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Poll: One-Third of Americans Making $250K ‘Live Paycheck-to-Paycheck’

PatMiles

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Minuteman
Feb 25, 2017
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More than 33 percent of Americans who earn $250,000 a year report living paycheck to paycheck, “underscoring how inflation is taking a bigger bite out of Americans’ budgets at all ends of the pay spectrum,” Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Industry publication Pymnts.com and LendingClub Corp. conducted a survey from April 6-13 with about 4,000 US consumers, finding that roughly 36 percent of households bringing in $250,000-plus annually spend most of their income on household expenses.

“It’s particularly true among millennials, who are now in their mid-20s to early 40s: More than half of top earners in that generation report having little left at the end of the month,” according to the report.

The survey revealed that 55.4 percent of Millennials who earn $250,000-plus a year reported living paycheck to paycheck compared to 21.8 percent of Boomer generation respondents in the same earnings category.

The survey did distinguish high earners who can pay their bills with relative ease compared to those who struggled to cover household expenses in April, which is roughly one in ten. The report noted:

Housing expenses, which typically take up large chunks of the budgets of wealthier people, have skyrocketed during the pandemic. For example in Orange County, California, a top-tier home cost $1.7 million in April, up from $1.2 million in February 2020, based on Zillow Group Inc. data. A mortgage on that house, assuming a 20 percent down payment, would cost about $100,000 per year. That’s 40 percent of a $250,000 annual pre-tax income.
Approximately 61 percent of consumers overall reported living paycheck to paycheck in April, which is a nine percentage-point increase from last year. The results come as U.S. food inflation continues to soar past a 41-year high and gas prices surpass $5 in many parts of the country.

The survey found that many higher income households are using credit cards to “finance their lifestyles,” but they are also able to completely pay off the balance.

“US consumer borrowing soared in March by the most on record as credit-card balances ballooned and non-revolving credit jumped, highlighting the combined impact of solid spending and rising prices,” the report states.

Hilarious!!!!!
 

More than 33 percent of Americans who earn $250,000 a year report living paycheck to paycheck, “underscoring how inflation is taking a bigger bite out of Americans’ budgets at all ends of the pay spectrum,” Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Industry publication Pymnts.com and LendingClub Corp. conducted a survey from April 6-13 with about 4,000 US consumers, finding that roughly 36 percent of households bringing in $250,000-plus annually spend most of their income on household expenses.

“It’s particularly true among millennials, who are now in their mid-20s to early 40s: More than half of top earners in that generation report having little left at the end of the month,” according to the report.

The survey revealed that 55.4 percent of Millennials who earn $250,000-plus a year reported living paycheck to paycheck compared to 21.8 percent of Boomer generation respondents in the same earnings category.

The survey did distinguish high earners who can pay their bills with relative ease compared to those who struggled to cover household expenses in April, which is roughly one in ten. The report noted:


Approximately 61 percent of consumers overall reported living paycheck to paycheck in April, which is a nine percentage-point increase from last year. The results come as U.S. food inflation continues to soar past a 41-year high and gas prices surpass $5 in many parts of the country.

The survey found that many higher income households are using credit cards to “finance their lifestyles,” but they are also able to completely pay off the balance.

“US consumer borrowing soared in March by the most on record as credit-card balances ballooned and non-revolving credit jumped, highlighting the combined impact of solid spending and rising prices,” the report states.

Hilarious!!!!!
Well let's see.....bought a house at the top of the market...two new $60-100,000 rigs in the driveway....more than likely a high end toy or two in the garage...2-3 crotch fruit needing all the latest accessories...add in skyrocketing inflation.....yep....month to month. Not to mention some card debt....probably on the edge of default.
 
I earn more than that and I'm living paycheck to paycheck.

I don't see the problem. I make sure I have nothing at the end of the month. If the problem is inflation, why the fuck would I want to hang on to cash?

I geared myself on investments and whatever is left over is converted into gold and lead.
 
Spoiled. Selfish. Short-sighted. Poorly educated on reality. Soft men generation.
 
Asking people to report, is going to get subjective answers. I wonder what percent of the millennials making over 250K live in California.
 
Bullshit. If one makes $250K a year and is living paycheck to paycheck it's because their money managing skills are that of a 12 YO. More Lies/Fake News.

VooDoo
Probably fake news.

