Forums - Banker struggles on $350,000 a year

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Posted by gwb-trading on 02-29-12 11:06 PM:

Banker struggles on $350,000 a year

This is tragic. ET should all pitch in to help this poor banker out. Imagine trying to get by on a mere $350,000 a year.

Banker's $350K pay is not enough

Posted by Zr1Trader on 02-29-12 11:26 PM:

lol this is about Peter Schiff's brother.

It's like when a professional sports player retires, they are just like trailer trash winning the lottery and blowing it .

No financial responsibility and they can't deal with the pay cut .

I don't care if you make 30k a year or 3 mill a year if you don't live below your means you will struggle financially.

Posted by wiesman02 on 02-29-12 11:50 PM:

These people are unbelievable. If i was taking in $350k, that means my take home income is $200k.

My a$$ would be saving $100k / year until I had a nice $2 mill nest egg, then I'd retire.

Posted by syswizard on 03-01-12 12:04 AM:

- but if you don't cut that, then you've got to cut this," he said. "They say, ‘But I can't.' And I say, ‘But you must.'"

WTF....these people are just "full of themselves"...and greedy.

I feel especially sorry for the guy who couldn't go to the Mardi Gras for the wet t-shirt contest.
That was devastating...I'm sure...LOL.

__________________
"Success in the markets runs counter to everything we have been taught...and if you want a friend on Wall Street, get a dog"

Posted by kinggyppo on 03-01-12 12:06 AM:

Quote from Zr1Trader:

lol this is about Peter Schiff's brother.

It's like when a professional sports player retires, they are just like trailer trash winning the lottery and blowing it .

No financial responsibility and they can't deal with the pay cut .

I don't care if you make 30k a year or 3 mill a year if you don't live below your means you will struggle financially.

good catch on the Schiff thing. LOL!

Posted by syswizard on 03-01-12 12:07 AM:

Quote from wiesman02:

These people are unbelievable.

They're the 1 percenters.
Priviledged...or so they believe.

__________________
"Success in the markets runs counter to everything we have been taught...and if you want a friend on Wall Street, get a dog"

Posted by gwb-trading on 03-01-12 01:08 AM:

Posted by TheGoonior on 03-01-12 01:15 AM:

It's just one of those "outlier" stories that the media love because it gets a reaction and people can say: "God, what an idiot..."

Posted by cstfx on 03-01-12 01:34 AM:

Quote from TheGoonior:

It's just one of those "outlier" stories that the media love because it gets a reaction and people can say: "God, what an idiot..."

...like tipping 1% at a restaurant.

Posted by Clubber Lang on 03-01-12 01:43 AM:

350k in NYC isn't as much as you would think.

After federal, state, and city taxes he would end up with roughly 190k.

Now before everyone starts screaming that 190k is "rich". If you've ever lived in NYC, San Francisco, Tokyo, etc you know how obscene the costs are for everything from rent to a sandwich. Even the supermarket prices are routinely 50-100% more than you will find just an hour outside a major city.

His one kids private school eats up 32k of that 190k. And for anyone who says "send your kid to public school", well you have no fucking clue about PS in nyc, especially if you're white.

So you're down to 158k. I'm being generous and saying his lower duplex brownstone rent is only 4000 a month. That's 48k a year.

Down to 110k and still haven't fed or dressed a family of four, paid electric, water, gas, cable, phone, car or other transportation, entertainment, recreation, vacation, charity, and not a penny towards retirement or savings.

He is still way ahead of most people, but he's hardly "rich" in NYC.

The really "rich" in NYC are the public sector union workers who work 20 years and retire at 85% pay with inflation bumps and free health care for life. Retiring at 50 and getting steady checks for the next 10, 20, 30 or more years, they are way ahead of that "rich" guy.

Posted by konviction on 03-01-12 01:53 AM:

Quote from cstfx:

...like tipping 1% at a restaurant.

that was later discovered to be fake.

--------------

I could only dream of having that kind of income, however people get used to certain luxuries to the point where it's a part of their everyday lives.

Think about it. Most people here have a smart phone that runs them 100+ a month. You also probably have XM radio, internet, maybe you go to starbucks once a week...

Now imagine the type of luxuries you'd have on 350k?..personal chef, driver, maid, steak and lobster dinner at ruth's chris, a nice wine/ cigar collection, time share in a jet, maybe a ferrari in the garage?...

Posted by JJacksET4 on 03-01-12 02:02 AM:

Quote from Clubber Lang:

350k in NYC isn't as much as you would think.

After federal, state, and city taxes he would end up with roughly 190k.

Now before everyone starts screaming that 190k is "rich". If you've ever lived in NYC, San Francisco, Tokyo, etc you know how obscene the costs are for everything from rent to a sandwich. Even the supermarket prices are routinely 50-100% more than you will find just an hour outside a major city.

His one kids private school eats up 32k of that 190k. And for anyone who says "send your kid to public school", well you have no fucking clue about PS in nyc, especially if you're white.

So you're down to 158k. I'm being generous and saying his lower duplex brownstone rent is only 4000 a month. That's 48k a year.

Down to 110k and still haven't fed or dressed a family of four, paid electric, water, gas, cable, phone, car or other transportation, entertainment, recreation, vacation, charity, and not a penny towards retirement or savings.

He is still way ahead of most people, but he's hardly "rich" in NYC.

The really "rich" in NYC are the public sector union workers who work 20 years and retire at 85% pay with inflation bumps and free health care for life. Retiring at 50 and getting steady checks for the next 10, 20, 30 or more years, they are way ahead of that "rich" guy.

I have to agree with you in a few ways - for one thing, this guy also mentions he has another kid entering private school (of he hopes)
soon, so another 32K off the top.

On the other hand, maybe he should just throw in the towel, move the family to Tulsa, get a decent job, and buy a 2100+ SF fairly new home for ~$160K (I know a nice neighborhood of them). Union school district in Tulsa is probably better then NYC private schools btw. If you are worried about Tornadoes, well from a safety standpoint, get a shelter - moneywise, just get cheap insurance, and rebuild new if your house goes down.

Posted by TD80 on 03-01-12 02:10 AM:

Here's the thing:

This guy is in charge of MARKETING for Euro Pacific Capital.

What kind of knucklehead thinks this is going to be good PR for himself and his firm?

If I were an investor with them (and frankly, after running into Peter Schiff, I can safely say that will never goddamn happen, as they seem completely incompetent), I would be asking myself do I really want my money with these idiots?

This isn't exactly what I would call good PR for a money management outfit...

Posted by kinggyppo on 03-01-12 02:14 AM:

you guys owe me for this classic! ha ha ha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC-GHpMQGjU

Posted by icarus618 on 03-01-12 02:55 AM:

Quote from Clubber Lang:

350k in NYC isn't as much as you would think.

After federal, state, and city taxes he would end up with roughly 190k.

Now before everyone starts screaming that 190k is "rich". If you've ever lived in NYC, San Francisco, Tokyo, etc you know how obscene the costs are for everything from rent to a sandwich. Even the supermarket prices are routinely 50-100% more than you will find just an hour outside a major city.

His one kids private school eats up 32k of that 190k. And for anyone who says "send your kid to public school", well you have no fucking clue about PS in nyc, especially if you're white.

So you're down to 158k. I'm being generous and saying his lower duplex brownstone rent is only 4000 a month. That's 48k a year.

Down to 110k and still haven't fed or dressed a family of four, paid electric, water, gas, cable, phone, car or other transportation, entertainment, recreation, vacation, charity, and not a penny towards retirement or savings.

He is still way ahead of most people, but he's hardly "rich" in NYC.

The really "rich" in NYC are the public sector union workers who work 20 years and retire at 85% pay with inflation bumps and free health care for life. Retiring at 50 and getting steady checks for the next 10, 20, 30 or more years, they are way ahead of that "rich" guy.

