DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Richest 1% to own half of world’s wealth by 2016

http://news.yahoo.com/oxfam-says-richest-one-percent-own-more-rest-001746708.html

Wealth accumulated by the richest one percent will exceed that of the other 99 percent in 2016, the Oxfam charity said Monday, ahead of the annual meeting of the world's most powerful at Davos, Switzerland.

"The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast," Oxfam executive director Winnie Byanyima said.

The richest one percent's share of global wealth increased from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014, the British charity said in a report, adding that it will be more that 50 percent in 2016.

The average wealth per adult in this group is $2.7 million (2.3 million euros), Oxfam said.

Of the remaining 52 percent, almost all -- 46 percent -- is owned by the rest of the richest fifth of the world's population, leaving the other 80 percent to share just 5.5 percent with an average wealth of $3,851 (3,330 euros) per adult, the report says.

Byanyima, who is to co-chair at the Davos World Economic Forum taking place Wednesday through Friday, urged leaders to take on "vested interests that stand in the way of a fairer and more prosperous world."

Oxfam called upon states to tackle tax evasion, improve public services, tax capital rather than labour, and introduce living minimum wages, among other measures, in a bid to ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth.

The 45th World Economic Forum that runs from Wednesday to Saturday will draw a record number of participants this year with more than 300 heads of state and government attending.

Rising inequality will be competing with other global crises including terrorist threats in Europe, the worst post-Cold War stand-off between Russia and the West and renewed fears of financial turmoil.

France's Francois Hollande, Germany's Angela Merkel and China's Li Keqiang will be among world leaders seeking to chart a path away from fundamentalism towards solidarity.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and US Secretary of State John Kerry are also expected.

Beyond geopolitical crises, hot-button issues like the Ebola epidemic, the challenges posed by plunging oil prices and the future of technology will also be addressed at the posh Swiss ski resort.

________

one day damnit. trying to hit that 1 percent status by the time i'm 40.

or at least have a supercar and look like a one percenter. man.....

How old are you?

27

Damn, you had kids early. I'm the opposite. Had kids late.

Not sure if you saw the thread on if money were no object. I used to be like you. I wasn't trying to achieve 1% status, but I have always been driven by money. But unless you invent something, win a lottery, or inherit it, the odds of getting to the 1% are incredibly low. What I learned was that's ok. Money certainly makes things easier but it's not the end all be all and it certainly doesn't correlate perfectly with happiness.

I've always been a car guy as well. Love machines. Motorcycles, cars, whatever. As I approach 40, I just can't see spending a lot on a depreciating asset. And the more expensive the car the more expensive it is to maintain it. Life is expensive enough without that.

Just my $.02. I probably coming across as being old. The truth is I am getting there and notice my views on things changing all the time.

I don't envy those guys one bit. I think about being rich once and while, but honestly, I'm not willing to make the sacrifices. These days, I find time more valuable than money. I'd rather spend my time doing stuff I enjoy because I know money won't bring happiness(unless I can use it to get the Browns to a super bowl).

To me, the issue is not between the rich and the people who are "okay." The problem is when you have people who try and decide which caviar they're going to have for breakfast and people who decide which person in their family is actually going to eat that day.

"Let them eat cake." We all know how well that turned out.

The rich are getting richer because they can afford to invest in bad times, buy on the down swings of the markets, and ride them back up.

Look at how the 2008 market crash worked out. The average middle class investor panicked, and pulled their money once the markets dropped by a certain point. They all but demanded that funds pulled out, instead of riding out the lows to find new highs, and they yanked their money out when they saw their monthly statements showing big losses.

The rich stayed in, and bought.

The Market hit 14,000 in October of 2007. It was down to almost 6000 in March of 2009. The rich could afford those risks. The middle class, not so much. The government threw a ton of money into the system, and that helped investors as well.

Watch if we have another crash. Watch who stays in, and buys more, and who bails. The watch the further expansion of wealth by the wealthy.

Further, and I have said this before, there was a time where an individual could save their way to some degree of prosperity. A middle class saver could save money at 6-7%, and have a nest egg for their retirement, that grew over time.

Today, the 0.25% rates don't even outrun inflation. It was more important that people could buy at low interest rates that it was that people could save for their retirements. *Sigh* We have screwed ourselves, and both parties participated. Now we are paying people off to make sure they don't revolt.

People don't care about any of this though ..... although some get offended by the idea of the "rich getting richer".

j/c


My question has always been of a more existential nature.

Back in the 80's there was this TV show called "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." It was this huge phenomenon for awhile. It was an hour long show once (maybe twice) per week, showcasing the yachts, Lear jets, mansions and supercars owned by society's "one-percenters."