With the exception of affirmative hires, it takes some level of intelligence to land a $250k job. That intelligence will spill over to money management.

In fact, I see headlines of Elon Musk living under the poverty line.
 
Probably fake news.

With the exception of affirmative hires, it takes some level of intelligence to land a $250k job. That intelligence will spill over to money management.

In fact, I see headlines of Elon Musk living under the poverty line.

I don't know...

Real Estate Agents
Most Sales Jobs
Advertising
Politicians
Lots of Management Positions
Financial Planners :)
Journalists/Reporters
Meteorologists

Strippers
Social Media Influencers
Onlyfans

Then you have all the useless millennial executive positions that popped up over the last decade and a half...

Chief Diversity Officers
Chief Ethics Officers
Directors of sustainability, inclusion, etc.

And all sorts of municipal jobs in the northeast and Cali. Firefighters, police, etc. Fox just ran an article about LA lifeguards that make north of $500k.

This is still the land of opportunity, despite what the media tells you. It's amazing how many mouth breathers make bank nowadays.
 
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Heard same stories around 2008. Too big of house full of fancy furniture. Multiple $$ vehicles. RVs. Boats $$. Jet Skis. Country Club, and so on. Then hard times hit and fire sales on boats, RVs, jet skis, fancy cars/trucks, and big houses = foreclosures.
 
Well if you do the math assuming that person lives in CA that $250k gets cut to about $150k due to taxes then cut another $100k a year for your $1.6 million 1,300 sqft house with $8,000 in utilities and you’re down at $42k before you’ve spent anything else. Now add in $10,000 in groceries for a family and you are down to $32k. So just covering the bases of taxes, food, water and basic shelter costs you’re at 87.2% of your total income.

Then you have super expensive gas, an 8% to 10% sales tax on everything you buy at already marked up prices and, assuming both parents work, child care costs running upwards of $15,000 per kid per year. Shit adds up pretty quick without getting into extravagance out there.

Makes me glad that I live in PA where my house three times the size was a third of the cost.
 
Stop Financing shit you cant afford to buy out right... you are empowering the bankers. If people would stop financing, the prices would plummet as demand plummets. Greedy fucks.
 
Everybody keeps laughing at those struggling and saying they just need to cut back every more drastically.

How about you quick attacking the upper working class and start asking why the government is making it so hard to survive.

When your taxes ratchet up 10% to 20% a year on your home and it's pay up or we send police with guns to take your home at gunpoint...
When your grocery bill has doubled in cost over the past year and a half...
When your fuel bills have almost tripped in cost over the past year and a half...
When almost all goods and services are experiencing 10% or more inflation.

How much have salaries gone up?
Mine hasn't gone up and I'm sure neither has the salaries of a lot of the upper working class.

Laugh about them buying "expensive vehicles" but then try going out and buying a new decent vehicle & let us know how that works for you, if you can even find one...

You also forget about income tax from the federal, state and sometimes city governments which isn't going anything but up.

A lot of folks laughing all have already bought their houses. Try going out and having to buy a decent house for your family in one of the bigger urban areas, where your kids can go to a decent school and not have to worry about getting kidnapped from your front yard, let me know how that goes for you...
You might just find the cost of housing has hugely increased over the past 2 years.
 
My Wife and I combined never Made over $100K a year and have not lived paycheck to paycheck since 1979 when we lived in a car for most of the Summer of 1979. We own a home, never missed a payment on cars or credit cards ....maybe those days are over but I'm still not buying that people who make that kind of money are desperate due to economic hardship, inflation, and all that which is what the article implies.

<sarc>Breitbart? Figures....I'm not believing it til I read it on The Gateway Pundit. Then I know it's true facts. </sarc>

VooDoo
 
I make $250k and live paycheck to paycheck. I wonder why.

906a42614a390e8d468892f86ea344243b87ad2bcef4305761c4ea8aff068b24.jpg


I also spend a fair amount of time on the very edge of death literally. My health is so fucked up its amazing I'm still walking around this planet...so I have no interest in long term planning. Gimme my toys and get the fuck outta my way I got shooting to do.

I spent $53,000 on ammo in the last 12 months...and I fucking shot pretty much all of it.
 
No one makes you live in California, etc. In fact, the people living in California, NY, etc. vote for those conditions until they cannot stand it anymore then they finally move and ruin a perfectly good state.