This is very true. If we are talking about Manhattan where it costs extra to rent an apartment that allows in sunshine, $350K/year is hardly rich for a family of four and two kids in private school. Almost 20 years ago, on a salary of about one-third that figure I was sleeping in the living room of a one bedroom apt that I shared with a classmate and I was barely getting by as a single person. I didn't live frugally but wasn't living large either. Crying poverty in the guy's situation defies credibility, but people who have not experienced living in an expensive city just have no idea. It's a helluva fun place for young professionals, though.

Posted by fullblotter on 03-01-12 02:57 AM:

Quote from kinggyppo:

you guys owe me for this classic! ha ha ha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC-GHpMQGjU

I've been looking for this clip for the last couple of years! schiff took this down a few years back, claiming copyright infringement haha...

thanks!

Posted by sle on 03-01-12 03:25 AM:

Quote from icarus618:
$350K/year is hardly rich

A family living on $350/K per year in Manhattan is not rich at all, it's solid middle class life style. Lets take myself as an example - I am making a base salary of $250k/a plus my wife is bringing home another 150k as a surgical fellow. Sounds like a lot, I am sure, but once you add the costs it's not much.

A reasonable apartment (1800 square feet with some outdoor space for my dogs) is two million dollars. That's like 8k in mortgage payments alone. Even if you are buying it for cash like i did (sheer stupidity, should have financed it), I still got to pay about 4k a month in common charges and taxes. Most of it is in post-tax money. If I had kids (in works), I'd have to pay another 30-40k per year in private school tuition, plus after school activities. A dog walker for my two puppies - probably about 1k a month, plus the vet bills plus - we are talking 15k per year. And then there is everything else, which is stupidly expensive - a gallon of milk is 5 dollars in the Fairway across the street.

Whatever comes as "comfortable salary" in the rest of the US, you'd have to double it for the NYC residents and quadruple it for the residents of Manhattan. This said, there are plenty of idiots on Wall Street that buy 300k sports cars and 20k watches and usually it's the same idiots that lose a lot of money in the subsequent years.

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by Lucias on 03-01-12 03:36 AM:

sle and what would you do if you only made 90k or 100k like the top 25%?

No.. 200k isn't rich but its a heck of a lot more then most make. Let's take 100k is a lot of money almost anywhere in America. Even if NY is 50% more then that's 150k.

Do a cost of living.. for New York, New York. In almost any normal city, a salary approaching 6 figures is living extremely well.. convert that to NY and you get about 140k.

He's bringing home 200k! 140k annual is comparable to someone doing extremely well anywhere else..

Is it rich? Duh.. guys trying to live like a millionaire.

>>"Could you imagine what it's like to say I got three kids in private >>school, I have to think about pulling them out? How do you do >>that?"

Ask the 99%.. maybe you can start paying your TAXES to help the public schools.

Completely. ridiculous article.

Posted by gwb-trading on 03-01-12 03:41 AM:

There are plenty of people who commute into Manhattan every day from Long Island, NJ, north of NYC, etc. who earn less than $100K per year. The public school systems in these places are far better than the NYC public schools (Long Island has some of the top schools in the nation).

If you can't live on $350K per year in Manhattan then let me give you some advice - move out and commute (like most people including many of your 1% peers).

Time to live within your means and stop complaining.

Posted by kinggyppo on 03-01-12 03:52 AM:

In fairness as Einstein said "its all relative", a guy bitching about putting kids thru private school sounds hollow if you have 4 kids and make 18 k a year. There is a sort of creeping socialism going on our country where its popular to hate people of means. Again that is relative also, there are lots of "wealthy" people by middle class standards who have an inferiority complex when comparing themselves to old money. Usually by now surf would show up in defense of the rich and try to impress us with name dropping and tales of summer in the Hamptons, paging surf!

Posted by sle on 03-01-12 03:54 AM:

Quote from Lucias:
sle and what would you do if you only made 90k or 100k like the top 25%?

While getting into the top 0.1% by income is mostly luck (e.g. I can name a single "lucky draw" that propelled me into my current line of employment), the top 1% got there through hard work, dedication and drive. So I am pretty sure I would still be making a good-enough living even if I was not in finance. If I was, however, in the top 20%, I would probably live elsewhere and, more importantly, think of how to make more money. There is always an opportunity to make a buck, even if it's not in trading but in something else.

The reality is that, to quote John Gutfreund, "you never get rich in this business, you only attain new levels of relative poverty". Temptation of spending is always there and there always will be people that will cave in. E.g. a headhunter in the article - they guy is living off of placing people in one or another firm. Clearly, it's a contingency business and one would imagine he should have had enough insight to save up some cash for the lean times.

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by njrookie1 on 03-01-12 04:39 AM:

Commuting is a very difficult option if not an irresponsible solution, if you need to be at your desk at 8 AM and have a family (kids and working spouse).

I share commuter trains sometimes with WS bankers during AM rush hours. I feel bad for them: snoring soundly in a nice but uncomfortable suit on the train, sandwiched b/w two ladies doing makeups, if he is lucky. Plenty of people cannot find a seat and have to stand for a hour.

Think about a trader's commute - from bedroom to his office down the hall way. How much is that worth?

njrookie

Posted by gwb-trading on 03-01-12 04:54 AM:

Quote from njrookie1:

Commuting is a very difficult option if not an irresponsible solution, if you need to be at your desk at 8 AM and have a family (kids and working spouse).

I share commuter trains sometimes with WS bankers during AM rush hours. I feel bad for them: snoring soundly in a nice but uncomfortable suit on the train, sandwiched b/w two ladies doing makeups, if he is lucky. Plenty of people cannot find a seat and have to stand for a hour.

njrookie

I commuted for years into NYC but this was 25 years ago. What's this "concern" about about "family" - even 25 years ago anyone who did not work 80+ hours per week in WS was shown the door. Has this changed? The commute was just time to rest or get some "downtime".

Posted by njrookie1 on 03-01-12 04:58 AM:

80 hours job + daily commute = quick burnout + no time with kids and wife.

I need to be paid in 7 figures so I can talk my wife into quitting her job to take care of my kids / house full-time. Not feasible for everyone. If both parties work WS type job/hours, and you have kids/pets, NYC apt is the only solution almost.

Posted by Zr1Trader on 03-01-12 05:04 AM:

Anyone living on the cost....s move to Minnesota and you will be a king in a castle. It aint all that bad u betcha .

Posted by Zr1Trader on 03-01-12 05:08 AM:

Quote from Zr1Trader:

Anyone living on the cost....s move to Minnesota and you will be a king in a castle. It aint all that bad u betcha .

Is it true its 11 bucks for a pack of smokes in NY ?

Posted by sle on 03-01-12 05:17 AM:

Quote from Zr1Trader:

Is it true its 11 bucks for a pack of smokes in NY ?

actually, it's $12.50 I think...

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by njrookie1 on 03-01-12 05:28 AM:

add $2.25, it is enough for a one way train ticket

Posted by cyoungmark on 03-01-12 05:44 AM:

Quote from Zr1Trader:

Anyone living on the cost....s move to Minnesota and you will be a king in a castle. It aint all that bad u betcha .

I second this. MN is where I will raise my kids.

Posted by Mayhem on 03-01-12 05:45 AM:

I am curious: Why is almost everyone mentioned or associated with the article Jewish? Did the author only collect quotes from members of his country club, or are well-off WASPs and Catholics just too smart to complain about money?

Anyway, $350k in Manhattan is just middle class. And yeah, if you're white and have middle class values, you either have to live in the zone for P.S. 6, or your kid is going to get a lousy education while looking like a juicy target for the kids who "keep it real." Here's another reality of Manhattan private schools... you pays $30-$40k in tuition per child, and then they hit you up for several tens of thousands more in fundraisers and giving campaigns, and they let you know before you send your kid to the school that you will be expected to participate with annual giving.

As for Schiff's brother complaining, that's just part of their campaign to keep the Bush tax cuts in place as they are set to expire this year. There is a method to their madness... even if they are ineffective.

As for moving to Dubuque, Iowa and living like a king: Nice idea, but it ain't gonna happen. There's a reason why skilled people in NYC can make $300k... very few cities in the world offer a critical mass of capital and talent and infrastructure and culture to support industries that generate the returns to pay highly skilled people that kind of money. Those same factors also drive up the cost of living in those few cities. That's just reality.

