if that is true, do we really want to live in a society where the only way to enjoy life is to be born lucky or only walk one narrow line of a small number of specific lifestyles. Especially when we have extensive evidence of this not being the case 5 decades ago, and so it is obviously not mandatory for the country to be this way for so many people?😮

[@BullBuchanan]

I'll gross 280k this year, which will be about $200k after taxes, and I didn't feel "comfortable" until about a year after I hit 150k. For the first time in my life that allowed me to start meaningfully investing, while also having the ability to absorb significant financial losses in terms of life events, which happened several time. To me, the word "comfort" means that I can absorb big blows, like totaling my car or a major health event, and my day to day life doesn't have to change financially to compensate. It also means that if everything more or less continues as it is, I'll be able to retire around the retirement age with a quality of living that matches my working years. For a millennial, I think that means having $3M in semi-liquid assets like stocks/bonds/cash by 65. If you can get a 5% return in a money market account, that will give you 150k a year indefinitely which will probably be equivalent to 80k in today's money. Supplemented with 24k a year in social security and accounting for raises, that should get you close to a reasonable retirement lifestyle. $3M sounds like an absolutely insane number, but if you want to prepare for not knowing how long you live, I think it's actually pretty conservative. If you don't mind only having say 5-10 years of money and $0 left when you die, you can probably get away with far less.

[@cblue3581]

We hit $280k last year and you are pretty much spot on. When we hit about $120k we started investing our extra money. The first $100k for retirement was the hardest and now it's almost like a money cheat. We are getting around 40% growth and plan to retire when we hit $4 million. We've had to start researching ways to cut our tax bill. We've had to start using a backdoor Roth IRA because obviously we make too much. We've started looking at buying a beach home that we can use a business property but still be able to use it once in awhile. We utilize credit cards to our benefit, we get about $6k a year in cashback. Our emergency fund is around $100k and earns 4.6% growth with Sofi. We also started leasing because for an EV and don't qualify for the extra incentives anymore. Our credit qualifies us for things like 0% apr and the best lease deals. We have student loans and pay a little extra but with 40% growth in our portfolio it makes no sense to pay it off. I try to help teach ppl about how we got here but most don't want to hear it. Congrats btw, there are not a lot of millennials like us.

[@stratdaddy713]

@@cblue3581 to you and the OP, what type of work do you guys do to achieve such impressive salaries? Do you live in a high cost of living area? Are you on the older or younger end of being a millennial? I’d also be interested in hearing about your work-life balance if you’re willing to share!

[@cblue3581]

@@stratdaddy713 I work in R&D for a software company. My wife is a psychology consultant for a Fortune 500 company. We live around Atlanta which can be a little challenging at times but overall cost of living is fine here. We are older millennials, which I think are the best kind, lol. We both work 9-5 but I have to go into the office. I will admit though I probably don't work more than 6 hours of that. I get 30 days of pto, she gets 21 so we typically get at least one nice vacation and a few trips to the beach every year.

[@BullBuchanan]

@@stratdaddy713 I'm a product manager in the fintech industry. I started in game development though. These days I work about 40 hours a week, sometimes less, sometimes more. I definitely worked a lot more hours for a lot less pay earlier in my career though. I was making 120k in 2014-2017, but I was putting in 80-100 hours. I've found that the more money people make, the less hard they work. My uncle has busted his ass every day of his working life ( I used to work with him as a teenager), and I don't think the guy has ever made 60k. I live in a top 10 city, but I work remote, so that isn't relevant to earnings. generally it's hard to make top money in a poor area, unless you're a business owner though. I'm late 30s so I guess that classifies as elder millennial.

[@kongchen3122]

As Chinese we have trick to save 90% of your income, you just have to go no life and act always broke, example no going out, no restaurant, no uber(bike), learn to cook, no trips, . . . Now for the extreme, if you work in Starbucks, every Wednesday they throw fresh packages food out, take those and solve your food problem, the only joy you should have is game and phone(cheapest joy compared to to other). For rent either you share people if you’re single, for extreme rent a storage for 30$ a months and sleep there, or sleep at your job let your boss know. Have bucket outside collect rain water, you can use it to maintain minimum water bill. Never turn the heater on only enough that water pipe no broke. Am very important step is work till you have no free time, you can’t spend money if you always working😂, we work 6 days 12 hours each day, worst case work 7 days and do no life for 1-2 years if you try to buy houses.

