State by State Chart of Income Needed for Living

[bluealtered]

A very sad state of affairs I'm afraid. I have watched over the years, friends who worked hard to make large sums of money instead of spending time with their families and friends.
In the end most of them admitted they had made a mistake and would rather have lived life and enjoyed those around them. They had forgotten that money is simply a tool and not the end game.

 

[fx77]

For further explanation, the graphic states that these numbers (by state) are based on a "50/30/20 budget, allocating 50% of earnings to necessities, 30% to discretionary spending, and 20% to savings."

I would guess that with inflation, less than a quarter of American families are sending 20% to savings.

And Taxes? Killer in my AO

 

[JSH]

Folks need to understand the difference between “wants” and “needs”. Many don’t and will find out later, some never do and never will.
I was doing pretty darn good, up until about 4 years ago……….then the county I live in bumped my taxes up $1200 in a year!!! I did nothing at home to do this, the county/city government gives things away to get a large “mall” for the lack of a better term and then taxes the hell out of the citizens because of property is worth more!??! So now what I call county rent is $300 a month, yes $3600 a year for 9/10 of an acre and a 1960’s house.
Thank GOD it is paid for. My parents had this place before they retired in 1983, the taxes were $380 a year, about $1.10 a day.
Now the county is trying to get the chiefs and the royals ball clubs here. If that happens I will have to sell and move. The county in Missouri where both teams are now, has raped the citizens and many have moved or are moving.

All public officials should be held responsible for how they spend OUR money!!!

Rant off.

I need a cigarette and a shot of bourbon, and I don’t smoke lol.

 

[Rat Rifle]

A society that has to work its A$$ off to survive, is a “civil” society

 

[jds holler]

A very sad state of affairs I'm afraid. I have watched over the years, friends who worked hard to make large sums of money instead of spending time with their families and friends.
In the end most of them admitted they had made a mistake and would rather have lived life and enjoyed those around them. They had forgotten that money is simply a tool and not the end game.

Working too hard to make a ton of money, is almost as dumb as working too little and not making enough money. The one guy could be considered greedy, and the other slothful. -- although there are a lot of guys who make a ton of money, and spread it around, and they are what keeps the train a rollin.

One of the stupidest beliefs that a lot of folks have, is that they simply had more money, everything would be fine. If you can't manage $1000, or $10,000 dollars, or even $100,000, you will undoubtedly suck at handling a million dollars. And usually other areas of your life suck also. jd

 

[TTE]

Holy Smokes ! .......... I'm a lot poorer than I thought !

 

[dryhumor]

Education is one of single most important things to living comfortably. And not just from sitting in a classroom. On the job learning is an everyday opportunity for anyone willing to engage. And many do not. Specialized training in person or online. Understanding what is important and what isn’t.

A basic education in managing one’s finances could do wonders… Might lead a few people to start questioning why the US is 35+ trillion dollars in debt. Uncle Sugar’s pockets are pretty empty nowadays.

 

[Old Navy]

Yeah. I am paying $4.95 for a loaf of white bread.

That is $3.50 for bread here and the same for a gallon of milk.

 

[DiffEQ]

I make more than enough to be comfortable in any state, but lately, after 401K & taxes, the lions share of my income goes to alimony, child support, and supporting three kids in college.
Good thing I'm a cheap curmudgeon and live like I'm dirt poor. I don't have any Joneses to keep up with.

 

[JLT]

For further explanation, the graphic states that these numbers (by state) are based on a "50/30/20 budget, allocating 50% of earnings to necessities, 30% to discretionary spending, and 20% to savings."

I would guess that with inflation, less than a quarter of American families are sending 20% to savings.

I would say much less than a quarter. Between the increases in housing costs (specifically), inflation (generally) and lagging income growth, it wouldn't be surprising to learn that number is less than 10%. Growth in consumer debt, particularly revolving debt, supports this.

 

[farmerjohn]

One of the stupidest beliefs that a lot of folks have, is that they simply had more money, everything would be fine. If you can't manage $1000, or $10,000 dollars, or even $100,000, you will undoubtedly suck at handling a million dollars. And usually other areas of your life suck also. jd

Fellers what @jds holler says I've found to be very true . The part of Arkansas where I live was settled right after the Louisiana Purchase, lots of old families been here and stayed here including my own ever since. My Grandpa said that the first generation makes the money, second generation sometimes adds a little, lives off of and guards the pile, and the third generation spends it and dies broke in desperation.... I'm observing two different instances of it now.... John

 

[jds holler]

My folks were never "high income" workers, Dad at a local car dealership, and Mom a secretary. They gave 10% of every penny they earned to the Lord. Dad bought a new car every three or four years, trading the old one in on the deal. He worked for the contractor to build our new house in 1960, and financed the deal with a GI loan.
My sis and I never lacked for anything including some pretty cool vacations growing up. We had to earn our allowances, starting at about the age of eight or nine, and both of us had jobs of some kind by the time we were teens.

Both folks retired when they were 62, and started taking cruises around the world. --Several months long stays in New Zealand and Australia, Panama, time share in Maui -- it was pretty amazing to me, since I knew how they made their money and how much it wasn't.

