What do your neighbors do for a living?
- Thread starter RoyceLSP
- Start date
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I may get some heat for saying this but this is how I rationalize how some people ?make it work? in Irvine. The numbers just don?t add up. And yes, obviously I don?t know everyone?s real situation down to the nitty gritty but u get to know families and it?s puzzling.
True. There's also a large cash economy and surprising amount of money being made non-degreed professionals and a whole lot of fail too. It's kind of the other half of the bread and circuses economy we have. i.e. The kids pimping the energy drink line, underground party promoters, some DJs, even pot trimmers if they're good can make $100/hr. cash. There's a lot of money flowing keeping the circus running. Not to mention nail salons.
However, if the household is just educated professionals working regular jobs, lots doesn't add up.
I think there's a lot of "new to Irvine" residents that are doing better than fine financially. I believe it because they're sporting luxury clothing and accessories, high 5 to 6 figure cars (even for their kids), wandering around the city at 10am on a Monday, and are apparently fond of paying all cash for houses.
Loans have apparently been pretty strict this past decade, so I would be surprised if a significant number of mortgaged home buyers have managed to drown themselves in debt, but it's definitely possible with some unforeseen negative life events or a series of unfortunate financial decisions. I can believe there's a fair amount of renters who are getting stretched financially too.
But overall I think the financial "okay" to "unreal" category vastly outweighs the financially "stretched" category in Irvine.
A pair of educated professionals should have no problem earning 200k between the two of them. Even 150k for a pair of mid 20s educated professionals is doable. Isn't that enough to afford a modest stucco box in Irvine? What are you seeing that makes you believe a household of educated professionals doesn't add up?
No, not what I meant. 90% are broke. Those well known side hustles aren't the path to riches. Educated professionals are in a better boat, but even for many of them the numbers don't add up. I'm surprise at the amount of money I see in some alternative roles, the money though is more like athlete money, for everyone one making it, 100s fail.
I'm slow today. Yea, I've seen some interesting stuff there too.
Mid 20s is probably fine since DINKS. But for mid 30s, $150k is rough. Even $200k is rough. Hard to move up. I guess that's why the market is saturated with $1.3m+ homes.
- 2x private preschool tuition
- fancy cars
- trips to aulani
- all sorts of lessons (kumon, tkd, gymnastics, swim, piano, etc, etc)
- expensive hobbies (studio workout classes, expensive road bikes, expensive guns, fancy handbags, etc, etc)
I don't like having my analysts / staff (very competent individuals, some with MBA's etc) not having a pathway to home ownership, etc. It is not a sustainable model. Yes, its great to housing to rise for those that own...but no one is leveraging that unless they move out of state or eventually move into a smaller place. Having all of your wealth in a house is an inefficient use of "wealth". I'd rather have more affordable housing that enables people to live here and put money into other ventures, etc.
$250K number is obviously light in Irvine (also just a randon number I pulled out of my head), but it can absolutely be done. Of course, everyone is different. There are still nice towhomes, etc in Irvine where you can have a bit of a yard, low mello, and raise a couple kids (maybe not as luxurious as you want to be, but still good) and than be able to still cover private preschool and the ocassional vacation (not sure about a yearly alauni trip...but I'm a cheapass so I'll just drag my family to time share sales pitches for family trips haha).
Note, nowhere did I say that you don't have to "care" about money...just that you shouldn't have the stresses that other individuals have in terms of where and how to pay for things. At some point, you should have enough to put a ton towards retirement, to put extra money into investments/markets (which over time can put off passive income). And at some point...the passive income isn't just retirement, it can actually become additional overall income (if you want to work less or whatever else)....essentially it buys you options.
This is some IrvineDream level reconnaissance.
I know my neighbors names and their kids names but have no idea what they do for a living.
Paris said:
I may get some heat for saying this but this is how I rationalize how some people ?make it work? in Irvine. The numbers just don?t add up. And yes, obviously I don?t know everyone?s real situation down to the nitty gritty but u get to know families and it?s puzzling.
nosuchreality
Well-known member
bones said:
True. There's also a large cash economy and surprising amount of money being made non-degreed professionals and a whole lot of fail too. It's kind of the other half of the bread and circuses economy we have. i.e. The kids pimping the energy drink line, underground party promoters, some DJs, even pot trimmers if they're good can make $100/hr. cash. There's a lot of money flowing keeping the circus running. Not to mention nail salons.