[@zroku123]

Best advice I was told about credit cards is pay it off the moment you use it. Like treat it like a debit card and when you use it the money just goes away.

[@guyfromdubai]

Or, dont spend money you dont have. Dont use credit cards in the first place.

[@zroku123]

@@guyfromdubaithat is what Im saying. When you use a credit card. Make sure you have that amount in your checking. Pay off your credit card as soon as you use it. By doing so your credit rating should skyrocket

[@LastMinuteGuess]

You are spending money you have if you pay it off immediately. @@guyfromdubai

[@AzraelChaos]

​@@guyfromdubai Not necessarily (in the US) since credit comes into a lot of things. If you don't have other forms of debt, consistently paying off the full amount of small credit card debts each month is a way to build credit. Never having debt ever, counterintuitively, can create problems later since there won't be a record of your ability to consistently pay (meaning credit).

[@donteatpaint]

Credit cards are like chain saws. Incredibly useful. Incredibly dangerous. Resolve to pay in full each month and never carry a balance. Do that and they can be great tools.

[@Nostradevus1]

Yeah I don’t know where 233k came from. Did they just poll people in the heart of San Fransisco? Did they take the average over major cities? My family of four lives comfortably on 150k, we have no debt other than the house, I contribute to my 401k the max, and we save on top of that every month.

[@alanli6276]

I mean if you just ask someone how much money they'd want to earn to be comfortable they would probably give a fairly high number. This is a very different question than 'what is the absolute minimum you'd need to make to be comfortable'

[@torkelsonstan6967]

Yeah in the Midwest you could live on half very easily

[@christopherbrooks6355]

Thst 401k is attached to the stock market its crashes and u sol. Stop putting so much in and spread ur investment ur gonna be in ruin if u keep this up

[@Nostradevus1]

@@christopherbrooks6355 I have other investments too. Definitely not keeping all my eggs in that basket

[@Noddyboppin]

It's not just America, here in Norway the interest rates are really high. I have 300,000kr (27,500 usd) left on my mortgage and monthly payments are around 2000, 1500 of which goes to the bank for interest.

[@BlueRadium]

At least Norway's taxes pay for other expenses. In the U.S. we pay more into taxes for healthcare than Norway, but then we also need to pay "out of pocket" to cover the profit margins of the insurance companies and etc.

[@Calaban619]

in 1980, a full time job at mcdonalds in a mid-level cashier position, made enough income to own a house, buy a car, support a family. Today that same job position pay has NOT increased with the inflation since then- and that same job can barely make rent.

[@FlockofSmeagles]

Cashiers at mcd's made minimum wage. Which was 3.10/hr. Adjusted for inflation they'd be making less than the current average at mcd's at just 11.82 an hour. Don't believe everything you hear.

[@jerryweston7552]

​@FlockofSmeagles you must live somewhere ritzy because where I live, minimum wage is 7.25 an hour. That extra 4 dollars (rounded up) is effectively a 40% raise.....exactly what people would need for a comfortable wage, according to the numbers in the video.

[@FlockofSmeagles]

@@jerryweston7552 I didn't say minimum wage. I said the average wage of a mcdonalds cashier.

[@jerryweston7552]

@@FlockofSmeagles yes, but my point still stands I think.

[@FlockofSmeagles]

@@jerryweston7552 Well, what state do you live in? I can tell you if it does or not.

[@wyattwheeler.]

The mortgage prices in this video seems outdated. This would be the average mortgage price for people who bought like 5+ years ago.

[@ramigilneas9274]

3,3k after taxes would put you into the top 10% of highest earners here in Germany.😅

[@greglane501]

Yeah cuz they tax the shit out of you people. But rent isn't as crazy and education and health are free.

[@Darko807]

​@@greglane501 when I see healthcare and bills in america I'm happy about our tax 😅

[@LoliPolice-bf7mw]

@@Darko807 You might be looking at costs included with what insurance pays for. The prices aren't really all that bad, especially for people here who decide to live healthy lifestyles.

[@Breadbored.]

@@greglane501 My american aunt broke her wrist and ended up paying $10k. I'll pay some extra taxes, thanks.

[@RDV333]

​@@greglane501Rent in several european countries is getting just as bad as the worst american examples. The world is gearing up for a major recession.

[@DSGxTennessee]

200k holy shit I could live good as hell on half that lol

[@stus2159]

That works because you will get half after taxes.