I watched that show exactly one time.

It never made me want to be a 1%'er. It never made me envy those people (So... I guess that knocks off 2 of the 'Seven Deadlies' for me...). The only thing it made me do was question the motivation behind such ridiculous affluence and consumption.

--------

How much is enough? What is gained by obtaining more? What can be made better in one's life when The Best Of Everything is one-upped every year? When the next biggest, baddest, prettiest, shiniest thing comes along... what of any TRUE value is gained by being the first person to have it?


It's just a facet of human behavior that I've never understood.

My only guess is this: with money like that, a person can amass the power necessary to make people do what they want... on a local, regional, national or global level. I suppose that in the final analysis, that aspect of Human Behavior comes down to Pride- run amok. (Strike one more of them "7 Deadlies")

But in The End, what is ANY of that worth? You're still just as dead as the homeless person you stepped over on your daily commute to the corner office... and you take exactly the same amount of your earthly possessions to- "wherever" as he does. In The End... are you any better off for your Life Choices than he he is?

2 Occupants from opposite ends of the socioeconomic continuum are equally dead. They both leave this world with exactly the same things: the clothes on their backs.

There have been maybe 2-3 moments in my life where I felt Perfect Contentment. One was the day after I got married. We were as poor as church mice back then. Another was on a backpacking trip in northern Ontario. My Wife and I watched a stunning sunset on the banks of a small lake, surrounded by a circle of white quartzite mountain peaks. Not a penny in our pockets, and only the possessions we could carry on our backs. The third time was the evening after we'd played Carnegie. That contentment came from having my loved ones with me, as I played an almost-perfect concert in one of the most perfect concert venues on Earth.

Money, power and possession had nothing to do with where my spirit was on those occasions... and they were 3 of the most powerful moments in my life.

I've read/heard interviews of Bill Gates, who has said that the most important thing he's ever done is form his philanthropic foundation with his wife. Dude's got more money and influence than almost anyone else in the world... and what he values most is sharing his good fortune with others. There really MUST be a lesson in there somewhere.

-------------

This line of thinking (which has been with me since that awful Robin Leach TV show) is why my original post read as it did. I simply don't wish for such things... and if I had the money to do so, I'd gift my community with something that could better the lives of everyone who lives here- even the "least of us." ESPECIALLY the "least of us."

IMHO, more isn't necessarily better.... it's just more. And for me, "enough" is defined by what I value.

My cello will finance my retirement years, because it has "Dead Guy Appeal" (Rare/fine instrument investments have routinely outpaced the stock market, decade after decade... sometimes to the tune of 20/1). I'll be able to sell it for a price that will easily command 6 figures- but its TRUE value is in the way I use it today.... and the way it will be used by its next custodian: moment to moment- reaching out to others with the timeless power of Music and Art- which can be free to everyone who seeks it.

I'll still be just as dead as the guy who lived at the Cherry St. Mission- a place I've driven past for almost 30 years, as I go to 'play pretty sounds for the privileged.' And The only thing I'll take to My Maker is the history of how I lived my life.

I guess what I'm trying to address in this rambling post is 3 simple questions:

1. "What is the 'value' of a human lifespan?
2. "What metric should be used in such a calculation?"
3. "How should that investment of time be spent?"

If anyone has an answer to these questions, he'd have the The Next Step taken for all of mankind.

I have always wondered what I would do if I had million and millions of dollars, and my answer is usually, "Not much that would be good". At one point I might have semi jokingly answered "strippers and booze". lol

Now, I suppose that I could go to the best doctors and maybe get my back put into one piece again ..... but beyond that, there really isn't a whole lot I would really want.

Maybe I'd buy a bigger house .... but for what? My house is plenty big enough for me. Maybe I'd buy a new car ... but my car runs well. I would definitely pay off my house, (and I really don't have any debt beyond my monthly debt that is paid of each month) and my brother's house ..... and make sure that my mother would never want for anything .... and maybe help a few friends who are having some problems.

The best thing I have come up with is that I would go out frequently, and try to make peoples' lives better. I mean stuff like take 30 or so envelopes with $100 in them and stick them under the wiper blades of random cars ...... or go to dinner and leave the waitress or waiter a $1000 tip. Maybe go through a drive thru and buy the dinner for the next 20 cars or something. I would love to take a bunch of kids who have little out Christmas shopping, and stuff like that. That kind of stuff, that would make someone's day better, or would make a kid's Christmas better, would be great.

