How wealthy are Tuggers?

[TravelTime]

Totally agree with your car strategy. New cars are almost as bad as a timeshare purchase from a developer. The second you drive it away, it's worth a lot less. And it quickly depreciates to close (relative to the cost) to $0. The younger folks who renew their car every 3-4 years cost themselves a ton of savings! They would have a fortune at retirement just changing that one behavior. But, they also see others doing the same, etc.

I love new cars but we are done with BMWs and will no longer consider European cars due to high maintenance costs. We no longer care about class status based on what car we drive. We prefer to have a reliable, low maintenance car obtained at a reasonable value.

 

[bluehende]

So true. I was a sales manager for a luxury builder. Many of the people that came in with the fancy cars, clothes and jewelry couldn’t qualify for a mortgage. The most affluent didn’t show it.

I had a customer who came in a run down looking car, over 20 years old with torn seats and peeling paint. I spent a few hours with him. When I told my boss he will buy from us one day he thought I was crazy and said at best he was a secret shopper.

For months I had to be teased as this person didn’t return or answer my calls. Eight months later he walked in, said he didn’t return my calls because he wasn’t ready, but now he is and he purchased a home. He ultimately was a very wealthy man. When he moved in he purchased a new car. He kept offering to do things for me, but I had no interest as I had recenty lost my husband.

I have a good story on this exact thing. When I go car shopping I dress down from my normal. This probably puts me in homeless territory. It usually speeds negotiation as they think they can not play as many games. I was in one dealership and the salesman was very condescending....maybe the cheaper vehicle is more to your liking.....etc. It started to get old. We sat down to discuss price and the genius asked "and how are you going to pay for this car" in a very singsong annoying voice. My reply. You will put the keys here....pointing to his desk......I will put a check here.....next to it.......And you will take one.

 

[VacationForever]

I have a good story on this exact thing. When I go car shopping I dress down from my normal. This probably puts me in homeless territory. It usually speeds negotiation as they think they can not play as many games. I was in one dealership and the salesman was very condescending....maybe the cheaper vehicle is more to your liking.....etc. It started to get old. We sat down to discuss price and the genius asked "and how are you going to pay for this car" in a very singsong annoying voice. My reply. You will put the keys here....pointing to his desk......I will put a check here.....next to it.......And you will take one.

Haha... great story.

That would be me too. I don't need to dress down for car shopping... I am dressed down everyday. I have ridiculous amount of clothes, from being a shopaholic, but I wear my freebie t-shirts and simple shorts or $15 pants most of the time. Even when we have a formal dinner, it is still a simple $10-$15 long sleeve top and $15 pants for me. I have lots of high value jewelries, mainly acquired as gifts, but I don't wear them other than a wedding ring. We are those people whom sales folks think that they are wasting their time on us when we walk in to buy a car or a house, with cash.

 

[MOXJO7282]

I am extremely rich because;

I have a wonderful wife that I cherish.
My kids are happy and healthy.
I have a great set of friends
I have a good job that pays me well enough to take care of my family.
I enjoy working out.
We're able to take nice vacations that brings our family closer together.
We live in a nice home.
We have a good nest egg.

This is a note I wrote to myself and keep tacked up on my wall near my work desk. I read it often when the BS of work or life starts to get to me. I just read it and it brings me a sense of calm.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

It is scary to think how many Americans are living on the edge with such a low median on these calculators!

There should also be a calculator to compare by location. I know of seniors in Palo Alto, CA living in million dollar homes (purchased many years ago) that are in desperate need of renovation and are just scraping by due to the high cost of living.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

These have been and continue to be the best investments/ROI for us:

1) Family vacation time - dedicated time together away from the daily rush and influence of outside friends/activities.
2) Buying a home - this will pad our nest egg when we downsize and sell someday.
3) College education for our kids - Given the high cost of education, and rising health and cost of living, a debt free education may ultimately be their inheritance.

 

[Panina]

It is scary to think how many Americans are living on the edge with such a low median on these calculators!

There should also be a calculator to compare by location. I know of seniors in Palo Alto, CA living in million dollar homes that are in desperate need of renovation and are just scraping by due to the high cost of living.

So many of my friends have hit hard times. Some because of bad spending habits others with life just happening, no fault of their own. One of my childhood friends who has worked hard her life helping others hit hard times just this week and is so stressed over being short a few hundred dollars because to have a late payment has never happened to her. My heart goes out to and I offered to help. I hope she isn’t too proud.

