
Does $60,000 a year make you middle-class or wealthy on Planet Earth? -  wjossey
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/08/20/does-make-you-middle-class-or-wealthy-planet-earth/
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anoncoward111
The largest monthly expense for anyone making $60,000 a year is most likely
going to be rent, unless you are living in a car or a tent and showering at
the gym like I was. 

For that reason, $60,000 could either be a ton of money ($4,000 a month in
post tax wealth accumulation is really good), or very little at all. 

There are still some Europeans and plenty of Asians and Africans making less
than $250 a month.  If you are spending all of your income, you aren't terribly
different from them in the end. 

~~~
ianai
It blows my mind how expensive real estate is.  Rent shouldn’t be anywhere near
the cost of a mortgage and yet it is, and it always goes up almost completely
without recourse. 

~~~
anoncoward111
There are countless millions of people who are qualified and even have the
capital required to finance/build a basic, durable shelter that is nice enough
to have guests spend the night in.  The materials, when purchased from Home
Depot, would cost $20,000 and require maybe $7,000 worth of labor to
construct. 

When you consider that most suburban land about 1hr outside city by car can go
for even just $20,000, it seems pretty ludicrous to pay $400,000 for something
that can be had for $50,000. 

The ONE thing stopping this from being a reality is the town
government/mortgage lender junta. 

They've basically made it illegal in most metropolitan areas to purchase
anything other than a big, rotting house. 

~~~
tejohnso
I think your estimate is too low [1], but I share the sentiment.  I'd love to
see suburbs with fewer mcmansions and more reasonable housing.  700sqft with a
small accessory unit on a quarter acre lot would be a huge step up for many
families and should be considerably cheaper than the typical over-sized homes
we see all over the place.  There aren't enough options. 

[1] For a durable shelter nice enough for guests...assuming this means an
actual house, modestly outfitted... There's site prep, foundation materials
and labor, plumbing/elec work, hookup fees, development fees, permit fees,
lawyer, real estate fees, appliances, furnishings, all in addition to the
actual structure and land materials and labor cost. 

~~~
paulddraper
> 700sqft with a small accessory unit on a quarter acre lot

Most people think that houses are expensive.  They are, but in developed areas
the land itself plays are large role. ( That's why the top three important
factors in real estate are location, location, and location.  It's not that
much more expensive to build a structure in San Francisco than Bakersville.) 

So it's unlikely that in most suburban areas it will make economic sense to
build a only 700 sq ft house on a entire quarter acre.  At that point, a
duplex/quadplex makes far more market sense.  And a duplex/quadplex is cheaper
to build per resident. 

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plasticchris
I don't know, but it makes you impoverished in silicon valley. 

It's hard to even support a family on that in the Midwest (been there). 

~~~
IMTDb
When comparing salaries I think in terms of "disposable income / hour".  That
is: how much $ worked hour you have after you pay taxes, retirement, average
rent in the location, medical insurance, basic food, small car and gas.  At
least it makes europe/US and intra US comparison much simpler. 

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modells
Suggestion for anyone in this bracket and unmarried: once a year, rent a
massive _coastal_ villa in a South American country on the cheap
($1.5-3k/week) either alone or with 1-2 cool (emphasize cool) friends.  I'll
let your imagination run wild as to what follows.  Now up that a bit as your
imagination wasn't wild enough.  Have fun, be safe. 

ProTip: Use VRBO or other vacation rental sites rather than airbnb. 

~~~
feel_the_need
South America is huge.  Can you recommend some cities / countries where you can
do this? 

~~~
Markoff
you could rent something similar for that amount in Indonesia for a year (or
Thailand for half year) instead of week

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derekp7
When articles like this give an income number, is that after or before taxes? 
If that is a pre-tax number then how can it account for varying tax situations
(single vs married, deductibles, etc.)  If it is after tax income, that number
seems somewhat high. 

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Markoff
I think only american could ask this question since even in Europe it's
obviously on wealthier part of middle class and it's common knowledge Europe
has one of the highest living standards in world.  so even if you live in some
rich country like Singapore you will be probably aware of living conditions in
neighbouring Malaysia or Indonesia to not ask such stupid question as it's
headline, though one would think Americans have some knowledge about mexico to
not ask it either

