Are you the 1%?

[fritz]

I was reading this article today:

You may be higher up the global wealth pyramid than you think | The Economist

Which essentially says if you have $744,000 you are part of the wealthiest 1%. From my previous "what are you spending" thread I believe (and maybe this is a misleading impression) that the majority of people frequenting this forum are spending at a level which puts them not in the 1% but probably in the 0,01%.

What do you think?

I have posted this link to previous threads about wealth accumulation.

Wealthometer: USA

Input your assets and debts, and it gives your % standing in the U.S (there is an Austrian version - see "about us" on their site). Divides net worth by household members, so leave it a "1" to get the best feel good scenario

We live the Millionaire Next Door lifestyle (not even our kids know our net worth), and life is a lot less complicated for us this way IMHO.

 

[Senator]

I have posted this link to previous threads about wealth accumulation.

Wealthometer: USA

We live the Millionaire Next Door lifestyle (not even our kids know our net worth), and life is a lot less complicated for us this way IMHO.

If you go by that 'Wealthometer' I am in the top 1%. It surely doesn't feel that way.

I still get my hands dirty and I still have to cut coupons, do my own maintenance on my rentals, etc. I even rented a sewer line machine to clean out a main line a couple of month's back (keep your damn tampons out of the toilet renters!). I maintain my vehicle for most of the maintenance too. Changed the oil, shocks, brakes, coolant and hoses, etc.

If you ever saw me around my rentals, you might think I am homeless...

 

[hesperus]

1%?
Yes, but who cares - other than to possibly massage one's ego?

 

[JoeWras]

I have posted this link to previous threads about wealth accumulation.

Wealthometer: USA

So what? According to this calculator, if I have $38,000 saved or in real estate, I am in the top 10%. Managing my own finances, I'd be completely reliant on Medicare and SS only, with my $38k saved as an emergency buffer.

If I had a pension, though, life would be completely different.

 

[travelover]

.........I still get my hands dirty and I still have to cut coupons, do my own maintenance on my rentals, etc...........

Yea, me, too. Poor us.

Without those coupons I might have to actually withdraw from my portfolio.

 

[mpeirce]

What!? No used batteries available?

I hope you aren't using paying to charge that thing.

Eton hand crank cell phone charger

 

[jkern]

+1

Choosing to be house poor is just that, a choice. Choosing to live in the sub-1% most expensive real estate in the USA/world is well .. also a choice.

It is a choice, but living where you grew up, spent your whole life, and where all your family and friends are is not quite like saying "hey, lets move to a very expensive area and be house poor". These are middle class people who bought a house a long time ago and now have a lot of equity.

 

[kcowan]

I deleted my post because I thought it might be a bit over the top, but I really do just have my cheap smart phone in a ziploc. Actually it is not even a ziploc. I think it is an Ikea plastic bag.

I keep my iPhone and cash in a ziploc to keep the salt water away when hiking and beach walking.

One other walker does the same thing.

 

[Bestwifeever]

If you go by that 'Wealthometer' I am in the top 1%. It surely doesn't feel that way.

I still get my hands dirty and I still have to cut coupons, do my own maintenance on my rentals, etc. I even rented a sewer line machine to clean out a main line a couple of month's back (keep your damn tampons out of the toilet renters!). I maintain my vehicle for most of the maintenance too. Changed the oil, shocks, brakes, coolant and hoses, etc.

If you ever saw me around my rentals, you might think I am homeless...

Would you not be in the top 1 percent if you did not do these things? Those must be some pretty good coupons!

 

[Amethyst]

I was thinking the same thing. Please dish on those coupons, huh? pretty please? I mean, I use them to save about 5-7% on my biweekly grocery bill, but that's hardly enough to move the wealthometer!

Would you not be in the top 1 percent if you did not do these things? Those must be some pretty good coupons!

 

[FIREmenow]

I was thinking the same thing. Please dish on those coupons, huh? pretty please? I mean, I use them to save about 5-7% on my biweekly grocery bill, but that's hardly enough to move the wealthometer!

It is if you do it for 30 years straight!!!

 

[Car-Guy]

I've noticed that my local undertaker drives an expensive Cadillac station wagon and usually wears a nice suit.

He's probably an Uber driver and can afford the Cadillac because of the outrageous fees he charges for one way trips. While his passengers may not complain, he never gets repeat calls from them.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I was thinking the same thing. Please dish on those coupons, huh? pretty please? I mean, I use them to save about 5-7% on my biweekly grocery bill, but that's hardly enough to move the wealthometer!

I can't speak for Senator, but coupons and bargain hunting in general would move the wealthometer for us. By stockpiling loss leaders and groceries from stores like Grocery Outlet I save 60% off Safeway prices. We go out to eat at places like pubs and Chinese restaurants twice a week for half off each time with Groupons and coupons. Seat filler tickets for us, and we sometimes invite friends, for the month at full price usually would have cost $500 - $1K. Add in credit card sign ups, product reviews, store rewards, contests, etc. and it really adds up, especially times 30 years or so of potential retirement.

 

[NW-Bound]

Shopping at discount grocery stores is out. Dumpster diving is in.

