Since we all come from different countries and economic situations, it is hard to compare how much income would be needed. But I was just sitting here wondering what the bare minimum amount I would need to live have a good standard of living, having enough to cover living expenses, some level of luxury and travel, and be able to invest.
I have to go with bare minimum obviously, because the question of how much is enough has no ceiling. I could quite happily live off a million euros a day, but two million a day would be better, right? But thinking about maintaining a similar life situation in terms of the house we have, a decent car, no worries about bills and being able to save, invest and travel comfortably, I suspect the after tax amount in-hand would be somewhere between 300 and 700 euros a day, or 110K-250K EUR a year.
127K - 290K USD
194 - 442 AUD
The low end is much more than I have ever made in a year.
But it isn't that much in terms of what some people are making easily in a year. I am just not "some people" though. Which means I am not clever or skilled enough, know the right people, or don't work hard enough or something to be in that category. Whatever it is, even the low end seems unachievable, and that makes me sad, considering it is not that high.
With that amount of money in my pocket each day, there is very little I would want now that I couldn't have. It doesn't mean that I would be able to have everything I want whenever I want, but it would mean that it is possible to save for things relatively easily, or invest into stocks or real estate consistently. It would mean being able to go on a yearly holiday with my family for a week or two, and shop without having to think about the cost.
Life would be easy.
Comparatively.
Many say that once you have more money, your tastes increase to absorb the extra so it doesn't make much difference, but I think that I am pretty level-headed in this and don't believe I would spiral much further up, because I don't value "stuff" as much as I used to, because my experience tells me it doesn't bring much value to my life. But not having the spectre of debt or "not enough" would be a welcome relief.
So what can I do to get enough?
Having a decent job would help. That is not very easy at the moment. And it would have to be very decent, or I would need two decent jobs to cover that amount. Again, it seems out of reach given the current economic situation in Finland. But if I was able to achieve it, I suspect it would have to come through multiple income streams. But even these, they would still have to be stable enough to consistently provide value.
It feels weird at times, because I associate with some people who are quite wealthy occasionally, and it seems like it comes so easily for them. I know it isn't true for all of them, but opportunities just open up for them over and over, and they can pick and choose. Value just falls out of the sky and into their hands, but the sky they are under and the one I am under are apparently not the same sky.
Even if Hive went to $5, I would still need to convert some of it into something that could consistently return, like rental properties, because it is unlikely to stay there for long. Though if it did stay there, curation returns would return the upper-lower-end number. That would be pretty good, eh?
So how about you?
Wherever you are from, how much do you need daily to maintain a decent, better than average lifestyle, without going too overboard. Does the number seem high or low to you, and what could you do to make it a reality?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Be part of the Hive discussion.
- Comment on the topics of the article, and add your perspectives and experiences.
- Read and discuss with others who comment and build your personal network
- Engage well with me and others and put in effort
And you may be rewarded.
The key to your numbers is that they are after tax.
So for comparison, my wife and I run a pretty tight budget and we don't have any mortgage payments anymore. If you exclude expenses related to my little house on the bluff that I have acquired recently I can tell you our exact budget number per month, which includes once in a year one week vacation and but does not include anything for investments.
It is $8,500 per month which is $102K USD per year, add 25K for investments and we are at your lowest end $127K after tax :)
My salary after tax is barely enough to cover this budget (without investment)
Do you think that if you could stay around this (relative to inflation etc) you would be comfortable for life?
I think your numbers would be more than enough where I live. That low end might be a little tight, but the high end would be more than enough I think. As my post talked about today, the thing I would be most worried about is health care. It's out of control in the US and once incident can blow all your planning out of the water.
If this was an issue in Finland (and it might be in the future), I would have to adjust the numbers again. At the moment, the state does a pretty good job in comparison to the US.
Lucky you! :)
Are you sure that lower end would be a little tight in your area? Those are after tax numbers...
Yeah, without getting into a bunch of details, I think it would still be a little tight. We have it better than a lot of the country, but we haven't been immune to the ever increasing cost of living.
with the current inflations every year it's hard to gues how much one will need in the end .Politicians trying to change things after each election doesn't help either.
so i can only say what i need today per month ;)
prices in euro :
rent : 1200
health insurance : 350
car insurance : 160
road tax : 65
electicity + gas 75
water : 20
food : 500
petrol for car : 100
Internet : 45
mobile phone : 20
i live in Netherlands , Europe .
i get a monthly pay from insurance and my wife still has a job
Food is cheap there it seems, as is fuel. A tank of fuel for me is around 120€ and I need ~3 a month. And here, electricity is far more expensive, though I am in a house that needs to be heated for the Nordics :)
Good to hear there is a new witness!
The heating won't be a big problem here i'm surround by appartments where elderly people live that like high temps while we prefer low ones .
Yes that witness has been on my to do list for a long time, and is now finally realised.
$700 a day seems quite a lot where I reside, I reckon $20-50 a day would suffice, factoring in I'm still single so I only have myself to worry about.
I was telling someone a that not all successes should be attributed only to hard work or intellectual brilliance. It may just be that the odds aligned in the favour of the person. Any other person doing the same thing they did,as hardworking and smart as them, as hardworking and smart as them, as hardworking and smart as them, with the odds against them, would simply fail.
That's why we should not be too quick to praise ourselves for succeeding in a thing, especially financial ventures, and we shouldn't be too quick to blame ourselves if we fail in them, so far we know we made our best efforts.
Like Solomon said:
...the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all."
It is definitely location dependent. Here, things are crazy expensive and 700 would be a lot for me, but not overly extravagant.
Luck and chance is a huge factor, but because we can't calculate it, people ignore it in their success and failures.
