Poll

How much do you make?

0 - 10,000
11 (1.3%)
10,001 - 20,000
13 (1.6%)
20,001 - 30,000
27 (3.3%)
30,001 - 40,000
33 (4%)
40,001 - 50,000
56 (6.8%)
50,001 - 60,000
59 (7.2%)
60,001 - 70,000
76 (9.3%)
70,001 - 80,000
58 (7.1%)
80,001 - 90,000
67 (8.2%)
90,001 - 100,000
58 (7.1%)
100,001 - 110,000
32 (3.9%)
110,001 - 120,000
36 (4.4%)
120,001 - 130,000
36 (4.4%)
130,001 - 140,000
31 (3.8%)
140,001 - 150,000
34 (4.2%)
150,001 - 200,000
81 (9.9%)
200,001 - 250,000
48 (5.9%)
250,001 - 300,000
27 (3.3%)
300,001 - 350,000
10 (1.2%)
>350,000
26 (3.2%)

Total Members Voted: 767

Author Topic: How much does everyone make?  (Read 34713 times)

lentilman

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #50 on: December 24, 2013, 10:53:12 PM »
Yes, mistyped.  Corrected to mean.

Also, in general usage mean is a synonym with average.

The point is that averaging a few Bill Gates's in with a few (more) Joe Blow's highly distort the average US income.  Most people are no where near as well off as commonly reported data would lead one to believe.

FrancescoIgnagn

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #51 on: December 24, 2013, 11:25:44 PM »
I am voted for 0 to 10000 individual because i think for the individual person its the average amount of money. Your poll is very interesting and effective for the gaining knowledge. so thanks for sharing it.

wtjbatman

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #52 on: December 24, 2013, 11:30:48 PM »
Poll results are not surprising, a website about saving money/investing gets more visitors who are well off.

It's unfortunate, as it's the people making less money that could most use the advice here.

TorontoDeveloper

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #53 on: December 25, 2013, 03:31:15 PM »
I am hypothesizing that this threshold is at about 80,000. Which is 2 mid-range incomes if I am correct.
US median household income is approximately $50k, Canadian income tend to be slightly lower. So you may be over estimating what "midrange" is

Canada's median household income in 2011 was $72k: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil108a-eng.htm
US median household income in 2004 was $44k: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States#Median_income
Thanks! I hadn't bothered to check the numbers, and just went with the "higher salaries in the states" assumption, which turns out to be wrong in the aggregate. I was posting from my phone, where everything is harder then from a computer.
For what it's worth, updated US income figures put the median household income at $53,046 (2008-2012). Also, I'm sure it's not a huge effect, but now that Stats Can has switched from the mandatory long-form survey to the voluntary version, their numbers aren't considered as accurate, and in fact one of the worries was that it would be biased towards higher income groups (who have the time, education, and inclination to fill out voluntary surveys).

Thanks for setting me straight. You learn something new everyday.

Thanks! I realize the US data was fairly old, but it was the most recent data Wikipedia had and I didn't want to spend too much time looking for the latest figures. Thanks for finding something more recent!

Good point about the decline in Stats Can's ability to collect accurate information. I believe the 2010 census still had a mandatory long-form census, and the median household income that year was $69,860. The jump from 2010-2011 does look bigger than jumps in the previous few years, which could be a result of the changes in Stats Can.

sol

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #54 on: December 25, 2013, 04:18:30 PM »
I'm assuming this income survey is meant to exclude dividends or investment returns, as otherwise the results are more a measure of how near retirement people are, or how well the market did this year.  And what about 401k matching funds?  Home equity increases?  Spun just the right way, our household income this year is truly ridiculous, almost 3x our AGI number.

edit:  interesting bimodal distribution of incomes.  Think that's the difference between single and dual income households?
« Last Edit: December 25, 2013, 04:20:46 PM by sol »

PeachFuzzInVA

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #55 on: December 28, 2013, 09:08:29 AM »
You can tell there's a bunch of engineers around here. You guys over-analyze everything (I kid!) I answered the question on the poll and then read the clarification in the post, so my poll answer is wrong. I answered $70,000-$80,000 but if we're including household income then I'd need to add in the other half's income, so that would put my correct answer at $100,000-$110,000.

Undecided

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #56 on: December 28, 2013, 10:23:44 AM »
edit:  interesting bimodal distribution of incomes.  Think that's the difference between single and dual income households?

Probably a factor, but I wonder if it's also the case that high earners are in their current work "because" of the money, and perhaps consequently more interested in getting out early and so more likely to be drawn to early-retirement sites (I know that's me).

