Average retirement savings

[spiders]

Nobody is paying $900 in rent and then $150 in electric, another $120 for gas and then somehow $100 for heat which somehow didn’t use gas or electric.

 

[barkley]

$15/hour
approximately $1600/month income
Rent - $900
Food - $500
Gas - $120
Electric - $150
Water/sewage - $40
heat - $100
Car insurance - $100
Total living expenses - $1910

Yes, water heaters, plumbing problems, car repair, medical problems, it all would be an emergency, including normal living expenses when they would be higher than your income. Could you explain how you add line items into the $15/hour budget above for those items? How would you add retirement to that budget? How would you add clothing? I guess you could eliminate gas because you have to have a car first and there's no way to buy a car on that budget. Those should also be saved for above your emergency fund.


The emergency fund is talked of in the personal finance sense as being there to replace your income in the event of job loss until you can get another job. It's not there for emergency situations that come up. Those things should already be budgeted (if able, see above). The emergency fund should not be included in savings for future car or home repair or to cover your medical out of pocket.

this shows how much of a difference taxes in one state vs. another can make a difference. a person living local to me who is single/1 for filing status and earning $15 an hour would see a paycheck of $2186 per month (biweekly pay x 26 pay periods divided by 12). that of course could be reduced by any employee healthcare premiums but for just straight pay minus all the payroll taxes and such they are obligated to there would be a $586 per month difference.

the numbers are pretty close on costs for similar items of need around here as well (though you could get a studio vs. a 1 b/r in a nice complex for less-my kid pays $800 for that 1 b/r and the unit comes with it's own washer/dryer and private individual garage), with the exception of water/sewage (included in rent for most) and electricity/heat-i don't pay that much for my entire home (and we are home all day 7 days a week with well below freezing temps), my kid in a 1 b/r apartment comes in at $86 a month for electricity and heat-but utilities can be so much more expensive in one area vs. another (i pay less now than i paid in the 90's under pg&e).

it's definitely not easy to get by on numbers like this but choices have to be made based on cost of living in a given area. my kid opted to accept a lower per hour pay rate job when she graduated after we helped her review the benefits package and she found that the employer that paid a smidge less-offered nearly free full medical, dental and vision (less than $50 a month employee share/low deductible/low copay) and generous 401k matching. the value of those benefits were many times the salary difference.

 

[adkkev]

Nobody is paying $900 in rent and then $150 in electric, another $120 for gas and then somehow $100 for heat which somehow didn’t use gas or electric.

could very well be for fuel oil. Not everyone has electric or gas furnaces.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Nobody is paying $900 in rent and then $150 in electric, another $120 for gas and then somehow $100 for heat which somehow didn’t use gas or electric.

I think the "gas" in the example is for the car, not for the house.

 

[SteveH]

Many people are reducing their expenses by moving to a lower cost state. That is why Washington State is growing so fast. The state is a tax haven for high income individuals. People are flooding in here from California.

Hopefully we can maintain that, just need to make sure the courts uphold the ban on the Income Tax or it's going to be just like California.

 

[disykat]

I plan on staying in my starter home forever. Once the kids leave it’ll be the perfect size for just us two.

Wise move. My parents stayed in their starter home. We stayed in our "next one up from starter" home, but still a modest home. (We moved to be in a better school district.) I grew up hearing the mantra "You can't eat your house," essentially meaning don't let your house become a burden in hard times.

Live somewhere cheaper or get roommates. No one has to pay that much for rent.

LOL! I was thinking $900 obviously meant roommates were sharing. I totally agree with getting roommates to share expenses and always had them until I married at 29. Right now in our area to get $900 rent, you'd probably be looking at a 3 bdm modest house split 3 ways. You couldn't get that splitting a 2 bdm apt. You might find it splitting a one bedroom. The way to get it for sure would be to find a homeowner renting out a room.

 

[DLgal]

Nobody is paying $900 in rent and then $150 in electric, another $120 for gas and then somehow $100 for heat which somehow didn’t use gas or electric.

LOL. You have never lived in California, I take it? Our rent is $3300, gas when we run the heater is around $75/month, and electric is around $150 as an average. This is for an 1800sq ft house. When we lived in an apartment, our utilities were not much less.

I would LOVE to pay only $900 for rent...

 

[DLgal]

Many people are reducing their expenses by moving to a lower cost state. That is why Washington State is growing so fast. The state is a tax haven for high income individuals. People are flooding in here from California.

No one can run from the IRS, though.