I dunno. I guess that I have gained a greatly different perspective on life lately. I would definitely give my church an endowment of some sort. I am sure that I could come up with a few other projects ..... but as far as needing a ton of money ..... that's just not my primary concern in life anymore. As long as I have enough to pay my bills, and help those I love, as you said, how much more do I really need?

Clem, I too hated that show. Though it might be fun for a week or two, I really don't see how people can live like that. Thanks for sharing those moments of contentment, as I can really relate to them.

Think of our economy like a casino.

You walk in, see a guy pull the lever, the bells and lights go off, and you think 'Damn, that could be me. I could be that guy. I'll play by that game.'

Except that game is more or less rigged, and chances are you're going to lose to the house.

Another relevant comparison would be that of a pyramid scheme.

Love your post Clem and I hate to admit I think like this often. My wife thinks I'm rather morbid. I just think it's big picture.

There's two ways many people often react to this kind of article or news. Most get rather personal... outraged or bemused or resigned or cynical or defensive or admiring etc. Or they get big picture such as yourself. I think the older you get the more the big picture comes into focus. (Don't mean to call you old but I'm right there with you )

Look, as mentioned by others the financial systems are largely rigged. Not in so man official ways (though you could make a case with unregulated derivatives markets) as by opportunity and the means to exploit those opportunities. There are instruments and markets that are available only if you have the connections, the means and the know how. As the saying goes the easiest path to making lots of money is having money to begin with. This has always been true but it's more true now than just about any period since the age of the robber barrons. The difference now is that the fortunes of the .001% are often nearly pure finance related or technological. Their fortunes are not made by making tangible things and employing lots of people doing so.

I work in NYC. I work in IT and I have lot friends and family in IT, finance and banking as well as medicine and law. Just about everyone I would qualify as being in the top 20%. Many are 1% and a few of our circle are .01-.00001%. By and large most people I know and deal with have worked very hard on education and career. Generally those in the upper most echelons either came from at least upper-middle class with a very heavy emphasis and support for the type of education that earns high or they came from a bunch of money, educated well enough and managed well enough. I would say that the biggest difference between those of us in the 80%-99% and the 1% and above is on the kind focus and education that specifically targets money combined with money to begin with. There's some outliers who came from relatively little but they got that focus mapped out early, usually from family. I know no one personally who got way up the money ladder without some push from behind and/or hands up from above. As my wife's uncle (a bonifide .00001%er) prophetically told me one night; the most successful people are those who've figured out exactly what they want and know how to ask for and accept the most amount of help.

All that said, happiness and contentedness is not a monopoly. Some of the craziest, most insecure, neurotic and miserable people I know are some of the most "successful" I know. Others in this group are seemingly very we'll adjusted and happy.

And as far as their overall benefit to mankind... Well now, that's a very different thing all together and what Clem is ultimately getting at. I read things like this and the personal feelings arise about my own station, my value and values and the perceived "purpose" of my life, internally driven or externally defined. I have my cultivated ideas and money in itself is certainly NOT a major feature of what I'm driving for in my life but the power and efficacy that money imbues can't be ignored. As much as I'd like to impact the world in the ways I see as good and worthy I'd be able to do much more with lots of money. I wrestle with that. You've just got to till the little plot you've got I guess.

I personally know a guy, he's in his late 40's worth upwards of 100 million or more.

He has the mansion, the yacht, charters planes wherever he goes.

He's on his 3rd wife. Lost most of his wealth 2x, houses, cars repo'd.

It is very interesting chatting with him. He says his biggest regret is time. He worked so much he missed his kids growing up, missed his sons wedding because of a "big international deal", and lost his high school sweetheart because he just couldn't give her the time together she wanted.

He knows all this, but still does it. I asked "Why, you have enough to retire comfortably and spend all your time with your current wife", he said he's addicted to the work, the challenge, and the thrill of closing that big deal drives him to want more. He said he tried retirement, but it never lasted more then 3-4 months before he was bored to death and went back to work.

I would love to be so financially secure, that I could buy what I want, go where I want, do what I want, without ever having ton consider the cost. But I am not willing to trade the short time I have on this rock for it. I'd much rather spend it enjoying my weekends with family and friends, than be jet-setting across the world chasing that next dollar.

j/c

I'm happy with my life and I'm nowhere close to wealthy, yet I still have concerns about this.

When so few are in control of so much wealth, it's those few who dictate so much with their wealth and power. They control business, they are the lobbyists that control our politicians, which in turn, control our government.