Roland of Gilead

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #57 on: December 28, 2013, 10:28:06 AM »
Interesting you see a hump at $70,000 to $80,000 and another hump at $140,000 to $160,000

Two income households vs one income?

clutchy

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #58 on: December 28, 2013, 10:39:34 AM »
Interesting you see a hump at $70,000 to $80,000 and another hump at $140,000 to $160,000

Two income households vs one income?

The hump is most likely due to the large income range at that level.  OP jumped from $10,000 increments to a $50,000 increment.

Albert

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #59 on: December 28, 2013, 11:26:54 AM »
Most people here are from US and the average pre-tax household income there is 52k so the range here is vastly above that no matter how you look at it.

Le0

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #60 on: December 30, 2013, 07:55:54 AM »
Interesting you see a hump at $70,000 to $80,000 and another hump at $140,000 to $160,000

Two income households vs one income?

The hump is most likely due to the large income range at that level.  OP jumped from $10,000 increments to a $50,000 increment.

This.

gecko10x

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #61 on: December 30, 2013, 08:30:47 AM »
Interesting you see a hump at $70,000 to $80,000 and another hump at $140,000 to $160,000

Two income households vs one income?

The hump is most likely due to the large income range at that level.  OP jumped from $10,000 increments to a $50,000 increment.

This.

Current poll results by 50k increments:
0-50        70
50-100    134
100-150   77
150-200   39
200-250   28
250-300   12
300-350   6

Le0

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #62 on: December 30, 2013, 10:06:56 AM »
Interesting you see a hump at $70,000 to $80,000 and another hump at $140,000 to $160,000

Two income households vs one income?

The hump is most likely due to the large income range at that level.  OP jumped from $10,000 increments to a $50,000 increment.

This.

Current poll results by 50k increments:
0-50        70
50-100    134
100-150   77
150-200   39
200-250   28
250-300   12
300-350   6

Ok we really need to consider a survey. :p

ArcticaMT6

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #63 on: December 30, 2013, 12:45:00 PM »
My wife and I are just $130k with her very recent 3% raise, and her bonus puts us over that target. I will be getting my raise somewhere in the springtime along with a bonus. Plus some side income from my woodworking.

sdp

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #64 on: January 02, 2014, 09:52:10 PM »
My wife and I already quit those blasted jobs that paid us 70K/yr.  Not FI yet, but  MUCH happier making 18bucks an hour part time....
Cheers,
Scott

chesebert

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #65 on: January 03, 2014, 05:13:01 AM »
Should one include taxable fringe benefits?

GodlessCommie

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #66 on: January 03, 2014, 09:06:39 AM »
Current poll results by 50k increments:
0-50        70
50-100    134
100-150   77
150-200   39
200-250   28
250-300   12
300-350   6
Thanks for restoring my faith in normal distribution.

Le0

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #67 on: January 03, 2014, 09:18:34 AM »
Current poll results by 50k increments:
0-50        70
50-100    134
100-150   77
150-200   39
200-250   28
250-300   12
300-350   6
Thanks for restoring my faith in normal distribution.

I would say there is an very interesting skew on this distribution.

jrhampt

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #68 on: January 03, 2014, 09:29:09 AM »
Income is not normally distributed...it tends to skew right, as we can see from this data.  If you're trying to get a more normal distribution, you'd want to take the log of income, which smooths out the higher extremes.

thurston howell iv

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #69 on: January 03, 2014, 10:12:27 AM »
Those folks in the $350k range... What are you guys doing? Surgeons?

Jon_Snow

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #70 on: January 03, 2014, 04:59:18 PM »
My wife and I both bring home around 100k pre-tax... and another 30k in investment income... so around 230k pre-tax total. We spend around 30k annually.

My wife loves her job, while I loathe mine... needless to say, 2014 is my last year of work. Between my wife's income and our dividends, we will still be able to save a lot of money - not sure when my wife will join me in freedom from employment, but she is in no rush. I am so excited for 2015 - a full two years ahead of my original ER date. I will be 42. I think 2014 is going to go sloooooooowwwwly.

Our ability to maintain our modest lifestyle while our incomes skyrocketed  is the best decision we ever made.