[@td7122]

​@@stus2159 You beat me to that reply😂

[@Nersius]

That's not how marginal tax rates work. If it's 0% until 100$, then 100% above that, then if you made 200$ then you'd have 100$ after taxes. 200 - (100x0) - (100x1)

[@sirklatt]

@@Nersius the calc is literally half bro

[@mursikstuff235]

I’ve climbed out of the mindset that people are expressing about being poor. Since it’s so recent it’s painful to see people express themselves this way but I completely get it. I used to get upset about the (“being poor is a choice”) type of statement some people would make but it is absolutely true it’s hard to see it that way because you insert yourself into thoughts that are not important. The money he makes is no different than a dollar any of us would give a homeless person. You don’t have to remain “poor”. In absolute fact. Nobody on earth is actually poor. (I know that sounds like some bs but it’s true) unfortunate….sure but poor in the sense that we exercise it…no. People just have envy and lack ingenuity. Essentially you have to stop chasing a feeling with your eyes closed and look at where you are or figure out where you stand in life. Assess where it is you want to be but also educate yourself about those spaces because you might find out (hopefully not too late in life) that the place you’ve been dreaming to get to is actually a nightmare. If you can’t think outside of (this is a simulation) //Try this// you’re in an MMO RPG like eso…you’re race and stuff had already been chosen but it’s up to you to figure out as like some self aware AI within a game….how YOUR…story goes…while navigating everyone else’s stories happening at the same time. You spawned in and just have been in the lobby or the place after the first tutorial. You gotta pick up from where you are. Pick up skills, join guilds, build up your friend list etc…etc… yup

[@ravens.u.a.sflightservices]

car insurance cost me $3,000 a year, no tickets or accidents in decades. Its INSANE

[@WillParker322]

Is that the base requirement of the state? You can always get it adjusted to more or less liability coverage xx,000/xx,000/xx,000

[@ass4sale2]

Lol whos car insurance cost that much I insure 2 cars for $1800 a year. Thats $900 a year for 1 car. Stop trying to insure a leased 100k car. Get a car from 2014.

[@wolfmayner6274]

Bro look for some new quotes. I had all state and I was paying 2k a year and after 6 months they randomly raised my rates to 3k for no reason whatsoever. They do that because they literally think you will be too lazy to switch. It took me 3 hours to get a quote from geico and progressive and now I'm literally paying HALF for the same coverage, and the company you're with now is legally obligated to refund you for whatever the remainder of your coverage is.

[@bald_phoenix]

Um what? I pay 400 pounds a year insurance on a BMW in the UK?

[@stephenhowes6509]

A few years back I switched to Metro Mile, it's a pay-per-mile insurance (good insurance for people who don't drive a lot and/or work remotely or hybrid), I currently pay about $75 a month.

[@XiaolinDraconis]

233k a year and I'm starting a fucking empire on an island, wtf?? 33k a year and I can live, twice that and I can live good.

[@BasedChadman]

You're not getting a home paid off with that income

[@XiaolinDraconis]

over 65k a year and you think you wouldn't afford a house? No you tryin to buy mansions, I'm tryin to live a normal picket fence kinda life. @@BasedChadman

[@sten260]

buy apartment in a countryside for pennies on dollar, get a job you can work remotely and still make similar money like city people ??? profit

[@BasedChadman]

@@XiaolinDraconis Do you understand how home loans work? The amount of interest you would accrue would leave you in almost permanent debt. People aren't just complaining about a broken economy for shits and giggles. There are many who are financially literate and simply do not earn enough income to ever hope for a true retirement (of which the government is trying to push back, if you've been paying attention.)

[@lukain630]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@BasedChadman I left my parents house at 25, started working at 18 between part-times and full time jobs. Didn’t spend racks on the weekends, didn’t spend bands on shoes, didn’t need to wear designer clothes, just kept my head low with my nose on my studies and fitness. I bought my first house on my 25 birthday for 150K cash which I now rent. People have to learn how to prepare for their future, and no amount of money will ever be sufficient if you spent your whole income on materials things and the need to follow the trend of impressing other people.

[@jdbb3gotskills]

Yes during this administration housing got worse. We need to outlaw corporations being able to buy single family homes. That’s a big reason housing prices are still so high.

[@laughingman630]

It's actually more expensive living alone than living with a a partner

[@Ay-xq7mj]

I mean depends since divorce and alimony is a money deleter.

