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In Manhattan, $250,000 Isn't Rich

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Maverick Sep 8, 2010 1:32 PM GMT Antoinette is right. For anyone to come up with a flat amount of $250,000 PER COUPLE as being rich regardless of where they live is ridiculous. If that is true, than how come welfare benefits and unemployment are different depending on geography- why not pay all those the same. How come the federal government has a cost of loving allowanve of up to 25% depending on where the federal employee is employed. If you are a gs-12 in altus oklahome, you earn the standard rate for a GS-12, but in DC or New York you earn the GS-12 rate plus the rate for COLA- 23-28% more. Why not apply that same rate to income in determing who is rich or not. $250,00 PER COUPLE ($200,000 per individual- sounds like everyone should live together and not get married) is wirht alot more in huntsville Alabama than New York City or DC. BTW, does anyone know when this figure was last updated? 10 years ago I could see the top 2% of earners earning 250,000 per couple, but today, with most couple having to work, $250,000 is defintely being paid to more than 2%.
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tough guy Apr 20, 2009 9:17 PM GMT i think you should move to a more economy part of manhattan where the rent is more affordable and put child in childcare which will cut that nanny bill in half. 7 or 10 a day for lunch, seems like brown bags need to come back in style in your life and hubbys. i understand living in new york and living in houston is definitely a big change in prices in real-estate, but if you live and take care the necessary expensives, 250,000.00 should take a person a long way. you looking at close to 20k a month of income coming into your household and i am for sure you are hitting bonuses and commissions. wish you and family well
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bob Nov 24, 2008 1:44 PM GMT Move out of Manhattan.
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Paul Nov 3, 2008 8:57 PM GMT With all due respect, Antoinette, no one to my knowledge -- and certainly not Barack Obama -- has proposed "paying everyone the same regardless of education, risk, hard work, or investment." But I do I agree we need to pose tough questions. Such as, how did our representatives in government ever allow crisis bailout money to be used to pay lavish bonuses to Wall Street executives? And what are they going to do about it now?
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Michael in IN Oct 30, 2008 6:30 PM GMT Antionette, I understand what you're saying. However, I think what Obama is suggesting is going back to the tax rates that were in place prior to the Bush tax cuts. Bush is the only president in the history of the country to reduce taxes in a time of war. As a result, the deficit has balloned to over $10 Trillion. Clinton increased taxes when he came into office and the economy did not suffer. 85% of what the country spends goes for defense, homeland security, interest on the debt, social security and medicare. McCain says that Obama wants to redistribute the wealth. That's what the federal government has been doing for years. You make choices about what you spend money on but our government can't seem to make choices about what we will spend money on. Our goverment can't afford all the things we currently spend money on. Maybe raising your taxes to the level they were before 2000 might not be the right way to do it but we need to cut spending if we don't. The republicans are supposed to be the party that cuts spending and reduces the size of government but what do you call a party that increases spending and cuts taxes. Bush #1 called that voodoo economics.
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Mike in Big D Oct 30, 2008 2:15 AM GMT Don't worry about the $250,000 amount... based on what Obama/Biden are quoted as saying in the news as of 10/29/08, you better be afraid if you "only" make $150,000 in NYC!! Face the facts people -- you don't go to work everyday to improve YOUR life... you earn an income each day for the US GOVERNMENT to help itself to and anything left over for you to subsist on is a bonus.
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Hugo Chavez Oct 28, 2008 6:40 PM GMT My little amigo Barack Obama is going to impose socialism on your imperialistic nation (apparently his Democratic party has already duped plenty of these weak-minded readers with its class-warfare-rhetoric) ... so, go ahead and try to improve your lives and work as hard as you want -- the government is still going to confiscate it all, suckers!! Just give in and let the government own and control you... "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need!"
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Fritz in Tampa Oct 28, 2008 4:30 PM GMT Antoinette, keep on telling voicing your opinion and annoying aging white male bankers. Miss you in Tampa, hope all is going well.
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Justanotherbusiness Oct 26, 2008 8:51 PM GMT Antoinette - Just now read your article on $250K isn't rich. We own a business in Florida and that $250K doesn't make us rich either. The nasty comments you received are from people who would never dream of or be any good at running a business. They have no idea what it costs to run a business with high taxes and overhead costs then make sure you allowed enough to pay your own personal bills in the end. We have people here in Florida that actually believe Obama is going to turn their pocket change into millions without any effort on their part whatsoever. So this is the mentality business owners have to deal with. So congratulations on your hard-won efforts. There IS intelligent life out there and we DO understand where you are coming from!
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Antoinette Rodriguez Oct 17, 2008 6:50 PM GMT To several of you who made surprisingly mean, sarcastic and even threatening comments about this article (or me), it says more about your jealousy and mean spiritedness than me. The costs in this article were provided as true examples of what goods/services buy in NYC and living out of the city is not a viable option for business reasons. We are actually not living out of our means. I don't have business loans, already pay high taxes (55% combined), have long term employees and contribute more time and energy to charitable causes than most of you probably have. I've directly created more than 100 jobs in my entrepreneurial life (all self -funded). Most of you have not and don't get that disincentives to investment and businesses will eventually cost you your job. Government, no matter how much they say or want to "take care" of you cannot do so without diligence to its expenses. If I misspend, I cannot consistently charge my customers more. You will see, sadly, the proof of this job creation disincentive for many years to come. And unlike several of you, I am very happy to see other people succeed from the bootstraps (or not). That is truly the American Dream....
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