high earners, not rich yet.
this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2025
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The couple in the article have a problem with spending priorities, not affordability.
They can whinge all they like, but society should focus on helping people with real problems.
"6-figure salaries just aren't cutting it"
Reminds me of the people who insist on higher taxes but complain that raising taxes on their lowly 300k+ two-income household would be oppression.
It's never enough.
Low six figures in many places is barely middle class these days. I'm not even kidding.
Indeed. One couple here is living in Bay Area. I'm sure rent/mortgage, daycare, and school loans take a huge bite out of things.
100k a year in most EU countries is considered wealthy, and we have the highest taxes in the world.
We also generally have higher food/gas prices than anywhere else, so probably it’s more related to spending habits in the US. Eating out should be a once per month thing not three times per day.
That being said, we also got free healthcare and education so probably makes a huge difference.
You have a MUCH better social structure Wich saves a tremendous amount of money compared to us.
Our taxes wouldn't be a problem if our prices were reasonable on most other things.
Yeah, student loans, rent, and healthcare eat up the majority of a lot of people's income here
We are going to be paying off our student loans for at least another decade," Heninger, who is facing just under $900 monthly payments between himself and his wife
Oh for fucks sake, if they have $100,000+ that's $8,333 per month, and they can't handle paying $900 per month?
Cry me a river will you?
That's not how it works.
Not arguing with anything but your numbers. Gross pay is not net pay. My net is 60% of my gross with family health insurance taken out , and taxes (but mostly health insurance).
So that could be closer to 5k a month, let's say 6 to be generous. Rent here for anything that will fit a family is close to 3k. Another thousand on top for student loans, then electric bill, car insurance or transit $, more people means more food, I can see it might be tight.
Still not anything to really complain about money wise but legit IMO to complain about student loans in general. Education from K through university or trade school needs to be free for students, the economy would work better.
You forgot childcare. Tack on another 2-3K per month in expenses for that.
Also, with the price hikes and everything recently, The cost of living has gone up while their salaries haven't. What's happened is people who haven't had to budget before now are now needing to budget. Yeah, they still make enough that they can live quite comfortably it's not like they're going to starve, But they can't just buy that new car every year anymore.
I don't think a family of 4 with 100k gross is buying a car a year. Even my legit rich FIL gets one every 3 years or so. Though he doesn't play at trying to make them run forever like we do. Even having enough now to pay for maintaining an older one (11) feels so luxurious to me compared to my past.
But they can't just buy that new car every year anymore.
Yeah, they might try regular maintenance instead...
Just because they make more income than you doesn't mean they don't also struggle. Their expenses are different from yours. Also these student loans are predatory. They have terms where you can pay for years and end up owing more than you originally took out
"Different" meaning "need to make payments on cars and properties that a poor person can only dream of having"? Look, I get that rich and poor all struggle... but can we not pretend that the struggles are equal?
It's not a contest over who is struggling more. Why are you against someone who is also struggling that makes no sense
I'm not necessarily against anyone, but forgive me for not having much pity for the financial struggles of a class of people that can't manage to be happy with incomes that more than double what I've had to make myself content with my entire life.
Are we going to be saying that the struggles of billionaires actually matter next?
I take a different line entirely. If you have $100k household income, and that's still not enough cover expenses for a family of four, then something is very wrong. By income distribution, 80% of the population makes $100k or less, and it's completely untenable for them.
I completely agree, but your point is irrelevant to mine.
Median household income is around 80k, which means that the vast majority of the population makes a lot less than 100k. I have little pity for the financial concerns of people who are having a hard time getting by with six figures, when so many people have to be content with far less.
I will absolutely still stand in solidarity with them against the ruling class who make things far more difficult for all of us than it needs to be. That's not the point.
Asking me to have pity for the financial concerns of someone who makes more than double what I do (assuming similar circumstances) is like asking the average migrant laborer to have pity for mine.
As of 4th quarter 2024, average cost of living for a single person in the US is $4,948/month. Take that $8,333/month, chop off 20% for taxes, and you're already getting uncomfortably close to that number. For a family of four, I really don't see how those numbers work at all.
Average because 1% own half the wealth, average has nothing to do with normal people. You need median. Many people don't even make 5k per month before taxes.
Those figures won't be that far apart. It will somewhat, because higher incomes will have a bigger house and more luxurious car. However, they're putting more of their money into investments, not cost of living.
And I'll reiterate, that's the average for one person, not a family.
With 1% owning half the wealth, you are claiming average and median aren't far apart?!
I'm having trouble finding a reference to median US living expenses, but you can cut the above number in half if you like. Multiplying it for a family of four won't necessarily be 4x, but it'll be more than 2x.
The 33-year-old works in affordable housing development and identifies as a HENRY, or a high earner, but not rich yet.