As a person who started out poor and has reached the point of being pretty well-off I can say that $10k would have been life-changing in my early 20s, useful in my early 30s, and not even 2 months of mortgage payments in my late thirties.
I’m not saying that’ll be true for everyone, but it can happen. My internal scale of what is expensive versus cheap has changed dramatically over the years.
I wouldn’t spend $10k on a hotel room or a bottle of wine, but it wouldn’t change my life any more.
It’s a fucking shame that the system is rigged against normal people.
For sure, I was making good money before but got laid off during COVID. Took a massive pay cut finding a new job but am finally back to where I was before.
Even with the money I make it’s a struggle. I’m not starving but I’m not going to be able to afford a house any time soon.
That’s not the average but it’s far from being rich by most major cities’ standards.
For example, I live in Denver which is somewhat HCOL but nowhere close to cities like San Diego, San Francisco, or New York. The median single family home closing price in the city is $650k. Including taxes and insurance, that’s a >$5k mortgage payment at current rates.
Granted, it’s difficult for many people to afford to buy a SFH here. However, it’s in the ballpark of normal for a dual income household of young professionals.
As a person dependant on benefits it doesn’t get much better - 10k would be enough to put me over the threshold and stop me getting those benefits, but wouldn’t be enough to live on for longer than a few months, at which point I would have to apply for benefits again (a distressing and traumatising process that can take a year or two easily, during which time you don’t get paid).
And even if I got several times that amount, enough to put down a 15-25% deposit for a mortgage - no one will give me one because I’m on benefits. Never mind that what I already pay in rent is higher than any mortgage repayment would be, or that my income is more stable and secure than most (people lose jobs all the time, I’m guaranteed my income for life, unless, of course, I dare save some money for my future. Or, as they may, change the rules, but that’s no bigger risk than getting fired).
And this isn’t to turn my nose up at that kind of money, it is a lot and could make a huge difference to many (paying bills, buying food, covering debts), but even in those cases, it’s highly unlikely to provide a long term solution simply because it doesn’t address the core of the problem, it’s just a band-aid.
To say the system is rigged feels like an understatement, the more you dig, the worse and more intentional the keeping-the-poor-poor gets.
This was my experience too. Most of my 20s I was dirt poor- like constantly losing weight because I can’t afford basic food levels of poor.
Then I got back into college and got a good career as an engineer. I’m far from rich, but $10k has gone from a truly unfathomable amount of cash to a percentage of my savings account. Kind of funny how that happens.
Bro, I don’t even know a single person who makes 5 grand a month. I’d say given how much of a rarity that is, there no way the average mortgage payment is over $5000/m. That’d mean yearly you pay $60,000 in mortgage payments alone. That’s a couple thousand over the total yearly income for the average US citizen.
As a person who started out poor and has reached the point of being pretty well-off I can say that $10k would have been life-changing in my early 20s, useful in my early 30s, and not even 2 months of mortgage payments in my late thirties.
I’m not saying that’ll be true for everyone, but it can happen. My internal scale of what is expensive versus cheap has changed dramatically over the years.
I wouldn’t spend $10k on a hotel room or a bottle of wine, but it wouldn’t change my life any more.
It’s a fucking shame that the system is rigged against normal people.
Lol dude your mortgage is several fold higher than my parents’ in a big metro city (US) I think you’re doing ok.
Yeah, I’m doing ok, but when I first started working I was earning about $20k per year. It’s amazing how much things can change.
For sure, I was making good money before but got laid off during COVID. Took a massive pay cut finding a new job but am finally back to where I was before.
Even with the money I make it’s a struggle. I’m not starving but I’m not going to be able to afford a house any time soon.
I’ve been laid off twice in the last 5 years, so I get it. I make less money now than I did in 2018, but my job is a lot more enjoyable now.
Good luck getting to the point of buying a house! I hope it’s not as tough as you think.
Who is paying over 5k a month for a mortgage?! You’re not even close to the norm
I never said I was close to the norm, I said I’m quite well off now. I started with very little and got to this point in around 20 years of work.
That’s not the average but it’s far from being rich by most major cities’ standards.
For example, I live in Denver which is somewhat HCOL but nowhere close to cities like San Diego, San Francisco, or New York. The median single family home closing price in the city is $650k. Including taxes and insurance, that’s a >$5k mortgage payment at current rates.
Granted, it’s difficult for many people to afford to buy a SFH here. However, it’s in the ballpark of normal for a dual income household of young professionals.
As a person dependant on benefits it doesn’t get much better - 10k would be enough to put me over the threshold and stop me getting those benefits, but wouldn’t be enough to live on for longer than a few months, at which point I would have to apply for benefits again (a distressing and traumatising process that can take a year or two easily, during which time you don’t get paid).
And even if I got several times that amount, enough to put down a 15-25% deposit for a mortgage - no one will give me one because I’m on benefits. Never mind that what I already pay in rent is higher than any mortgage repayment would be, or that my income is more stable and secure than most (people lose jobs all the time, I’m guaranteed my income for life, unless, of course, I dare save some money for my future. Or, as they may, change the rules, but that’s no bigger risk than getting fired).
And this isn’t to turn my nose up at that kind of money, it is a lot and could make a huge difference to many (paying bills, buying food, covering debts), but even in those cases, it’s highly unlikely to provide a long term solution simply because it doesn’t address the core of the problem, it’s just a band-aid.
To say the system is rigged feels like an understatement, the more you dig, the worse and more intentional the keeping-the-poor-poor gets.
This was my experience too. Most of my 20s I was dirt poor- like constantly losing weight because I can’t afford basic food levels of poor.
Then I got back into college and got a good career as an engineer. I’m far from rich, but $10k has gone from a truly unfathomable amount of cash to a percentage of my savings account. Kind of funny how that happens.
10k isn’t two months? Is this the US? How big is your house?
It’s 3 months for me and I’m not in a high COL area. $5k/mo is easy to hit (cost-wise) in a lot of cities. US or not.
I live near San Francisco.
I wouldn’t say this is the norm for most…you are correct, true for some but definitely not the majority.
With the state of mortgage rates at the moment, $5k a month will be most people’s mortgage payments won’t it?
Bro, I don’t even know a single person who makes 5 grand a month. I’d say given how much of a rarity that is, there no way the average mortgage payment is over $5000/m. That’d mean yearly you pay $60,000 in mortgage payments alone. That’s a couple thousand over the total yearly income for the average US citizen.