If 100k isn't much then I must be living in poverty right now.

She also puts in a ton of hours.

Then maybe she did 40% less hours to earn 40% less salary

jesus... i need to become a nurse....

Oh, Nurse LUUUUUUU, can you come here and wipe my ass?

you guys saying 80k is a lot have to remember that many of these people are nearing retirement age and still making 80k. Sure if you're in your teens or early twenties (like many of u are) 80k is a lot, but not when you're 55. Also, it's not like they earned 80k right when they got out of school ether. If you have a dual income of 120k pretax and spent half of your money in a mortgage it would still take over 15 years to pay it off in vancouver

^ i doubt there are many teens out there making 80k yearly

for those saying they want to be a nurse and racking in $200+K....good luck doing OT on top of shift work for more than 10 years...you seriously wear you out.

http://taxtips.ca/calculators/taxcalculator.htm

Single $100K earner:
$100K in BC is taxed ~28% leaving you $72K/yr or $6K/mn after tax.

Two $50K earners:
$50K in BC is taxed 22% leaving them with $78K or $6.5K/mn after tax.

If you cannot live comfortably off that, you're doing something wrong.

shit i wish i make more
:(

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...70924a-eng.htm

$89K/yr puts you in the top 5% of earners, that's 1 in 20.

No disrespect, the reason it does not seem like a lot is cause you're probably surrounded by other people in the top 5%. That's why its not a lot to crow about, cause those around you have the same, if not more.

I'm quite sure nurses don't get paid $100k+ to wipe asses...haha. Their job encompasses a ton of care that not even doctors perform. Most general physicians see the patient and prescribe medicine with maybe a follow-up, and that's it.

nurses are actually one of the "best value" jobs for the society....they get paid a fair amount, but the work they do are actually important and they bring real value to the society...unlike many office works and "management" level job that get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars but their work doesn't benefit the society...(and in some cases, people would be better off without them at all)

btw, $100K wages gives you $74K after taxes in BC (aboutt $71K after CPP & EI). people need to stop using the marginal tax rate and pretend it is the average tax rate.
you can certainly live comfortably with 100k/yr, but don't a expect a luxurious lifestyle, and if you want a luxurious lifestyle, don't work for the government.

if that is how you live when you earn 5800 a month, than i am out of words, maybe you havnt read the article, but that 5800month puts you in the top 5% of income... now.. if the top 5% is middle class, the 95% below you is what?

alrite... here is a smack down if i had 5800/month
2 bed apartment in metro vancouver 1500/month (property tax/untilities)
1 EVO X 1200/month
4 weekend outing of 8 days X 100/day = 800/month (for people like us.. $800 is like 3~4 trackdays a MONTH..now if that aint ballin?)
Internet/Phone/TV = 200/month
lets say food runs you $30 a day = 900/month

even after all that shit... you still end up with $1200 in ur pocket..
1200 dollars @ 10/hr(after tax) is 120hrs which is abt some students calls.. 3 weeks of full time work when they are off school in the summer...
now...5800 month after deductions is abt 36.25/hr(after tax, $52 b4 deductions)...now can you tell me how many professions lands you $52/hr and can keep you working for a 40hr week?

if u dun go out and spend that 800 bucks on weekends.. you easily can save 2Gs a month... and thats if ur wife/GF decides to not have a part time job at all... if she does.. i can see you being able to afford an european trip/florida cruise/vegas.. every year...instead of people planning for a trip like that years ahead, you get to have all three in one year.. ?

if you think 100K is middle class... i dunno what ur family is racking up a year then... cuz lemme tell you..the friends i hang out with.. none of our FAMILY income even comes close to $5800/month after deductions...

and dun start saying how EVO X is a middle class car, cuz it isnt.. a middle class car is a ralliart..and the lower class can have the lancer, i am not saying the EVO X is high class... we know and see S-class/7 series zoom by everyday...and we see those kids with exotics too, but how many people who drives a S-Class/exotics actually goes to work?

I dunno abt you, but when I rmbr back in my highschool days and you see G35s and 350Zs zoom by？ wouldnt you tell ur friends.. damn YO..dats BALLIN...? and when we see a E46 M3..we go like OH FACK！！haha.. dun even mention what happens when we see a lambo or a prancing horse lol...

just my 2 cents, i am not saying i am right, but i just want to further explain mt point of view...

people who can't live off 100k really need to re-evaluate their spending.

I've adjusted some of your numbers to deal with the fact someone making $100K feels entitled to certain things.
- A 2bd 2bath condo in Yaletown with granite and stainless.
- $100+ cell phone bill with dataplan, and ~$200 TV/internet bill with HD, PVR, movies, ...
- More eating out, less eating in

This is why people complain they aren't getting ahead when making this much, cause they raise the bar and spend more than the extra they are making.