Posted by TD80 on 03-01-12 06:14 AM:

What next, can I start whining about how little 350K/year gets me in Newport Beach? Is this something I want my name attached to in the media? It is just bad news all around, not many are going to sympathize with someone who is earning FIVE TIMES the reported median household income in Manhattan (http://www.city-data.com/city/Manhattan-New-York.html). It just stirs up problems for those of us who are well off.

We need to keep a low profile lest things eventually turn into a Sao Paolo/Rio type of situation where you're going to need armored cars with flame throwers, or you're going to need to take a helicopter from your condo to work, because if there is even a hint that you have money you are a huge target. Massive wealth disparity can bring about this sort of thing (and this is coming for a fairly free-market libertarian-esque person here).

It's not big secret how much living in Manhattan costs. Like many here say though, who goes around bitching about the costs of living in some of the most expensive areas within a large radius? The bottom line is the guy has other options and is living way beyond his (for NYC upper middle class ) means.

If people want to get real on this topic, they need to start talking about how much of our tax money goes to Washington D.C. versus state/local. If someone switched the state/local number here in CA for the federal number you would see me skipping down the street singing sesame street songs even though I'm paying the same net amount. It is simply the principal of the thing that I'm sending the majority of my tax money to some central planning bureaucrats 3,000 miles away who have no clue.

Posted by macroman on 03-01-12 07:47 AM:

350 is gross. As somenone said it is really 190k.

For a consitent 40 hours ++ week it is a life of misery. Not to mention what happens when he is out and not able to go level higher which is true for the most on that level.

Posted by Wide Tailz on 03-01-12 08:01 AM:

Quote from Clubber Lang:

The really "rich" in NYC are the public sector union workers who work 20 years and retire at 85% pay with inflation bumps and free health care for life. Retiring at 50 and getting steady checks for the next 10, 20, 30 or more years, they are way ahead of that "rich" guy.

So true! A couple years ago I toured the western US in my RV and noticed a trend: many, many owners of those HUGE $150k motor homes were retired government workers.

Posted by macroman on 03-01-12 08:45 AM:

so what you saying that most europeans richer than this poor guy on '350k'?

could well be true. i dont think this relationship will last.

reason - eu does not have real army and will pay for it at some point one or the other way.

nothing for free

Posted by DT-waw on 03-01-12 08:57 AM:

certainly, NYC is top of the world. I find it funny someone with $190k net and $50k / rent can complain.

Hell, set up your own firm and make $500k/yr!

There are places in this world, where in Finance you will make $1,400/mo net of tax. Well, after 6-9 months of "searching" for such a decent job...

but have to pay $800 rent for a (small) apartment.
$600 is left, of which you pay $300 for a private shool and $300 for a nanny. No money left for you to buy food.

Your wife/gf probably won't work coz she is a queen OR
she will make just as much to do her make-up, hygiene and buy some mass-market clothes. Oh and i forgot- she is studying (to land at a better job in some point in the future...) and that eats 1/4 of her income.

You want more?
Cheapest Macbook Pro won't cost $1,200 there. It will cost $1,700, because the gov needs sales taxes to keep the pensioners alive, so they can buy more drugs.
Cars will cost 50% more, gas will cost 100% more, "luxury" items will cost 2x more...

The cost of living in any city depend on your lifestyle.
If you drink Dom Perignon in Manhattan every week , eat king crabs,
require dental visits every month because your teeth are weak from low sunshine... sure, $190k won't be enough.

Posted by slumdog on 03-01-12 10:30 AM:

Did you really make two and half million bucks last year?
Yeah... I did.
What do you do with all that money?
I don’t know really. It goes pretty quick.
Excuse me?
Well the tax man takes half of it up front. So now you got what... million and a quarter. Mortgage grabs another 300K, I gave 150 to my parents to live off, so now you got what??
Eight hundred.
The car 150. Probably another 100 eating... 25 on clothes, put 400 away for a rainy day. And what's that?
125 left.
I spent 76,520 dollars on booze, dancers, and whores.
76,520?
Yeah, kinda shocked me, although I was able to write most of it off, as entertainment.

Posted by macroman on 03-01-12 11:06 AM:

only the money you spend is your money.

rest is illusion.

Posted by JamesL on 03-01-12 11:27 AM:

Anyone who bitches about someone making 350k is someone who doesn't come close to that number and wishes he did. It is called envy.

Posted by Rationalize on 03-01-12 02:05 PM:

Quote from sle:

A family living on $350/K per year in Manhattan is not rich at all, it's solid middle class life style. Lets take myself as an example - I am making a base salary of $250k/a plus my wife is bringing home another 150k as a surgical fellow. Sounds like a lot, I am sure, but once you add the costs it's not much.
...

Similar in Asia. Seems any city where an IB sets up front office, the pay is uncomfortable at VP, and just "OK" at director level, relative to living costs.

Posted by Scataphagos on 03-01-12 02:18 PM:

Quote from syswizard:

They're the 1 percenters.
Priviledged...or so they believe.

Think you've got that wrong.

The "1%ers" managed to EARN theirs. It's the parasitic tit-suckers who believe they are somehow "entitled/privileged"..

Too bad my Grandpa was never president... He would have told everbody, "YOU'RE NOT ENTITLED TO ANYTHING YOU DIDN'T EARN FOR YOURSELF... YOU DON'T EVEN DESERVE TO EAT UNLESS YOU WORK"...

Wouldn't THAT mindset have put a different spin on America... ??

Posted by sellindexvol66 on 03-01-12 02:24 PM:

Quote from sle:

A family living on $350/K per year in Manhattan is not rich at all, it's solid middle class life style. Lets take myself as an example - I am making a base salary of $250k/a plus my wife is bringing home another 150k as a surgical fellow. Sounds like a lot, I am sure, but once you add the costs it's not much.

A reasonable apartment (1800 square feet with some outdoor space for my dogs) is two million dollars. That's like 8k in mortgage payments alone. Even if you are buying it for cash like i did (sheer stupidity, should have financed it), I still got to pay about 4k a month in common charges and taxes. Most of it is in post-tax money. If I had kids (in works), I'd have to pay another 30-40k per year in private school tuition, plus after school activities. A dog walker for my two puppies - probably about 1k a month, plus the vet bills plus - we are talking 15k per year. And then there is everything else, which is stupidly expensive - a gallon of milk is 5 dollars in the Fairway across the street.

Whatever comes as "comfortable salary" in the rest of the US, you'd have to double it for the NYC residents and quadruple it for the residents of Manhattan. This said, there are plenty of idiots on Wall Street that buy 300k sports cars and 20k watches and usually it's the same idiots that lose a lot of money in the subsequent years.

wait til you have kids...those private schools are just a small expense

Posted by gwb-trading on 03-01-12 05:50 PM:

Quote from Scataphagos:

Think you've got that wrong.

The "1%ers" managed to EARN theirs.

Actually the parasitic "1%ers" STOLE theirs. And when their behavior caused the entire financial system to crash, they got bailed out from the government and of course used the government money to pay themselves the largest bonuses in Wall Street history.

Posted by Debaser82 on 03-01-12 06:07 PM:

Peter Schiff has been all in gold since 2000.... He didnt share this with his brother? Surely he did and soms kind of savings are there...

Posted by Mayhem on 03-01-12 06:28 PM:

Quote from TD80:

We need to keep a low profile lest things eventually turn into a Sao Paolo/Rio type of situation where you're going to need armored cars with flame throwers, or you're going to need to take a helicopter from your condo to work, because if there is even a hint that you have money you are a huge target. Massive wealth disparity can bring about this sort of thing (and this is coming for a fairly free-market libertarian-esque person here).

The bottom line is that the Baby Boom generation has cashed in, and has put us on a direct course to third-worldism. And yeah, most of them will be dead when we are subject to a Sao Paolo/Rio type existence.

