Printable View
I spend about $1400 a year on clothing and I do at least 4 international trips and one cruise a year.My walk in closet is full and I have costume jewelry to match everything.Probably the retail prices are close to $5000 ,I have coats for all weather and all colors ,there are smart ways to shop and save loads of money .
What makes you think 99% of the 1% are business owners :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by donald
Of course not all are-But it is a fair guess there is quite a few of them and they would be the majority in the group....don't you think so?Daniel im guessing your boss with with you in the 1% and im sure most who work for private corps reconize there boss qualifies.
Business owner and in 1%.Anyone else?
Wow how do people manage to spend $1000/month on clothes, I only replenish my supply once a year and a couple of good suits last a lifetime.
People spend a lot of money on wine too for some reason, there was another thread where some person was drinking a bottle a night. That's crazy. It is possible to invest in wine if you know how to choose them and have proper storage. It's still a gamble though.
Anyway kudos to these self-employed/business owners, that's hard work and like donald says if they managed to get this far it will probably pay off even more in the long run.
Current definition of 1%?
This article is brutally biased.
For every case like the 4-5 families listed, how many >$150,000 household income earning families have savings rates of 30-50%? I'm also very surprised that $200k is the threshold for household income, I always thought that was individual income. I'm sure many CMF's fall into the 'high income, high savings' category.
While I don't downplay statistics on high debt and savings rates, these types of articles only serve to push people into thinking high income earners blow their money on crazy indulgences and 'deserve' to be in a tough situation.
Yup. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by marina628
One thing that has to be a big misprint is the last family has season tickets to the leafs for 2k?that can't be!! where the heck is he sitting-behind the hot dog cart in the basement.....I thought leaf tickets for a season were north of @ least 8k,that can't be right.It costs like 6k a yr for average seats for a winnipeg jets ticket holder if i remember correctly.
Maybe they get the leaf tickets at a discount from the clothes shop? I am sure spending 1000$ per month there would qualify for it!
He probably shares the Leaf tix with other people?
I was a union member and know many who easily fit the profile.Quote:
Originally Posted by donald
Oil patch workers, longshoreman, coupled with their wife's income 200,000.00
Take any cop that has a spouse as a nurse that couple can fit, that couple does not need to put in many extra hours to make it.
I worked in private industry and had a high school education.
128,000.00 plus 16 weeks vacation all benefits paid including pension the company is very profitable.
;)
We were at in the one 1% being not owning a business from employment income. We are just higher as a business owner now.Quote:
Originally Posted by marina628
I think years experience makes a big difference too. I do think that its harder to be in an union position in the one percent when you are just starting in your 20s. I am assuming your salary of 128k was not in the first 10 years of your career. I do know more business owners in their twenties and thirties making this kind of money than employees.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel A.
The percentages don't mean as much and Its with your age that I can be a closer comparison.
I think I like this quote the best..
The Jeep was a mistake. We shouldn’t have bought it; we could have used the extra money for travel.”
OR maybe you could have saved the extra money? Maybe sell it? LOL
Ever try to sell a used Jeep? They have the most expensive (and least popular) model that Jeep has ever sold. Probably lost 50% of its value in its first year.Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesbe
I'm not saying a cop/nurse can't make 200k+ a yr,i'm just saying that most of the wealthy people that i know of are'nt cops/nurses most are business owners very much like the 2 families profiled.Both those guy are still(youngish)and they may not have hit there stride yet or have peaked.10 yrs from now the hvac guy could of expanded more and the family could be making 500k a yr,you know what im saying?cops and nurses have barriers and ceilings.Then you start entering the accounting/accountant working for the owners and things really start adding up.
Yes I worked a senior position, I just don't know any business owners in their twenties or thirties that take 16 weeks vacation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Plugging Along
I'd look at buying a business but I don't think I'm up to putting in the time.
I may look again as it could be a way for my kids to get ahead.
:cool:
Also most young business owners are'nt counting down the days to retirement and they don't view "it" as putting in time,most are engaged and have a lot of satisfaction working/building something there creating and it is not purely about making $$ it is just a by-product from what there doing ie:its more fun making business deals than sitting on a beach-that is why most business owners are cut from a different cloth....just my thoughts.(they don't want 18 weeks of holidays)not built that way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel A.
I think it depends on the type of business and industry. As a business owner, there can be a lot more flexibility, but it really depends. I know my spouse (fiancé at the time) when he was 28 or 29, he did have the ability to work what he wanted, but of course he wasn't always getting paid. He would work 6 months like a dog, and then would take a few months off. He took off a year to get his masters, and picked some short contracts in between. He actually made more back in his twenties than now because he was willing to travel at a time.
I think as Donald said when you are in it for yourself, it is much different. Often the owner can take off the time, but really, they don't want to.
