Loans and taxes

[charlestweed]

While I agree that on the surface it doesn't seem like you are living an extravagant lifestyle, you actually are:

40k a year on your son
12k a year gift to parents

This is over 50k after tax, which is probably equivalent to 1.5x the median take home salary of the average American. You are spending a huge amount of money. Just because it isn't on material things doesn't mean it isn't a huge amount.

You are always preaching living a low key lifestyle. This isn't even close to low key

I’ve always preached working hard and living on less than you make. If you make a lot of money (because of your hard work), you can afford to spend a lot as well. What’s the point of working hard and not enjoy spending the money that you make? It would be irresponsible to work only 4 (or less) days/wk and then refinance/extend the student loan term to 30 yrs (or signing up for IBR and then pray that the government will keep its promise to erase the loans 20 yrs later) so you can afford to get yourself a nice BMW or a big house.

The pay for working one Saturday is more than enough for me to pay a monthly lease on a 7 series BMW or a S-class Mercedes….and I used to work 4 Saturdays when I was younger. So even with an “extravagant” lifestyle, I still ended up saving more money than many of my colleagues, who drove cheaper cars. Many dentists and doctors, who are at my age, still have debt. And I am 100% debt-free. Nobody forced me to work on Saturdays and Sundays. I chose to do so because I wanted a nice doctor’s lifestyle. Even with zero debt right now, I continue to work because I don't want to lose this same comfortable lifestyle, which will be more expensive in the future due to inflation, when I am older and can no longer work. No pain, no gain.

I’d rather work hard to pay for my son’s college tuition than seeing him struggling to pay back the debt in the future. I’d rather work hard to help my parents than seeing them living in poverty. My and my wife’s parents came to this country when they were in their 50s; therefore, they didn’t work long enough to save for their retirements. Without our parents’ hard work and sacrifice, my wife and I wouldn’t have the life that we have now.

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[charlestweed]

I ran into this video about a couple who have a net worth of $6.3M (including their paid off house which is worth 2.7M). I find the video very interesting because the husband (his name is Tommy) and I have a lot of things in common. We’ve both worked very hard and have save a substantial amount of money. He and I are both very proud of our accomplishment but neither of us feel we are wealthy….and have saved enough for retirement. Therefore, he and I keep working until we feel we save enough. The problem is neither he nor I know at what point we’ll have enough for retirement. Tommy’s wife, who makes $160k/yr but will retire in a couple of months. Since the wife no longer generates income, Tommy feels he’ll need to work longer to save for retirement. Tommy is 60 yo. I am 51 yo. I hope that when I am at Tommy’s age in 9 more years, I won’t have the same concerns that Tommy currently has.

Tommy’s planned living budget (after retirement) will be around $12-15k/month…and that’s for if he gets to live until he’s 100 yo. My budget is around $17k/month…so I guess I will need more than $6.3M. I want to give something to my children. At least Tommy and his wife don’t have to worry about passing on some of their wealth to their children.

 

[Thehighwind87]

I ran into this video about a couple who have a net worth of $6.3M (including their paid off house which is worth 2.7M). I find the video very interesting because the husband (his name is Tommy) and I have a lot of things in common. We’ve both worked very hard and have save a substantial amount of money. He and I are both very proud of our accomplishment but neither of us feel we are wealthy….and have saved enough for retirement. Therefore, he and I keep working until we feel we save enough. The problem is neither he nor I know at what point we’ll have enough for retirement. Tommy’s wife, who makes $160k/yr but will retire in a couple of months. Since the wife no longer generates income, Tommy feels he’ll need to work longer to save for retirement. Tommy is 60 yo. I am 51 yo. I hope that when I am at Tommy’s age in 9 more years, I won’t have the same concerns that Tommy currently has.

Tommy’s planned living budget (after retirement) will be around $12-15k/month…and that’s for if he gets to live until he’s 100 yo. My budget is around $17k/month…so I guess I will need more than $6.3M. I want to give something to my children. At least Tommy and his wife don’t have to worry about passing on some of their wealth to their children.