 

[WinniWoman]

I love new cars but we are done with BMWs and will no longer consider European cars due to high maintenance costs. We no longer care about class status based on what car we drive. We prefer to have a reliable, low maintenance car obtained at a reasonable value.

My brother got rid of his BMW 5 years ago because the repairs were too expensive/ he then bought a Chevy Equinox. Now he is trading it in for a BMW SUV- but this time leasing it so he doesn't have to deal with repairs.

The funny thing is his Chevy Equinox only had 33, 000 miles on it and is only 5 years old! he thinks he "needs" a new car- that the car is "already" 5 years old. LOL! Nice to be rich! (and he is)

 

[WinniWoman]

So much requires maintenance and repair today as well. We were supposed to be on a self-imposed money diet from January to June this year because we just came out of 5 years of fixing up our house.

Then these things happened:
Our CRV needed front and rear brakes
The fireplace chimney needed repair
The wood stove chimney needed cleaning
We needed a tree cut because of a tornado
Pipes froze in our boiler room and we needed plumbers out on a Sunday
Our generator needed service and a new battery
Our 700 ft driveway has to be sealed
Our security system needed service/repair
We had to buy a new lawn mower
We had to buy a new snow blower
We had to, for the first time, get a large salt/sand truck to do our driveway one bad winter morning (that is in addition to our standard plow guy)

All we have been doing is writing checks.

TOTAL? Over $6000.00!!!

Social Security isn't going to cut it!

I'm going on vacation!

 

[clifffaith]

We have never understood the urge to constantly have a new car. We do buy ours new rather than used, but usually at about the 17 year point when they start becoming a PITA with maintenance. I'm sure we'd still be driving our 2000 Chevy Venture if we'd figured out in time that it wasn't starting because the mechanic needed to resync the key. I hate the new Ford Escape because it just doesn't fit my range of motion well. PT Cruiser is also from 2000 and seems to just be plugging along nicely. We always chuckled to ourselves that Cliff's depression warped mother was well beyond frugal, yet she had to have a new car every three years.

Our business has put us in some very high end homes on sales calls. We occasionally have had closet envy, and certainly ocean view envy (although when we lived in a home with a 180 degree water view from 1999 - 2002 we quickly realized that more often then not we were simply going about our daily lives and many days didn't give the view the appreciation it deserved). But basically we have never wanted what we can not afford. And as I get older I certainly can relate to the old adage "if you have your health, you have everything". Cliff laughs that he married a "young chick" (I was 29 he was 47 when we married) to take care of him in old age, and now 33 years later he's the one pushing me in the wheel chair or helping hobble along with a cane. And yesterday I woke up thinking I had a detached retina, only to find out it hadn't progressed that far yet but I did have a posterior vitreous detachment which most often is caused by aging. It's always something!

 

[VacationForever]

So much requires maintenance and repair today as well. We were supposed to be on a self=imposed money diet from January to June this year because we just came out of 5 years of fixing up our house.

Then these things happened:
The fireplace chimney needed repair
The wood stove chimney needed cleaning
We needed a tree cut because of a tornado
Pipes froze in our boiler room and we needed plumbers out on a Sunday
Our generator needed service and a new battery
Our 700 ft driveway has to be sealed
Our security system needed service/repair
We had to buy a new lawn mower
We had to buy a new snow blower
We had to, for the first time, get a large salt/sand truck to do our driveway one bad winter morning (that is in addition to our standard plow guy)

All we have been doing is writing checks.

TOTAL? Over $6000.00!!!

Social Security isn't going to cut it!

I'm going on vacation!

We live in a single story condo with million dollar views, which does not require this type of maintenance. The only maintenance that we require twice a year is having the HVAC guy come out to clean out the water pump intake/output valves (more like a screen) and change our HVAC filters, something like $180 for the 2 visits a year. The other thing that we will need replacement over the next 12 to 24 months is the water heater, which we see it as once in 10 years item.

 

[WinniWoman]

We live in a single story condo with million dollar views, which does not require this type of maintenance. The only maintenance that we require twice a year is having the HVAC guy come out to clean out the water pump intake/output valves (more like a screen) and change our HVAC filters, something like $180 for the 2 visits a year. The other thing that we will need replacement over the next 12 to 24 months is the water heater, which we see it as once in 10 years item.

