Can You Support Your Household On $30,000 A Year?
Guest Blogger: Marilyn Katz
You may be shocked by the thought of having to support a family on thirty thousand dollars a year. However, that is all that many American families make these days.
Statistics can be misleading and confusing, but more people live on $30,000 a year than you think! The US likes to publish a a statistic that the median family income is almost $50,000. This is a number that we tend to associate with being middle class. But you need to remember back to your high school math class. The median is the number you get when you throw out the top and bottom half. The median number is the number in the middle of other numbers.
Actually, $30k is not an average US household income. But it is the average when you throw out the top 10 percent of household incomes. But when you throw out the income figures for the wealthy, the number really gets a lot lower. The family average income for the lower 90% is only about $30,000. This number is a little alarming for a variety of reasons. However, it should also be examined as a way to change our perspective about our lifestyle and our retirement planning.
A lot of us are very concerned about our retirement plans. They had savings and assets. But the stock market went down. After that, house values were reduced. The savings and assets they counted on for a comfortable retirement have been reduced and lost value. We did make some bad mistakes. This means we have to be very careful to protect ourselves from now on!
It is helpful to examine the lifestyles of other people who make do with less money. There are some common themes. A lot of these people have something that they find satisfying. This passion does not cost them a lot of money, and sometimes it even helps generate an income. The do not need to fill the void with "stuff" because they have satisfaction from their hobby, work, or home life.
While it is nice to think about being happy without material things, we know that we need to pay some bills. Another common practice of people who can live well on lower incomes is that they avoid debt and find comfortable housing that does not cost a lot of money. If you are trying to figure out how to retire on a lower income, these should be your priorities. You need to figure out how you can find affordable housing and manage your debt.
A good credit score helps to. If you can raise your credit score, you will find that a lot of things are easier to do with less money. If you do need credit, it will be cheaper to get. Even some services, like auto insurance, are cheaper when you have great credit!
We would all like to retire with a comfortable income. I cannot tell you what income will make you comfortable and secure. If you can plan to retire well, the actual number will not matter as much.
Author Resource:-> Do you have The Bad Credit Blues? Learn how to improve your score so your life can be easier. Also learn more about average US incomes.
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