Are You Top 1% ?

[NW-Bound]

Here is a great website that gives a glimpse into the economic life of families across the globe. https://www.gapminder.org/dollar-street/matrix

Very informative and interesting. I can learn a lot from this.

For example, looking at the Chinese family with income of $10K/month on the top row, rightmost column:

The Bi family purchases all their food supplies from the local market, which costs 30% of their income. The drinking water is purchased from the market and gets delivered to their house, costing up to 10% of their income.

Wow! Water costing them $1K/month? I knew China had a problem with water availability, but did not know it was this bad. And what's the problem with food?

Makes me appreciate life in the US more. We have so much resource to be able to waste everything.

 

[Independent]

Here is a great website that gives a glimpse into the economic life of families across the globe. https://www.gapminder.org/dollar-street/matrix

Great site.

 

[joel2125]

Keep in mind that 50% of the people on this planet don't own a pair of shoes.

 

[ncbill]

Very informative and interesting. I can learn a lot from this.

For example, looking at the Chinese family with income of $10K/month on the top row, rightmost column:



Wow! Water costing them $1K/month? I knew China had a problem with water availability, but did not know it was this bad. And what's the problem with food?

Makes me appreciate life in the US more. We have so much resource to be able to waste everything.

Food products are routinely adulterated in China...remember the milk scare?

Not too long ago there were articles about families purchasing baby formula from Australia instead of in China.

 

[kcowan]

What astonishes me in those statistics is that roughly one out of every 10 households in the US has a $1M+ net worth.

But there are a lot of people in CA and NY and net worth includes the house. Probably applies to all the west coast and the east coast north of DC.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Don't we just really care about how we compare in our "Home" countries?

 

[imoldernu]

If just 15 citizens would turn over their money to the people of the US, every man, woman and child would receive more than $2500.00.

 

[jkern]

Some of us (me) wouldn't want to live in the Bay Area even if we were in the top .000001%... However, it "was" a nice place to visit a few decades back.

If I wasn't from here with all my friends and family here, I probably wouldn't want to live here either. Mostly because of the high volume of traffic.

 

[Koogie]

Am I top 1% ?

Well, my mum says I'm special...

 

[statsman]

Top 1% in the US in terms of net worth? Probably not. Retired (at 59) and with enough assets for the both of us to live very comfortably for the rest of our lives, yep. In that sense, maybe top 1% after all.

 

[H2ODude]

Doesn't really matter to me. Have more than I can spend on things I care about, same wife for 48 years, 2 great kids and 6 Gk's. I'm pretty happy except for internal angst that has absolutely nothing to do with money.

In traveling to third world I was struck by how totally happy, content, and friendly most of the rural folks were in countries averaging $2-3 a day income. Of course, some were starting to use TV's connected to car batteries so now I'm sure they'll all realize they should be miserable and their families aren't all that important.

 

[joeea]

While one should not spend too much time comparing himself to the Jones, defining a minimum level of comfort for happiness is not easy in the absolute sense.

Even a homeless man is comfortable and relatively safe sleeping in a back alley, compared to a Neanderthal man who had to watch out for sabertooth tigers loitering outside his cave.

If I were in a 3rd world country like Bangladesh or a sub-Saharan country, what I considered necessary for happiness would be a lot lower than what I enjoy now, even though I have always been LBYM.

If you are comfortable and happy now, do you become uncomfortable and/or unhappy if your neighbors move out and are replaced by more wealthy folks?

 

[NW-Bound]

Food products are routinely adulterated in China...remember the milk scare?

Not too long ago there were articles about families purchasing baby formula from Australia instead of in China.

Yes, Chinese factories are notorious for turning out fraudulent products with unconscionable disregard for public health. Some years ago, they added melamine to baby food, not just pet food.

But the excerpt that I quoted talked about drinking water. Yes, I can believe that their public tap water is not safe to drink, but why did treated water costs them as much as $1K a month? And about contaminated food, if this family cannot trust locally grown produce (may be high in insecticide) and not just processed food, how do they get imported fresh vegetable and fruit? By the way, I looked up Kunming, Yunnan, where they lived and it's quite landlocked.