My roommate is a perfect example of this.
$72K government job with pension.
He makes ~$4K/mn after tax, union dues, and pension.
His living costs are ~$1100/mn for rent/TV/internet/hydro/cell.
His car is $600 for payment, insurance, and gas.
That leaves him $2300 to spend - and he spends it all and then some, to the tune of $12K of debt on LOCs. #1 expense: eating out for breakfast and lunch. $30/day, 20 working days == $600.
He constantly complains he doesn't make enough, even though he is in the top 10% of earners, and has a pension so he doesn't need to save for retirement.

When we were looking for somewhere to rent I found us a place which would have saved him $150/mn, or $1800/yr towards paying down his debt. He passed cause he claimed he's a "30yo and is entitled to live better". This was a typical 2bdrm 1 bath condo with ensuite laundry. Yet it had no granite, no stainless, no hardwood, ... so instead we pay more for a nicer place and he goes deeper into debt. :rolleyes:

if you are spending 2500/month on housing and still rentin and STILL CONSIDER urself MIDDLE CLASS..then...? you tell me?
for the record.. why do you need 2 bathroom if you are living by urself!

A) i know a 25 year mortgage payment plan on a $500,000 2,200 sqft house with 5% downpayment runs you abt $1800/month..and that $700/month can get you into property tax/utilities and all that shazam...
B) my families 1000 sqft apartment beside metrotown runs us $800/month on mortgage + $400 of maintenance fee which covers utilities/property tax
no, we might not have ocean view, but we have tennis courts/gym/pool/hot tub...and.. central park. Now we have a whole family living here, think abt if its just YOU by urself living in a 1000sqft home
C).i have friends who rents a whole floor of a house for less than $1500/month... a typical NEW 2 bedroom basement runs you $1000 a month (but i understand no one like landlords who live on top of you)
D).i also have friends who rents a 2bed apartment in downtown, as in.. 10min walk to english bay？ that is only 680sq ft..talkin abt a shoebox that is $1500/month..

All 4 options runs within my first budget, and I would think any of that is pretty ballin, considering its form just one person's income
(and only the first option will run you into less than the $1200 left over/month to just $200 over/month, every other option either meets the 1500, or is actually less than 1500 that i have put down)

Lets turn around and look @ it from your point of view then, if you hvnt changed ur mind since ur first post...does a middle class live in yale town? -.-

I dunno what carrier you use for your internet/cellphone/cable?
but my data plan runs me $72/month
my shaw high speed extreme runs me $60/month
that gives you $68 for TV, i dunno abt you, but personally I wont even spend the $68 on TV, but I will leave it hooked up for the pay-per-view, now $68 is more than enough to get thru fifa/NHL/NFL/UFC even in HD?

for your more eating out and less eating in thing..sure i will take on the extra $300 in expense..dude..that still gives you $900 in ur pocket with my budget..

=============================================

and after readin about your roommate.. now I am not saying his thought process is wrong? but ...at least the way you describe it... it sounds like...
he doesnt really consider himself as middle class now does he?
you say he earns 4K/month, that is a bit off from the 5.8K/month we were talkin abt，dun you think? Wouldnt all his finicial problems be solved if he had 5800 instead of 4000 to spend on every single month? wouldnt that solved his 12K per year deficit on loans?

my question to you or your roommate is ...
DO YOU CONSIDER URSELF MIDDLE CLASS OR HIGH CLASS?


I already put in $800 for entertainment for a month, lets do an example...
$100/day is...
1 decent lunch $15
1 movie $15
1 decent dinner $30
that still gives you $40 for drinks at a decent lounge somewhere in Dwntwn?

Now imagine you can do that every single day that you are NOT working? you are tellin me that aint ballin?
I know most people will party like crazy on a sat..and maybe just stay home on sunday...in that case.. you can DBL the cost of everything and spend $200 in a single day...
(rmbr, accordin to my budget, you still have $1200 a month sittin in a bank)
In my shoes, I would probably save whatever my wife/GF can bring home, and put that $1200 with the $800 on entertainment...
with $250/day of spending on every single day you are NOT working? and still have a saving from ur GFs avg job of even just $1000/month which ends up being 12Gs/yr ?
(and if you are racking up more than $52/hr, i doubt your GF/wife of choice is workin on some dead end $8/hr job...if she earns only $15/hr, she can make that $1000(after deductions) with less than 18 hours a week)

and that is suppose to be a life of a middle class to you?
when i go out..i dun effin spend $250 in 24 hours on every holiday that i have... and still manage a saving somehow by year end...

