Earning by age category

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HavocXphere

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SauRoNZA said:
Are you saying it's too much or too little to be called middle class?
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Yep...difficult to tell which side is up with all the crazy numbers on this forum these days (in both directions).

One thing I've seen from personal observation among friends though...the DINK thing is true...they can stretch things a lot further than the solo people.
 
Pavan

Pavan

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Like I said, R1m gross per annum at 30 is about right... And that's for a middle class life.
 
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Stefanmuller

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semaphore said:
40K middle class living? You do live in SA right ?:p
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Its all relative. My estimations were merely what I would say an OK salary is. You cant really brag about it but there will always be people earning less than that in the same industry and residential area. What constitutes middle class is another open question. For me it is owning a 3bed house in the area you grew up in or better, own a medium spec car, send two kids to a proper school or creche, have medical aid, internet, DSTV, own a LCD TV, be able to buy proper groceries, eat out 2 or 3 times a month, join a gym or golf club and have a bit over to save.

Being 32 and with a small child you need at least R30k but par is closer to R40k. Above that is good and over R50k is earning well. That is from personal experience living in Durbanville. This is per person....in Durbanville you will struggle to maintain middle class living with kids with a combined income of less than R50k depending on the age of the kids.

For instance we have a combined income of R50k gross with a toddler and although we are living quite nicely, property is rediculously expensive and the jump between renting and owning a nice 3bed house in Durbanville is huge. As in literally almost double. Our current Duplex is R7.9k rent vs R1.35m buy and its not even a "house". Go search properties on Gumtree etc 3bed, 2 bath under R1.25m and you get 10 results of which 5 of them is the same 2 properties and the rest are new developments in the outskirts plot and plan. Also we do not really have much to save at the end of the month and things like holidays away are too expensive to really do. Car wise we both have cars under R200k so nothing exceptional there. Good medical and currently pay creche fees.

Edit: On the above I would say that for our age we should be on a combined gross of R70+. For me I only entered my current line of profession aged 25 and only started earning my first salary then. Being in accounting this meant at age 28 I still earned R6 500 and that always keeps you behind for long. Still not a qualified CA and still in practise. My wife was underpaid for long but loyal so even though she changed jobs her prior pay still limits her. The age of having your first child also plays a role because the older the child the costs go up exponentially. My generation tends to have their first at age around 30 (for the father). So benchmarking salary at 30 only really apply to that generation.
 
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Dolby

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When I wa 26 (9 years back) I was earning a whopping R3998 per month, gross :(
 
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semaphore

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SauRoNZA said:
Are you saying it's too much or too little to be called middle class?

I assume these are all pre-tax figures we are talking about.
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It's to little. I'm not a money devil, cost of living is stupidly expensive.
 
Hamster

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Pavan said:
Like I said, R1m gross per annum at 30 is about right... And that's for a middle class life.
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That's about R80k pm. A middle class life where? The Michael Angelo? At that salary you are way above middle class.
 
SauRoNZA

SauRoNZA

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semaphore said:
It's to little. I'm not a money devil, cost of living is stupidly expensive.
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And I find 40k in a household is perfectly middle class.

Expensive vs expectation?

semaphore said:
What do you do?
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I honestly ask myself the same thing more often than not.

Technical Specialist by title meaning virtually anything that plugs in but doesn't include development.

Networking, Virtualisaton, Backups and then also highly industry specific stuff. Thing is I don't have a degree or any specialized credentials to fall back on, my CV says very much jack of all trades and master of none when I look at it myself.

I'm the sort of person who has walked into every job without a clue and a whole lot of bull****ting and then surprised them into promotions because I learn very quickly.

To my detriment later in life it seems. I started working much earlier while all my friends were doing degrees etc, I was already making money.

Then again if I disregard everything on this forum then I'm very much in line with my peers if not ahead of lost. But that might have everything to do with life choices.

I know plenty of people who for a fact earn more than I do, yet have less to show for it due to bad money management.
 
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SauRoNZA

SauRoNZA

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Hamster said:
That's about R80k pm. A middle class life where? The Michael Angelo? At that salary you are way above middle class.
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Agreed.

Half of that is already above middle class in my opinion and livid very comfortably.

Especially if living alone.
 
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semaphore

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SauRoNZA said:
And I find 40k in a household is perfectly middle class.

Expensive vs expectation?
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Low expectations then.

SauRoNZA said:
I honestly ask myself the same thing more often than not.

Technical Specialist by title meaning virtually anything that plugs in but doesn't include development.

Networking, Virtualisaton, Backups and then also highly industry specific stuff. Thing is I don't have a degree or any specialized credentials to fall back on, my CV says very much jack of all trades and master of none when I look at it myself.

I'm the sort of person who has walked into every job without a clue and a whole lot of bull****ting and then surprised them into promotions because I learn very quickly.

To my detriment later in life it seems. I started working much earlier while all my friends were doing degrees etc, I was already making money.

Then again if I disregard everything on this forum then I'm very much in line with my peers if not ahead of lost. But that might have everything to do with life choices.

I know plenty of people who for a fact earn more than I do, yet have less to show for it due to bad money management.
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Well you can always start doing a degree now and study further and start specializing in something.
 
SauRoNZA

SauRoNZA

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Yeah I do think about it often enough.

But time vs potential earnings vs not wanting to actually work for a boss very much longer makes it a tricky situation.


I would be more than happy doing my own thing if it means earning 50k a month from it. I don't need to have 80k and work myself to death for it.

Work, life, balance.

I want to make adequately enough money while putting in as little effort as possible.
 
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semaphore

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SauRoNZA said:
Yeah I do think about it often enough.

But time vs potential earnings vs not wanting to actually work for a boss very much longer makes it a tricky situation.


I would be more than happy doing my own thing if it means earning 50k a month from it. I don't need to have 80k and work myself to death for it.

Work, life, balance.

I want to make adequately enough money while putting in as little effort as possible.
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Well i went from working 18 hour days to working 6 hour days. You should want to study to excel as a person not just for the monetary value. That is my mindset.

Hate to break it to you, with that attitude you wont be doing your home thing, because doing your own thing requires a lot of effort. You cant coast on the coat tales of entrepreneurs.
 
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semaphore

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SauRoNZA said:
I just had a kid.

It's all about planning ahead.
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Yes, planning agreed. Wait till you start paying the heavy school fees and everything else. Then your 40K goal post is going to move very higher. You can disagree all you want, I see it on a daily basis.
 
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iDOL

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I think more apt was the topic on how much you need to earn to live comfortably. What type of lifestyle would you be able to support depending on your salary.
My primary residence is bond free, I do however have a bond over a rental property for the most part it pays for itself, it's just now and then when I cover a portion.
But when you look at it, with a family of 4 groceries set you back between R3000.00 to about R6000.00 depending on what is needed. Average of about R3800.00.
Then you have rates, electricity, telephone and petrol that can set you back in excess of R10k. Telephone/adsl you can maybe do without, but the rest they are non negotiable ones. You just have to pay for them. School fees depending on the school for us per month is already R4000.00. Then your household helper to help carry some of the slack in seeing to the little one whilst you're at work. There you have it expenses in excess of R20k without even blinking. Fact of the matter is I live in a fairly working class suburb in a small duet. So nothing fancy or out of this world. It's just that maintain even a conservative family lifestyle can still set you back.
 
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