[@kevink9365]

Yes!

[@laughingman630]

@@Ay-xq7mj Well ya if you're going with the worst outcome possible. but even if you aren't married and just living together and splitting everything 50% its still cheaper.

[@tipfertool5457]

AA partner going to spend it all on booze. Also unlikely to keep that job.

[@DWAC]

Not when you have kids

[@iody247]

The way housing and income statistics are used is fucking disgusting. In 2022 the median household income was 76k, median individual income was 40k, median individual fulltime work income was 56k... 85% of us citizens made less than 100k. How does it take 200+k a year to make it? It doesnt... average house costs in 2022 were above 400k i believe...... but around 52% of counties in the united states had a median house cost of less than 100k, and another 30% have a median price between 100 and 350k. That means in half the counties half the houses cost less than $100,000.00!!!!! And in 82% of counties 50% of houses cost less than 350k.

[@ThisIsMrDante]

40:45 - Taxes are Gacha to some extend. I pay a lot of taxes, but for some reason I'm never in a group that benefits from them (as someone living in EU. IDK how it is in America). There are always groups that "needs more" - immigrants, women problems needing extra founding - but what is there for men? Oh you can work longer or die in case of war. I don't even own a house, but I got taxed to a point where I will probably will never be able to buy one.

[@Big-Government-Is-The-Problem]

obviously the economy is tough, but most people are not actually living frugally at all. they are still spending $200+ a week to get their hair done, tons on make-up, clothes, dining out, getting an overpriced car because (new means no issues) etc. if people were literally eating beans, Rice, and cheap meats and veg doing meal planning for the week that alone would save so much money. people spend way too much on housing because they think "i deserve this" and they want to impress their friends/family. put simply, people are too vain and want to keep up with the joneses. i drive a shitbox 20 year old dented up car and i dont give a damn what anyone thinks about it, its been paid off forever and it works fine. you say small amounts saved doesnt add up but it actually does. $10 a day (3650, which isnt even half of the ROTH IRA MAX) invested for 47 years at a 12% average annual return is nearly 7 Million... 3.5m at a 10% return, 1.3m at a 7% return which is typically the return after accounting for inflation. financial literacy is the issue, we need to teach these concepts in school, not 8+ years of WW2 history (and i say this as someone who loves WW2 history). just imagine how your parents and grandparents lived, they lived frugally, for fun they went to the library to read free books, or sat around and talked with friends for free, or literally kicked rocks. the problem is we are so accustomed to our high standards of living and once you're at a certain level of lifestyle inflation like living in a 500k house where your mortgage is killing you, your vain wife will never want to move into a $100k double wide mobile home, or even an average 300k home.

[@ecromancer]

I had entry level IT or help desk position say $18/h is to much money and they require a bachelor's and 3+ years of experience...

[@WooShin-s2b]

To anyone that says "people shud stop spending so much", you literally don't understand macroeconomics at all. Less spending > lower demand > less jobs > ppl have even less money > ppl spend even less. When ppl spend money a portion of that goes towards someone else who will spend the money to keep the economy flowing. BUT the rest goes to executives and shareholders who will hoard that money. This isn't a problem until that ratio tilts too much towards executives/shareholder pay, which is what we're seeing happening with no end in sight. What makes the problem even worse is that these shareholders are ALSO buying up homes as investments driving up home prices. So the middle class have been getting fked in both holes for years.

[@dlanbatal]

On a macro sense yes, but on an individual sense no Also there is a contradictory positive feedback loop many experience Less spending -> more stability -> confidence, self-improvement, motivation, lowered stress-> ambition/better job/more productivity -> more money -> more spending -> confidence, self-improvement, motivation, lowered stress The macro economics question is related to a timing race Will the individuals improving their QOL pay off in more GDP and return back more spending before the lowering of spending transitions to lowered jobs

[@WooShin-s2b]

I will however say that when people are spending money they don't have and end up paying high interests, that is most definitely NOT good for the economy because "interest" is a product where vast majority of spending goes straight into shareholder's bank instead of flowing back into the economy.

[@WooShin-s2b]

​@@dlanbatal That's flawed logic. You don't just spend responsibly temporarily to gain confidence, then start spending more, and that will somehow even out the economic flow. When everyone starts spending less, there will be an immediate impact to the economy. Ever heard of a term "consumer confidence"? This is tracked by financial analysts and policy makers literally in real time for a good reason. No company will keep employees in low demand economy hoping the demand will come back later.

