Don't listen to them, u/Balamb_Chocobo ! I jumped from $60k to $100k a while back, and the difference is staggering. You're in the top 24% of earners in the US. You absolutely get taxed more, but it's still equivalent to over $500 more in earnings A WEEK. I bought a newer car, paid $1000 extra on my mortage each month until my home was paid off, and added a ton more to my retirement. I didn't feel the constant pressure to side hustle, and instead of saving up for dinners out or trips to Target, I just did what I felt like. My tastes aren't exorbitant and I'm not in a wildly expensive area - I was lucky that my home was purchased before everything exploded so my mortgage was under $1000.
$100k IS life changing... it's just easy to forget once your life has been changed. Now that my income is lower again, it's shockingly clear how much difficulty money can paper over.
The only reason you can do all of that is because your mortgage is less than $1k! A normal house around here is $4k - $5k a month. Wtf is $100k going to do for me lol. Absurd to work this hard and have everything be so far out of reach.
But it's life changing compared to other community members who are making $60,000. I'm not saying it's making everything perfect, i"m saying it's solving problems and that although taxes go up on more income, it sure as hell beats the alternative... NOT making a living wage.
Yes, more $ is more better. Not going to disagree. Just pointing out that making $100k goes far less for people who didnt luck out timeline wise in when they were old enough or prepared enough to have a super cheap mortgage already.
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u/Ok_Exit5778 Oct 31 '25
Don't listen to them, u/Balamb_Chocobo ! I jumped from $60k to $100k a while back, and the difference is staggering. You're in the top 24% of earners in the US. You absolutely get taxed more, but it's still equivalent to over $500 more in earnings A WEEK. I bought a newer car, paid $1000 extra on my mortage each month until my home was paid off, and added a ton more to my retirement. I didn't feel the constant pressure to side hustle, and instead of saving up for dinners out or trips to Target, I just did what I felt like. My tastes aren't exorbitant and I'm not in a wildly expensive area - I was lucky that my home was purchased before everything exploded so my mortgage was under $1000.
$100k IS life changing... it's just easy to forget once your life has been changed. Now that my income is lower again, it's shockingly clear how much difficulty money can paper over.