What is a liveable annual income? (Opinion Thread)

[AP]

As someone who owns 4-5 cars at any given time, I strongly disagree. I spend nowhere near $40-$50K a year on my cars. And right now I have a nice Prius, Volvo SUV, Infinity SUV and a Ford sitting in my driveway.

I don't see how it's possible that you're not paying close to that. Volvo and Infinity are not cheap brands, so at some point you were paying that. Maybe not now. But you were.

[ylouder]

You ever priced a used luxury car? A lot of times they are cheaper than used domestic.

[gjl]

Others have said it, but if you have a paid off home and a paid.off mechanically sound car you can live on very little.

You can live on less, but not very little. We have a paid off house and just the property taxes and insurance run $650/mo. And it goes up every year. Last year it was $600/mo. H.O. insurance is going through the roof in Oklahoma. Then there is upkeep and maintenance on the house. Last year that included a new $4800 sewer line.

[PennyQuilts]

You can live on less, but not very little. We have a paid off house and just the property taxes and insurance run $650/mo. And it goes up every year. Last year it was $600/mo. H.O. insurance is going through the roof in Oklahoma. Then there is upkeep and maintenance on the house. Last year that included a new $4800 sewer line.

Those are good points, especially on the home upkeep. You also need a reliable car if you rely on it. My taxes and insurances, happily, are a lot lower, I imagine because of where I live.

[Dustin]

For a single person: $35,000/yr would be livable.

[dmoor82]

For a single person: $35,000/yr would be livable.

Single with no children, that's very livable I'd say.

[BBatesokc]

I don't see how it's possible that you're not paying close to that. Volvo and Infinity are not cheap brands, so at some point you were paying that. Maybe not now. But you were.

Its very possible.

For example: Bought my 2006 Infinity FX35 in late 2009 for $18,000 cash. I just checked my Quickbooks and there has only been one repair for $125 and I usually do my own oil changes for about $25 using good quality products. Replaced the tires for $675. Insurance for that car is about $90/month (I just looked at what we pay and estimated per car). I don't have a way to calculate the gas for that specific car.

So, that means that so far this one car has cost me just over $5,300 per year. Keep in mind, the longer I have it (without major repairs) the actual cost to own it per year will go down as the biggest expense was the purchase and I did that in full on day one and the tires shouldn't need replacing for several years.

The Infinity is the most expensive of the cars I've bought in recent memory (lost 50%+ of its value in the first 3 years - don't ever buy new!) - which is why I used it as the example. I paid almost half that for the Prius and the Volvo is a XC90 and I paid 80% less than the original price for it and it only has 80,000 miles. I'll keep those cars for probably 5 years and in that time they will cost me far less than $5,000 per year. I could sell the prius today for almost what I paid for it.

Not to mention, other recent cars I've owned - like a Jeep Liberty Renegade - I made money on the purchase price when I resold it and only had the cars for about a year and did nothing to them. So, in the end they cost me insurance and gas and I got a little of that back when I resold them.

As far as "at some point you were paying that" - Well, yeah, you could say the first year I paid $18,000+ to own the Infinity. But that's not an accurate way to view the actual cost unless the car blew up the first year and wasn't insured - thus considered a total loss.

[Servicetech571]

When you start making less than a certain amount government subsidies start pickign up 'the difference'. A family of 4 has a threshold of about $40k, if they make less government subsidies start kicking in. Starts with EIC, then free medical, then food stamps, section 8 housing, etc. Once they hit $40k government subsidies are gone and they are "living on thier own".

[ylouder]

With any car, when you put down on paper the true cost of owning and operating one its crazy.

My general rule is to pay.it of ASAP, maintain it properly and try to keep it until it becomes unreliable.which is so much easier said than done, but it helps not having cable and being bombarded. Every 10 minutes with ads.

[Dennis Heaton]

Livable? Twice as much as I have been living on since 2008? I would say a minimum of $600/wk for an unmarried Senior with 6 Grandchildren. :-)

[Just the facts]

Ten thousand per car? Twenty thousand for two? Why? We have a fully insured '97 minivan, work primarily from home and the cost of insurance and the tag is under $300.00 a year. I have no idea where you are getting your stats but they're way, way, way off. We have two other paid off other cars (2005 and 2006) and all three are insured and tagged. Easily less than $4,000.00 a year including gasoline.

In 2014 the average car payment is $415 per month (just under $5,000 per year). Consumers buy about $3,000 worth of gasoline annually. Add in insurance, routine maintenance (oil changes), repairs, etc... and on average - Americans spend right around $10,000 per year per car. Of course, that is just the direct cost.

Anyhow, regardless of what an individual spends on transportation, it has to be factored into a 'livable' income because not everyone wants a '97 minivan.