How much money did you make in 2016? (1 Viewer)

[xulf]

I guess that's true.  But at some point I have to imagine enough is enough, no?

For some, making 5% on $1m is plenty...

 

[Steve Tasker]

My company limits what they deem as high income earners to only being able to contribute 4% of our earnings to a 401K.  However, they do have a deferred compensation plan we can pay into and that comes with a healthy match as well.

Depending on your company and your 401k plan, it may be a government limit rather than your company's preference.  401k plans are subject to high compensation testing under ERISA laws; contributions by highly-compensated employees can be severely limited as a result.

 

[Otis]

For some, making 5% on $1m is plenty...

Not me.  I think my "I quit" number is something like $14mm.

Pay off house, put away for girls' college and weddings: $4mm.

Buy beachfront house: $5mm.

Then a $5mm cushion, I could mostly live off 5% of that.  Plus I'm sure I'd find some income-earning profession or hobby -- or hell I might continue with my current profession in a limited, stress-free way -- to supplement.

So yeah, just toss me $15mm (tax free) and I'm good.

Math edited

 

[Dentist]

Why work another day in your life?  I'd never be able to spend it.  Everyone I care about in the world would be secure forever.

Those people associate themselves with people making that much or more, so to them it's not as much as it sounds to you or I.

I make great money, but almost everyone I associate with does better, so it never feels like I'm doing very well.  

It's like the shaq quote?  'rich?  I'm not rich, the guy who signs my checks, now he's rich'

Unless you're Warren or gates, there's always someone doing better, and in many cases much better.

 

[sbonomo]

Hypothetical:

Income $500k - 10%, company matches 4% to your 5%, but no more, anything over 5% doesn't get matched. Pretend it is all salary for the sake of this scenario - $19,230 per paycheck, at 10% you're putting in $1,923 per period, company is putting in $769 at 4% - After a little over 9 paychecks you are maxed at $18k, while the match is only $6,921.

Income $500k - 5% contribution, same rules as above - $961.5 per paycheck with the same match of $769 - it'll take almost 19 checks to max while receiving the full match - if you can max at a minimum number out of your check to get the full contribution from your employer, you'll get more matched. 

My company matches up to 6% which is maxed out regardless of when you hit the IRS caps.  Not sure if all plans do this 

 

[Otis]

Those people associate themselves with people making that much or more, so to them it's not as much as it sounds to you or I.

I make great money, but almost everyone I associate with does better, so it never feels like I'm doing very well.  

It's like the shaq quote?  'rich?  I'm not rich, the guy who signs my checks, now he's rich'

Unless you're Warren or gates, there's always someone doing better, and in many cases much better.

That's true.  But I'm a pretty simple guy.  I like some really nice things and conveniences, but some things I just don't give a crap about.  I'd have a hard time wanting beyond a certain limit.  

 

[Dentist]

That's true.  But I'm a pretty simple guy.  I like some really nice things and conveniences, but some things I just don't give a crap about.  I'd have a hard time wanting beyond a certain limit.  

You'd meet new people that introduced you to new ways to spend, stuff you didn't even know was possible

 

[chet]

Why work another day in your life?  I'd never be able to spend it.  Everyone I care about in the world would be secure forever.

He likes running a company.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Wait, when I'm talking about a match I'm talking I put in the full 18K and then they match my 8-9k on top of that, so I get 25-26k a year in.   This seems way different than what you're talking about.   Matches generally have no bearing on the maximum you can put in.

If you max out your contribution in July, the company can no longer match on your % that you contribute because you no longer can contribute.

Yeah that flew right over Dentist's head.  You have to strategically allocate your money throughout the year to receive the maximum possible match.  I'm not gonna do the math on $500k because that kind of money makes no sense to me, but you have to figure it out to where you are getting a company match as long as possible over X amount of pay periods per year.  If that means only contributing 3% to get 3% back for X amount of pay periods, then you do it.  But that's up to an individual to figure out. 

 

[tommyboy]

I guess that's true.  But at some point I have to imagine enough is enough, no?

Not if you're still having fun

 

[kutta]

My friend just got a dividend from his company.  The distribution to his checking account was ~$27mm--tax free.  The total dividend was $75mm but most stayed within the company because of tax reasons.  

That's a nice day.

Always good to see Chet in a $$ thread...

 

[kutta]

Not me.  I think my "I quit" number is something like $14mm.

Pay off house, put away for girls' college and weddings: $4mm.

Buy beachfront house: $5mm.

Then a $5mm cushion, I could mostly live off 5% of that.  Plus I'm sure I'd find some income-earning profession or hobby -- or hell I might continue with my current profession in a limited, stress-free way -- to supplement.