 

[mickeyd]

4% of $744K is <$30K annually. Not bad, but hardly livin large.


Hope that the local street marchers and bomb throwers do not find out that we may be in the 1% club!

 

[NW-Bound]

I was just joking about buying grocery at discount stores. We discovered Grocery Outlet stores while RV'ing in California and other coastal states. The bargain that they offer is quite substantial, often 50% off the regular stores. In fact, we often look to see if there's one nearby while on our RV trip, because it is interesting to see what one finds there.

Too bad there is not one where I live. I can see families with children saving significant amount of money by shopping wisely. When you pay 1/2 price for the same goods, why not?

 

[robnplunder]

There is a fine line between LBYM and forever being in accumulation mode. In my experience, there are more people in the latter. That was very apparent when I was retiring. I spoke to number of co-workers who are rich by any means but can't leave their job b/c accumulation of wealth was their thing. They were addicted to accumulation.

 

[EastWest Gal]

+1

Choosing to be house poor is just that, a choice. Choosing to live in the sub-1% most expensive real estate in the USA/world is well .. also a choice.

My grandmother was 2 when her family emigrated from Russia to SF and on my dad's side they moved to California in 1850 and bought a bunch of Central Valley farmland. Most of the people who live in the SF Bay Area didn't choose to live in a high COL area. It became that recently. The price of homes in some areas tripled in the last 15 years.

And property taxes are set up so there is great incentive to never move.

 

[travelover]

My grandmother was 2 when her family emigrated from Russia to SF and on my dad's side they moved to California in 1850 and bought a bunch of Central Valley farmland. Most of the people who live in the SF Bay Area didn't choose to live in a high COL area. It became that recently. The price of homes in some areas tripled in the last 15 years.

And property taxes are set up so there is great incentive to never move.

Right, but the question is whether these people are rich or not. If you have a million dollars or more of real estate, you are rich by the metrics laid out above. You might not feel rich, however.

 

[samclem]

Right, but the question is whether these people are rich or not. If you have a million dollars or more of real estate, you are rich by the metrics laid out above. You might not feel rich, however.

+1. Their situation is similar to someone who is sitting on a bunch of highly appreciated stock, maybe shares left by their grandparents. Maybe they have no other income and no other assets of significance, but if they have $10M in shares in a single company, they are well off. Perhaps they are sentimental and can't bear the idea of selling the shares in ABC company that were left to them by their forebears, but if they choose to hang on to the shares and live poor, then that is a choice. Same as having a highly appreciated piece of real estate in a now-high COL area.

 

[Amethyst]

I got my first credit card in 1981. I think my first "rewards" card arrived around 20 years later, and it was only 1%. The big/stackable incentives and other rewards have only been around (for us, anyway...I'm sure others were onto them sooner) for 4-5 years. I hope they do stay around.

As for product reviews, I think we need a thread about those. I am having a hard time deciding who to sign up with to do reviews.

IAdd in credit card sign ups, product reviews, store rewards, contests, etc. and it really adds up, especially times 30 years or so of potential retirement.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

+1. Their situation is similar to someone who is sitting on a bunch of highly appreciated stock, maybe shares left by their grandparents. Maybe they have no other income and no other assets of significance, but if they have $10M in shares in a single company, they are well off. Perhaps they are sentimental and can't bear the idea of selling the shares in ABC company that were left to them by their forebears, but if they choose to hang on to the shares and live poor, then that is a choice. Same as having a highly appreciated piece of real estate in a now-high COL area.

Selling stock, even if it is a paper share is not really the same as leaving your personal residence, the only city you may have lived in for 70 years where all your family, friends, and children might live. But it is really not the retired people with mortgage free, expensive homes to sell that are the main social issue here. It is the middle class without mortgage free homes and working poor that are hit the hardest by the ever increasing housing costs and gentrification.

 

[travelover]

Selling stock, even if it is a paper share is not really the same as leaving your personal residence, the only city you may have lived in for 70 years where all your family, friends, and children might live. But it is really not the retired people with mortgage free, expensive homes to sell that are the main social issue here. It is the middle class without mortgage free homes and working poor that are hit the hardest by the ever increasing housing costs and gentrification.

Higher home prices in these high cost of living areas are definitely an issue. The OP's statement was :

Which essentially says if you have $744,000 you are part of the wealthiest 1%.

So, yea if you own a home outright in these areas worth more than $744,000 you are in the top 1%. You might feel like you are struggling but still fit the definition.

 

[fritz]

So what? According to this calculator, if I have $38,000 saved or in real estate, I am in the top 10%. Managing my own finances, I'd be completely reliant on Medicare and SS only, with my $38k saved as an emergency buffer.

If I had a pension, though, life would be completely different.

For a single person (for the best "feel good" scenario) - top 10% starts aro. $375,000. Top 1% starts aro. $2,750,000.

 

[Skyward1]

For a single person (for the best "feel good" scenario) - top 10% starts aro. $375,000. Top 1% starts aro. $2,750,000.

Gotta hate when a lowly zero missed means x10 and throws your argument into disarray. Numbers is hard.