[@PowerofRock24]

Hey there, big spender! You're absolutely right! Thank your for your monetary sacrifices so I can build my wealth on your impulsiveness :D

[@thebogangamer1]

@@PowerofRock24 you dont understand economics, money must cycle around or the system will collapse, think great depression era.

[@bludmop7281]

Nice to see Asmon doing all his research on the video he is gonna commentate on beforehand, thats a lotta browser tabs with all the info right there, wondered how he was always so precise with stuff he says just before the videos he watches mentions them :) much love

[@ligyron2835]

A large portion of this is the fact that nothing gets salvaged or repaired anymore. Everything is made to be “disposable” but consumers don’t understand even that gets factored into the cost of goods. I got money, but I was raised very frugal..which is why I got money. Change your own oil, fix your own apartment/home, repair old furniture/clothing rather than replace it. People are either too lazy or too ignorant when it comes to skills. When I moved into my new home I could’ve bought all new furniture for the bedrooms and spent 10s of thousands of dollars. Instead I spent about 500 bucks on sanding discs, varnishes and paints. On weekends I’d pick a piece of furniture and refinish it myself to get the looks I wanted. It took me like 8 weeks. Saved myself prob 20k+ 🤷‍♂️

[@veridan4363]

I was in construction for 9 years, started at $13/hr. I journeyed out year 6. By that point I was finally making enough, approx $28/hr, that I felt I could start _planning_ to buy a house. I had successfully saved enough for a 12% down payment in my area. In the following 3 years, i barely got to about 18%. Keep in mind this was after a year making $49/hr. The goal post keeps getting moved further and further beyond. Like Charlie Brown and the football. You think you're going to get there, then the market rips it away from you. Oh yeah, and All this was while being practically debt free, to this day I dont have a single credit card, just a car payment.

[@ji9272]

There's first time home buyer programs out there that help a lot. I only rented twice in my life after getting screwed by both. I told myself I'll never do it again. I worked 3 jobs for 3 years and found a first time home buyer company, I only had to pay 2% down payment on 300k house, and if I ever sold the house I would have to pay them back. Never Graduated no G.E.D, only debt at the time was a car payment, and I no life it with 3 jobs, and somehow got gf in the process of all this, which help me give up 1 job because she has a full time job when we moved together. I still continue to work two, though. For a safety net. Work wise, I don't recommend my way to anyone because it sucked felt like one continuous day, but if you can do it, just do it. But if anyone is looking as a first-time home buyer, keep shopping. There are some good programs out there.

[@JP-fx4ki]

Honestly, you are doing yourself a huge disservice by not having any credit cards. Having credit cards does not mean you have to carry debt on them. I make money with my credit cards, also given you can login to an app and connect your bank account and make a payment on time... It will help your credit for when you are ready to buy a house.

[@MrOiram46]

@@JP-fx4kiHe can also get some cash back even if he just uses a credit card for necessities, so it’s like getting a discount for items purchased through a credit card.

[@JP-fx4ki]

@@MrOiram46 Thats exactly what I meant by " I make money with my credit card". I pay for necessities with certain cards because of the "perks" they have. For example, my Amex is 3% on groceries, Wells Fargo is my 3% gas card. Use the right ones and pay it off each month, profit. Dont pay it, you eat interest/fees. Its all about being responsible with it...honestly.

[@signa8]

There's a lot of people out there that don't understand money and numbers. I had a friend that got a $10k payout from insurance, and he blew it all in a matter of 2 and half months. He didn't have any expenses or debts to cover either. He just bought that much beer.

[@headkicked]

Ok, but hear me out. Because of inflation, he didn't buy as much beer with that money as he could have. Maybe if his dollars had more value he'd have more left over to spend on other things he doesn't need as well. Sure, plenty of people are just blowing their money, but the rest of us that aren't are still feel like we are constantly being asked more and more to make more financial compromises. More than we are comfortable with. I want to vacation and buy nice things too! But I can't because my monthly grocery expenses are twice what they used to be!