This is true but most likely if you move out of CA then you probably aren’t making $250k anymore. Their job market is inflated due to the high cost of living and removing them from that puts them back in the middle class. Based on the numbers above at the end of taxes and mortgage and utilities they aren’t actually ending up that much farther ahead of me money wise despite earning over $150k more.
 
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Stop Financing shit you cant afford to buy out right... you are empowering the bankers. If people would stop financing, the prices would plummet as demand plummets. Greedy fucks.

Yeah about that, before the pandemic the average train wreck home in my area cost $250,000, a decent starter home was $350,000 and a nice family sized home was $480,000 and up. I make a decent salary as an engineer but it would have taken over a decade of living with my parents and spending zero dollars to buy my house out right.
 
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Has this number changed even 1% since inflation hit, I recall the same was said before 2020? I'm 64 and really do not want to pay for a new house today. 200K doesn't build much of a house today.
Shooting the lawyers as they say, real estate people are worse.
 
You wanna really shit your pants....realize that a lot of the price growth is due to commercial entities buying every home in America in an attempt to evict the entire idea of home ownership from our society.

If you think a government douchocracy is bad, wait till its your landlord telling you "cut your dick off and your kids dicks or get out!"
 
Yeah about that, before the pandemic the average train wreck home in my area cost $250,000, a decent starter home was $350,000 and a nice family sized home was $480,000 and up. I make a decent salary as an engineer but it would have taken over a decade of living with my parents and spending zero dollars to buy my house out right.
Yeah about that, before the pandemic the average train wreck home in my area cost $250,000, a decent starter home was $350,000 and a nice family sized home was $480,000 and up. I make a decent salary as an engineer but it would have taken over a decade of living with my parents and spending zero dollars to buy my house out right.
And if nobody would take out those loans. The price would fall.. and you wouldn't need a loan.

Borrowing money from the bank is like being a crack addict. Then complaining when the prices keep going up. But you can’t stop smoking the crack
 
I find these articles kinda funny. 250k can or can’t be a lot of money depending on where you live. But if you are making 250k and you are living paycheck to paycheck then I have zero sympathy for you. You choose where you want to live, what you want to drive, where you eat, what hobbies you have, where you vacation and so on. People these days think they should have the best of everything and they are entitled to it. I make way above that but I could still live on 250k a year with minimal cutbacks. It’s called living within your means. I was always taught to live below your means and invest to grow your wealth. Now I have 5 homes that are paid off and multiple large investment accounts. I am probably on the other end of the spectrum but have some common sense when it comes your finances.
 
Most of these people are living in high cost areas and are paid accordingly. Same job some where else would pay less money. Some people don't have a choice of where they can live either as having family close can dictate that. I lived in CA and I wasn't pay check to pay check. I was house poor and had no furniture, basically minimal furniture. Second best move I every made was leaving CA.
 
Probably fake news.

With the exception of affirmative hires, it takes some level of intelligence to land a $250k job. That intelligence will spill over to money management.

In fact, I see headlines of Elon Musk living under the poverty line.
But maybe less intelligence to make $125k each.
 
I’ve been saying 100k will be the new poverty line for a while. Looks like those times are here.
 
I make $250k and live paycheck to paycheck. I wonder why.

View attachment 7883151

I also spend a fair amount of time on the very edge of death literally. My health is so fucked up its amazing I'm still walking around this planet...so I have no interest in long term planning. Gimme my toys and get the fuck outta my way I got shooting to do.

I spent $53,000 on ammo in the last 12 months...and I fucking shot pretty much all of it.
rocking some GG&G bipods on that mk12
 
mostly glad that I invested my money wisely from an early age so when things went bad health wise I do ok not rich by any definition of the word but not so bad off I am starving or living check to check If I need something I buy it , same goes for most wants even if I have to save slowly over the course of a few years to get it life is good . But I do live within my means I try very hard not to over spend even if i fail time to time on powder and reloading supplies . and I can only dream of having a couple tanks as yard art in the front yard lol. a battle ship in the side yard .
 
I make $250k and live paycheck to paycheck. I wonder why.

View attachment 7883151

I also spend a fair amount of time on the very edge of death literally. My health is so fucked up its amazing I'm still walking around this planet...so I have no interest in long term planning. Gimme my toys and get the fuck outta my way I got shooting to do.