I agree with the Gawker on this one. Sure you dont feel rich if your up to your neck in debt no matter how much you make. But that doesnt mean you arent rich. Being in the top 1% of richest poeple in Canada would make me feel like a freaking god. But then again, I dont use credit, dont spend 800$ a month on wine, and 1000$ on shoes...so yea I would have tons of cash left over.
Living in the GTA gobbles up a big portion of your 196k? Move!! I mean seriously in my current city of approx 180,000 poeple, less than 500 individual poeple make 200k a year. And the ''rich'' part of town has some insanely huge houses with ferraris and lambos, and porsches sitting out front.
Its all about where you're living. If you cant live off of 200k a year, you're doing something wrong, no matter what canadian city you live in.
Try Vancouver !!
Toronto is cheap for me. LOL
Bingo.Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyjackcsa
Lots of great comments in this thread.
All I can say is that Toronto Life has the ability to find the biggest morons possible who will be interviewed and end up with an entertaining article.
Here's an article I wrote about 2 morons profiled in a TL parenting article:
http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/why-a...arents-morons/
This is yet another entertaining article from TL on mortgage slaves:
http://www.torontolife.com/features/sinking-feeling/
I just read the whole article. I have not admit I have med feeling. I think the people that they used are over the top in what they spend their money on. However, I feel that way too at times. Even though i am in the one percent, i feel fortunate, butby no means do I feel wealthy or rich.
I know ultra wealthy people who dont ever worry about finances or money and spend whatever they want, and I am not in that category.
I am fortunately that my spouse and I make decent incomes, I don't even feel they re that high, so m stunned when I see the stats. I live in a upper middle class area, and it seems like everyone has much more money than we do. We live in an older 30 year old house, amount newer areas. Our house is modest by most of the houses in the area. There is a high concentration of private schools here, and every one is driven a new Mercedes or luxury vehicle, especially the teenagers. I got cut off by a teenager driving a new hummer the other day ::confused:. I am constantly fighting the urge to renovate or upgrade our home. I am just trying to enjoy our mortgage free home. I have to admit it is hard though. When your kids want to go to other houses because the other houses are nicer.
Many of my kids classmates go on multiple vacations a year, often an overseas trip for weeks, and somewhere else for Christmas and spring real. The kids are in designer clothing along with the moms. They all drive nice vehicles, and have their multiple kids in he higher grade private schools. I really can't believe that all of the are in debt. They are extremely educated, drs, dentist ,lawyers, CAs, business owners, etc. We often wonder an everyone be doing that much better?
FP I am now thinking that. Maybe one of those morons oh listed. :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by Four Pillars;11441
Here's an article I wrote about 2 morons profiled in a TL parenting article:
[url
I have brought my children to some very fine restaurants. They have eaten in some of the top restaurants in NA. I see nothing wrong with that, as long as they behave. We have modeled what the expected behaviors is, and know they are able to do it. I don't see why kids shouldn't be n those restaurants IF they behave. There was once, for my first mothers day, m hubby tried to take me to one of my favorite fine restaurants with a 5 month old. She started to fuss, and we prompted took her right outside Neil get went backed to sleep. Other than the time it took us to walk outside the restaurant, no one would have heard a thing. I think that kids need to learn what is acceptable if that's part of the family lifestyle. Dont get me wrong, I still get annoyed wit poorly behaved kids. When we go somewhere nice, we do always have a plan and are willing to leave if necessary to not disturb others.
In terms of the stroller, have done the same thing. I had to bring a double to our NY trip. We were there for months., and there was no way I could take both m little ones b myself without it. I tried to not ride the subway during peek times, and find a spot off to the side, but really, wha is one supposed to do. I actuall looked for a smaller double when I arrived in NY, but some of them were over $1000 for the really small ones.
I do try to be conscientious of others when out and about, but sometimes the kids take precedence.
Same here, but in a perverse way I kind of like the fact that everyone thinks of us as the poor kids on the block; we're the only ones who do our own lawns, paint our own house, have a rusty eight-year-old Toyota parked on the street (we have no driveway or garage), use public transporation and our bikes to get around most of the time. Let them think what they will, it doesn't matter; we can't be bothered with the "keep up with the neighbours" thing. We have our own standards and we live by them, not someone else's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Plugging Along
Rest easy PA - I am 100% confident that you are not a moron or anything close to one. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Plugging Along
Nothing wrong with bringing a kid to a restaurant as long as they behave. That applies to all patrons - not just kids.
As for the stroller lady - she was a moron because of her attitude about payback for people not giving her a seat when pregnant. The stroller size had nothing to do with it.
It looks like these days, a net worth of 1 million puts you in the top 10% in Canada.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ihatetaxes
I suppose my wife and I are very close to qualifying for this "1% club", yet our approach could not be any more different than these folks. I have referenced our extreme savings rate in other threads - yet I admit that a small (yet persistent) part of me would like to "live it up" like many in that profile.