Did I mention we thought we needed the AC serviced but the guy said our AC unit is 10 years old so just call if we have a problem with it? Keeping our fingers crossed.

To think we still have to spend this money when we intend to sell in a few years is aggravating. But- who knows if we will be able to sell anyway and we do have to keep the place up. UGH!

 

[Panina]

We have never understood the urge to constantly have a new car. We do buy ours new rather than used, but usually at about the 17 year point when they start becoming a PITA with maintenance. I'm sure we'd still be driving our 2000 Chevy Venture if we'd figured out in time that it wasn't starting because the mechanic needed to resync the key. I hate the new Ford Escape because it just doesn't fit my range of motion well. PT Cruiser is also from 2000 and seems to just be plugging along nicely. We always chuckled to ourselves that Cliff's depression warped mother was well beyond frugal, yet she had to have a new car every three years.

Our business has put us in some very high end homes on sales calls. We occasionally have had closet envy, and certainly ocean view envy (although when we lived in a home with a 180 degree water view from 1999 - 2002 we quickly realized that more often then not we were simply going about our daily lives and many days didn't give the view the appreciation it deserved). But basically we have never wanted what we can not afford. And as I get older I certainly can relate to the old adage "if you have your health, you have everything". Cliff laughs that he married a "young chick" (I was 29 he was 47 when we married) to take care of him in old age, and now 33 years later he's the one pushing me in the wheel chair or helping hobble along with a cane. And yesterday I woke up thinking I had a detached retina, only to find out it hadn't progressed that far yet but I did have a posterior vitreous detachment which most often is caused by aging. It's always something!

How scary. Wishing you a speedy eye recovery.

I’ve had a posterior vitreous detachment in both my eyes in the last few years. One eye was rare as a vein was attached to the vitreous and retina. I was told it happens 1 in a couple of hundred thousand. After the vitreous detached it was a tug of war in one eye, bleeders every few weeks. Also needed laser for a hole it caused but lucky no retina detachment. Years later an occasional small bleeder, as the doctor says because the vein is still attached but not as stiff. It could be ok but risk still exists.

With normal vitreous detachments I was told it can take 2 full years. I assume you had a bleeder because you said you thought you had a detached retina. For most people they don’t even know it is happened. They might get a few flashes and/or a few floators. Others, like me, get many floaters, it was like spiders invading my eyes. Then a white haze where I couldn’t see out of it for a few weeks. The floaters diminished but many I still have. If I don’t think about it is isn’t as noticeable , my brain takes over and ignores them. If I think about them I see them.

 

[VacationForever]

We have never understood the urge to constantly have a new car. We do buy ours new rather than used, but usually at about the 17 year point when they start becoming a PITA with maintenance. I'm sure we'd still be driving our 2000 Chevy Venture if we'd figured out in time that it wasn't starting because the mechanic needed to resync the key.

It depends on whether you see a car as utility and a means of transport or you see it as a piece of art/beauty, how it drives and a technological marvel with new gadgets and features in new releases. If car is a utility then you drive it for as long as it works and then junk it, which could be 10, 15 or even 20 years. For some of us, we like the new technology that comes with new cars. We have Eyesight, i.e. adaptive cruise control, lane change warnings, blind spot detection, braking automatically to avoid collisions for both forward and reverse, backup cameras, NAV etc etc. Each new car release comes with newer and better autopilot features.

 

[billymach4]

Ain't telling cuz it's none of your business. Just remember people this is the internet and everybody's watching

 

[VacationForever]

I’ve had a posterior vitreous detachment in both my eyes in the last few years. One eye was rare as a vein was attached to the vitreous and retina. I was told it happens 1 in a couple of hundred thousand. After the vitreous detached it was a tug of war in one eye, bleeders every few weeks. Also needed laser for a hole it caused but lucky no retina detachment. Years later an occasional small bleeder, as the doctor says because the vein is still attached but not as stiff. It could be ok but risk still exists.

With normal vitreous detachments I was told it can take 2 full years. I assume you had a bleeder because you said you thought you had a detached retina. For most people they don’t even know it is happened. They might get a few flashes and/or a few floators. Others, like me, get many floaters, it was like spiders invading my eyes. Then a white haze where I couldn’t see out of it for a few weeks. The floaters diminished but many I still have. If I don’t think about it is isn’t as noticeable , my brain takes over and ignores them. If I think about them I see them.

That must be one scary period of time for you.