We are going backwards. We did great on two teachers wages - 210,000 between us - now we are barely on 70 k due to various circumstances and no hope for a decent super. It's depressing.
Is there any way out?
damn those prices are insane. I think that we pay for month worth of food 400-500 eur. around 100 for utility bills. after paying for utility bills I normally still have some money for investing in Hive/ saving for camera...This year I also paid 400+(?) for wooden briquettes. Next year we may need more briquettes so I hope that it will not cost more than 600-700.
I would imagine that with a that much you could easily buy a house in Lithuania similar to our own. We paid less(I think Lithuania currency was still litas and not eur at that time as well) Still full cost was probably much less that 110K-250K. So if you would move to Lithuania you would likely be rich.😛 Of course you would earn less than in Finland as well...
Not so insane here. Everything is a fair bit more expensive than in Lithuania.
Would I like the culture you think? I have never been there, but it might be okay!
I guess so. I like living here...but I have never been outside of Lithuania.
I don’t know what the heck is going on with your stomach that you had to go to the hospital and they changed your medication; omeprazole isn’t good. I’m writing here because you might not have seen it in your previous post. Take note of these scientific names: Origanum vulgare and Plectranthus amboinicus. Locally known as oregano and Cuban oregano, they’re natural healers. My friend Stanley had a stomach ulcer burst, and after going to the doctor, they found stomach tears and sores, and of course, they prescribed omeprazole. His mother started giving him oregano infusions on an empty stomach, one cup a day for a month, then a break, and then another 15 days, and so on intermittently. Later, he went back to the hospital, and the endoscopy showed that his sores were healed, and the ulcer wounds were completely healed and scarred over. He attributes it to the power of oregano—plants heal. According to him, it’s very delicious, and you should look it up and read a bit. Don’t believe me, but there’s the information. I’ll wait for your next article to be the first to share this with you; please read it and analyze it carefully. Get well, and sticking to the diet is basic and crucial. Bye to chili, coffee, and spices.
Well i need around $250.00 every months for living decent, only paying for food because you do not need more than food the clothes do not important, for medicine you can go to the public hospital
That is.
but please consider my advice.
It sounds too good to be true. However, I am not sure how much it would help me as my condition is chronic and has been an issue for over 30 years. I will do some research into it though, thanks!
To live such life, I would love to earn $5k monthly which is approximately seven million Naira in my country’s currency. To live a good and standard life here in Nigeria, earning one million Naira monthly is enough but imagine me making seven times of that money, it’s a whole lot.
With that, I can decide to travel around the world at most, twice a year where I won’t have to worry about how much money which would be spent. Healthcare? Well, healthcare is quite cheap here and earning such will give me the opportunity to afford more expensive and better hospitals.
I know the world mostly respects the rich but it’s like the most important here in Nigeria. Money practically buys everything including respect and fame. Therefore, I’ll be needing that money
So is 5000 the minimum you would need to have a decent lifestyle you think?
I reckon money is important everywhere these days...
Yes, here in Nigeria
It’s a lot of money
Will you believe that our minimum wage is just seventy seven thousand Naira?
It’s way below that but if I get this monthly, for real, I’m fine
It is obvious that reaching a comfortable way of living requires not only effort, but also careful planning, and mostly luck, which I believe the most in life.
What do you think you would need per day/ month?
First, luck with whatever I do. Then, enough income to secure my future, and a peaceful environment.
In the summer, in a small town, $10 a day is enough for me. Many people here live on $10 a day. In the winter, in a big city, I need $50 a day. I want to reach a level where my investments give me an income of $200-800 a day.
Is "enough" all you need, or is it what you need to survive?
That's all I've needed for the last few years.
Our standard of living is becoming more expensive day by day, be it in any geographical location of the world. But the amount varies from region to region. But when our income increases, our needs increase. But our satisfaction or the amount we can live comfortably may differ from person to person because their comfort levels also differ.
What do you think you would need per day in your area?
This is an honest reflection. Sometimes I just wonder about the same thing, how much it's really enough to live well and just survive in this world. For me, that steady income that covers my needs and let me save would always make me feel rich. I think the hardest part is get to that level of stability. You are right, multiple income streams can be very helpful, especially if one source fails and you have another one to fall back to. Life would really be easier if money wasn't a constant need or concern.
This got me thinking. If I had to check the amount we need for a good life it depends on so much on where we live and what we value. For me it's not about being rich or ready but by having enough to live without the stress of what to eat or bills to pay or the future.
I think having multiple sources of income is very important especially on certain things things can be at the economy. Even making a few hundreds of euros a day sounds like a dream but what is very important is the peace of mind that comes with stability.
Money is such a crazy and strange thing.
We all need it to live a good life. But once we reach that comfortable point, having more doesn't mean that we'll be happier.
I think you are targeting range should sound so reasonable for a balanced and a stress-free life. I'll focus on finding ways to make that steady income, that investment and side projects.
That feeling of being financially secure, even if at the modest level of life would make our lives so much easier. Freedom from debt and worry is the real luxury.
I can relate to this. Sometimes it feels like we have all the opportunities when we happen to be in the right place at the right time and most of us are just trying to catch that break. But if we can break down this daily income, this really puts things in a better perspective. It's not even about the loss of an expensive lifestyle anymore but it's about comfort.
Having just enough can be very priceless. I just believe starting small but consistent stream of income can bridge the gap, even if it takes time you can still get there if you work hard.
Hmm for me I think it varies if I count mortgage as an expense since it forms the biggest part of my expenses. Excluding mortgage, and just my personal expenses, I think probably 1000 to 1500 USD a month is pretty comfortable, but of course, it varies across individuals. To make it a reality, I guess it's a combination of financial tools, be it savings, investments, or some form of passive income like dividends. For me, it's always a work in progress.