Why the widening disparity? Well, there are a few producers and innovators and inventors and calculated risk-takers in this country, and people in those classes are drawing a larger and larger chunk of the pie as the size of this class of people gets smaller in relation to the rest of the masses.

Why do we have a shrinking pool of innovators and educated risk-takers who are commanding a bigger piece of the pie? Because the same class of people who have cashed out, the Baby Boomers, have short-shrifted a couple of generations of American kids in terms of a functional education. The long-hairs and flared-trousers set has won. Hippies have been our class of teachers since the 80s. The generation of people dedicated to feelin-good-all-the-time joined forces with the Teacher's Unions to get paid while making sure no one has the power to harsh on their mellow.

This Baby Boom generation has leveraged the country to the hilt. They are also the same shitheads who were against the Vietnam War when it was their turn to go, but then pretty much shrugged and put their money in Halliburton when Bush the Lesser was convinced it was a great idea to invade and occupy Iraq.

Incidentally, these are also the same dillweeds who are easily convinced that benevolent central planning is the way governments should work. So, they have no problem with Washington DC and the Fed playing with interest rates and money supply to keep producing economic bubbles. These people are not real workers or savers, so bubbles suit them just fine. Likewise, they are cool to look the other way and support bailouts so long as someone keeps inflating another bubble so they can feast in their lifetimes.

So, now, we have a huge mass of people who can't do jack, who have been taught that the gov't is their savior, and who think relevant news involves who some Kardashian is sleeping with today. These people are going to slide further and further down the global economic food chain, and opportunistic politicians are going to point at the shrinking class of truly educated innovators and tell the masses that they are poor because the richie-riches are eating their lunch.

So yeah, Rio here we come. If you're a producer, you're gonna need an armored car and guards because the current generation in power is still sucking the system dry, and when all the bills come due, we are going to end up like another street riot in Greece... except, we have a lot more guns and jacked-up addicts in our society.

Posted by thehitman on 03-01-12 07:24 PM:

Re: Banker struggles on $350,000 a year

Quote from gwb-trading:

This is tragic. ET should all pitch in to help this poor banker out. Imagine trying to get by on a mere $350,000 a year.

Banker's $350K pay is not enough

As a highly successful trader of the ES, I do pity people earning a mere sum of around $350k. I believe that you need to make at least $750k to be classed as middle class.

Posted by blackjack007 on 03-01-12 07:26 PM:

This is just a trolling article intended to incite class warfare. it amazes me how folks are so gullible that they just don't see it. maybe 'stupid' is a more appropriate word than gullible

Now i know how people like Hitler came into power. it's simply too easy to fool the average person into believing anything

Posted by Zr1Trader on 03-01-12 08:08 PM:

Quote from macroman:

only the money you spend is your money.

rest is illusion.

Really!!!!?

I'm going to max out my 50k credit card today yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just givin ya shit

Posted by tenthousandmen on 03-01-12 08:27 PM:

Quote from kinggyppo:

you guys owe me for this classic! ha ha ha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC-GHpMQGjU

what a dolt ha ha ha

Posted by pennystocker on 03-01-12 09:58 PM:

Shit! Unbeleivable! One would think a banker would be able to make some extra money in the markets.

__________________
The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.

Posted by Lucrum on 03-01-12 11:23 PM:

Quote from Zr1Trader:

I don't care if you make 30k a year or 3 mill a year if you don't live below your means you will struggle financially.

There is no arguing with this cold harsh reality.

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-01-12 11:30 PM:

Quote from pennystocker:

Shit! Unbeleivable! One would think a banker would be able to make some extra money in the markets.

Bankers make money by charging fees. They can't trade.

A banker blew up two of my accounts and never paid me a dime back.

That fucker should eat shit and die.

I am not going to do the dirty work to seek justice.

Just going to let Karma settle all this.

Karma is one scary bitch. I try not to fuck with it.

Posted by Lucias on 03-02-12 01:49 AM:

You know I heard that whiny guy complaining he wasn't making enough.. TOUGH SH*T.

Its call risk and reward.

Reminds me of whiny butts who sign up to my systems and complained even though they were making money on every trade! As long as your money manage/trader/etc does what he's suppose too (i.e trade at his best, follow his program, i.e whatever he does) and you've been proprerly briefed on risk then you don't have any right to complain!

SteveNYC.. you sound like another spoiled sport too. Did you read the disclaimer that said past performance is not indicative of future performance? Did he say he was using a high risk strategy? You sound like a poor loser to me and very poor judgement of trading ability.. lol you're as much a loser as you're banker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh74BFLzPwI

Posted by gwb-trading on 03-02-12 01:54 AM:

Wall Streeter With $350K Salary Responds To The Outrage Over His Comments

Posted by Grandluxe on 03-02-12 06:33 PM:

its stupid, can't his brother pay him more, or is Peter schiff equally as broke.

Posted by Zr1Trader on 03-02-12 06:51 PM:

Quote from gwb-trading:

Wall Streeter With $350K Salary Responds To The Outrage Over His Comments

Straight from the source, nice.

That "banker" tipping 1% story from floating around was actually materialized by someone so the media will do what it does, it is what it is.

Thx

Posted by sle on 03-02-12 06:53 PM:

Quote from Lucias:
Reminds me of whiny butts who sign up to my systems and complained even though they were making money on every trade!

Oh, yes, I am sure if they would have followed your systems they would be living in the houses of pure gold and riding unicorns to work... If your system is such a bread-winner, why are you selling it at all?

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by TheAngryHermit on 03-02-12 07:07 PM:

Quote from Clubber Lang:

The really "rich" in NYC are the public sector union workers who work 20 years and retire at 85% pay with inflation bumps and free health care for life. Retiring at 50 and getting steady checks for the next 10, 20, 30 or more years, they are way ahead of that "rich" guy.

Yup. There's an 39 year old cop that lives a few houses down (florida) who is retired. RETIRED! At 39!!!! WTF are they thinking in NY? This guy has 4 kids and a do-nothing wife 10 years younger than him and neither one will have to work the rest of their natural lives. Seriously? It's a slap in the face to every other hard working American.

Posted by riskaddict on 03-02-12 07:31 PM:

I would totally walk that guy's dogs for $10 a trip. Shit sometimes I walk my neighbors dogs for free because I feel bad for the little guys. Although I don't always pick up their poop

Posted by sle on 03-02-12 11:22 PM:

Quote from riskaddict:

I would totally walk that guy's dogs for $10 a trip. Shit sometimes I walk my neighbors dogs for free because I feel bad for the little guys. Although I don't always pick up their poop

$10 is very cheap. I pay $25/hour to my dog walker.

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-03-12 12:32 AM:

Quote from Lucias:

You know I heard that whiny guy complaining he wasn't making enough.. TOUGH SH*T.

Its call risk and reward.

Reminds me of whiny butts who sign up to my systems and complained even though they were making money on every trade! As long as your money manage/trader/etc does what he's suppose too (i.e trade at his best, follow his program, i.e whatever he does) and you've been proprerly briefed on risk then you don't have any right to complain!

SteveNYC.. you sound like another spoiled sport too. Did you read the disclaimer that said past performance is not indicative of future performance? Did he say he was using a high risk strategy? You sound like a poor loser to me and very poor judgement of trading ability.. lol you're as much a loser as you're banker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh74BFLzPwI

Your words are too kind. I like abuse. I thrive under abuse, chaos, and pandemonium. I see clarity when others see panic.

Posted by syswizard on 03-03-12 04:56 PM:

Quote from TheAngryHermit:

Yup. There's an 39 year old cop that lives a few houses down (florida) who is retired. RETIRED! At 39!!!! WTF are they thinking in NY? This guy has 4 kids and a do-nothing wife 10 years younger than him and neither one will have to work the rest of their natural lives. Seriously? It's a slap in the face to every other hard working American.

You bet, and it supports our current socialistic economy and "government hand-out" mentality. And the people in this country think the problem is capitalism !! No, no, no...we've been away from capitalism for about 20 years.

