Poll

Who are you? Pick one answer per category

Family status: Married (or in a serious relationship)
1558 (13.9%)
Family Status: Single
668 (6%)
Household Income: < $40k / yr
246 (2.2%)
Household Income: $40k - 60k / yr
242 (2.2%)
Household Income: $60k - 80k / yr
261 (2.3%)
Household Income: $80k - 100k / yr
297 (2.6%)
Household Income: $100 - 150k / yr
549 (4.9%)
Household Income: $150k+ / yr
652 (5.8%)
Debts: None
988 (8.8%)
Debts: $0 - 10k
198 (1.8%)
Debts: $10k - 30k
213 (1.9%)
Debts: $30k - 60k
138 (1.2%)
Debts: $60k - 100k
117 (1%)
Debts: $100k+
584 (5.2%)
Highest level of education: High school Diploma
167 (1.5%)
Highest level of education: College/University Degree
1141 (10.2%)
Highest level of education: Master's degree / PhD
947 (8.4%)
Residence: USA
1775 (15.8%)
Residence: Canada
165 (1.5%)
Residence: UK
63 (0.6%)
Residence: Other
252 (2.2%)

Total Members Voted: 2150

Author Topic: Who are you? Demographic poll  (Read 34253 times)

FIRE_Buckeye

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #50 on: December 11, 2015, 08:35:48 PM »
Wow, I'm really surprised that 75% of the respondents have either no mortgage or their mortgage is less than $100,000!  Have people not been considering their mortgage as a debt, even though it is a debt?
Lots of people either A.) Renting, or B.) Aggressively paying down their mortgage and currently with less than $100k to go.

Tom Bri

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #51 on: December 11, 2015, 08:52:00 PM »
Old thread but a fun one. No debt, and none since 1996 when I paid off my student loans. Spouse is the true mustachian, never ANY debt, and had a few hundred thou stashed (I have never learned the true amount of her savings, and I believe she does not know either) before we married.
Current income <$20K, but not FIRED, just graduated with a new degree (paid cash) and hope to get a big jump next year. House paid cash, clown cars paid cash.
I wonder about all the people at the low income level. Are they people like me, who are older and have substantial savings, and so don't feel the need to stress about current income? Or, how many are youngsters just starting out? Or...?

LeRainDrop

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #52 on: December 11, 2015, 09:14:06 PM »
Wow, I'm really surprised that 75% of the respondents have either no mortgage or their mortgage is less than $100,000!  Have people not been considering their mortgage as a debt, even though it is a debt?
Lots of people either A.) Renting, or B.) Aggressively paying down their mortgage and currently with less than $100k to go.

Ah, I posted before reading up-thread.  Looks like some people are not counting the mortgage as debt, and at least one person didn't even consider his student loans to be debt.  But, yeah, I imagine people renting had a big impact on this measure.

prefixcactus

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #53 on: May 04, 2016, 09:24:28 AM »
Nice poll, but it kind of doesn't capture the whole spectrum. In my particular example, I'm a university student and I still live with my parents so an appreciable portion of my core needs (i.e. food&dwelling) gets covered by them. So what would I list as the household income? What I earn by myself (which is lots less than what I actually consume) or what the whole family earns (which, again, does not really represent my own spending)? Or, as a university student nearing graduation, do I qualify as a "highest degree: High School" ( in which case (a) I get thrown in with people who did not go to college/university, and (b) It will become false in about a year's time), or as a  graduate (in which case it is simply false as of right now)?

BuffaloStache

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #54 on: November 05, 2016, 12:13:16 PM »
Nice poll, but it kind of doesn't capture the whole spectrum.

Agreed- but Aloysius_Poutine stated that he meant for it to be open ended. For example, I consider my mortgage to be a "debt", since I don't think I'll consider myself completely FI until I have at least my primary residence mortgage paid off.

katcrews

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #55 on: September 07, 2019, 11:52:02 AM »
You should include a category for "some college" since there are non-graduates like me who have a lot of student loan debt but never got the degree. If I had known moving in the middle would cause such issues I would have not moved.

Greystache

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #56 on: September 09, 2019, 08:49:03 AM »
It would be interesting to know which respondents are already retired vs those that are still working.  Our income in retirement is pretty much whatever we want it to be. My wife and I have always lived well below our means which is why we were able to retire early. Our current income is $60K, but in our last year before we retired, our household income was a little over $200K.  Many in the MMM community have high savings rates while working and relatively low incomes when retired. Depending on what % of the respondents are retired, you might get incomes that are skewed lower.

BTDretire

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #57 on: September 10, 2019, 09:03:05 AM »
I'm retired, for income, I put in my 4%, but I sure hope my average return is closer to 7%.