[@signa8]

@@headkicked Oh, I know his situation isn't an explanation for everyone, but I feel like a lot of people bump into the problems outlined in this video because they have various degrees of his bad habits. I don't have a very career-focused lifestyle, but I do manage my finances obsessively. Everything I buy I look at in terms of how many hours it takes to work for the cost, and then reoccurring expenses are always considered in terms of how much income/outcome I'm having per month. I don't get the sense that people look at their finances in those terms very often, and it ends up being where you nickle and dime yourself into living paycheck to paycheck. I make a good deal of money for myself and my needs, but it's only moderately above minimum wages for my area. I bought myself a home on an income that was less than 2x minimum wage, so if I had a girlfriend/wife, it would have been entirely possible to buy what I did while being on the bottom rung. All of these problems can be correctly managed if you do it right, and not be my roommate

[@michaelmurray2833]

@26:42 "if you don't have any money they charge you money" ...actually ALL bank accounts have a fee to use them, and you like using them. the fee its either a monthly charge OR letting them hold a lump sum they can make the monthly charge off of. If you are giving them 3500$ to sit in that chequing account instead of you investing it, they take that 3500$ behind the scenes and make 280$/year return with it. so they do that instead of charging you 20$/mo (240$/year).

[@PravusGaming]

The average American takes on both credit card debt and car loans. Of course they'd think they need to make so much money to be financially stable... rather than, I dunno, live within their means.

[@sebastianprimomija8375]

But Pravus living within one's means = Poor and not signaling false wealth!!! Also 👋 from a sub

[@xPeski]

Imagine saving for retirement instead of jumping of a cliff so as not to burden your village. 😂

[@liarwithagun]

Unironically, my plan. Social security has been dog crap for decades and is getting worse as I make this comment with no indication of that changing in the future. I'm just gonna work and enjoy my money while I'm middle aged, then once my body starts failing in my 60s or 70s and I can't/don't want to work anymore, I'm gonna give my room a new red paintjob. That is, of course, if heart disease from my disgusting eating habits or the toxins and asbestos from the factories I work in doesn't kill me sooner.

[@sora5982]

@@liarwithagun yo thats my exact plan, except im thinking more 40s-60. your body failing you is like the last big punch but a lot of other things like dissatisfaction with the changing times, the unknowably shit landscape of the future, burn out on all your hobbies and everything starting to feel old can make it more misery than happiness past 50, earlier too of you unlucky.

[@Deliverygirl]

Retirement? No I'm taking out a loan and spending it all on drugs and prostitutes.

[@CotyWhite-jm2ot]

Honestly it’s mostly housing and insurance that is ridiculous. Food and vehicles have also gotten really bad. If you make 150k a year and aren’t comfortable you have a spending problem. Also a lot of people would save a whole lot of money of medical expenses if they worked out 2-3 times a week.

[@PomaReign]

These are costs to live comfortably, not minimally. This isn't about minimal wage since this isn't about minimal living. This is more about the middle and upper middle class on how to maintain their standard of living.

[@ultimomos5918]

That's not true. This is about the deletion of the middle class and the absolute dumpster fucking of the lower class. You know minimum wage was originally created to create a minimum standard for quality of life right? One that afforded basic amenities like housing, food and utilities. Now it's possible to make nearly 5 times the federal minimum wage and still not make it. We're beyond talking about "comfort" in this video, we're talking about the deletion of an entire economic class.

[@mr.188]

"The Eraser of the ability to Maintain or Achieve the "typical" [past-tense] Middle Class of America"....think I'm gonna make that a book title 🤔

[@deltor5849]

You definitely need more money if you're living alone, you're basically shouldering everything by yourself and not on a dual income

[@damianwozniak3798]

True, but how it happen that humans most advanced and inteligent being on Earth are slave when rest not connected animals are free. LOL Hillarius isnt ? he he ehhh

[@pridefall3304]

the power of dual income cannot be understated. But the downside to that is if you wanna have a family both parents have to work to keep up with expenses. It's really lose lose

[@Brandon82967]

@@pridefall3304 why even have kids at that point? they don't see you and it costs tons of money. an article on smartasset estimates it to be $21k/year on average

[@doctorale84]

@@pridefall3304a lot of people have kids without taking into account the financial burden that they entail, adding to their stupid financial decisions

[@BadMannerKorea]

It costs me around $22,000 to live, while renting. I doubt many people can beat me.