However, if the household is just educated professionals working regular jobs, lots doesn't add up.
someguy
Active member
bones said:
I think there's a lot of "new to Irvine" residents that are doing better than fine financially. I believe it because they're sporting luxury clothing and accessories, high 5 to 6 figure cars (even for their kids), wandering around the city at 10am on a Monday, and are apparently fond of paying all cash for houses.
Loans have apparently been pretty strict this past decade, so I would be surprised if a significant number of mortgaged home buyers have managed to drown themselves in debt, but it's definitely possible with some unforeseen negative life events or a series of unfortunate financial decisions. I can believe there's a fair amount of renters who are getting stretched financially too.
But overall I think the financial "okay" to "unreal" category vastly outweighs the financially "stretched" category in Irvine.
someguy
Active member
nosuchreality said:
A pair of educated professionals should have no problem earning 200k between the two of them. Even 150k for a pair of mid 20s educated professionals is doable. Isn't that enough to afford a modest stucco box in Irvine? What are you seeing that makes you believe a household of educated professionals doesn't add up?
nosuchreality
Well-known member
bones said:
No, not what I meant. 90% are broke. Those well known side hustles aren't the path to riches. Educated professionals are in a better boat, but even for many of them the numbers don't add up. I'm surprise at the amount of money I see in some alternative roles, the money though is more like athlete money, for everyone one making it, 100s fail.
Burn That Belly
New member
x
nosuchreality
Well-known member
bones said:nosuchreality said:
I know - guess the sarcasm didn't come through. I do admire the work from home a few hours a day type of jobs that a lot of irvine dads seems to have
I'm slow today. Yea, I've seen some interesting stuff there too. someguy said:
Mid 20s is probably fine since DINKS. But for mid 30s, $150k is rough. Even $200k is rough. Hard to move up. I guess that's why the market is saturated with $1.3m+ homes.
- 2x private preschool tuition
- fancy cars
- trips to aulani
- all sorts of lessons (kumon, tkd, gymnastics, swim, piano, etc, etc)
- expensive hobbies (studio workout classes, expensive road bikes, expensive guns, fancy handbags, etc, etc)
It is why I won't be surprised when the state or county will have to step in and do something drastic. It is not a sustainable path to having a good economy / workforce within the area. Top talent will eventually leave. It is not right when you can't get high quality entry level people to stay in an area, etc. And for people who don't think it happens, look at Alliance Bernstein relocating everyone but their Investment professional out of NY to Tennessee. That is a high paying financial company moving out of NY to a much lower cost area.nosuchreality said:
I don't like having my analysts / staff (very competent individuals, some with MBA's etc) not having a pathway to home ownership, etc. It is not a sustainable model. Yes, its great to housing to rise for those that own...but no one is leveraging that unless they move out of state or eventually move into a smaller place. Having all of your wealth in a house is an inefficient use of "wealth". I'd rather have more affordable housing that enables people to live here and put money into other ventures, etc.
I have a view that once you make a certain amount of money...you shouldn't have to "stress" about money anymore...which means after some point of wealth (that amount differs for everyone), I don't want to have the same stresses as someone who makes a combined $75K per year and literally has to live paycheck to paycheck. If you make $250K+, you should be able to live in a manner that allows you to not have to completely stress about money and how you are going to pay for things.bones said:
$250K number is obviously light in Irvine (also just a randon number I pulled out of my head), but it can absolutely be done. Of course, everyone is different. There are still nice towhomes, etc in Irvine where you can have a bit of a yard, low mello, and raise a couple kids (maybe not as luxurious as you want to be, but still good) and than be able to still cover private preschool and the ocassional vacation (not sure about a yearly alauni trip...but I'm a cheapass so I'll just drag my family to time share sales pitches for family trips haha).
Note, nowhere did I say that you don't have to "care" about money...just that you shouldn't have the stresses that other individuals have in terms of where and how to pay for things. At some point, you should have enough to put a ton towards retirement, to put extra money into investments/markets (which over time can put off passive income). And at some point...the passive income isn't just retirement, it can actually become additional overall income (if you want to work less or whatever else)....essentially it buys you options.
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
someguy said:
This is some IrvineDream level reconnaissance.
I know my neighbors names and their kids names but have no idea what they do for a living.