We’ll just stipulate that your friends and family can come too. They will also get the massive sum of 20K/year but they must still live in Kerala.
Alternatively, imagine you could have been born into that life or the one you actually have. That might require a bit too much imagining, but I think most (maybe not 100% though) here would take the life they have now. IIRC, for that guy to get out of that life, he scored in the top 0.1% on the IIT entrance exam. That has to be hard as fuck, since I’m sure that kids who know they have no shot don’t even bother to take it.
I don’t think it changes much if we cap their earnings at 20K/yr. They might live pretty well in Kerala, but trying to take a vacation anywhere outside India might be a bit of a challenge. Especially if you’ve got a family.
The bulk of their income goes toward their investments — to the tune of about $25,000 a month, between retirement savings, taxable brokerage accounts and a 529 savings plan for their child.
Budget looks good for that level of income. I am impressed with $2500 in vacations every month but perhaps they do a $10k vacation a few times per year. So, they just don’t feel good about their spending and have a hard time spending more. Whatever.
Yeah vacation budget is easy. There’s no limit to how expensive you can make it. I’m more impressed by the grocery budget. Unless that includes restaurants.
They are, right? At least that is how I’m interpreting “We’re worried we’re not saving enough.” Seems like they’re afraid of job loss and maintaining a similar lifestyle through that. They don’t have enough to spend what they’re spending and live off of savings. They’ll go busto unless they cut back or save more.
Also that’s not quite analogous. With the candles, the solution is to cut out the candles. Cutting out the saving is not going to help them with their perceived problem.
I meant they would go busto if they both god laid off, only had their savings, and wanted to maintain current lifestyle.
That’s what they’re worried about.
I think the best message would be “Look if that happens, just learn how to live on about 80K That puts you at a very safe withdrawal rate, and you won’t go busto.”
I see a patient from N.VA whose combined income with her husband is probably around 500K. Their only child goes to their town’s very good public school. While she understands intellectually they are doing very well, she also reports snobbish vibes from the rich, stay-at-home mommies she sees at her daughter’s sports club, and will sometimes tell a story and drop lines like “…can you believe that? We never could afford something like that…”
I had to jokingly remind that she is in no way poor.
Ginger Freitas accepts that voting for Biden might increase her tax bill.
“If I’m going to say that I am somebody who thinks that government should provide a social-safety net and society is better off when we all chip in, then I feel like I need to suck it up and put my money where my mouth is,” said Freitas, a 42-year-old human-resources director in Walnut Creek, Calif.