Yeah. No thanks but anyone that has 2-3-10+ million is doing just fine in today's america. Sorry charles not buying it.

Average american salary: 56k. Your expenses alone is 17k. You spend in 4 months time- more then the average person makes in a year.

Are You Rich? U.S. Wealth Percentiles Might Provide Answers

See the U.S. wealth percentiles and what Americans think is the magic number for them to be considered rich in 2023.

www.kiplinger.com

Your net worth and the poster you posted are in the top 95%+.

Your commentary sorta reminds me of elon musk:

Like there's nothing wrong with elon musk, your wealth etc, but let's get real- being in the top 95%, you can't complain. You are doing GREAT and you know it, and so does Tommy.

 

[charlestweed]

Yeah. No thanks but anyone that has 2-3-10+ million is doing just fine in today's america. Sorry charles not buying it.

Average american salary: 56k. Your expenses alone is 17k. You spend in 4 months time- more then the average person makes in a year.

Are You Rich? U.S. Wealth Percentiles Might Provide Answers

See the U.S. wealth percentiles and what Americans think is the magic number for them to be considered rich in 2023.

www.kiplinger.com

Your net worth and the poster you posted are in the top 95%+.

Your commentary sorta reminds me of elon musk:

Like there's nothing wrong with elon musk, your wealth etc, but let's get real- being in the top 95%, you can't complain. You are doing GREAT and you know it, and so does Tommy.

Oh, I am very happy with what I have now. That’s why I keep encouraging many young students and dentists to work hard now so they will have the same (or better) lifestyle when they reach my age. I don’t want them to waste time during their youth years doing stupid things and then later find out that they don’t have enough time to work to fix their financial mistakes. When I started my career, there were a lot of advantages that I had that the younger generation don’t have such as much lower cost of living, lower student loan debt, lower home prices, less competition etc. And yet, I still worked my butt off so I could become 100% debt free before my 50th birthday. I just don’t see how the young grads can make it with working only 4 days/wk and have to pay back their $3-4-500k student loans….$700k-1million starter home etc.

If one only makes $56k/yr, that’s basically right at the poverty level. I pay my office manager $50k….she is a 56yo single person and she is struggling to pay her bills. The point I tried to make (by showing the above video) was a $17k/month living budget is well above average, but not as “extravagant” as you think. I still drive the same 2018 Tesla, which was paid in full. My wife drives the leased BMW SUV. My wife and I shop for clothes at the outlets, not at the expensive department stores…. and we only shop once or twice a year. I fix things around the house and at my offices. I wash all the cars by myself. In the last 4 weeks, I’ve mowed my own lawn because the gardener decided not to show up. I used to switch to a new car every 2-3 years when I was at my peak. But now, with much lower income (only work 17 days/month now), I plan to keep this same 2018 Tesla for while. I have a very comfortable lifesyle.....but it's nowhere near what Richard Gere has in the "Pretty Woman" movie.

It’s our current stable income that allows us to enjoy this nice lifestyle. But if my wife and I stopped working tomorrow…..and if we continued to spend the same amount, we would run out of cash in 20-25 years…and we wouldn’t be able to pass on anything for our children. In 25 years, I will be 76. What if I get to live until 80? or 90? That’s the concern that Tommy (the guy in the video) and I have. And therefore, we continue to work. It’s good to know that I am not the only weird one...... there are other people who have done well and also think like me.

Now I can see why my wife's GP boss, who makes more than us, still can't retire. He's 3 years older than us.