It's not so much their wealth alone that concerns me, it's the impact their wealth achieves in controlling us all that is my concern.

jc

personal finance question for you guys.

whats the average monthly expenses for yall?

like for example, with rent, utilities, phone, car note and car insurance(mine is 372 a month cause i'm a speed demon) mine is around 1900 a month.

Let's see ......

Mortgage: $419
Natural Gas: $60 (year round average)
Electricity: $55 average
Water: $74 average
Car: Paid off
Car Insurance: $29/month (No accidents/tickets for over a decade. Liability only $100k/$300K coverage, plus coverage on my vehicle if damaged by an uninsured driver)
DirecTV: $70 (I got a deal)
Internet: $40
Phone: $3 (VOIP @ $36/year)

Total: $750/month.

I live in a nice neighborhood, though not in the elite areas of town. I am technically in Youngstown, I am 5 blocks north of Poland, 2 blocks west of Struthers, and 2 or 3 blocks east of Boardman. Youngstown is shaped really strangely, and has 2 areas that jut out of the bottom of the rest of the city. I live in one of those. It's a nice area, without being super expensive.

Mortgage & Taxes: $973
Home Insurance: $150/mo ($1800 /year)
Water: $65
Electric: $160/mo ($120 in winters $200 in summer)
DirecTv: $180
Car Insurance: $150 (2 vehicles)
Motorcycle Insurance: $12/mo $140/year
Car Payment: $0 Payed off
Motorcycle Payment: $0 payed off
Internet: $60/mo
Cell Phone: Work Covers (advantage of being the IT guy, they would pay my internet as well, but I just don't log in from home that often to justify it being their expense.)

$1750/mo

I didn't include the Wife's car which is leased because we keep separate accounts and she covers that herself.

Mortgage & Taxes: $1050
Home/jewelry and 3 vehicles Ins: $185
Water: $15 (sewage only - we have a well)
Electric: $150
Dish: $110
Car Insurance: included with home
Propane: $200
Internet: $60
Cell Phone: $250. 4 phones.

$2020

Of course, there's a ton more of spending.....gas for vehicles, food, eating out, attending games, etc - just like most others I would guess.

Mortgage/Taxes/Ins: $2200
Auto Ins Paid twice a year: $80
Water: Well/$0
Sewage: Septic/$0
Electric: $150 (several computers)
Cable/Internet/Home Phone: $150
Phone: $200
Gas: $150 (peak price)
Car Pmt: $475
Student Loan: $132

Mortgage is high because I took a short fixed rate loan. I figure suffer the pain now and have it paid off in 10-12 years when I'm in my early 40s.

Between my girlfriend and I, keeping our house/lives going costs about $2400 a month. That doesn't account for her student loans.
Living on the west coast is a generally more expensive than living in the Midwest. Finding a house in the city under $200,000 is nearly impossible unless you don't mind living in what's refered to as 'felony flats', or you have serious fixer-upper skills. So instantly the cost of housing eats a larger chunk of our budget. Even renting a typical 2 bedroom apartment is going to set you back $1000-1400 a month. So it's best to just save up and purchase your own place.

I'm in the camp with many others here. I've lost the fantasy of being a 1%'r. I just worry about making enough to be comfortable. Keep my head above water monthly. Save 15% in my 401k. And travel a little. I learned early on I'm not going to get rich as a nurse so I'm not going to try. I work 32 hours a week and have built a lifestyle that allows for it. I've seen too many of my buddies work 50-60 hours a week only to build a lifestyle that then requires that. They became slaves to their lifestyle. Not me. I live below my means in my day to day world. I don't spend money on frivolities such as status symbol cars, or $200 sunglasses. My car is a depreciating asset that is meant to get me to and from my revenue stream (work). Nothing more nothing less.
Find what works for you but don't deem yourself a failure if you don't ever own all the toys you ever dreamed of. Life is too short to only value it with money.

The weird thing about "all the toys" is, there's always something else you want/ "need". I know people that make $30,000, have kids, a house, etc. They "want" just as much as my uncle, who is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 million.

It's not how much you make, it's not how much you have, it's about what you do with what have.

Granted, you have to have enough to pay your bills........but so many people think "oh, if I could just get this, or that, then I'd be happy." Look around folks.........most of us have enough to be happy, if we'd just realize it.

Port and Arch, i appreciate the wisdom.

all i want is the Audi R8. thats the only toy i want. after that, it's whatever.

soon we will be buying a house, and all the gadgets we own and love are simple. iPhones, iPads, Macbook Pro's. besides the laptop, those are every 2 years type things.


thats all i want guys....just that supercar. hell i'll even take it used. i just want that one single feeling of "nobody can touch me on the roads".