Can we get back ? Absolutely not....the people given the "hand-outs" won't allow it...rioting will ensue. Right now, the people WITHOUT the "hand-outs" are rioting (Occupy Wallstreet). So if the hand-outs stop, this group will stop rioting and the OTHER GROUP will start rioting.

I see no resolution to America's problems any time soon. The damage has been done.

__________________
"Success in the markets runs counter to everything we have been taught...and if you want a friend on Wall Street, get a dog"

Posted by Optional on 03-03-12 06:58 PM:

Quote from sle:

A family living on $350/K per year in Manhattan is not rich at all, it's solid middle class life style. Lets take myself as an example - I am making a base salary of $250k/a plus my wife is bringing home another 150k as a surgical fellow. Sounds like a lot, I am sure, but once you add the costs it's not much.

A reasonable apartment (1800 square feet with some outdoor space for my dogs) is two million dollars. That's like 8k in mortgage payments alone. Even if you are buying it for cash like i did (sheer stupidity, should have financed it), I still got to pay about 4k a month in common charges and taxes. Most of it is in post-tax money. If I had kids (in works), I'd have to pay another 30-40k per year in private school tuition, plus after school activities. A dog walker for my two puppies - probably about 1k a month, plus the vet bills plus - we are talking 15k per year. And then there is everything else, which is stupidly expensive - a gallon of milk is 5 dollars in the Fairway across the street.

Whatever comes as "comfortable salary" in the rest of the US, you'd have to double it for the NYC residents and quadruple it for the residents of Manhattan. This said, there are plenty of idiots on Wall Street that buy 300k sports cars and 20k watches and usually it's the same idiots that lose a lot of money in the subsequent years.

Sorry if your dogs cost that much and it's affecting your lifestyle maybe it's time to put that money away and get rid of the fucking pets.

Posted by clightmarathon on 03-03-12 07:30 PM:

Quote from sle:

$10 is very cheap. I pay $25/hour to my dog walker.

What is the point of having a dog and letting/paying somebody else to walk it?!

Posted by sle on 03-03-12 08:33 PM:

Quote from Optional:
Sorry if your dogs cost that much and it's affecting your lifestyle maybe it's time to put that money away and get rid of the fucking pets.

The whole idea of having pets is to have them change my life. By now I can't imagine myself without a dog. So I'd first give up other costly habits - charitable donations would go first, eating out would go second, wine would go third. Internet would go before the dogs too.

But I don't have to. Normally I spend almost all of my base salary and set aside all of my bonus, which on a good year is an order of magnitude higher then my base. So my dogs and an apartment on the Upper East Side do not really change my lifestyle, no.

Quote from clightmarathon:
What is the point of having a dog and letting/paying somebody else to walk it?!

When I wake up (5am-ish) I usually take them to the Central Park for an hour or so and I take them out for another hour when I am back from work around 8pm. But I think they need at least 4-5 hours of outdoor time so I have a dog walker take them to the dog run during the day.

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by babutime on 03-03-12 11:37 PM:

Disgusting

The racial prejudice in a few members in this thread is appalling. Absolutely disgusting.

Middle class values (wtf is that anyways?) intertwined with a disdain of coloured kids who "keep it real" ?

Are there no African Americans (or other coloured Americans) in this thread because (some) European Americans here tend to think that you and your kids are somehow only public school material and don't really deserve to have their kids hanging out with yours.

I understand that there are excellent public high schools like Stuyvesant (very few but they do exist) in NYC. So why not enrol your 1% kids to these schools? Oh that's right, your kids are probably idiots who couldn't make it to these top schools which very likely has a mix of all sorts of races. So your solution is to stretch yourself and pay $40K a year on some glorified education system. Why? Because the potentially racist and socially inept offspring you're raising also happens to be stupid.

Besides, the walls of private school won't keep these pesky coloured folks away. Your kid will eventually want to buy some X or chronic from them. He's probably already friends with Tyrone. What will you do? Ground him and not give him access to World of Warcraft or COD multiplayer for an entire week? Way to raise your kids!!

Don't like having your kids called idiots? No shit Sherlock because nobody likes to be prejudiced against- especially based on race. The feeling of entitlement is not prevalent on those who protest on Wall Street or against income equality in America. It is actually prevalent in the handful of you racists who don't like the public sphere smeared with coloured folks who (along with the vast majority of your own race) are simply demanding an end to socializing losses and privatizing gains.

Simple.

Just because you can't reap the benefits of a public education system (which can only come about if you're willing to give up a tad few more % points on taxes), doesn't mean these coloured are to blame.

You are.

__________________
"People assign much higher probability to the truth of their opinions than is warranted. It's one of the reasons people trade so much in the market, generally with bad results."
-Daniel Kahneman

Posted by toc on 03-04-12 01:36 AM:

The fool said 'I have no money, 'cause I spent it all'

$200K take home after taxes Wow! Only a fool won't be able to live well.

Posted by syswizard on 03-04-12 04:43 PM:

Quote from toc:

The fool said 'I have no money, 'cause I spent it all'

$200K take home after taxes Wow! Only a fool won't be able to live well.

As some would say in this thread: you're ENVIOUS.
I would say: that's a crock.

__________________
"Success in the markets runs counter to everything we have been taught...and if you want a friend on Wall Street, get a dog"

Posted by wiesman02 on 03-04-12 04:54 PM:

$17,000 / year on pet expenses is ridiculous!

Posted by failed_trad3r on 03-04-12 05:08 PM:

Quote from syswizard:

You bet, and it supports our current socialistic economy and "government hand-out" mentality. And the people in this country think the problem is capitalism !! No, no, no...we've been away from capitalism for about 20 years.

Can we get back ? Absolutely not....the people given the "hand-outs" won't allow it...rioting will ensue. Right now, the people WITHOUT the "hand-outs" are rioting (Occupy Wallstreet). So if the hand-outs stop, this group will stop rioting and the OTHER GROUP will start rioting.

I see no resolution to America's problems any time soon. The damage has been done.

actually this is real capitalism. corporations are giving handouts to their protectors, the police, so they do their bidding. Just as how they have bribed the government into doing what they want them to do.

Posted by sle on 03-04-12 05:43 PM:

Quote from wiesman02:
$17,000 / year on pet expenses is ridiculous!

Why? If I would have told you "it costs me 20k a year to lease, insure and garage my Aston-Martin" you would say "this guys is cool", but for some reason spending the same on two dogs is "ridiculous" in your eyes. Even though both have the same practical value in Manhattan and (if I was single), two big fluffy dogs would do a better job getting me ladies then a shiny penis with two chairs in it.

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by TheAngryHermit on 03-04-12 09:26 PM:

Re: Disgusting

Quote from babutime:

The racial prejudice in a few members in this thread is appalling. Absolutely disgusting.

Middle class values (wtf is that anyways?) intertwined with a disdain of coloured kids who "keep it real" ?

Are there no African Americans (or other coloured Americans) in this thread because (some) European Americans here tend to think that you and your kids are somehow only public school material and don't really deserve to have their kids hanging out with yours.

I understand that there are excellent public high schools like Stuyvesant (very few but they do exist) in NYC. So why not enrol your 1% kids to these schools? Oh that's right, your kids are probably idiots who couldn't make it to these top schools which very likely has a mix of all sorts of races. So your solution is to stretch yourself and pay $40K a year on some glorified education system. Why? Because the potentially racist and socially inept offspring you're raising also happens to be stupid.

Besides, the walls of private school won't keep these pesky coloured folks away. Your kid will eventually want to buy some X or chronic from them. He's probably already friends with Tyrone. What will you do? Ground him and not give him access to World of Warcraft or COD multiplayer for an entire week? Way to raise your kids!!

Don't like having your kids called idiots? No shit Sherlock because nobody likes to be prejudiced against- especially based on race. The feeling of entitlement is not prevalent on those who protest on Wall Street or against income equality in America. It is actually prevalent in the handful of you racists who don't like the public sphere smeared with coloured folks who (along with the vast majority of your own race) are simply demanding an end to socializing losses and privatizing gains.

Simple.

Just because you can't reap the benefits of a public education system (which can only come about if you're willing to give up a tad few more % points on taxes), doesn't mean these coloured are to blame.