 

[Donald13]

]

LOL. You have never lived in California, I take it? Our rent is $3300, gas when we run the heater is around $75/month, and electric is around $150 as an average. This is for an 1800sq ft house. When we lived in an apartment, our utilities were not much less.

I would LOVE to pay only $900 for rent...

And I would love to know how you just know that no one is paying that?? Where do you get that info from? Rents here are insane. We paid $1100 13 years ago for a one bedroom. I can’t image what the rent is now.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

LOL. You have never lived in California, I take it? Our rent is $3300, gas when we run the heater is around $75/month, and electric is around $150 as an average. This is for an 1800sq ft house. When we lived in an apartment, our utilities were not much less.

I would LOVE to pay only $900 for rent...

www.uhaul.com

 

[mjkacmom]

We

LOL. You have never lived in California, I take it? Our rent is $3300, gas when we run the heater is around $75/month, and electric is around $150 as an average. This is for an 1800sq ft house. When we lived in an apartment, our utilities were not much less.

I would LOVE to pay only $900 for rent...

We pay $450 a month for gas and electric (budget plan so the same each month), 1800 square feet.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I love it when people say move to a LCOL area. As if it’s that easy. Yea well I looked into that when my kids were younger and my job pays way less in those areas so I would be in the same boat. I would’ve been worse off because I had free childcare here. If I left and had no family I would be paying daycare too.

I’m in NJ. Even in the hood, where you are risking drive by shootings and drug dealers, a one bedroom apartment is about 800 a month to start. If you’re paying less you are in a condemned house or sleeping with rats and roaches.

 

[mrodgers]

I plan on staying in my starter home forever. Once the kids leave it’ll be the perfect size for just us two.

I can't stand the term "starter home". That's just a term made up by the rich snobs to explain why they are in a normal size home and not a McMansion. There is no such thing as a "starter home."

And I knew someone (everyone) would nitpick my post. Those are real numbers, except I have never rented and did forget about things being included. Around here it's usually "plus gas and electric" which only puts garbage (forgot that in my original post) and water/sewage included.

Yes, gas in my post is auto fuel, petrol, gasoline, whatever makes sense to the reader. Yes, electric is expensive. I'm not even home and it runs average $120-150/month (higher in summer with AC and lower in winter.) Heat is oil, usually gas though if you rent and judging by everyone else I know who isn't on propane or oil, it runs about the same. Car insurance is my numbers with a cheap new car full coverage, cheapest out of the 7 quotes I got when we split.

2 people are not eating real food at $250/month here. We spent $250/week and now I spend around $150 every 2 weeks but I spend other budget money eating out a LOT. I could not feed myself for $300/month if I was to eat at home all the time.

2 bedroom apartment will be $900ish. Also, a $150k house would be around $900 as well with taxes and insurance (I didn't add insurance as I forgot about that. I don't have homeowner's insurance myself.) Single bedroom apartments are tough to find, most are 2 bedroom.

 

[mjkacmom]

I love it when people say move to a LCOL area. As if it’s that easy. Yea well I looked into that when my kids were younger and my job pays way less in those areas so I would be in the same boat. I would’ve been worse off because I had free childcare here. If I left and had no family I would be paying daycare too.

I’m in NJ. Even in the hood, where you are risking drive by shootings and drug dealers, a one bedroom apartment is about 800 a month to start. If you’re paying less you are in a condemned house or sleeping with rats and roaches.

My son lives in Ewing, right next to beautiful Trenton , average 1 bedroom rent is over $1300.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

I can't stand the term "starter home". That's just a term made up by the rich snobs to explain why they are in a normal size home and not a McMansion. There is no such thing as a "starter home."

And I knew someone (everyone) would nitpick my post. Those are real numbers, except I have never rented and did forget about things being included. Around here it's usually "plus gas and electric" which only puts garbage (forgot that in my original post) and water/sewage included.

Yes, gas in my post is auto fuel, petrol, gasoline, whatever makes sense to the reader. Yes, electric is expensive. I'm not even home and it runs average $120-150/month (higher in summer with AC and lower in winter.) Heat is oil, usually gas though if you rent and judging by everyone else I know who isn't on propane or oil, it runs about the same. Car insurance is my numbers with a cheap new car full coverage, cheapest out of the 7 quotes I got when we split.

2 people are not eating real food at $250/month here. We spent $250/week and now I spend around $150 every 2 weeks but I spend other budget money eating out a LOT. I could not feed myself for $300/month if I was to eat at home all the time.