[@vittoanaranto4795]

earn a million. come to some third world asian country and enjoy the insane exchange rate. you've practically tripled or quadrupled your money and you have health care you'd pay a fraction what the US would charge

[@Cinrea13]

and then you ruin their economy? There's so many places like this where tech people go to different countries, ruin pricing for the people so they have to deal with increased housing or rent prices. "oh it's all good as long as it's not me.", fix your morals. People have no right to complain about immigration but pull the same shit on countries who don't benefit from it

[@obscureorca]

its not the "insane" exchange rate, its purchase power parity.

[@codigitty9195]

Cool, I just need to save 2k a month for the next 42 years and I'm set!

[@ibag2494]

​@@codigitty9195If you Invest those 2k a month in some index fund you would need way, way less time than 40 years

[@oliversmith2129]

You can have an upper middle class lifestyle with that kind of money in India for 2-3 decades

[@Geaxuce]

I've come to a conclusion about the economy through a string of logic which makes sense to me. I'm not an expert so I don't know if it's true or not. Or maybe it is but it's not the whole picture. When banks give out loans, it's not like they print money right away. That money comes from existing money. When people can't make they payments, these institutions who lent the money (usually banks) have to get it back somehow. Usually through repossession. However, there's only so much space to keep the stuff they take and not everything will sell. When other businesses need to borrow money and the banks haven't gotten their own money back, in order offset the losses they'll raise interest rates. Since almost every business borrows money, this naturally leads to their costs going higher and they in turn raise the prices of their products in order to offset their losses on those interest rates which is what we, the average person feels when we consume. If interest rates get too high, business won't borrow money, which isn't what the banks want. The federal government floods the economy with more reserves in order to keep interest rates low and looking attractive. Businesses don't necessarily want to keep raising their prices because if no one can afford their product then, whats the point of their business? This matter could be settled if people stopped borrowing and taking on debt they can't pay back. I would assume this all applies to hospitals as well. Just think about how much their equipment costs and how much it costs to produce. Its kind of no wonder why hospital prices are out of control. Also, oil. The rigs they need arent cheap either and if their costs go up then literally everything else will go up in price as well since almost everything is either made of or runs on oil. Even wind turbines need oil in the form of lubrication and steel manufacturing and shipping. The solution then is to stop borrowing money. Costs might not go down but they will stagnate. Things will be difficult for some in the first few years but learning to save and invest in the companies that you already use on a regular will help bolster your own economy.

[@adamhixon]

They keep mixing up the words "median" and "average" as though they're interchangeable. Why are humans incapable of wrapping their heads around the differences in these words?

[@Zed-ch9fg]

they're using statistics to obfuscate the data and the meaning. it's literally statistic 101 where your professor tells you how easy it is to fool people using statistics.

[@adamhixon]

@@Zed-ch9fg Yeah maybe, but I can't help but think of Hanlon's razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"

[@VenraeLOL]

"Statistics don't lie, but liars use statistics"

[@toofam2997]

The problem with the math in the first 10 mins, they used income from an average renter to cover expenses from a whole family. If a single person is able to cover expenses for a whole family, any income from additional family members is available for everything else.

[@Brandon82967]

who's taking care of the kids if both parents work

[@ToreOnYouTube]

@@Brandon82967Back to why DINK’s are becoming so common.

[@erdtree_larry]

Hey Asmon...on top of the dichotomy and neither party doing anything to help...both parties are actively participating in either a) making it worse or b) at the very least keeping it the way it is. Both parties' politicians are actively engaged in taking money from captains of industry and lobbyists in order to either vote on bills in their favor, or to not pursue things that may be detrimental to their cause. These people have no interest in doing what is best for the country out of a sense of patriotism or morality...and they will always chalk it up to "these are just smart business moves". Now we're at a point where certain people have robber baron like power again. For these types of people, it's more important for them to become even more rich and more powerful than it is for the rest of society to get ahead. If some of these people had a choice between becoming twice as rich, but the population would be involuntarily pushed into indentured servitude, they would do it...and many would argue they already have. This is part of our problem. There's no reason this country, at this point in its history, where we're doing better than we ever have, that people should be struggling to make it the way that they are, it's just absurd.

[@Vickolai]

21:24 what's crazy is when you put in perspective the pricing of a used car from let's say Facebook marketplace to getting an apartment. Whereas at most you need two to 3000 to cover the first couple months rent to get accepted into the apartment whereas that same money won't even come close to getting you considered for a used car at today's market. All in all to say that it's easier to save and pay for an apartment than it is for a used vehicle went back in my day I was able to buy a used vehicle for 2000 or less. Now that same car on the same market is three times the price

[@boomblade1397]

The government in the UK need to do this same study, I'd like to hope it would make them realise how bad poverty is really effecting the general public

[@Aethelhald]

Our government doesn't have time to do studies like this. They're too busy working on bringing a million new people a year to the country. No time to do anything else.