BuffaloStache

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #58 on: September 10, 2019, 10:33:28 AM »
I'm retired, for income, I put in my 4%, but I sure hope my average return is closer to 7%.

Don't forget- you want that 7% to help protect against inflation and other things :-).

iris lily

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #59 on: September 10, 2019, 10:40:56 AM »
A poll  that purports to identify those who wish to learn mustache-an ways and then doesn’t ask a question about their assets seems to have missed the mark.

I dont see how you can draw a conclusion from the information I gave. We are in your lowest income bracket. So what? What do you do with that information?
« Last Edit: September 11, 2019, 07:35:39 AM by iris lily »

marty998

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #60 on: September 10, 2019, 03:23:08 PM »
This thread is old, so old that I have moved categories since it was first made :)


mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #61 on: September 11, 2019, 03:28:11 AM »
This thread is old, so old that I have moved categories since it was first made :)

.. and it's the thread that's old? ;)

rantk81

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #62 on: September 11, 2019, 06:02:26 AM »
Hah! Me too.  Many changes :)

marty998

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #63 on: September 12, 2019, 02:37:16 AM »
This thread is old, so old that I have moved categories since it was first made :)

.. and it's the thread that's old? ;)

Hey! I'll bet you've moved a category or two in this time as well :P

2sk22

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #64 on: September 12, 2019, 02:43:15 AM »
A poll which gets data at a point in time is not very useful. What we need is an anonymous spreadsheet in which forum members can update net worth and current income

dcarroll

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #65 on: December 05, 2019, 07:16:05 PM »
I included house mortgage under the debt, which we could easily pay off. However, it makes a lot more sense to funnel the same funds into VTSAX (or equivalent) due to the incredibly low mortgage rate.

OtherJen

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #66 on: December 05, 2019, 08:54:12 PM »
I also included mortgage debt. We have just over $50k left on that, and no other debt.

SinnahSaint

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #67 on: July 01, 2022, 09:35:53 AM »
Mrs and I are currently renting and bought our last car with cash so I put no debt.(We've never carried a credit card balance)

We will buying a primary residence soon and plan to have that paid off in 5-10 years. We'll likely hit FIRE 5 years after the house is paid off.

Dicey

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #68 on: July 02, 2022, 04:07:42 PM »
I loves me a nice necropost and a good screen name. Welcome to the forum @SinnahSaint!

Money Saver 1

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #69 on: August 08, 2022, 04:03:46 AM »
I am that guy that didnt want to be asked who he is, wears his clothes and buys his things like everyone else.

stoaX

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #70 on: August 08, 2022, 05:06:54 AM »
It would be interesting to know which respondents are already retired vs those that are still working.  Our income in retirement is pretty much whatever we want it to be. My wife and I have always lived well below our means which is why we were able to retire early. Our current income is $60K, but in our last year before we retired, our household income was a little over $200K.  Many in the MMM community have high savings rates while working and relatively low incomes when retired. Depending on what % of the respondents are retired, you might get incomes that are skewed lower.

I agree. After all, the overall theme of this forum is FIRE.

Freedomin5

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #71 on: August 08, 2022, 08:22:21 AM »
Necropost!! It would be interesting to see how many changes (or lack of changes) happened to people here in the 10 or so years since the OP. My situation is basicly the same but seems like other people went thru some big changes from their original plans.

It is interesting. Apparently, at the time of responding to this poll, we were at $100-$150K income with $100K+ debt (mortgage). We are now at $150K+ income and $0 debt.

Dicey

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #72 on: August 08, 2022, 08:33:01 AM »
I am that guy that didnt want to be asked who he is, wears his clothes and buys his things unlike everyone else.
FTFY. Sometimes we mustachians forget we're not like everyone else. We're clearly the minority, but this forum connects us with like-minded people so well it starts to feel like we're the norm. We should be, but the numbers indicate otherwise. Keep on savin' that money, Money Saver 1!

lifeisshort123

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #73 on: August 08, 2022, 03:11:43 PM »
And yet many people will be slaves to their credit cards, slaves to their mortgages, and spend their entire lives enriching others in the hopes of “getting theirs”. Or, you can recognize, you can’t take these things with you, and work to grow wealth, care for your family, improve the climate in your community, reduce consumption, and improve the world you live in through donations and service.  I know where I want to be.

PhilB

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #74 on: August 14, 2022, 08:29:45 AM »
A real blast from the past!  Only change for me is dropping two categories on the income scale.  Which is kind of depressing, until I remember it's because I've been retired for nearly 4 years :)

RetiredAt63

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #75 on: August 14, 2022, 09:00:52 AM »
Necropost!! It would be interesting to see how many changes (or lack of changes) happened to people here in the 10 or so years since the OP. My situation is basicly the same but seems like other people went thru some big changes from their original plans.