So yeah, just toss me $15mm (tax free) and I'm good.

Math edited

I see at least $9m that you don't really need. $4m for college, house, and weddings is insane. But, you have one of those nice houses... And rent the beach house. You could easily get away with $6m instead of $14m. With a little smart investments, you can get to $10m pretty easily in a few more years.

So take it easy, your retirement was just cut in half.

 

[General Malaise]

Not if you're still having fun

It's why many hedge fund managers keep doing what they do well beyond the point of having $4 million for college and weddings squirreled away.  

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

I will make this year almost precisely 10% of what I made ten years ago. Extrapolating that trend would not be a good thing.

 

[General Malaise]

I will make this year almost precisely 10% of what I made ten years ago. Extrapolating that trend would not be a good thing.

It took me over seven years to reach a payday anywhere near my 2007 take-home and that's proven to be an outlier thus far...really really REALLY need this Cobalt trade to work.  Come on Element 27.....daddy's got five colleges to pay for. :(

 

[Dedfin]

You'd meet new people that introduced you to new ways to spend, stuff you didn't even know was possible

Dude, everybody knows about the dinner club that only serves woolly mammoth steaks for 90gs each.

 

[lumpy19]

This.

To make the most of a 401k, ideally you either A) max it with the minimum contribution needed to get the maximum match from your employer (usually a higher income earner) or B) max it on your last paycheck of the year, while distributing evenly throughout the year.

I had never thought about this, great post

 

[Random]

Fair point.  Income means something every year..  net worth would be completely qualified by age.

I mean I'd definitely rather be 25 with zero net worth and a 400K income that is going to be reliable or increase moving forward than a 55 y.o. worth 2 million but who's salary is only 80k.

So I agree.   the poll would have to be net worth broken up in to decades of life, and get complicated, and is just a bad idea.. 

Could still spark interesting posts.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

I'm trying.  They're so busy.  I'm not sure I have the bandwidth until after the diligence on the FFA purchase is completed.  

Also need to add height, weight, and wingspan.  Obviously.  

First things first, but I think we may be on to something here. 

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

My friend just got a dividend from his company.  The distribution to his checking account was ~$27mm--tax free.  The total dividend was $75mm but most stayed within the company because of tax reasons.  

That's a nice day.

That's a nice lifetime.

 

[Dentist]

Yeah that flew right over Dentist's head.  You have to strategically allocate your money throughout the year to receive the maximum possible match.  I'm not gonna do the math on $500k because that kind of money makes no sense to me, but you have to figure it out to where you are getting a company match as long as possible over X amount of pay periods per year.  If that means only contributing 3% to get 3% back for X amount of pay periods, then you do it.  But that's up to an individual to figure out. 

Yeah that's odd to me..  I get my full match no matter when I contribute..  this seems really weird to me.

My matches come twice a year...  mid-year and then a final match that comes after the 1st of '17 after final salary totals are calculated.

 

[Spin]

I remember when my wife and I were in college. We always said if we could just get to 50k combined we'do be set. Granted, we lived in a cheap COL area (1300sq ft townhome, 2 bed 3 bath for 450 a month). 4 years later, we're at 2.5x our "goal" and never seems like enough. Reading you guys talk about 500k salaries seems so far away.

Oh, and I need to work for Kutta, apparently.

 

[tommyboy]

It's why many hedge fund managers keep doing what they do well beyond the point of having $4 million for college and weddings squirreled away.  

its the mentality of what drives a high earning person.    One of my friends is worth $150 million walking around and doesn't give a rip if he lost $1million on a bad deal.   He makes 5-$10mil a year.  He owns buildings, ranches, businesses   and likes to trade.   He'll buy a building for $2million and sell it for 3Mil a year later if somone knocks on his door he doesn't fall in love with any of his assets.    He's 70.   I asked him one time why do you keep doing this, you could just fly around on your private jet and do whatever you want and let your family run the biz and his answer was "because i can make more".    Its a game, he's been winning and he likes to compete.    