[@2chrisby]

​@Aethelhald what do you mean bringing new people......they have been there all along! In fact they are the rightful indigenous people. Everyone knows black Indians ruled England before white women came and made all the white men stop killing. Duh! Don't you watch the BBC?

[@jordanwood3150]

The current UK government won't do that because they don't care about poverty. I remember back in the early 2010s when they literally changed the government definition of poverty so that they could claim poverty had fallen.

[@GalianMode]

Rishi "let them die" Sunak does not care about the British general population, he is more focused on pocketing as much dosh as possible before he is kicked out.

[@MoonScentedHoonter]

@@GalianMode Unfortunately that is a bi-partisan issue that a lot of politicians do; They only care about how much money they can extract from the systems in place before they're found out and removed.

[@leownage]

What the last guy was saying is that you are a lucky bastard from twitch

[@SquidRider]

Our monthly budget for my family of four is $1,600. Our house is paid off, but 233K is absurd. (Tennessee)

[@Anima18911]

That's my rent.

[@ChrisDeebo]

In Florida that would barely pay the utility bills

[@codigitty9195]

My mortgage is $3,600 on a 2,100 sq ft home....

[@Bam_Bam_Bam_Bam]

@@codigitty9195 you got absolutely screwed.. I have a 2,000sq ft house and pay 800 a month and its on 2.5 acres..

[@erad3035]

There are A LOT of places away from the coasts that are extremely affordable. I've spent most of my live in Alabama and Oklahoma and both places are wonderful with very low cost of living. Families in each location are able to survive on far less than the nation 'average.'

[@tricky-x1-]

$690 in groceries is nothing nowadays. 1 full cart.

[@CcSmokecC]

Insane. I remember getting a full cart 10yrs ago for $150 and that was what I considered a decent amount of food.

[@PaleandPastey]

Nothing costs as much as being poor!

[@codigitty9195]

It's not that people just need to get paid more, it's that living expenses are too damn expensive.

[@fett_420]

Nobody is forced to live someplace where the subjective lifestyle is expensive, that is a choice.

[@ibEscartian]

@@fett_420so whats the solution, get a remote job in a high paying area and mooch off the lower cost of living areas while you can? Cause if you move to a less expensive place, most times you're gonna also be earning less. Sure it is a lot easier to find a 100k+ job in Manhattan than in Kansas City but its also a lot more expensive to live in the Manhattan metro area than the Kansas City metro area. Same issue exists even if you move to another less expensive cost of living country.

[@fett_420]

@@ibEscartian Your argument is just a strawman analogy, the pay is relative to the local cost of living, nobody forces you to live in manhattan when you can get the same job and bigger house for less pay in say Indianapolis.

[@thehentailord6708]

You can't save what you don't earn

[@gamebozco]

Credit cards have rewards are lies. Those money comes from credit card charge and it is reflected in your purchases. Thats why you see cash discount in small shops. The rewards are straight from your wallet.

[@Somesomeones]

Financial literacy in Highschool and college should be compulsory. It will give people the knowledge of managing their money, saving and investing. Not all parents have that knowledge to pass onto their kids. My parents have no clue about saving accounts, ETFs and ISAs. I had to learn that all on my own.

[@christianalanwilson434]

Its almost as if financial literacy isn't focused on for a reason. I wonder why that could be...

[@RedRavenNine]

You could give everyone a million bucks in their account to be financially secure, and in a few months or less most people will have that all spent, and no longer be financially secure, and in fact will be worse off because now they owe bills on whatever they bought, assuming they actually bought a new house, vehicle, business, etc... It's how you spend it, the area you are in, the friends you have made, etc. I make way less than the median monthly earning they say, and live very comfortably.

[@lowbarb]

Yeah the $700 in food half of it its easting out.

[@canihave1dab724]

Way more than half for young people

[@WillParker322]

I prefer westing out

[@2chrisby]

Um excuse me! Starbucks! Um hello!

[@bobross2577]

@@2chrisby its inhumane to make someone live without a morning frappuccino

[@JailBo-id7ko]

​@@bobross2577it's a video about living comfortably, not living optimally.