6d ago

HENRYs with kids say 6-figure salaries just aren't cutting it

www.businessinsider.com

A trifecta of costs is straining HENRY parents' wallets

27 comments

high earners, not rich yet.
The couple in the article have a problem with spending priorities, not affordability.
They can whinge all they like, but society should focus on helping people with real problems.
"6-figure salaries just aren't cutting it"
Reminds me of the people who insist on higher taxes but complain that raising taxes on their lowly 300k+ two-income household would be oppression.
It's never enough.
- Low six figures in many places is barely middle class these days. I'm not even kidding.
  
  Indeed. One couple here is living in Bay Area. I'm sure rent/mortgage, daycare, and school loans take a huge bite out of things.
  
  100k a year in most EU countries is considered wealthy, and we have the highest taxes in the world.
  We also generally have higher food/gas prices than anywhere else, so probably it’s more related to spending habits in the US. Eating out should be a once per month thing not three times per day.
  That being said, we also got free healthcare and education so probably makes a huge difference.
We are going to be paying off our student loans for at least another decade," Heninger, who is facing just under $900 monthly payments between himself and his wife
Oh for fucks sake, if they have $100,000+ that's $8,333 per month, and they can't handle paying $900 per month?
Cry me a river will you?
- Not arguing with anything but your numbers. Gross pay is not net pay. My net is 60% of my gross with family health insurance taken out , and taxes (but mostly health insurance).
  So that could be closer to 5k a month, let's say 6 to be generous. Rent here for anything that will fit a family is close to 3k. Another thousand on top for student loans, then electric bill, car insurance or transit $, more people means more food, I can see it might be tight.
  Still not anything to really complain about money wise but legit IMO to complain about student loans in general. Education from K through university or trade school needs to be free for students, the economy would work better.
  
  You forgot childcare. Tack on another 2-3K per month in expenses for that.
  
  Also, with the price hikes and everything recently, The cost of living has gone up while their salaries haven't. What's happened is people who haven't had to budget before now are now needing to budget. Yeah, they still make enough that they can live quite comfortably it's not like they're going to starve, But they can't just buy that new car every year anymore.
- Just because they make more income than you doesn't mean they don't also struggle. Their expenses are different from yours. Also these student loans are predatory. They have terms where you can pay for years and end up owing more than you originally took out
  
  "Different" meaning "need to make payments on cars and properties that a poor person can only dream of having"? Look, I get that rich and poor all struggle... but can we not pretend that the struggles are equal?
- That's not how it works.
- As of 4th quarter 2024, average cost of living for a single person in the US is $4,948/month. Take that $8,333/month, chop off 20% for taxes, and you're already getting uncomfortably close to that number. For a family of four, I really don't see how those numbers work at all.
  
  Average because 1% own half the wealth, average has nothing to do with normal people. You need median. Many people don't even make 5k per month before taxes.
  
  The 33-year-old works in affordable housing development and identifies as a HENRY, or a high earner, but not rich yet.

27 comments