The Saving Advice Forums - A classic personal finance community.

What do you earn?

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 2
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous 1 2 template Next
  • #1

    What do you earn?

    No, I'm not getting overly personal. Just reading all of the discussions over time have made me wonder what the demographics are like of the regulars here. So if you don't mind answering an anonymous poll question, vote for the income bracket that fits. No need to post any comments. I don't care who earns what or what type of work you do or if it is a single-income or dual-income household. Just looking for the big picture. How much does your household earn each year?

    I realize that income is not the whole story as it depends where you live, how many children you have, etc. $100,000 for a single guy in Nebraska is a lot different than $150,000 for a family of 4 in Manhattan. Again, just looking for a real rough idea of who we all are.
    96
    Less than $25,000
    7.29%
    7
    $25,001-$50,000
    13.54%
    13
    $50,001-$75,000
    18.75%
    18
    $75,001-$100,00
    22.92%
    22
    $100,001-$150,000
    20.83%
    20
    $150,001-$200,000
    11.46%
    11
    $200,001 or more
    5.21%
    5
    Last edited by disneysteve; 11-24-2008, 07:36 AM.
    Steve

    * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
    * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
    * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Good question, Steve. I have always wondered about that too.

    Comment

    • #3
      I took the survey, but I live on east coast. So as you said, it skews my income up. Of course the cost of living is also higher.

      How would you normalize the results to begin with?

      Comment

      • #4
        There are ratios out there to "normalize" income.

        Comment

        • #5
          I have the problem with the increments. Even though we gross litte over $150K this year but no where near $200K. It causes someone to report misleading numbers. I also think if you want a true demographic make up members on this site, you should also ask for education level, number of household, location, and compared data that to household median income census of 2007.

          Just a thought
          Got debt?
          www.mo-moneyman.com

          Comment

          • #6
            Nice poll. I voted!
            My other blog is Your Organized Friend.

            Comment

            • #7
              what do you consider to be income? wages only? dividends/interest? short term capital gains? rental income? social security/pension?

              I get a lot of short term capital gains, dividends, and interest than would put me into two different brackets. while the irs says it's income, I don't consider it part of my income because it just gets re-invested.

              but at the same time a senior might be living off those dividends and interest and consider it income. so what do you think?

              Comment

              • #8
                I make about $22k/year with my journalism degree working as a reporter in a small town (about 15k circulation). My wife makes the exact same.

                We live in rural North Dakota, where housing costs are pretty exorbitant because of the oil boom, but other costs are quite low.

                Comment

                • #9
                  somewhat related, but do many of you out there have a significantly different gross income (what you actually see each month) from what the IRS considers your taxable income? For example, certain benefits are not taxed. Or like for the military, we get a housing allowance that isn't taxed, but accounts for nearly 1/3 of my income right now.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Originally posted by simpletron View Post
                    what do you consider to be income? wages only? dividends/interest? short term capital gains? rental income? social security/pension?

                    I get a lot of short term capital gains, dividends, and interest than would put me into two different brackets. while the irs says it's income, I don't consider it part of my income because it just gets re-invested.

                    but at the same time a senior might be living off those dividends and interest and consider it income. so what do you think?
                    I think the title was "earned"- dividends, capital gains and interest are not earned in the world of the IRS.

                    They are portfolio income.

                    3 income types are earned income, portfolio income and passive income.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Originally posted by simpletron View Post
                      what do you consider to be income? wages only? dividends/interest? short term capital gains? rental income? social security/pension?
                      I thought of that when I started the thread. I wouldn't include investment income unless you are living on that money. If it is all getting reinvested, I don't think that counts for the purpose of my question.
                      Steve

                      * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
                      * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
                      * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        It's an interesting mix of folks, isn't it?

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          I voted, finally remebered my login information

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Originally posted by My English Castle View Post
                            It's an interesting mix of folks, isn't it?
                            Simple statistics... for any random sample group, a given variable will be distributed normally (in a bell-shaped curve).

                            I think the fact that our totally non-scientific poll appears to match that principle fairly well speaks to the fact that it's not just the low income earners who need help learning to save, or only the high earners who know what to do with their money. On these boards, we've got a pretty fair distribution of people, at least in terms of income, so I think that contributes to the variety of perspectives we get.

                            (proviso: as mentioned elsewhere, torture a statistic enough and you can get it to say anything you want. This result would look very different with a change so simple as using different levels/brackets. ... so obviously, take it for what it's worth.)
                            Last edited by kork13; 11-24-2008, 08:47 PM.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              As Steve qualified from the beginning, this only reflects the gross income per household.

                              Some are two income and some are one.

                              Some have families, and some may be single.

                              Cost of living varies as well.

                              It certainly is interesting, but we still need to take it with a grain of salt as well. Maybe two grains.

                              Comment

                              Previous 1 2 template Next
                              Working...
                              X