 

[El Floppo]

its the mentality of what drives a high earning person.    One of my friends is worth $150 million walking around and doesn't give a rip if he lost $1million on a bad deal.   He makes 5-$10mil a year.  He owns buildings, ranches, businesses   and likes to trade.   He'll buy a building for $2million and sell it for 3Mil a year later if somone knocks on his door he doesn't fall in love with any of his assets.    He's 70.   I asked him one time why do you keep doing this, you could just fly around on your private jet and do whatever you want and let your family run the biz and his answer was "because i can make more".    Its a game, he's been winning and he likes to compete.    

we have some financial sector clients like this. 

while it's nice to have clients like this, every transaction... EVERY transaction... has to be about them "winning" the transaction.

every bid, every change-order, everything has to be about beating down the price. so I have to go back to vendors and contractors with whom I do regular business and so trust their numbers, and essentially ask them for favors- because billionaire bob wants to win. doesn't matter that bob can afford anything and definitely doesn't matter to bob that he's compromising my business relationships. they have to win, regardless.

thankfully, we have other clients worth as much or typically more, that operate with the understanding that we're all trying to get the right price and so respect the work that my firm and our consultants, vendors, contractors provide. respect it by not constantly questioning it.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

we have some financial sector clients like this. 

while it's nice to have clients like this, every transaction... EVERY transaction... has to be about them "winning" the transaction.

every bid, every change-order, everything has to be about beating down the price. so I have to go back to vendors and contractors with whom I do regular business and so trust their numbers, and essentially ask them for favors- because billionaire bob wants to win. doesn't matter that bob can afford anything and definitely doesn't matter to bob that he's compromising my business relationships. they have to win, regardless.

thankfully, we have other clients worth as much or typically more, that operate with the understanding that we're all trying to get the right price and so respect the work that my firm and our consultants, vendors, contractors provide. respect it by not constantly questioning it.

The first group of people would probably be pains in the ### and ##### to work with whether they were rich or not. 

 

[El Floppo]

The first group of people would probably be pains in the ### and ##### to work with whether they were rich or not. 

####### exhausting.

sucks having to work for them, tbh. but we're in a service industry, so not a lot of choice... at least until we can be picky about our clients (only ever worked one place like that). what's crazy is that even with essentially unlimited resources, they're still acting... cheap. and it's always these people that are the least interesting, in terms of the types of choices they go with design-wise. boring and cheap. but they're putting food into my kids bellies, so there it is.

 

[mrip541]

My better half makes 3x my salary. There. I said it. In public. 

 

[El Floppo]

My better half makes 3x my salary. There. I said it. In public. 

pretty sure that's a better six halves, gb.

 

[tommyboy]

we have some financial sector clients like this. 

while it's nice to have clients like this, every transaction... EVERY transaction... has to be about them "winning" the transaction.

every bid, every change-order, everything has to be about beating down the price. so I have to go back to vendors and contractors with whom I do regular business and so trust their numbers, and essentially ask them for favors- because billionaire bob wants to win. doesn't matter that bob can afford anything and definitely doesn't matter to bob that he's compromising my business relationships. they have to win, regardless.

thankfully, we have other clients worth as much or typically more, that operate with the understanding that we're all trying to get the right price and so respect the work that my firm and our consultants, vendors, contractors provide. respect it by not constantly questioning it.

this actually isn't true.   They do it because they can BUT  you can say no and I encourage you to say no.    The proper response is "you like to make money, and so do i"

 

[El Floppo]

this actually isn't true.   They do it because they can BUT  you can say no and I encourage you to say no.    The proper response is "you like to make money, and so do i"

 

[tommyboy]

then the next best response is "#### off and lose my number"

 

[El Floppo]

then the next best response is "#### off and lose my number"

I'm in a service industry. he pays his bills even though he's a ####.

I've had other clients just like this. all of them in finance of one kind or another.

1k to move that light fixture? wtf? I'll do it myself for free. ... they never understand that there's more involved or give a #### that these rates aren't "screw the rich" rates, they're standard.

I've often thought- #### it- go ahead and move the light fixture if your networth of 8+ digits (not including my decimal) can't handle paying somebody to do a job. but then my service and end result gets compromised, which compromises future work. 

sometimes I feel like I'm selling shoes. eat ####, and keep on working.

 

[fantasycurse42]

we have some financial sector clients like this. 

while it's nice to have clients like this, every transaction... EVERY transaction... has to be about them "winning" the transaction.

every bid, every change-order, everything has to be about beating down the price. so I have to go back to vendors and contractors with whom I do regular business and so trust their numbers, and essentially ask them for favors- because billionaire bob wants to win. doesn't matter that bob can afford anything and definitely doesn't matter to bob that he's compromising my business relationships. they have to win, regardless.

thankfully, we have other clients worth as much or typically more, that operate with the understanding that we're all trying to get the right price and so respect the work that my firm and our consultants, vendors, contractors provide. respect it by not constantly questioning it.

Need to price them before this part with room to give them 'a deal.' 

 

[James Daulton]

I'm in a service industry. he pays his bills even though he's a ####.

I've had other clients just like this. all of them in finance of one kind or another.

1k to move that light fixture? wtf? I'll do it myself for free. ... they never understand that there's more involved or give a #### that these rates aren't "screw the rich" rates, they're standard.