It is interesting. Apparently, at the time of responding to this poll, we were at $100-$150K income with $100K+ debt (mortgage). We are now at $150K+ income and $0 debt.
Yipee! The working and saving years usually see a lot of changes where as the retirement years not as much (at least not much for me). Although having your total NW increase after you're retired for years (decade/s)  instead of decrease (thanks stock and housing market!) without any real lifestyle changes is a pretty good no-changes thing.

My retirement income, adjusted for inflation, is higher than my main job but less than my last contract job.  A lot of my savings are in DRIP accounts so I am not even maximizing my income.  Plus that is gross income, and I am no longer contributing to EI or pensions, so the actual amount available for spending is more.

In retirement I am rich (by my standards).   ;-)

Zikoris

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #76 on: August 14, 2022, 11:28:48 AM »
We moved from the 60-80K range to the 80-100K range, otherwise nothing else has changed.

Fomerly known as something

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #77 on: August 15, 2022, 08:45:17 AM »
Well, last year I made a major location change to the Bay Area, which moved me up in current income.  I decided I liked this place so I bought my most expensive housing ever, which means I have the most debt in the form of a mortgage than ever.  But I’m basically somewhat “retired in place” with working another 3 years until I’m eligible for my early federal retirement pension (I get to retire with full benefits at 47).  I’ve hit my FIRE investment numbers so now could spend all my salary on myself.  (I’m still maxing retirement accounts and with the market dipping this year restarted some systematic outside investing since I seem to have FOMO of missing market returns).

PoutineLover

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #78 on: August 15, 2022, 11:51:09 AM »
I've moved up an income category, sweet. The rest is the same.

Bateaux

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #79 on: August 17, 2022, 07:06:16 AM »
I loved seeing some of the old names.  Hope they are doing great.  Lots of big positive changes for us since then.  The thread predates my MMM membership by several years.  At that time we were debt free.  We had good salaries and saving at a high rate.  I don't think we'd quite reached 1M in total assets yet, but I was definitely considering retirement in Lean FIRE.  Contrary to most here, participation in MMM is one of the reasons I chose Fat FIRE instead.  I was then much more naive to the true costs of living.  The smart people of MMM educated me in ways I'd never even considered.  I'm truly a different person for having conversed here.  Now 270 days from vacationing into retirement I'd like to thank you all.

InvincibleChutzpah

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #80 on: August 17, 2022, 07:07:50 AM »
I also found the income and debt spreads quite interesting.  It seems like those who appreciate the MMM way of life either have no debt or are drowning in it.

A home mortgage counts as debt. I have a $170K mortgage as my only debt. I got a 1.25% interest rate and it's not my forever home, so I'm in no hurry to pay it off. I wouldn't call that drowning in debt.

InvincibleChutzpah

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #81 on: August 17, 2022, 07:12:38 AM »
Necropost!! It would be interesting to see how many changes (or lack of changes) happened to people here in the 10 or so years since the OP. My situation is basicly the same but seems like other people went thru some big changes from their original plans.

My debt went up. Lol. I went from being a renter with roommates to having a $170k mortgage. The poll doesn't actually show the whole picture since my half of the mortgage (spouse pays the other) is cheaper than my rent was. Less debt doesn't always mean you're in a better financial situation. This is FIRE, not Dave Ramsey.

dizzy

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #82 on: August 17, 2022, 07:26:37 AM »
Little bit complicated for me.  I have massive student debt but hopefully will have most of it forgiven.
Just another view on all of this.

Must_ache

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #83 on: August 17, 2022, 09:05:06 AM »
I put down $0 debt despite my $65K mortgage @ 2.625% because i could write a check tomorrow to pay that off.  It is debt I choose to hang on to rather than a situation where I am low on assets and would be unable to. 

InvincibleChutzpah

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Re: Who are you? Demographic poll
« Reply #84 on: August 17, 2022, 10:56:56 AM »
I put down $0 debt despite my $65K mortgage @ 2.625% because i could write a check tomorrow to pay that off.  It is debt I choose to hang on to rather than a situation where I am low on assets and would be unable to.

Yeah, my mortgage is also something I choose to have. I could have bought the house outright, but with a practically zero interest loan, it's just not worth it IMO. I personally still think it counts as debt. I think the way people are categorizing debt is reflected in the division of mustachians having either really low or really high debt. I don't count my mortgage (or home equity) in my NW calculations. However, if someone asks me what debts I have, I'll include my mortgage in that.