Mazzinator

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #71 on: January 04, 2014, 02:00:43 PM »
My husbands paystub says $130k gross for 2013...but he is in the army, and pays very little/none in taxes so his take home is very high. Never calculated what it would be in "civilian" terms... And his pay had a huge jump in july when we moved, so 2014 will be much higher i suppose...

cats

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #72 on: January 04, 2014, 04:30:41 PM »
Interesting survey.  I am still kind of floored anytime I add up my income and my SO's--until recently we were both in grad school earning stipends of anywhere from $18-30k/yr, and we still tend to spend with that mindset.  We keep our finances separate but share all household expenses and make major spending decisions together.  Our decision to operate as a household rather than 2 individuals on a day-to-day basis definitely impacts our ability to save (in a good way), so I ticked off the box for our combined income.  Though, this poll also reminded me that what you earn can feel quite relative!  For example, although our income is high, I am fairly certain we actually earn a bit less than many of our couple friends, simply because neither of us are in software development (hello, Bay Area).  Fortunately we aren't interested in much of the stuff that they blow money on, so it's all going to even out in the end :)

Nords

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #73 on: January 13, 2014, 08:05:39 PM »
Funny, I kind of interpreted the MMM philosophy as living on as little as possible and saving the rest.
I don't think MMM lives on "as little as possible", though. Also, Jacob of ERE had a more spartan life, and even he splurged on martial arts classes.
I think it's more appropriately: "Consider the value of every dollar spent. Conscious spending."
At it's basest, that is Nord and MMM's life.
Todd Tresidder of FinancialMentor.com refers to it as "values-based spending".

I can only ride one longboard at a time, and surf wax is cheap...

YK-Phil

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #74 on: January 13, 2014, 08:42:46 PM »
In 2013, about $35K as a flight attendant, plus rental income of $20K, wife owns a store and had a bad year, cleared probably $15K. Changed jobs in October and went back to my old career, will make $150K plus rental income in 2014. Income quadrupled, but the fun factor was cut 10-fold...

wtjbatman

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #75 on: January 14, 2014, 12:32:04 AM »
I can only ride one longboard at a time, and surf wax is cheap...

"How many yachts can you water ski behind?"

Random

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #76 on: January 14, 2014, 01:53:02 PM »


I can only ride one longboard at a time, and surf wax is cheap...

OK, a bit off topic, but I just got back from vacation in Kauai.  I met a very fit ~70 yr old guy and his jack russell terrier, both on his stand up paddleboard.  As they came to shore I said to him, "I think that's the first dog I have ever seen who is wealthy enough to afford his own paddler."  The guy didn't miss a beat and replied, "Well, it was written into his trust."  True story; great comeback.

Nords

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #77 on: January 18, 2014, 10:02:23 PM »


I can only ride one longboard at a time, and surf wax is cheap...

OK, a bit off topic, but I just got back from vacation in Kauai.  I met a very fit ~70 yr old guy and his jack russell terrier, both on his stand up paddleboard.  As they came to shore I said to him, "I think that's the first dog I have ever seen who is wealthy enough to afford his own paddler."  The guy didn't miss a beat and replied, "Well, it was written into his trust."  True story; great comeback.
Lots of that around here...
http://the-military-guide.com/2011/08/29/lifestyles-in-military-retirement-surfing-photos/
http://surfshooterhawaii.smugmug.com/Team-Rider/Ringo-SUP-Standup-Pooch

« Last Edit: January 18, 2014, 10:05:13 PM by Nords »

horsepoor

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #78 on: January 19, 2014, 12:10:16 AM »
I polled for my personal income, which is about $91K, but household is about $160K, plus rental income of $9180, which at best breaks even with expenses.

TreeTired

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #79 on: January 19, 2014, 05:24:45 PM »
Our income is very low and consists of investment income and some minimum wage work totaling less than $3000 in 2013.   Investment income,  dividends and interest, total around $20k.   So at age 61 we are living on savings, but we have enough to last us to age 70 when we will hopefully get a boost from social security (might start a spouse benefit at age 66) and will start drawing from IRA accounts.  (I guess we will have to start mrd's whether we need them or not).

RetiredAt63

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Re: How much does everyone make?
« Reply #80 on: January 20, 2014, 10:13:47 AM »
but now that Stats Can has switched from the mandatory long-form survey to the voluntary version, their numbers aren't considered as accurate, and in fact one of the worries was that it would be biased towards higher income groups (who have the time, education, and inclination to fill out voluntary surveys).

I'm not so sure about that even - I had to do the long form once, and it was a horrible time-suck, took most of an evening.  I consider myself pretty civic-minded, but now that it is voluntary I would be strongly tempted to not do it. 

 It was an eye-opener for my husband, though, if he had done it there would have been a lot less time on family support.  Didn't change what he did around the house though.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!