Dad and I were fishing one day, and I asked him what he thought was the biggest factor on how comfortable they'd always been. He said, "When I picked my woman, I picked the right one, and I made damned sure that we stayed together. When we decided to tithe to the church, there just never seemed to be a problem with money. And we were very lucky."

They both lived into their nineties, and were indeed very lucky and blessed. Their son was a problem for quite awhile, but even he managed to pull it up and straighten out in time for them to appreciate it.

You might say that those were different times, -- and they were, but there were still plenty of folks who made hash of those times and never had two nickels to rub together. Financial stupidity and poor life management has always existed, and always will. I'd say those figures on the State Income Chart are crazy high, and that it says a lot about how "uneconomical" most folks are living today. jd

 

[JLT]

My folks were never "high income" workers, Dad at a local car dealership, and Mom a secretary. They gave 10% of every penny they earned to the Lord. Dad bought a new car every three or four years, trading the old one in on the deal. He worked for the contractor to build our new house in 1960, and financed the deal with a GI loan.
My sis and I never lacked for anything including some pretty cool vacations growing up. We had to earn our allowances, starting at about the age of eight or nine, and both of us had jobs of some kind by the time we were teens.

Both folks retired when they were 62, and started taking cruises around the world. --Several months long stays in New Zealand and Australia, Panama, time share in Maui -- it was pretty amazing to me, since I knew how they made their money and how much it wasn't.

Dad and I were fishing one day, and I asked him what he thought was the biggest factor on how comfortable they'd always been. He said, "When I picked my woman, I picked the right one, and I made damned sure that we stayed together. When we decided to tithe to the church, there just never seemed to be a problem with money. And we were very lucky."

They both lived into their nineties, and were indeed very lucky and blessed. Their son was a problem for quite awhile, but even he managed to pull it up and straighten out in time for them to appreciate it.

You might say that those were different times, -- and they were, but there were still plenty of folks who made hash of those times and never had two nickels to rub together. Financial stupidity and poor life management has always existed, and always will. I'd say those figures on the State Income Chart are crazy high, and that it says a lot about how "uneconomical" most folks are living today. jd

Bravo! Truth, right there.

Great post.

 

[CJ6]

The problem with these types of polls is that they're biased towards population density (cities)where costs are much higher than rural areas.

 

[Tangent]

A very similar situation in the UK, both in the costs of living, lifestyle choices and property prices. I've always been prudent with financial matters having had an accountant as a father and good advice when I was younger. I've never overstretched on a mortgage, always prioritised paying debts off and lived fairly modestly.

Our last move I fixed the mortgage rate for 10 years which the advisor questioned. I pointed out that the rates were the lowest for 300 years, of course I may save a few quid on a shorter fixed rate but rates were only going up. I'd rather lock in a slightly higher rate I know is affordable than being at the mercy of rising interest rates.

My brother has a friend, earns good money but is always after more. As it was pointed out to him he doesn't have an earning problem, he's got a spending problem!

My advice to younger people is live within your means, pay your debts off as quickly as you can, eat well, sleep well and find time to do the things you enjoy. You never know how much you'll get! As I advised my parents when they retired, do the things you want to now, don't wait or you might not be able to later. Good advice, as not many years later my father got prostate cancer and spent years having treatment. I'm doing my best to follow my own advice...

 

[bluealtered]

If you look at America now, you will see that almost everything you are being taught now in the past 10-20 years is that it's OK to borrow money for everything you want to do whether you need to do this or just have a want to do this.
This of course is stupid, how in the world do you even break even by borrowing money to pay off the last time you borrowed money? One of the worst stupidity's is "payday loans," now for damn sure you can't you can't cover your expenses at the end of the week so you must borrow again.

It's very sad but the American mentality is back down to the grade school level and very little effort is being made to improve it beyond that, if for no other reason than those you want to lead are most easily led if you don't teach them to think.

 

[COLT45SA]

I never earned what people think of a a lot of money. I did live within my means and always tied to set a little aside for the future. I'm ok now but not as ok as I was before this current administration took office. I instilled this in my son when he received his first pay check. He is now just over 50 years old. He followed my advice, is married raising 4 young kids, has continually saved and learned how to invest (without brokers or advisors), and is worth considerable more than I. We are very close, and I thank the Lord for enabling me to give him good guidance~!!

 

[SSeal]

$93k isn't going to get you very far in Miami... (savings or no savings)

True!!! My daughter just moved back to Tennessee from Davie Florida, close to Miami. A modest apartment there cost her about $31,000 a year. The wages in the area didn't match up.

 

[ronsatspokane]

Yeah, this seems to reflect high density population areas and folks still in their nest building phase of life.

For us retired folks the story is different. We no longer put money into 401K, savings, Keogh's or pensions. We are not building, we are burning what we did build during our income earning years.

When I say burn, it's getting burnt down faster and faster. With the war on energy and increasing regulation, prices on goods and services over the last 3+ years are up 20 to 70 percent depending on the good or service. Couple that with the increase in taxes and fees due to inflation of real property and what we are doing is renting everything we have paid off and own free and clear back from the government. House, cars, ATV's, boats and anything considered property or requiring licensing. Living on a fixed income and renting everything you own back from the government is a travesty. A travesty of criminal proportions in my opinion.

 

[INShooter]

A travesty of criminal proportions in my opinion.

Ain’t that the truth.