Mine was "normal" took something like 3 years to detach in one eye. 2 days before we flew to Cancun was when I saw white flashes. Finally, the night before our 6am flight, I went to the ER and the doctor saw nothing and I was discharged at 3am. When I came back and saw a retinal specialist and he said it was posterior vitreous detachment and normal with aging. He said it could take weeks or up to a couple of years. That eye finally stopped seeing flashes after 3 years so I assume the detachment was complete.

 

[bogey21]

But my income is 0. A better measure for older or soon to be retired or retired folks is net worth.

It is funny how two people can look at the issue in exactly opposite ways. I'm 83 years old and retired. Net Worth means absolutely nothing to me. In fact when I retired 18 years ago I gave everything I owned to my kids and ex-wife. Essentially I have zero Net Worth. But I live a comfortable life because I have a nice pension and Social Security. Thus my focus is on income not Net Worth.

George

 

[Panina]

Ain't telling cuz it's none of your business. Just remember people this is the internet and everybody's watching

You don’t have to be on the internet for them to know everything about you.

 

[bluehende]

It seems that this group is probably a pretty high wealth/income group. It is not a surprise to me. Tuggers have learned to use timeshares to their fullest while the vast majority of timeshare owners have a money pit. If you are smart enough to pull that feat off keeping your financial ducks in a row is a cake walk.

 

[dsmrp]

I am way better off financially now than I ever thought I'd be in my 20s!
And it's certainly not because I strategically planned it that way LOL. We just made a couple of very good personal decisions,
and lucky to have only been laid off once and only for 3 months. Lucky also to have had no major illnesses or surgeries.

It's been none to very small increases for me, salary wise, for many years and then bigger bump ups in the last 10 years. DH and I both changed careers (after several more years of school, which we paid for) and that enhanced our income.
We're not rich by any means, but do think we can retire in a few more years. Or if I got laid off tomorrow, I wouldn't be scared.
Funny but my millennial daughter thinks "we make bank". She doesn't think she'll ever be able to earn as much as we do,
or be able to buy a house. We tell her to save and she tries but some of the things she thinks she 'needs' are more discretionary IMO.

 

[billymach4]

Maybe because I have Cyber Security certifications there is a bit of privacy in my internet usage. I would venture to say that one can lock down Facebook better than posts here on Tug. Whatever you say on TUG is wide open to the world. At least on Facebook they now provide you with tools to secure yourself. Not suggesting that TUG has to follow. I am amazed at how much personal info people everywhere on the internet reveal about their personal lives. Then we wonder why we get hacked. By revealing your personal wealth or lack thereof you make yourself a rich target for someone in Nigeria, Romania, Russia, China..... Just sayin

 

[PigsDad]

Give me $20 and I will spend it getting much more then the average person.

Give me $20 and I'll save it, not spend it!

Kurt

 

[VacationForever]

Maybe because I have Cyber Security certifications there is a bit of privacy in my internet usage. I would venture to say that one can lock down Facebook better than posts here on Tug. Whatever you say on TUG is wide open to the world. At least on Facebook they now provide you with tools to secure yourself. Not suggesting that TUG has to follow. I am amazed at how much personal info people everywhere on the internet reveal about their personal lives. Then we wonder why we get hacked. By revealing your personal wealth or lack thereof you make yourself a rich target for someone in Nigeria, Romania, Russia, China..... Just sayin

I held CISSP certification for 15 years and I post here. We are not rich and we usually not have more than a few dollars in our pocket or anything more than a couple of months of expenses in the bank. We always have someone in our home even when we are travelling. Having said that I do try not to reveal my true identity as much as possible in open forums like this.

Some of my fellow CISSP friends post alot more on FB that make me more uncomfortable than what I read here.

 

[bbodb1]

Maybe because I have Cyber Security certifications there is a bit of privacy in my internet usage. I would venture to say that one can lock down Facebook better than posts here on Tug. Whatever you say on TUG is wide open to the world. At least on Facebook they now provide you with tools to secure yourself. Not suggesting that TUG has to follow. I am amazed at how much personal info people everywhere on the internet reveal about their personal lives. Then we wonder why we get hacked. By revealing your personal wealth or lack thereof you make yourself a rich target for someone in Nigeria, Romania, Russia, China..... Just sayin

Did I read this correctly?
Facebook?
Tools?
Security?

You cannot be serious.

 

[bbodb1]

Brian!!
Do you moonlight for Cambridge Analytica?