http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/15/AR2009081502957.html?icid=main| this is more common than some would ever know.... surf By local standards, Steins occupies the lower rung of affluence -- the rung where every dollar now matters. As a vice president at MasterCard's corporate office in Purchase, N.Y., she earns a base pay of $150,000 plus a bonus. This year she'll take home 10 percent less because of a smaller bonus. She receives $75,000 a year in child support from her ex-husband. She figures she will pull an additional $50,000 from a personal investment account to "pick up the slack." The nanny and property taxes take $75,000 right off the top, but Steins considers both non-negotiable facts of her life and not discretionary. When she bought out her husband's share of the house after their 2006 divorce, she assumed the costs of keeping it afloat -- $8,000 to $10,000 a month. There's a pool man, a gardener and someone to plow the snow from the quarter-mile-long driveway. As tight as money is, she has decided that living in a 4,000-square-foot house on three acres is the practical thing to do. "A), I couldn't sell the house right now," she says, citing the slow real estate market:
Got two buddies who are layed off in the financial sector and their wives won't budge on getting rid of the large homes and cutting back on household costs. Funny how all the women seem to use the "it's too late to sell now" reason for staying in their plush luxurious homes even after income dries up. Womens lib run amok.
She has plenty of room to downsize... likely will as pressures mount. Wonder if her "non-negotiable lifestyle" had anything to do with her divorce?
There are people with large incomes who are net negative each month and there are people earning $50k/yr who eventually build wealth. It's not how much you make as much as it is how much you save.
good point, but it depends WHERE you live.... and most of these jokers are very private and would not be happy to be featured in an article.