I spent $53,000 on ammo in the last 12 months...and I fucking shot pretty much all of it.
Right there with you!
 
Heard same stories around 2008. Too big of house full of fancy furniture. Multiple $$ vehicles. RVs. Boats $$. Jet Skis. Country Club, and so on. Then hard times hit and fire sales on boats, RVs, jet skis, fancy cars/trucks, and big houses = foreclosures.
Millennial here making just under the mentioned income.... I'm waiting for my moron cohorts to sell their bullshit at a huge loss.

😁
 
Everybody keeps laughing at those struggling and saying they just need to cut back every more drastically.

How about you quick attacking the upper working class and start asking why the government is making it so hard to survive.

When your taxes ratchet up 10% to 20% a year on your home and it's pay up or we send police with guns to take your home at gunpoint...
When your grocery bill has doubled in cost over the past year and a half...
When your fuel bills have almost tripped in cost over the past year and a half...
When almost all goods and services are experiencing 10% or more inflation.

How much have salaries gone up?
Mine hasn't gone up and I'm sure neither has the salaries of a lot of the upper working class.

Laugh about them buying "expensive vehicles" but then try going out and buying a new decent vehicle & let us know how that works for you, if you can even find one...

You also forget about income tax from the federal, state and sometimes city governments which isn't going anything but up.

A lot of folks laughing all have already bought their houses. Try going out and having to buy a decent house for your family in one of the bigger urban areas, where your kids can go to a decent school and not have to worry about getting kidnapped from your front yard, let me know how that goes for you...
You might just find the cost of housing has hugely increased over the past 2 years.
Americans as a whole have not had a real raise in decades!

I make $250k and live paycheck to paycheck. I wonder why.

View attachment 7883151

I also spend a fair amount of time on the very edge of death literally. My health is so fucked up its amazing I'm still walking around this planet...so I have no interest in long term planning. Gimme my toys and get the fuck outta my way I got shooting to do.

I spent $53,000 on ammo in the last 12 months...and I fucking shot pretty much all of it.
$53,000 in ammo? First? Where did you find that much ammo lol? Second? WTF do you do for a living?

Most of these people are living in high cost areas and are paid accordingly. Same job some where else would pay less money. Some people don't have a choice of where they can live either as having family close can dictate that. I lived in CA and I wasn't pay check to pay check. I was house poor and had no furniture, basically minimal furniture. Second best move I every made was leaving CA.
This!
 
I find these articles kinda funny. 250k can or can’t be a lot of money depending on where you live. But if you are making 250k and you are living paycheck to paycheck then I have zero sympathy for you….

Now I have 5 homes that are paid off and multiple large investment accounts. I am probably on the other end of the spectrum but have some common sense when it comes your finances.
A good friend of mine locally deals with a guy that is a billionaire now that guy is a ”slum billionaire,” because he doesn’t even make the Forbes list. What I forgot to ask my friend that deals with the billionaire is: How does a guy disclose/mention/drop that he is a billionaire? And why would he do it? There is certainly no modesty or humility in doing so. So why would you disclose on a public forum you have five paid off homes and multiple large investment accounts?

Also you have ”zero sympathy,” I see. So maybe you’re a doctor by your user ID, so no one ever helped you, you‘re totally a self-made man? Whatever you do for a living I’ll give you this insight, if you were delayed in the birth canal of oxygen that resulted in you being mentally retarded and being a ward of the state with someone wiping drool off your mouth; you wouldn’t be on here bragging would you? See that is the thing about people that have zero sympathy they think many times it was all them, change a couple of scenarios or even one and poof, then maybe you would have sympathy and you wouldn’t be bragging on here. Eh, doc?
 
Well let's see.....bought a house at the top of the market...two new $60-100,000 rigs in the driveway....more than likely a high end toy or two in the garage...2-3 crotch fruit needing all the latest accessories...add in skyrocketing inflation.....yep....month to month. Not to mention some card debt....probably on the edge of default.

That.
 
Most of these people are living in high cost areas and are paid accordingly. Same job some where else would pay less money. Some people don't have a choice of where they can live either as having family close can dictate that. I lived in CA and I wasn't pay check to pay check. I was house poor and had no furniture, basically minimal furniture. Second best move I every made was leaving CA.

Location yeah, 100k a year in the north you’re living large, 100k a year in NYC you’re living in a van down by the river.