You are.

STFU and stop pulling out the race card twit. Ever hear of a man named Barack H. Obama? Whites put him in the White House, not blacks. Ever hear of Oprah Winfrey? Whites made her a Billionaire, not blacks. Let's consider all the NFL and NBA players making millions each year, which comes mostly from whites. I'm sick of "you people" pulling the race card. LOL Now, get to the back of the bus and stop drinking out of my water fountain.

Posted by Rationalize on 03-04-12 10:25 PM:

Re: Disgusting

Quote from babutime:

...
I understand that there are excellent public high schools like Stuyvesant (very few but they do exist) in NYC. So why not enrol your 1% kids to these schools? Oh that's right, your kids are probably idiots who couldn't make it to these top schools...

Maybe, maybe not. Not sure the wall street crowd is exactly the 1% brightest on the planet, other than the exotic derivs guys of course. Lots of average intelligence but awesome sales traders out there, making big bucks. Oh, and shhh, don't tell anyone that that smartest people work in the middle office.

It's not "what" you know.

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-04-12 10:31 PM:

Quote from Optional:

Sorry if your dogs cost that much and it's affecting your lifestyle maybe it's time to put that money away and get rid of the fucking pets.

Exactamundo.

You are a weak fuck if you need pets.

Pets make the home dirty and they poop and piss everywhere.

They are too fucking noisy. When I hear a dog barking, I want to smash its skull.

I can't stand the constant barking anymore.

Would you like it if I constantly rang you doorbell or called your house?

Get rid of your pets and be a man.

Posted by RichardRimes on 03-04-12 11:24 PM:

To all the pet haters...its all relative. There have been multiple studies that suggest having a pet actually extends your life as well as the quality of your life. I currently don't have a pet...have a live in spouse which is quite enough. If I lived in NYC and didn't have a roommate I believe a pet would be very important. In any case no one questions how expensive NYC is to live in and to make a judgment on how ppl spend their money is kinda pointless. Its only when people whine that I think we have a right to throw snow balls. I don't believe SLE has done any whining. As far as the $350K guy I'm not feeling in any way sorry for him or any other bankers/financial ppl. They will have to learn to live on less and I'm sure will do just fine.

Posted by luisHK on 03-04-12 11:28 PM:

Quote from Clubber Lang:

350k in NYC isn't as much as you would think.

After federal, state, and city taxes he would end up with roughly 190k.

Now before everyone starts screaming that 190k is "rich". If you've ever lived in NYC, San Francisco, Tokyo, etc you know how obscene the costs are for everything from rent to a sandwich. Even the supermarket prices are routinely 50-100% more than you will find just an hour outside a major city.

His one kids private school eats up 32k of that 190k. And for anyone who says "send your kid to public school", well you have no fucking clue about PS in nyc, especially if you're white.

So you're down to 158k. I'm being generous and saying his lower duplex brownstone rent is only 4000 a month. That's 48k a year.

Down to 110k and still haven't fed or dressed a family of four, paid electric, water, gas, cable, phone, car or other transportation, entertainment, recreation, vacation, charity, and not a penny towards retirement or savings.

He is still way ahead of most people, but he's hardly "rich" in NYC.

+ 1, 190Kusd is not enough to get a lavish lifestyle in many world cities plus it's difficult to adjust to a dimishing buying power. To put this into perspective 190k is slighlty less the rental of an apartment I'm going to visit monday afternoon, which, although almost twice bigger and probably better than the noisy smallish flat I live in now, is far from great for the area, and which I probably won't be able to rent anyway for a bunch of reasons. Real estate in most of the US sound so dirt cheap many of you guys can't understand the dificulty to afford a decent living in many of the world cramped cities.

BTW, New York definetely doesn't qualify as a city with cheap real estate, if the banker in question lives in a 1200sqft duplex(!) with 2 kids, he can't feel comfortable at home.

Posted by Rationalize on 03-04-12 11:30 PM:

Quote from RichardRimes:

To all the pet haters...its all relative. There have been multiple studies that suggest having a pet actually extends your life as well as the quality of your life. I currently don't have a pet...have a live in spouse which is quite enough. If I lived in NYC and didn't have a roommate I believe a pet would be very important. In any case no one questions how expensive NYC is to live in and to make a judgment on how ppl spend their money is kinda pointless. Its only when people whine that I think we have a right to throw snow balls. I don't believe SLE has done any whining. As far as the $350K guy I'm not feeling in any way sorry for him or any other bankers/financial ppl. They will have to learn to live on less and I'm sure will do just fine.

$350K dude just has to wait a while.

Prices will adjust & Manhattan RE sales people will be the next to whine.

Trickle down works both ways.

Posted by sle on 03-04-12 11:54 PM:

Quote from SteveNYC:
You are a weak fuck if you need pets.

I guess I am a weak fuck, but clearly I am a successful weak fuck and you are clearly a loser (and a sore loser at that).

For the reference, almost everyone in my coop has a dog and I'd guess that median income here is a $1.5 million a year. You don't have a pet and you are probably making an order of magnitude less - so who is "a man" and who is not?

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by Rationalize on 03-04-12 11:58 PM:

Quote from sle:

I guess I am a weak fuck, but clearly I am a successful weak fuck and you are clearly a loser. For the reference, almost everyone in my coop has a dog and I'd guess that median income here is a $1.5 million a year.

& you're right about the dogs vs Aston Martin.

Funny old place NYC..

Posted by sle on 03-05-12 12:03 AM:

Quote from Rationalize:
Prices will adjust & Manhattan RE sales people will be the next to whine.

Actually, the prices in Manhattan have been acting very strangely. Lower-tier properties (studies and one bedrooms) have clearly declined in price 10 to 15 percent from the peak of 2007. At the same time, 1200sft and over have actually increased in price. I had a good year last year and was thinking of upgrading and it seems that prices have gone up, not down.

As for girls - it's pretty clear they like the whole dog thing. One of my Mrs' friends hypothesized that women subconsciously make a whole set of extrapolations:
(a) A dog is a serious commitment and if the guy is not afraid to commit to a dog, he's gonna be more likely to commit to a woman.
(b) If a guy has two large dogs, he probably owns a large apartment (rentals, as a rule, don't allow large dogs) and thus he must be making a good living
(c) the guys must have likes the dogs as puppies and thus he must like and want to have kids.

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by Rationalize on 03-05-12 12:13 AM:

Quote from sle:

Actually, the prices in Manhattan have been acting very strangely. Lower-tier properties (studies and one bedrooms) have clearly declined in price 10 to 15 percent from the peak of 2007. At the same time, 1200sft and over have actually increased in price. I had a good year last year and was thinking of upgrading and it seems that prices have gone up, not down.

Can't really see the top end sustaining itself over here, but the effect has been somewhat similar.

Intellectual curiosity here as to what made last year "good"?

Generally unhappy campers on my side of the world. Decreasing flow the main blame. Equities that is.

Re a,b,c - yes. Sets things up well for short term relationships.

Posted by sle on 03-05-12 12:24 AM:

Quote from Rationalize:
Can't really see the top end sustaining itself over here, but the effect has been somewhat similar.

A lot of outsiders buying to park some cash and I also think there have been a lot of really rich people moving back to the city. Personally, I can't wait for the top to give in a touch, but so far that has been nothing but a fantasy.

Quote from Rationalize:
Intellectual curiosity here as to what made last year "good"?

Generally, the way my trading methods are set up, I do exceptionally well in volatile years and have pretty mediocre performance in quiet years. I don't really get to leverage the flow much - in fact, i think most of my flow is pretty toxic. Anyway, my best year by far was 2008, but I can't boast getting paid too well then. 2010 and 2011 were good, though and these days the firms appreciate some people that have counter-cyclical performance.

Quote from Rationalize:
Re a,b,c - yes. Sets things up well for short term relationships.

And long term ones too - I met my Mrs this way and we've been together for 12 years. Though lately there is not a day I am not thinking of packing it all up and moving to your neck of the woods.

