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| Living in the top 6 Percent https://www.mlbppworld.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10485 |
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| Author: | Alloutwar [ Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:16 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Living in the top 6 Percent |
I've been wanting to write something, this probably isn't a great place for it, but heeey, if you find it interesting great. I think many people have dreams of being rich someday. Owning houses or property, maybe a business, maybe a big commercial skyscraper...maybe a boat or a private plane. It's baked into the American dream - we idolize it, from dozens of terrible reality shows around Kardashians or Real Housewives, all the way back to Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. We make celebrities out of rich folks like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett (or Trump), and sometimes make them out to be heroes. Sometimes that is earned - they built themselves up from nothing, or timed a market correctly, or created a product or solution that the world needed. Sometimes it's not - the Kardashians inherited their fame and looks, and a huge percentage of rich people today in the US inherited it. When breaking down those 400 individuals with worth over 1.05 BILLION in 2012, Researchers at United for a Fair Economy found: over 21% inherited over a billion dollars. 7% inherited over $50 million over 11% inherited over a million dollars 22% were from upper class and inherited just under a million dollars So the GOOD NEWS is that 39% of the super rich, billionaire class, actually came from a poor background. But that's just 156 people, in a country of over 300 million, so your chances of that happening for you are 0.00000052%. **NOTE: that chance is still BETTER than your chances of winning Powerball (1 in 292,201,338). Don't do lottery, it's a waste. So where do you (or your parents) fall on the scale? Well, here's the scale: http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/income-rank/ I grew up pretty poor, I thought. Family of 4 on basically my mom's income alone, which was a state income, maybe $35k a year let's say. Puts me in the bottom third of families in the US - not super poor after all, but I inherit nothing and was given relatively little. Still, we ate, I got christmas presents, I got my used 1989 car on the road and got into college. I didn't think about money or class too much, except when I had the hot high school girls come to my home, an old 1790s dilapidated house with barn and farm and some junked cars on the lot. When i tried to figure out their reaction and relative discomfort, I realized some things about class and where I was on the scale. Fast forward to now. My wife and I together are now in the top 6% on salary income alone. We have no kids, no car payments, and with rental income, investment income, and bonus, I am pushing into the top 4%. That's CRAZY. I bring home more than 96% of the country, all things considered. But...what does that get you? I mean I live comfortably. I can buy gifts for all of my friends, take them out to a Fenway game and not really care about the cost. I can go on vacation anywhere, banks want to handle my assets for free, and the benefits start to pile up - credit card rewards, good credit rating, access to special things I guess. I can drop $1500 to pay for my sick cat and not really worry about it. But make no mistake - I'm not buying a hummer or an Escalade or even an Audi or BMW. I don't own a company or even a franchise of something like Dominos, and its not on the immediate radar. I can't even fathom owning a corporate building, or a parking garage, or a boat or plane. So in this economic system, hitting all the right buttons at the right times, making the most of opportunities, and working extremely hard, can get you a comfortable life. That's definitely what I have. I don't have to be in a coal mine, or struggle paycheck to paycheck, and I am extremely thankful. But the people that run for office, and run the country, and make decisions about our collective future - they are just way, way, way richer than me. They could lose my net worth x 100, in a day, and not care. Since some of you are younger I thought it might be helpful to get some insight on what things might look like 10 years down the road. A lot of people in this country live under a misconception, or maybe delusion, that they will be rich, that they will own all these things, maybe if they work hard, or they hit the right opportunity, or they win the lotto. Its possible, certainly - there are thousands of examples - but it's extraordinarily hard. It's important to keep that in mind when thinking about politics, or politicians, and this American dream - even climbing the ladder from bottom-third white trash to top 4% doesn't even begin to touch the kind of wealth that we all see and dream of. |
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| Author: | cbassian [ Thu Dec 08, 2016 4:18 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Living in the top 6 Percent |
>Kardashians >Looks Salamanders aren't particularly sexy to me. |
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| Author: | dustyfarmer [ Fri Dec 09, 2016 9:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Living in the top 6 Percent |
Money is absolutely necessary in the structure of the American economy. But money does not equal happiness. So long as food and shelter are known to be secure, the individual will only find true bliss in how they live their lives. Nothing, not even A billion dollars can shield you from the burden of your human existence and your quest to find meaning in that existence. But with a billion dollars you can distract yourself from exploring your psyche and finding your bliss. Watch the movie "Happy" if you want to know what I'm talking about. |
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| Author: | Alloutwar [ Sat Dec 10, 2016 10:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Living in the top 6 Percent |
i agree totally. Being in the top 6% means I am more comfortable, but if I were a miserable person, it wouldn't bring me happiness. Being able to take friends out to a Sox game, and send gifts all over for Xmas, and buy just about anything I want, these are great and can enrich your happiness. But I would be happy even if I was back in the bottom third where I started life - I would make the most out of video games, or books, or board games, free music, making my own music, or playing role playing games. I would find my own happiness. My main hope is that I can push my income and savings and wealth for the next 30 years, until I am in the top 2% or so, and then use it to make the world a better place. Improve education, healthcare, rights, labor, and other populist causes. You can't donate that much at 18 or 25, heck even at 35 if I threw a grand towards something, it doesnt go too far. But in 20 years, if I had $100k to toss to a charity, thats a big chunk. |
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| Author: | BrewersFuzz [ Sun Dec 11, 2016 1:59 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Living in the top 6 Percent |
Good on you for wanting to help others |
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