2 bedroom apartment will be $900ish. Also, a $150k house would be around $900 as well with taxes and insurance (I didn't add insurance as I forgot about that. I don't have homeowner's insurance myself.) Single bedroom apartments are tough to find, most are 2 bedroom.

I think people thought because there was only 1 income in you scenario that the $500 figure you used was meant to feed 1 person.
Most would agree that It would be nearly impossible to feed 2 adults for a month on $250.

 

[spiders]

LOL. You have never lived in California, I take it? Our rent is $3300, gas when we run the heater is around $75/month, and electric is around $150 as an average. This is for an 1800sq ft house. When we lived in an apartment, our utilities were not much less.

I would LOVE to pay only $900 for rent...

I am specifically saying no one is paying that much for utilities on something that rents for $900.

And regardless of your area, you’re probably not living in 1,800 square feet on $15 per hour. If you are then that’s your first problem: find something smaller.

 

[amylevan]

I can't stand the term "starter home". That's just a term made up by the rich snobs to explain why they are in a normal size home and not a McMansion. There is no such thing as a "starter home."

And I knew someone (everyone) would nitpick my post. Those are real numbers, except I have never rented and did forget about things being included. Around here it's usually "plus gas and electric" which only puts garbage (forgot that in my original post) and water/sewage included.

Yes, gas in my post is auto fuel, petrol, gasoline, whatever makes sense to the reader. Yes, electric is expensive. I'm not even home and it runs average $120-150/month (higher in summer with AC and lower in winter.) Heat is oil, usually gas though if you rent and judging by everyone else I know who isn't on propane or oil, it runs about the same. Car insurance is my numbers with a cheap new car full coverage, cheapest out of the 7 quotes I got when we split.

2 people are not eating real food at $250/month here. We spent $250/week and now I spend around $150 every 2 weeks but I spend other budget money eating out a LOT. I could not feed myself for $300/month if I was to eat at home all the time.

2 bedroom apartment will be $900ish. Also, a $150k house would be around $900 as well with taxes and insurance (I didn't add insurance as I forgot about that. I don't have homeowner's insurance myself.) Single bedroom apartments are tough to find, most are 2 bedroom.

We could argue numbers all day. But I just wanted to note that we kind of support my bro-in-law and I do his grocery shopping. Shopping sales, eating lots of pasta, and plenty of frozen food since the man can’t cook, we feed him on $75/every 2 weeks. It’s a royal PITA, but it can be done.

His rent for a studio apt in a not great part of town is $850 and includes all utilities except cable.

No car, but he needs a bus pass = $60/month.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

There are plenty of complexes and rentals here that do not include utilities. My last rental I had before buying my home I paid heat, hot water and electric. Second floor apartment so heat rises in the summer. That central air would run non stop for two months. On the equal payment plan I was paying 250 a month.

 

[mjkacmom]

W

I can't stand the term "starter home". That's just a term made up by the rich snobs to explain why they are in a normal size home and not a McMansion. There is no such thing as a "starter home."

And I knew someone (everyone) would nitpick my post. Those are real numbers, except I have never rented and did forget about things being included. Around here it's usually "plus gas and electric" which only puts garbage (forgot that in my original post) and water/sewage included.

Yes, gas in my post is auto fuel, petrol, gasoline, whatever makes sense to the reader. Yes, electric is expensive. I'm not even home and it runs average $120-150/month (higher in summer with AC and lower in winter.) Heat is oil, usually gas though if you rent and judging by everyone else I know who isn't on propane or oil, it runs about the same. Car insurance is my numbers with a cheap new car full coverage, cheapest out of the 7 quotes I got when we split.

2 people are not eating real food at $250/month here. We spent $250/week and now I spend around $150 every 2 weeks but I spend other budget money eating out a LOT. I could not feed myself for $300/month if I was to eat at home all the time.

2 bedroom apartment will be $900ish. Also, a $150k house would be around $900 as well with taxes and insurance (I didn't add insurance as I forgot about that. I don't have homeowner's insurance myself.) Single bedroom apartments are tough to find, most are 2 bedroom.
[/QUOTE
Well I guess you can’t move to an area with a lower COL.

 

[Donald13]

I am specifically saying no one is paying that much for utilities on something that rents for $900.

And regardless of your area, you’re probably not living in 1,800 square feet on $15 per hour. If you are then that’s your first problem: find something smaller.

You make it sound so easy. Congrats on having it all figured out