(haha..are the rest of you just having a good time with ur pop corn?)
and what i am sayin is more towards itsallaboutgz than you taylor lol =D

Dude, relax. We're on the same page, I agree with you.

My post was to highlight why people making that kinda of money don't think it is a lot. They raise their standard of living disproportionally to their increase in salary, wasting it on things above and beyond your reasonable budget.

People incorrectly associate a low 6 figure salary with living in a trendy Yaletown condo and driving a $50K+ vehicle - then try and stretch themselves into that image. 5%, or 1 of 20 people do not own a $50K+ vehicle, it is much lower than that.

haha, sry.. my goof.. as you might missed on the last line...
"and what i am sayin is more towards itsallaboutgz than you taylor lol =D "
was just usin ur post as a spring board to back up my claim even further LOL...

=P

i think its cuz vancouver gives the wrong impression to people..when you roll around in richmond and you see those high rollers, most people think they must be earning big..but the truth is..the people you see there are most likely not even earning at all..they are just here to spend their fortunes =P

What you're seeing is all too normal. People see a few more BMWs and think everyone drives one. My roommate thought the same cause he works downtown, until I made him count vehicles and people at the bus stop. Vancouver does have a lot of nice rides, yet not as many as everyone thinks.

My workplace is a great example. I work software, so many of my coworkers make $60-100K. At my last workplace in Ottawa the parking lot had far more luxury cars than my new workplace in Richmond - the opposite of the Vancouver stereotype that everyone drives a luxury car.

That is all fine and dandy if you are mid twenties and have no liabilities and renting. If you are like me, you want to settle down with your SO and raise a family. So let me show you my calculation based on a conservative scenario.

You make 100K and the wife makes 40K. Actual monthly take home is around $8500/month after you take away CPP, EI, union fees, medical care, death insurance etc etc.

1. House (and don't tell me living in a 1964 house on Boundary and Kingsway is upper class. Also living in a 2 bedroom apartment is not upper class)
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ertyId=9661565
$675k, 10% down, 25 years @ 5%
$3500/month

2. House bills. Tax (200)/Utilities(100)/Hydro(100)/Maintainence(200) /TvInternet(100)/Phone bills(100)
$800/month

3. Cars based on 1 new and 1 old. Insurance(350)/Gas(400)/Maintainence(150)/Finance a four banger TSX(600)
$1500/month

4. Food for you+wife (excluding kids as that will be factoring in later)
$700/month

5. Entertainment/Clothes/Vacation/Outings/Friends/Toys etc
$600/month

6. Retirement/Investments for 2. This is a tricky one are there are various techniques to it, factoring in inflation, investment types, contribution, ROI etc. But to make things easier, lets say you save 10% of your take home which is pretty conservative.
$890/month

7. Kids. 13k/3 years. Say you have 2 kids and share some costs, 18k/3year = 6k/year. Now some of the cost in there factor in stuff like housing which you are already paying for. But lets just say that you are saving that for your kids college tuition. BTW, I was looking at the childcare costs and it says 2k/2yr. FYI, childcare is expensive as hell and can easily cost you 1000+ a month for two kids if you don't have help.
$500/month

http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles...tlkidscost.asp

TOTAL=$8490
Income=$8500
Difference=$10

Conclusion. Lets ignore the fact that everyone is saying 100k=top 5%. Look at the numbers above. Does any of that seem like you are living out of line, enjoying lavish shopping at Holt and driving around in a 7 series? Buying boats and motorcycles? No. This is a very average family expense. Perhaps a small vacation annually. They get by comfortably and could probably get by with less, but in no way does this scream "I'm rich" or "I'm in the upper class".

Sure you can rent, but if you are upper class, you don't rent on Hastings. Rents on the westside will run you 3k-6K.

Again, you can live comfortably with less than 100k and many families do, but as seen above, 140k/yr dual income family are NOT considered the upper class, at least not in the city of Vancouver.

use the calculator i linked later on yes it comes to 72k but all the other bullshit like ei rsp pension etc etc brings it down a couple 10k more
https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/rhpd...ptionsJul10.do <<its a govt calculator and it calculates by province

Uh, do you randomly pick and choose which posts to read in a thread? I mentioned a good friend of mine is a registered nurse. I mentioned the wipe my ass to bug LUUUUUUUU. Where's your sense of humour?

Anyway...................

HOLY SHIT. my secondary school librarian makes $82g's a year bitching at kids all day.

I think a big problem is spending 20% of your take-home pay on assets that are worthless (cars)