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-05-12 04:48 AM:

Quote from RichardRimes:

To all the pet haters...its all relative. There have been multiple studies that suggest having a pet actually extends your life as well as the quality of your life. I currently don't have a pet...have a live in spouse which is quite enough. If I lived in NYC and didn't have a roommate I believe a pet would be very important. In any case no one questions how expensive NYC is to live in and to make a judgment on how ppl spend their money is kinda pointless. Its only when people whine that I think we have a right to throw snow balls. I don't believe SLE has done any whining. As far as the $350K guy I'm not feeling in any way sorry for him or any other bankers/financial ppl. They will have to learn to live on less and I'm sure will do just fine.

I owned pets for 20 years. I experienced life with and without pets.

If you are strong, you don't need pets.

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-05-12 04:51 AM:

Quote from sle:

I guess I am a weak fuck, but clearly I am a successful weak fuck and you are clearly a loser (and a sore loser at that).

For the reference, almost everyone in my coop has a dog and I'd guess that median income here is a $1.5 million a year. You don't have a pet and you are probably making an order of magnitude less - so who is "a man" and who is not?

Weak fucks get very defensive often. Strong ones wouldn't bother responding to my post. That's my experience.

Posted by njrookie1 on 03-05-12 05:01 AM:

It costs me $4-5000 a month to raise two kids and I would not replace them with anything. Pets serve similar purpose. You cannot measure it with money. You spend what you think you can comfortably spend on them.

I am not as attached to the goldfish or my 5 hens. My hens are my high yield securities. They do keep me calm though.

Quote from wiesman02:
$17,000 / year on pet expenses is ridiculous!

Why? If I would have told you "it costs me 20k a year to lease, insure and garage my Aston-Martin" you would say "this guys is cool", but for some reason spending the same on two dogs is "ridiculous" in your eyes. Even though both have the same practical value in Manhattan and (if I was single), two big fluffy dogs would do a better job getting me ladies then a shiny penis with two chairs in it.

Posted by sle on 03-05-12 05:06 AM:

Quote from SteveNYC:
Weak fucks get very defensive often. Strong ones wouldn't bother responding to my post. That's my experience.

Well, I have admitted to be a weak fuck. You too, however, responded to my post so by the logic above... So far, however, the trail of post insulting people who happen to make more money then you do make you out as a sore loser.

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by flipside21 on 03-05-12 05:11 AM:

Quote from SteveNYC:

I owned pets for 20 years. I experienced life with and without pets.

If you are strong, you don't need pets.

I'll get a dog when I'm a helpless old fart.

Posted by babutime on 03-05-12 05:18 AM:

Re: Re: Disgusting

Quote from TheAngryHermit:

STFU and stop pulling out the race card twit. Ever hear of a man named Barack H. Obama? Whites put him in the White House, not blacks. Ever hear of Oprah Winfrey? Whites made her a Billionaire, not blacks. Let's consider all the NFL and NBA players making millions each year, which comes mostly from whites. I'm sick of "you people" pulling the race card. LOL Now, get to the back of the bus and stop drinking out of my water fountain.

Listen you racist prick, Barack is just as genetically white as he is black. And all the money you speak of Oprah making, that came not from racist losers like you but from open minded white people who didn't care what her race was.

As far as getting to the back of the bus bud, I think it's pretty obvious who is in the back- YOU. At the front is a Chinese guy.

Go learn something!

[not black]

Posted by Rationalize on 03-05-12 05:20 AM:

Quote from SteveNYC:

Weak fucks get very defensive often. Strong ones wouldn't bother responding to my post. That's my experience.

Come on Steve .. wait, do you really live in NYC? If so, you should get-it about dogs. Also, maybe check the cv of whoever you're abusing.

Posted by tigerwu on 03-05-12 06:41 AM:

You guys should try living in Tokyo! We got higher taxes and higher prices. You can not live a decent middle class life without 400-500k a year. Just had this conversation with my wife last night..... What a joke! Time to move back to the States where everything is at least 50% off. Well, maybe only for a few years until Obama raises dividend and capital gains taxes.

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-05-12 09:02 AM:

Quote from sle:

Well, I have admitted to be a weak fuck. You too, however, responded to my post so by the logic above... So far, however, the trail of post insulting people who happen to make more money then you do make you out as a sore loser.

Who gives a fuck.

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-05-12 09:03 AM:

Quote from flipside21:

I'll get a dog when I'm a helpless old fart.

Yippee!

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-05-12 09:07 AM:

Quote from Rationalize:

Come on Steve .. wait, do you really live in NYC? If so, you should get-it about dogs. Also, maybe check the cv of whoever you're abusing.

I live in the Marcy Housing Projects. LOL.

You like that? Wanna swing by? LOL.

Dogs suck. If they keep bothering me, I will start poisoning them.

I don't think I am the only one who dislikes dogs in NYC.

Do you remember a few years somebody fed a dog a ball of nails?

Or recently what happened to the German Shepherd when it ceaselessly barked at the UPS delivery dude?

Damn, you are lucky that fpsRussia doesn't live nearby. If your bother him, uhh, it will die in a grand fashion.

Posted by sle on 03-05-12 01:46 PM:

Quote from SteveNYC:
Who gives a fuck.

Apparently you do, loser. Have a good one and welcome to my ignore list.

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by Mayhem on 03-05-12 07:13 PM:

Re: Disgusting

Quote from babutime:

The racial prejudice in a few members in this thread is appalling. Absolutely disgusting.

Middle class values (wtf is that anyways?) intertwined with a disdain of coloured kids who "keep it real" ?

You know, "middle class values" means being polite and saying "please" and "thank you" and asking questions instead of "axing" questions. Middle class values means you don't use the word "n*gger" and "b*tch" and "ho" in every sentence. Middle class values means you give up your seat for an elderly or pregnant woman. You know, middle class values are the 1000 things that most pleasant people do everyday because it makes society operate at a more harmonious level.

You don't have to be white to have middle class values. Indeed, the Japanese are great at living together and respecting each other in crowded and cramped conditions.

Middle class values means you generally try to resolve your differences though discussion, negotiation, and, if necessary, escalating the matter to adults or authorities. And if violence erupts, middle class values means that even then you have a sense of what makes a fair fight.

I went to a NYC public school, so I have heard this chant more than 100 times:

A fight,
A fight,
A nigger and a white
If the nigger don't win
I'm jumpin' in

So, yeah, if I have the means to keep my kids out of a NYC public school, you know I am going to keep them out (isn't that what the suburbs are all about?).

And, I, along with most people on the planet, stay away from people who "keep it real." Like I said, I choose to live in a society where people respect each other out of a sense of social, ethical, and common sense obligation. If you don't know what "keep it real" means, then look it up, or watch that Chris Rock monologue on YouTube where he "hates on" black folks who "keep it real":

Quote from babutime:

Are there no African Americans (or other coloured Americans) in this thread because (some) European Americans here tend to think that you and your kids are somehow only public school material and don't really deserve to have their kids hanging out with yours.

I am preventing African Americans from posting on this thread because my kids might go to private schools?

Yeah, I guess you have a point. If I sent my kids to public school suddenly a whole bunch of African Americans would start participating on the Elite Trader discussion boards. LOL.

Quote from babutime:

I understand that there are excellent public high schools like Stuyvesant (very few but they do exist) in NYC. So why not enrol your 1% kids to these schools?

Umm, that's a high school. There are wealthy white liberals who send their kids to public school in Manhattan. They all make sure they live within the zone for PS 6:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.S._6

P.S. 6 has about 800 students in grades K-5. Average class sizes are 23-28. The school's student body is 78% Caucasian, which is somewhat unusual for a public school in NYC.[2] The School is popular with families on the Upper East Side who often choose to send their children there rather than to private school. The school's former Principal Carmen Farina claimed that the acceptance rate for out of district students was 1/7, lower than that of many top-tier Universities.

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-06-12 12:37 AM:

Quote from sle:

Apparently you do, loser. Have a good one and welcome to my ignore list.

Why are you so obsessed in responding to my posts?

