- Show:
- Comments
- Liked Comments
By madrassoup on I Made $570K Last Year, But I Don't Feel Rich (In Fact, I Feel Worried)
Logan, I respect that you are so nonjudgmental, because it means that you can engage people in ways that draw them out without making them feel self-conscious. THAT SAID, this dude is frustrating for reasons that have mostly already been outlined in other comments. But I also notice that he doesn't mention charitable giving or volunteer work of any sort. I mean, people are entitled to spend their money and time however they want, plus it sounds like this guy's too afraid of going broke any day now anyway, but it seems like it could do a lot for his sense of perspective. Right now he only compares himself to other rich doctors and to his rich neighbors, who all seem to share a similar habit of conflating luxuries with necessities that therefore allows them to believe that they are barely getting by and hardly indulging at all. Even the way he talks about his upbringing and young adulthood seems clouded by a lack of exposure to other people who weren't as privileged he was (which is why he says things like, "my parents paid for college but it wasn't expensive" and "I spent a year traveling on my parents' dime" with no sense of what markers of wealth those things were and are). But what's really frustrating/annoying is the idea that being "rich" means being immune from worry and responsibility. There is a lot wrong with that, but most strikingly it's the failure to acknowledge the difference between worrying (about retirement, college, etc) and planning. Those things are not the same.
8
By terrific on My New Kitten Ate My Bank Account
Oh man. I'm impressed. This is like 1/2 of what I spent on my cat the first month, it's embarrassing (also where are you spending $109 on a vet checkup!?! take those people to task for highway robbery. unless if it's just double the price for kittens and I don't know it...)
1
By littleoaks on WWYD: Moving In, But Only If Someone Moves Out
If you and the roommate are both on the lease, I think the onus is on you as the person changing up the arrangement to find a new place. There's nothing wrong letting with letting him know that you'd like to stay in the apartment--maybe you'll find that he wants to get a place of his own. But I think he should be able to stay if he wants to.
2
By MissMushkila on Don't Be Cheeky About Unpaid Labor, NYT, Be Angry
@WaityKatie I actually was a little annoyed that the article made it sound like this only goes on in the creative industry. I've had three unpaid internships: one at a non-profit, one for local government, and a third for a private engineering company. This is the new norm, and it doesn't get much better once you are working in many jobs (even of the "boring desk" variety). I saw an article the other day about company layoffs even though many of the places made profits - they said they could do it because of "increased productivity", which I think for a lot of people means "I'm going to make all of my exempt employees work 70 hours a week".
5
By BillfoldMonkey on Don't Be Cheeky About Unpaid Labor, NYT, Be Angry
"So why is it in the Style section?" That's rhetorical, right? In case it's not, the answer is: it's about ladies. Ladies are style, not news.
9
By ellabella on I Made $570K Last Year, But I Don't Feel Rich (In Fact, I Feel Worried)
Obviously this guy is really really really rich, and I definitely agree that he has some unadressed anxieties about this, but as someone who is basically one of this dude's children (two siblings, physician father in mid-50s, etc), I would say that it's unfair to say someone is crazy or poorly adjusted for worrying about money. I think most if not all people worry about money, and that it doesn't necessarily correlate super-closely with how much money you make. Also, some of the back-of-the-napkin calculations here are grossly underestimating the cost of raising children. I think most of us progressive, liberally-minded Billfolders probably do or would aim to provide our kids with as much good education as we would feel we could afford. Obviously you do not need to spend lots on schooling to provide a great education for your children, but given the means, many people would prioritize that (over the Lexus or whatever). Some expenses that others haven't mentioned that this guy likely shells out for include $20,000/year/child for private school, especially if he lives in an urban area with limited access to quality public schools. Say another $5,000/kid for extracurriculars (instrument lessons, sports, overnight camp, exchange student programs, etc. etc. etc.) If they live far from family, say that's 1 flight/year to both the inlaws. $300x5x2 is $3,000, and that's basically the most affordable flight one could possibly get, not in a holiday season, etc. etc. These kind of expenses that would be minor for an individual end up being really expensive when you're a family of 5. I'm not saying he's not rich (HE IS!!!), but I am saying that this money is going somewhere, and it's not all going to the private chef and Range Rover. Oh, and don't forget that when you're making that much money, your federal + state tax rate is probably nearing 50%. This is probably his pretax income. (And because of marriage taxes, if his wife worked a job making, say, $60,000 a year, she would be taxed at the same rate as her husband, and take home only about $30,000 or whatever. )