Regarding tap water not being potable, I happened to see this Ukrainian family who also made $10K/month, and have to buy drinking water. This level of income is above the median for all Western developed countries, and quite high for China, and the Ukraine. What do people with less income do?

The Sdambulyak family lives in Kiev in Ukraine...

The house has reliable electricity, running water, and toilet facility. They also own another dwelling and agricultural land. The family buys all their food supplies, which cost them about 10% of their income...

While there is drinking water in the home, it’s not safe to drink and the family spends up to 10% of their income on clean water.

Yet, another case of $1K/month for drinking water.

 

[NW-Bound]

If you are comfortable and happy now, do you become uncomfortable and/or unhappy if your neighbors move out and are replaced by more wealthy folks?

I cannot guarantee that I would not feel uncomfortable. Not unhappy, but uncomfortable.

PS. I would not feel comfortable either if I lived among people with much less than I do. Too difficult to turn a blind eye to misery and starvation around you.

 

[6miths]

Yes, I can believe that their public tap water is not safe to drink.

Wait, they had a tap?! Most don't.

 

[RobbieB]

I'b be thrilled if richer people replaced my neighbors.

 

[NW-Bound]

Large areas of Alaska have poor tap water, due to deep well water being rich in iron and manganese. It is yellowish or cloudy, and often has a sulfurous smell (rotten egg) from sulfur. It may be drinkable, but not too appetizing. And even for washing clothes, it may turn cotton yellow.

I don't think a home filtering or water treatment system would cost Alaskans $1K/month. I could be wrong.

 

[6miths]

I don't think a home filtering or water treatment system would cost Alaskans $1K/month. I could be wrong.

Whole home iron filter which gets out sulfur smell as well was $1k installed and will work for years. And as you said water was safe to drink without filter.

 

[kgtest]

Some of us (me) wouldn't want to live in the Bay Area even if we were in the top .000001%... However, it "was" a nice place to visit a few decades back.

Agree. Couldn't pay me enough. Well, unless I had my own helicopter, and hired driver, along with a butler to do some errands so I can focus on earning money.


It's just silly, 600k would get you a brand new 3,500 sq ft two-story, three car garage in a safe neighborhood with possibly even lake access.


Not in the bay. You'd be lucky if you find a condo for that price.

 

[flintnational]

Am I in the 1%? You can learn a lot from Caddy Shack.

Judge Smails: Ty, what did you shoot today?
Ty: Oh, Judge, I don't keep score.
Judge Smails: Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers?
Ty: By height.

 

[cyber888]

I guess if you live in San Francisco or New York, you need $3M-$5M at least. In the Southern State, you can retire fine with that $875,000.

If you retire in the Philippines or Thailand, you're gonna live like a king with $875,000 US. But better to live in cities outside of Manila and Bangkok.

I've also been to Kathmandu, Nepal, and you can live even cheaper. Hotel was $7-$8 a day and food was like $1 a day. But that was years ago.

 

[ncbill]

Am I in the 1%? You can learn a lot from Caddy Shack.

Judge Smails: Ty, what did you shoot today?
Ty: Oh, Judge, I don't keep score.
Judge Smails: Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers?
Ty: By height.

"Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too!"

 

[Koolau]

If just 15 citizens would turn over their money to the people of the US, every man, woman and child would receive more than $2500.00.

I have often thought of this concept when the 1% (or whatever fashionable word or phrase is being used to describe the "rich" - whatever that is.) "What if?" What if the richest people gave all their money to all the "poor" people. Wild guess, you'd have a bunch of "poor" people with a bunch of news stuff who would be poor again the next month. The "rich" guy would no longer employ anyone, so you might actually end up with more poor people. I know it's a thought experiment since most rich folks never give all their money away. I think this would make an excellent graduate level thesis in an economics school but YMMV.

 

[Rianne]

Money is an illusion. The happy faces on the people who have next to nothing is real.

 

[USGrant1962]

I know it's a thought experiment since most rich folks never give all their money away.

Actually they frequently do, either on purpose (there are no Rockafellers, Carnegies, or Mellons on the 2018 Forbes 400) or more slowly over two or three subsequent generations.