Money buys happiness up until $500k

[Kafka]

We were worried moving out here as we only have lived in cities. But it took us a week to get used to it. When I look out my porch overlooking my land I don't miss living anywhere else. Neighbors literally are cows. Nearest actual neighbor is near a mile away

The dream 🛌 my wife would never let me move to a rural area sadly.

 

[sans_pants]

The dream 🛌 my wife would never let me move to a rural area sadly.

push for it when your kid is 3-4

she might reconsider

 

[DaninTexas]

The dream 🛌 my wife would never let me move to a rural area sadly.

It was a goal to retire on a few acres. Covid came right as I got my Software Dev degree and I moved into development. Then we were like - wait. Why should we wait till our 60s?

 

[Hisma]

I grew up in an upper middle class family. We had money to burn. Mom and dad fought regularly, and overall our family was miserable. I worked in the music and film business. All the managers and producers were wealthy. Most were unhappy and dumped drugs down their throats to numb their emotional pain. I've never had money, but for the most part I've been happy. I was almost always happier than the average wealthy person I knew.

Money buys comfort, and the ability to enjoy entertainment and vacations if that is taken advantage of. But I'm not sure these studies differentiate happiness (which can be temporary) from true emotional satisfaction.

looking back, the happiest time in my life was when I was in the military making a modest living while going to school at the same time. what made it fun was having a posse of close friends that we'd hang out & party together every weekend. also while the military didn't pay all that much, they "take care of you" and you don't really have any worries except showing up to work every day, as long as you're not financially retarded (which a lot of military kids were). so life felt very care free.
these days I'm way better off financially, but I have the stress of a demanding job, a family to take care of, and just overall wayyy more responsibility. IMO real happiness is some balance of having all the necessities and comfort you want with as little stress/burden as possible. Americans tend to be wayyy more attached to material shit than other, poor cultures. That paper chase weighs us all down. And you have threads like this, where some people literally think that 500k is barely getting by.

 

[Kafka]

@rcm oh you sweet summer child. You’re young bro. At 31 I would never have wanted to not live in a major metropolis. At 37 now, man fuck city life

 

[rcm]

@rcm oh you sweet summer child. You’re young bro. At 31 I would never have wanted to not live in a major metropolis. At 37 now, man fuck city life

Fuck all that, this will be me (except the part about living in Texas first)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/realestate/a-quiet-retirement-no-thanks-theyll-take-herald-square.html

 

[aloe]

We are 25 min from Longview and Tyler. Both are fairly large in size and have all the big box shit you would want. They also have other places to go and shit for the kids. Dallas is only like 2 hours away. So I put on some tunes and drive out for concerts and the airport if I need too.

It really isn't bad IMO. Living in Houston and Dallas you would normally sit in traffic for 20+ min anyways to get somewhere outside of your neighborhood. Now my 25 min to go to the same thing is 75mph on tree lined roads instead.

Kilgore?

 

[aloe]

@DaninTexas you hit up Country Tavern and the Apache?

 

[HoodRich]

$20 is $20

and i'm happy to pay it

 

[TheProwler]

One of our new partners (been working for 1.5 years now) bought a house, a Tesla and a plane in less than a year

yikes. that's some leverage. I would feel so uncomfortable in that situation.

 

[intro_vert13]

If you want to make big bucks and still live a fulfilling and enjoyable life, there are other fields that can provide that. The most wealthy and happy people I know run real estate brokerages, law offices, or financial services companies (investments, lending, insurance, etc...). They work hard, obviously, but get to set their own hours, be their own boss, and their skills are broad, which allows them to invest the income from their main business in ways that they are typically highly successful.

imo being your own boss plays a larger role in job fulfillment than an absolute value TC pkg, but getting paid well certainly doesn't hurt. im being a bit pedantic here but that distinction is worth mentioning.

but having both? yeah you got the world by the balls, esp if you dont hate your job.

 

[Jeebus]

500k is really not much these days if you live in a major city

Flyover states really show in these threads. 500k in a major city or rich zip code is middle class at best, in a flyover state it's a king.