 

[juniordentist]

Oh, I am very happy with what I have now. That’s why I keep encouraging many young students and dentists to work hard now so they will have the same (or better) lifestyle when they reach my age. I don’t want them to waste time during their youth years doing stupid things and then later find out that they don’t have enough time to work to fix their financial mistakes. When I started my career, there were a lot of advantages that I had that the younger generation don’t have such as much lower cost of living, lower student loan debt, lower home prices, less competition etc. And yet, I still worked my butt off so I could become 100% debt free before my 50th birthday. I just don’t see how the young grads can make it with working only 4 days/wk and have to pay back their $3-4-500k student loans….$700k-1million starter home etc.

If one only makes $56k/yr, that’s basically right at the poverty level. I pay my office manager $50k….she is a 56yo single person and she is struggling to pay her bills. The point I tried to make (by showing the above video) was a $17k/month living budget is well above average, but not as “extravagant” as you think. I still drive the same 2018 Tesla, which was paid in full. My wife drives the leased BMW SUV. My wife and I shop for clothes at the outlets, not at the expensive department stores…. and we only shop once or twice a year. I fix things around the house and at my offices. I wash all the cars by myself. In the last 4 weeks, I’ve mowed my own lawn because the gardener decided not to show up. I used to switch to a new car every 2-3 years when I was at my peak. But now, with much lower income (only work 17 days/month now), I plan to keep this same 2018 Tesla for while. I have a very comfortable lifesyle.....but it's nowhere near what Richard Gere has in the "Pretty Woman" movie.

It’s our current stable income that allows us to enjoy this nice lifestyle. But if my wife and I stopped working tomorrow…..and if we continued to spend the same amount, we would run out of cash in 20-25 years…and we wouldn’t be able to pass on anything for our children. In 25 years, I will be 76. What if I get to live until 80? or 90? That’s the concern that Tommy (the guy in the video) and I have. And therefore, we continue to work. It’s good to know that I am not the only weird one...... there are other people who have done well and also think like me.

Now I can see why my wife's GP boss, who makes more than us, still can't retire. He's 3 years older than us.

You're working harder than you have to because you want to give your kids an excessive amount of wealth. That's all well and good, but I think it's just more than likely going to make your kids spoiled rich kids

 

[charlestweed]

You're working harder than you have to because you want to give your kids an excessive amount of wealth.

Not entirely true. Being a broke new grad orthodontist, I didn’t really have any other choice. I’ve worked hard for a lot of reasons. First, I had debts after debts to pay back….student loans….then a home loan….then 2 practice loans….then more home loan….then 3 investment properties loans etc. Second, for my own personal benefits….I wanted to have a “doctor” lifestyle….nice house, nice car etc. Third, I didn’t want to leave a huge burden to my wife, who would have to raise our 2 small kids, if something bad happened to me. My GP friend died of heart attack leaving a wife and 3 young helpless kids behind. He was only 50 yo. Fourth, I set up a brand new practice and therefore, I had to put in a lot of effort to build my reputation and to earn the trust from my patients. Reputation can’t just be built over night. And lastly, I have to continue to work hard to keep my patients and referring GPs happy in order to maintain the success of my business. I think you’ll understand what I am talking about when you have your own office.

Now that I am 100% debt free, I don’t work as hard as I used to but I still can’t quit working for the reasons I mentioned on the previous post. Working 17 days/wk (as an orthodontist) is not hard work. If you think this is hard work, you’re really spoiled.

That's all well and good, but I think it's just more than likely going to make your kids spoiled rich kids

You made a good point. I don’t think I would have the same motivation and work ethic if I had rich parents who help pay for everything. I don't think I would even think about going to college if I had rich parents. Facing hardship has taught me a lot in life.

I am happy that my son has done very well so far at UCLA. It's not a bad thing that he's somewhat introvert like me. He doesn't go out much. Our kids know we are doing well financially but they don’t know that we’ve saved for them.

I don’t think giving our kids some of what we’ve earned is spoiling them. We, older generation, have robbed our kids with excessive borrowings and spendings. The national debt is at 30+ trillions. The social security money will still be there for us, but probably won’t be there for our kids. None of these is our kids’ fault. So we work hard to give back to our kids some of what we have taken away from them.