Every time you respond, you go personal and name call. That is a sign of a loser. Winners don't care b/c winners don't waste time with losers. So who is the real loser here?

Btw, I didn't start this crap.

No problem with the iggy but I bet you read this post. lol.

Have a nice day.

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-06-12 12:47 AM:

Re: Re: Disgusting

Quote from Mayhem:

You know, "middle class values" means being polite and saying "please" and "thank you" and asking questions instead of "axing" questions.

Yo whitey, I axed you, where da school at? lol

Yo homes, where you at? lol

I heard a different chant. It went like this:

Fight fight a nigger and a white! If the the white don't win, we all join in! Man, those whitey's were freaking racists in the '70s. They all believed that they were better than everyone in the world.

I don't hate black people. There are white people worse than black people.

Posted by SteveNYC on 03-06-12 12:49 AM:

Re: Re: Disgusting

Quote from Mayhem:

You know, "middle class values" means being polite and saying "please" and "thank you" and asking questions instead of "axing" questions. Middle class values means you don't use the word "n*gger" and "b*tch" and "ho" in every sentence. Middle class values means you give up your seat for an elderly or pregnant woman. You know, middle class values are the 1000 things that most pleasant people do everyday because it makes society operate at a more harmonious level.

You don't have to be white to have middle class values. Indeed, the Japanese are great at living together and respecting each other in crowded and cramped conditions.

Middle class values means you generally try to resolve your differences though discussion, negotiation, and, if necessary, escalating the matter to adults or authorities. And if violence erupts, middle class values means that even then you have a sense of what makes a fair fight.

I went to a NYC public school, so I have heard this chant more than 100 times:

A fight,
A fight,
A nigger and a white
If the nigger don't win
I'm jumpin' in

So, yeah, if I have the means to keep my kids out of a NYC public school, you know I am going to keep them out (isn't that what the suburbs are all about?).

And, I, along with most people on the planet, stay away from people who "keep it real." Like I said, I choose to live in a society where people respect each other out of a sense of social, ethical, and common sense obligation. If you don't know what "keep it real" means, then look it up, or watch that Chris Rock monologue on YouTube where he "hates on" black folks who "keep it real":

I am preventing African Americans from posting on this thread because my kids might go to private schools?

Yeah, I guess you have a point. If I sent my kids to public school suddenly a whole bunch of African Americans would start participating on the Elite Trader discussion boards. LOL.

Umm, that's a high school. There are wealthy white liberals who send their kids to public school in Manhattan. They all make sure they live within the zone for PS 6:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.S._6

Are you making the distinction between blacks and niggers?

Posted by TheAngryHermit on 03-06-12 01:20 AM:

How this thread wasn't locked yet is beyond me.

Posted by cactus_trader on 03-09-12 03:13 AM:

$180k income in Dallas, Denver, PHX or Orlando, what would that be equal too in NYC?

in terms how far of living expenses, taxes, property. would you say 2:1?

Posted by lxor on 03-09-12 03:47 PM:

I wonder how many people live in expensive cities and own status symbols in a misguided quest to impress their friends and colleagues? I also wonder why for example Warren Buffet along with many other truly wealthy people lack such compulsions?

__________________
World's oldest profession – Trading

Posted by hilojack on 03-09-12 05:10 PM:

Quote from sle:

Actually, the prices in Manhattan have been acting very strangely. Lower-tier properties (studies and one bedrooms) have clearly declined in price 10 to 15 percent from the peak of 2007. At the same time, 1200sft and over have actually increased in price. I had a good year last year and was thinking of upgrading and it seems that prices have gone up, not down.

As for girls - it's pretty clear they like the whole dog thing. One of my Mrs' friends hypothesized that women subconsciously make a whole set of extrapolations:
(a) A dog is a serious commitment and if the guy is not afraid to commit to a dog, he's gonna be more likely to commit to a woman.
(b) If a guy has two large dogs, he probably owns a large apartment (rentals, as a rule, don't allow large dogs) and thus he must be making a good living
(c) the guys must have likes the dogs as puppies and thus he must like and want to have kids.

Sshhh, don't give this one away! You need to add a (d) to this list.

(d) the dogs have to be ugly and slow-- suggests multi-generational wealth and proximity to the park.

Back in the day my buddy and I used to dog-walk these two ridiculously old bull-dogs from our friend's mother's 5th ave apt.

We'd have to carry like 80 lbs of dog each just so it didn't take an hour to hit sheeps meadow and man did that dog attract ass like no other!

The convo used to go, "yeah its a shame grandma bippy doesn't get around as much so she hates leaving him with the staff out East. So I keep him here at the apt so he's closer to family. But sadly he's getting up there as well so luckily its only a short jaunt here. Why don't you give me your number?"

Posted by Ghost of Cutten on 03-09-12 05:47 PM:

Quote from sle:

The reality is that, to quote John Gutfreund, "you never get rich in this business, you only attain new levels of relative poverty". Temptation of spending is always there and there always will be people that will cave in

Seriously, you are being ridiculous. Stop confusing wasteful extravagance with genuine needs. You are a childless couple, your 'needs' (generously defined) are a 800 square foot 2 bedroom apartment within 1 hour commute of your workplace. The extra 1000 square feet and Manhattan location, which you paid 1.5 million+ cash for, are pure luxury - along with your dog-walkers (lol) and even your pets.

Get a grip man.

Posted by sle on 03-12-12 12:03 AM:

Quote from Ghost of Cutten:

Seriously, you are being ridiculous. Stop confusing wasteful extravagance with genuine needs. You are a childless couple, your 'needs' (generously defined) are a 800 square foot 2 bedroom apartment within 1 hour commute of your workplace. The extra 1000 square feet and Manhattan location, which you paid 1.5 million+ cash for, are pure luxury - along with your dog-walkers (lol) and even your pets.

Get a grip man.

I am not complaining, I am just stating the reality - the more you make the more you end up spending. While the carry cost for my dogs might come across as "extravagant", there are people who are spending way more on a similar income and there are people who own more consumer goods with incomes order of magnitude lower then mine.

But on a different note, who exactly gets to define what the "needs" are. Say, why an 800 foot plat and not 100, there's still enough space the the two of us? Why an hour and not 3? Why not prohibit owning pets completely? This country is turning into yet another Soviet Union...

PS. if there is one thing that we can't change, it's the location - with me starting at 6am and coming home around 8 and my Mrs trying to get the hospital by 5am, we have no choice but to live in Manhattan.

__________________
I'm spending a year dead for tax reasons.

Posted by Rationalize on 03-12-12 12:54 AM:

Quote from sle:

I am not complaining, I am just stating the reality - the more you make the more you end up spending. While the carry cost for my dogs might come across as "extravagant", there are people who are spending way more on a similar income and there are people who own more consumer goods with incomes order of magnitude lower then mine.

But on a different note, who exactly gets to define what the "needs" are. Say, why an 800 foot plat and not 100, there's still enough space the the two of us? Why an hour and not 3? Why not prohibit owning pets completely? This country is turning into yet another Soviet Union...

PS. if there is one thing that we can't change, it's the location - with me starting at 6am and coming home around 8 and my Mrs trying to get the hospital by 5am, we have no choice but to live in Manhattan.

Have you calc'd your hourly rate?

Posted by newguy05 on 03-12-12 01:37 AM:

Quote from cactus_trader:

$180k income in Dallas, Denver, PHX or Orlando, what would that be equal too in NYC?

in terms how far of living expenses, taxes, property. would you say 2:1?

At least 2:1, real estate cost in those cities are 1/3 or less of nyc.

Unless you are super wealthy, i really think living in manhattan as a family with 2 kids is stupid. It puts all that pressure on everyone without much gain, manhattan is a great place for young and single crowd. Once you get married with kids you are far better off move outside the island and live comfortably in a much larger space without the high cost. There are many great residential areas nearby.

Most of those families in manhattan has been there their whole lives and refuse to look elsewhere, it's as if someone is asking them to move to iraq or something. Meanwhile they struggle paying those high mortgages & taxes paycheck to paycheck with little savings.

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