I've often thought- #### it- go ahead and move the light fixture if your networth of 8+ digits (not including my decimal) can't handle paying somebody to do a job. but then my service and end result gets compromised, which compromises future work. 

sometimes I feel like I'm selling shoes. eat ####, and keep on working.

Why oh why are you trying to screw the rich?  They're people to you know. 

 

[El Floppo]

Need to price them before this part with room to give them 'a deal.' 

could you explain further?

 

[El Floppo]

Why oh why are you trying to screw the rich?  They're people to you know. 

well- #### them, that's why.

 

[fantasycurse42]

could you explain further?

Simple art of a deal - you know you'll be dealing with someone who wants handouts, freebies, and to negotiate everything to death... You need to fluff the proposal on round 1 and give yourself the wiggle room to come down and make them think they're getting the best of it. 

 

[El Floppo]

Simple art of a deal - you know you'll be dealing with someone who wants handouts, freebies, and to negotiate everything to death... You need to fluff the proposal on round 1 and give yourself the wiggle room to come down and make them think they're getting the best of it. 

right. been there done that. these guys are 100+millionaires who have built multiple properties. they assume the fluff is in place at all times... which is why it always comes back to this.

what I started to do with one guy was just tell him I fought it out, but that's the lowest the other party will go. (never made a phone call or email about it).

other part of this is- this is the contractor's job. I make sure things aren't goofy- but not my job to call people up the contractors' subs and brow-beat them over a few dollars.

 

[James Daulton]

right. been there done that. these guys are 100+millionaires who have built multiple properties. they assume the fluff is in place at all times... which is why it always comes back to this.

what I started to do with one guy was just tell him I fought it out, but that's the lowest the other party will go. (never made a phone call or email about it).

other part of this is- this is the contractor's job. I make sure things aren't goofy- but not my job to call people up the contractors' subs and brow-beat them over a few dollars.

Based on the Brady bunch, I thought being an architect was a cool, work from home, laid back gig.  I think you're doing it wrong.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

My better half makes 3x my salary. There. I said it. In public. 

I believe that makes her your better 3/4's.

Damn, sorry, I see El Floppo beat me to the punch line.

 

[Random]

I'm in a service industry. he pays his bills even though he's a ####.

I've had other clients just like this. all of them in finance of one kind or another.

1k to move that light fixture? wtf? I'll do it myself for free. ... they never understand that there's more involved or give a #### that these rates aren't "screw the rich" rates, they're standard.

I've often thought- #### it- go ahead and move the light fixture if your networth of 8+ digits (not including my decimal) can't handle paying somebody to do a job. but then my service and end result gets compromised, which compromises future work. 

sometimes I feel like I'm selling shoes. eat ####, and keep on working.

Why would it cost $1K to move a light fixture?

 

[BassNBrew]

Why would it cost $1K to move a light fixture?

Fluff so there's room to negotiate.

 

[xulf]

El Floppo makes 8 figures???  Wtf arcitechts make that kind of bank?

 

[Doctor Detroit]

El Floppo makes 8 figures???  Wtf arcitechts make that kind of bank?

My link

 

[shuke]

I like Oncologists even less if you need a reference point. 

WTF?

 

[Ministry of Pain]

WTF?

They make money giving people chemo who are certain death, prolonging their lives with no quality of life, lovely folks. 

Both parents cancer, same experience both times. I could just expand to doctors and the medical community in general but the oncologists hold a special place on my list. 

Its Ok Shuke. You believe all doctors are good like most folks do. 

 

[mr roboto]

They make money giving people chemo who are certain death, prolonging their lives with no quality of life, lovely folks. 

Both parents cancer, same experience both times. I could just expand to doctors and the medical community in general but the oncologists hold a special place on my list. 

Its Ok Shuke. You believe all doctors are good like most folks do. 

I believe you're an ### who takes one experience and generalizes beyond the wildest bounds of logic, reason and common decency. 

 

[James Daulton]

I believe you're an ### who takes one experience and generalizes beyond the wildest bounds of logic, reason and common decency. 

Seriously MOP.  Don't like doctors?  I bet when you or your loved ones are seriously ill you'll be thanking god we have doctors.  Oh doctors tried to cure and prolong your parent's lives.  Actually they only did if for the money, not to actually try and cure, extend their lives.  You suck and I hope when you need a doctor they refuse treatment.  Stupid, narrow minded, immature ####. 

 

[El Floppo]

OK. I stopped feeling sorry for mop.

 

[shadyridr]

OK. I stopped feeling sorry for mop.

Yeah Im not gonna even get into it. Not worth it.