 

[Jeebus]

That's because doctors are basically extremely well paid labor. Their income is forever tied to hours-worked. This is especially true of highly specialized fields like orthopedic surgeons, because they can't transition to private practice and leverage their brand by bringing in apprentices and taking a cut of their revenue. They're always stuck working for some big organization that is hamstrung by insurance reimbursement rates and such. Yes, they will make a lot of money, and if they're smart they'll invest it outside of the industry (like real estate or whatever) and set themselves up for financial independence or early retirement. But most don't do that, or if they do, they do it poorly, because they're too busy working their main job, and because the skillset that makes a good surgeon doesn't generally translate well to a good businessperson or investor. So, they're stuck working long hours and living in a state of emotional purgatory. They have all the fancy things that one associates with wealth, like a big house, expensive car, maybe a condo in Hawaii or Vail, but they don't get to enjoy them much until retirement. I know a bunch of really successful doctors. Most are not very interesting or engaging people until after they retire.

If you want to make big bucks and still live a fulfilling and enjoyable life, there are other fields that can provide that. The most wealthy and happy people I know run real estate brokerages, law offices, or financial services companies (investments, lending, insurance, etc...). They work hard, obviously, but get to set their own hours, be their own boss, and their skills are broad, which allows them to invest the income from their main business in ways that they are typically highly successful.

This is a mostly true assessment.

 

[Simple]

Flyover states really show in these threads. 500k in a major city or rich zip code is middle class at best, in a flyover state it's a king.

Lmaooooooo k

 

[Jeebus]

Lmaooooooo k

Rofl

 

[Jeebus]

Making $100,000 in New York 'feels like' just $36,000, new study says

A six-figure salary means different things in different places. A study from SmartAsset ranked where a dollar stretches the furthest.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[rcm]

Making $100,000 in New York 'feels like' just $36,000, new study says

A six-figure salary means different things in different places. A study from SmartAsset ranked where a dollar stretches the furthest.

www.businessinsider.com

That is not true lol

 

[Cicada]

everyone on OT makes way more than 500k so…lmao

Lock this thread

 

[Cicada]

Makes sense to me. When you make $80k you can live like you make $80k and if you lose your job you can probably find one that pays $70k+ easily. When you make $500k you have to live like you make $300k because at any moment HR could call you in for a layoff and wreck all your plans. You gotta keep $100k liquid to have a 6 month emergency fund. You can buy a $4mm home but never will save up for an $8mm one.

No salary for home, take home pay for 80k but is it for 80k like 70k when you no find it to be for job for 80k instead? Or half is 300k for 500k?

UMM HOW i word this… ok u take $300k no making for $500k if job, so divide 2 u don’t work, u get $100k liquid but for layoff it no emergency, so 4mm home would be for 500k if you never an $8mm one?

 

[Cicada]

This thread isn't about essentialism, it's about peak happiness. Of course I don't need a $4mm home. But where I am $1.5mm is a 2br 1ba with termites and under 1k sq ft so it's not like $4mm gets you a mansion by any means.

Location: Bay Area




Lmfao

 

[Mariner]

This is a mostly true assessment.

I would like to amend my statement to clarify that I find pediatricians to be a sort of exception to the rule. They're still subject to all the same issues, but for whatever reason they seem much happier, based only on my anecdotal observations. Perhsps it's because the field attracts a different type of person, or because they get to see kids all day.

 

[TheProwler]

I would like to amend my statement to clarify that I find pediatricians to be a sort of exception to the rule. They're still subject to all the same issues, but for whatever reason they seem much happier, based only on my anecdotal observations. Perhsps it's because the field attracts a different type of person, or because they get to see kids all day.

well, they definitely didn't go into it for the money. You know their motives are pretty pure.

 

[obscure/renegade]

We were worried moving out here as we only have lived in cities. But it took us a week to get used to it. When I look out my porch overlooking my land I don't miss living anywhere else. Neighbors literally are cows. Nearest actual neighbor is near a mile away

It's the actual best. I'm looking at grabbing more land ASAP.

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

For real. Lifestyle creep gets people.

it sucks. I feel more stressed by money today than when I was making 1/10 of what I do now.
it is partially our own fault but multiple confounding factors as well. I am also the only person working to support 2.5 families so things get interesting.

 

[rcm]

it sucks. I feel more stressed by money today than when I was making 1/10 of what I do now.
it is partially our own fault but multiple confounding factors as well. I am also the only person working to support 2.5 families so things get interesting.

Supporting your wife's boyfriend? Lmao got em