These articles pop up online every so often, and the problem is that the 'I don't feel rich' crowd never bothers to provide definitions for their terms.
If 'rich' = having a lifestyle that is more expensive than 99% of Canadians, then you're 'rich' at 196K, regardless of whether you've been mentally ruined by running full tilt on the hedonic treadmill, or whether you're silly enough to set your standards based on everyone around you that's wealthier than you are.
If rich = financial independence, then no, being in the top 1% for income doesn't mean that you're 'rich'. It does mean that you're a really good candidate to be 'rich' in the near future, and you could probably be 'rich' if you wanted to be. However, I do think it's hypocritical to choose rich=lifestyle in your own life, and then say to the world: rich=financial independence, I'm not financially independent, thus I'm not rich.
Rich
To most people, financial independence is all that matters, for me its that plus the occasional splurge on iThings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plugging Along
The area I live in and raised my kids in is the same. The problem with looking at generic stories is there usually is much more going on in the back ground than said. I know of a few that depend on family trusts to support the extras. A friend that works in the bankruptcy field once told me that until you see the true facts as she does everyday, don't believe what you read or see.
Look up bankruptcy filings in the court listings shocking cases. You come to realize your better off than you believe.
:)
It's easy and fun to criticize how others spend their money. After all each of us believes they have the best possible spending plan. Many of these people are fairly young and it would not be too surprising if they weren't very far along their retirement savings plan. I didn't really start to save significant amounts until my early 50's.
People spend their money in many different ways for better or worse. After all we live in a capitalistic democracy where freedom of choice is the key premise. Having said that I think most here would agree that many people are ill prepared for retirement. Of course that would not include us.
That is a good point.If some of us frugal types were profiled(not in a finance section,but in "mainstream"media)Alot of people would think were off our rocker and on the "fringe" It's far from normal to be saving 30/40/50 % of net income.Im highly disciplined myself with savings and i know some of my friends/peers that know me and they have a good idea im a high saver wonder why im so ridged....a unability to ''enjoy" and let "go" almost like i feel i don't deserve things i could easy acquire.You could argue that esp if your under 45 people will view frugal as hoarding/ocd.Anybody know what im saying?it is kinda a bit rouge compared to "mainstream".
I know exactly what you mean, but I would not agree with the characterization of my savings habits as "OCD" or any way problematic. I have big legacy goals. I'd love to die with lots of unspent money (just not any time soon). :)
It's not,but from the "outside" looking @ it some might/could view it that way(not that it matters because it is a personal choice)I'm sure some of your friends/girlfriends would KILL to have your nest egg moneygal and they would do things differently if they were in your shoes?Or if they knew.I'm sure you could spend thousands on wine/yr if you Really wanted to and you would still be way far ahead.
Yes I agree with you Donald and MG. It would be interesting to know the 'truth' and what the real picture is. Means and even medians can be deceiving. I almost get the feeling sometime that there are actually two distinct populations out there and that the savings curve is anything but a 'normal' curve even when one is comparing people of similar ages or incomes. Some people just seem to have the 'frugality' trait while others have the 'living large' or 'keeping up with the Jones's' trait. Whether the former group had more exposure to parents or grandparents who experienced the Great Depression or some other factor (like they were Scots - lol).
It is clear from research like Stanley and Danko's (The Millionaire Next Door) that modest income is not a huge impediment to high net worth and in Stanley's subsequent research it looks like hanging out with the 'big hat, no cattle' crowd can be very detrimental to one's ultimate net worth.
lolQuote:
Originally Posted by moneygal
LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by MoneyGal
I totally agree with this post. I intended to cut down the quote to the most relevant parts, but the entire post is right on the mark.Quote:
Originally Posted by Square Root
I mean I get what others are saying about how we are not exactly the norm or how we shouldn't pass judgment on how people choose to spend their money.
At the same time, I don't see what gain there is to being featured in an article like this. It's not just a story; these people invited someone into their homes and disclosed all this information for reasons beyond any comprehension. It certainly doesn't invite much sympathy when these couples spend more on wine than many others even make in a year.
There's nothing wrong with living well. But it's certainly questionable why one would want to flaunt it in this manner, while some go one step further and expose their complete lack of savings or safety net.
i just whizzed through the profiles. Not going to read the article.
strong overall thought was those people aren't spending anything like reasonable amounts on their kids. The profiles w kids, that is.
where were orthodontia, really serious after-school & saturday lessons, weekend ski camp, specialized summer camps like horse camp, music camp. Clothes & equipment to get kitted out for all of these. Has anybody priced a quarter-size or a half-size violin lately. Riding boots size 3.
plus the biggest ticket of all, la grande, which is private. school. tuition. Can easy set a parent back $10-20k per child per annum. Up to $45k if he or she goes away to boarding school.
those neglected kids are living in poverty hell lol. Their parents are even spending more on their own personal cars, clothes & accessories ...