Our income is lower now that DH works for the state, but we get some good benefits. He's taking classes for free right now and mine will be 50% if I want to get a new degree.
DH started a business last year (right after we had DS - fun times!), so right now I'm essentially the only earner, and we are reinvesting everything he makes back into his business. I'm counting just my earnings and the slight take home from his.
I am SO HOPEFUL that in maybe 5 years the business is established enough that i can take a huge step back career-wise. Probably still work, but maybe just part time.
Post by leonard131 on Sept 22, 2014 8:02:15 GMT -5
Our HHI varies as H owns his own business so can vary year to year. The good thing it is he never dips below what I make so we have a base we work off of. I voted based on last years income. I think this year it may be a little lower.
Stratify by WM vs. SAHM! (Well, that was the point of the other polls, right?)
I read somewhere that women on the opposite ends of the income spectrum are the ones most likely to stay home. If your HHI is high, then you can afford to live on one salary (it's also more likely that the working spouse is earning those big bucks working 70+ hours/week). On the other side, you have women staying home because they can't afford childcare.
But when you think of the middle ... if you have one spouse earning $65k and the other earning $50k, that's a six-figure family when both spouses work (which means better school districts, more college savings, etc.)
Post by whitepicketfence on Sept 22, 2014 8:20:11 GMT -5
I'm on the app so...
I'm hopeful that we'll break the $100K mark this year, especially once my pay raise from my promotion kicks in. We're in a LCOL area and I only work very PT right now so that skews things a bit.
Post by MadamePresident on Sept 22, 2014 8:21:32 GMT -5
Our income is in the lower end, but we have no student loans, no consumer debt, and no mortgage. My husband has a bachelor degree in engineering and I have a master's in business. We have nice things and paid cash for our house. I stay at home, but may go back to work when the kids are in school.
Stratify by WM vs. SAHM! (Well, that was the point of the other polls, right?)
I read somewhere that women on the opposite ends of the income spectrum are the ones most likely to stay home. If your HHI is high, then you can afford to live on one salary (it's also more likely that the working spouse is earning those big bucks working 70+ hours/week). On the other side, you have women staying home because they can't afford childcare.
But when you think of the middle ... if you have one spouse earning $65k and the other earning $50k, that's a six-figure family when both spouses work (which means better school districts, more college savings, etc.)
This is the situation we are in. I contribute about 60% of our income, and DH 40%. We are comfortable with both incomes, but it would be impossible to live on one of them without severely impacting our lifestyle. If DH had the higher income, we would have tried for me to be a SAHM, but H has no desire to SAH and I have no desire to try to live on his income.
As of a month ago, he has gotten my salary in raises alone since he started his job 3 years ago.
#bragplaint
Ha, yeah, kinda.
It is really hard at times having such a huge income disparity, though, especially because we have equal education. I pretty much never get raises or bonuses whereas he gets both yearly. I have applied for promotions and been denied. It's kind of demoralizing seeing him do so well financially and I'm basically the same.
It is really hard at times having such a huge income disparity, though, especially because we have equal education. I pretty much never get raises or bonuses whereas he gets both yearly. I have applied for promotions and been denied. It's kind of demoralizing seeing him do so well financially and I'm basically the same.
I feel you! I have been at the same company for 7 years and while I've gotten some raises I don't feel that I am paid what I deserve. Meanwhile, H has been at his company for 3, started at the same salary as me and now makes 2x what I make. He also has amazing benefits and works fewer hours than I do. It sucks! Sorry if I made you feel bad about your post!
It is really hard at times having such a huge income disparity, though, especially because we have equal education. I pretty much never get raises or bonuses whereas he gets both yearly. I have applied for promotions and been denied. It's kind of demoralizing seeing him do so well financially and I'm basically the same.
But you sort of do different things with your degrees right? I mean, do you want his job and the hours that go with it? Or do you want to be married to the person who makes the bank and not have to work the long hours.
I am lazy so it's clear where I stand on this issue
Stratify by WM vs. SAHM! (Well, that was the point of the other polls, right?)
I read somewhere that women on the opposite ends of the income spectrum are the ones most likely to stay home. If your HHI is high, then you can afford to live on one salary (it's also more likely that the working spouse is earning those big bucks working 70+ hours/week). On the other side, you have women staying home because they can't afford childcare.
But when you think of the middle ... if you have one spouse earning $65k and the other earning $50k, that's a six-figure family when both spouses work (which means better school districts, more college savings, etc.)
This is our situation, except that I love my job and would work even if DH made more. DH makes more than me, but not a lot more than me, and not enough for me to comfortably stay home. Daycare with one kid is doable, though we live much less extravagantly than most on this board. Daycare with two will be really tight, but one of us staying home isn't an option, at least as long as student loans are on the table (and even without them, it'd really take cutting our already low entertainment budget down to zero, decreasing retirement savings, potentially moving, etc).
PDQ I'm not entirely sure...take home counting everything except bonuses is over $11K/mo now. We have at least 7 sources of income (dividends, rentals, etc). I'd say in the $150-175k range gross all in. We are 39 though, when we were 29 we had 1 (DHs salary of $42k/yr). His income is about 3xs that now not counting other sources. If I go back to work f/t we'll break $200k pretty easily.
We had just hit the $100K mark but I went part time after N was born, so this year it'll be around $90K. We are both very early in our careers (first jobs after college) and made within $10K of each other, so staying at home wouldn't be in the cards until one of us had significant growth.
Post by rupertpenny on Sept 22, 2014 9:12:32 GMT -5
We're in the 150-200 range. At the beginning of 2014 our HHI was less than 60k so this is a nice change to say the least. We don't have a mortgage or a car payment (because we don't have cars, not because we bought with cash), but we have PLENTY of student loans.
My H also has a lot of potential for income growth so that's nice.
Post by rupertpenny on Sept 22, 2014 9:14:19 GMT -5
Oh, and we would not be comfortable on one income in our VHCOL city. Especially not with our student loans. But that's ok because neither of us has any desire to SAH.