matttyl
Footballguy
In my job (insurance) I see people struggle financially to afford needed coverage, but still be able to afford multiple children. I guess I'm curious in how they are able to do so.
$57k a year is the median household income in the US. Just spitballing some numbers, but lets say they pay $5k in federal taxes (less than 10% effective tax rate), and another 5% to state/local which is nearly another $3k. Adds up to $8k, lowering their "take home" to $49k. Lets say they are "responsible" and put away 8% of their pre-tax income to retirement, that's $4,560 a year. The average employee's cost for family health insurance on a group plan is $5,277, which isn't deductible. Throw in another $100/m for family dental and maybe vision coverage.
We're now down to under $38k - but this family of four lets say has paid their taxes, put away some money for retirement, and has health and dental coverage. It's about $3,164 a month. Just looked it up and saw that the average used car payment is just over $350 a month, but we'll round it off there - and say that the family only has one car that they are paying for (they might own another outright). Down to $2,813/m. Department of transportation says the average American drives 13,476 miles per year. Even at 30 MPG that's 450 gallons of gas per driver. 1.5 driver per family and $2.16 average cost per gallon is $1,455 in gas. Average cost of auto insurance is $800 - so 1.5 cars in our family would be $1,200 a year or exactly $100 per month. We're under $2,600/m remaining - but the family now has a car or possibly two, and insurance for it.
Say they have a mortgage on a decent enough place at a good rate. $1,200 a month fair for that, on average? Down to $1,400/m. Homeowner's insurance is another $1,000 a year on average, and we'll say another $1,500/yr in property taxes on average. We've now got housing covered. Power/gas/HOA/water....any other housing related monthly bill another $100-200 a month? Yeah, give them TV and internet service.
But we're under $1,000 a month - with 4 mouths to feed, and clothe. And we haven't touched on education (either future education for the kids, or still paying off the student debt of the parents). Haven't touched on the first health situation where there is an our of pocket expense. Haven't had the first unexpected housing expense. Haven't given either parent any life insurance.
Am I just way off base here? How is the average American "getting by"?
$57k a year is the median household income in the US. Just spitballing some numbers, but lets say they pay $5k in federal taxes (less than 10% effective tax rate), and another 5% to state/local which is nearly another $3k. Adds up to $8k, lowering their "take home" to $49k. Lets say they are "responsible" and put away 8% of their pre-tax income to retirement, that's $4,560 a year. The average employee's cost for family health insurance on a group plan is $5,277, which isn't deductible. Throw in another $100/m for family dental and maybe vision coverage.
We're now down to under $38k - but this family of four lets say has paid their taxes, put away some money for retirement, and has health and dental coverage. It's about $3,164 a month. Just looked it up and saw that the average used car payment is just over $350 a month, but we'll round it off there - and say that the family only has one car that they are paying for (they might own another outright). Down to $2,813/m. Department of transportation says the average American drives 13,476 miles per year. Even at 30 MPG that's 450 gallons of gas per driver. 1.5 driver per family and $2.16 average cost per gallon is $1,455 in gas. Average cost of auto insurance is $800 - so 1.5 cars in our family would be $1,200 a year or exactly $100 per month. We're under $2,600/m remaining - but the family now has a car or possibly two, and insurance for it.
Say they have a mortgage on a decent enough place at a good rate. $1,200 a month fair for that, on average? Down to $1,400/m. Homeowner's insurance is another $1,000 a year on average, and we'll say another $1,500/yr in property taxes on average. We've now got housing covered. Power/gas/HOA/water....any other housing related monthly bill another $100-200 a month? Yeah, give them TV and internet service.
But we're under $1,000 a month - with 4 mouths to feed, and clothe. And we haven't touched on education (either future education for the kids, or still paying off the student debt of the parents). Haven't touched on the first health situation where there is an our of pocket expense. Haven't had the first unexpected housing expense. Haven't given either parent any life insurance.
Am I just way off base here? How is the average American "getting by"?