I find it funny that this report comes out and is blasted all over the airwaves, right after the president starts his yearly attack on the rich.

His lackey today tried to say that taxing the rich morewould benefit the middle class...BS. The middle class will see none of that money. It will go to the treasury, and the politicians wil use it for pet projects to gain votes.

What I don't get, is why people think when someone is rich, that somehow that money or part of it should be theirs. Most who are rich earned it one way or another. I have no problem with that.

What bothers me is when people like Obama act as if the money is everyones, and somehow the rich stole it from them. Then you get people like Hillary who goes on and on about how the rich are greedy, at an event where she charges 50 grand just to hear her speak.

My Dad always said, some have it some don't and that will never change. But having hate or bad feelings towards someone who does, shows who the greedy one is.

I used to own like 16 rental properties, we had boatloads of credit card debt going in. Between a healthy mixture of stupidity and tragedy we had to pull almost all of the value out of the properties and before you know it I'm working so hard just to keep up on the mortgages and maintain the properties all while running my one man painting business.

I kept playing that old Boston song Peace of Mind in my head and thinking, 'what would I give for that?'

We eventually lost all that. I read the book Me, Myself and Bob by Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales. He got too big too fast and lost it. One quote that stood out more than any other in that book was how he (and this is a paraphrase) felt like he was pushing a 100lb rock up a hill, and someone said, 'you don't have to do that anymore'. It was a relief.

Much as I hated losing all that I had worked for, losing it was a relief.

By the way, if you want to be untouchable on the roads, you need a Ford GT. I've only seen that thing lose once on YouTube, to a Mclaren and that's because the drag strip was wet and the GT was the heavier car.

jc

What do people propose to fix this? If you don't want rich having all the money? Redistributing wealth won't work in the long term. If you take a bunch of money from the rich, give it to the poor, the poor will spend it and be poor again.

People like Obama are "The Rich's" best friends on Earth.

If what you said truly bothers you, I suggest turning off Hannity and cracking a book.

Obama's presidency is undeniably marked by making the rich richer, the poor poorer, and letting the middle class fight through a rigged game that usually ends with a trap door chute to poor.

It amazes me what people will believe because a guy with nice hair on the TV said so

Please...tell me how he took from the rich and gave to the poor? Was it Obamacare? His signature act where he required people to give money to elite corporations?

Take active involvement in your community.

Corporations aren't evil when they work with the people that make them work.

They're evil when they step on those folks throats.

Community means something.

McDonald's and Wal Mart arent part of the community. They will gut the community for money.

IMHO, it will happen whether you or I initiate it or not. The human condition is not unlike any other system- it runs in a cyclical pattern. It does so because we've never learned from our mistakes. We WILL do the same stupid s#!t, time and again. I truly believe that it's encoded in our DNA.

America has fought this fight before. It gave rise to the era of trade unions, which arguably was an important contributor to the rise of the Middle Class in the mid 20th c.

In Russia, just a generation before, the Bolshevik revolution broke down the stranglehold that was enjoyed by the Czars... and was fueled by the same desire to give power of self-determination to the previously powerless.

Just before the start of the 19th c, we had the French Revolution, in which established 'power brokers' such as the royals and the church were taken down by a general uprising of the underclass.

In each of these cases, the ones in power were brought low by masses of underprivileged in a mass uprising. In every case, Human Nature again reasserted itself into the mix within a single generation- and the 'uprisers' became the the very thing that was overthrown:

Union bosses forgot the cause that brought them to a position of influence, and became the very same type of 'power brokers' their fathers risked their lives to defy.

Russian peasants became movers and shakers in the burgeoning Soviet movement... and held sway over the next 4 generations of Russian citizens.

The French have a system of wealth redistribution that clearly doesn't work towards making them world leaders in much of anything... and they are plagued with daily demonstrations of one thing or another- and seem to have no national sense of direction.

You see where I'm going with this by now, I'm sure.

There is no fix. There will only ever be "temporary adjustments."


Human Beings haven't changed their stripes even one little bit since the dawn of recorded time, despite the words and teachings of some of their most revered and evolved of philosophers/teachers/prophets/writings.

We're beasts.... just one small step removed from chimpanzee tribes who will completely obliterate a competing tribe for a few acres of treetop real estate. And we all follow the dictates of The Biggest Alpha in our tribe.... right up to the moment when someone else takes his azz out.

A previous poster expressed his misgivings about the undue influence that certain moneyed people have on our nation's political policies. I share those misgivings, because I've learned one important thing in my time here: "You may have a louder voice than the rest of us.... but you're every bit as stupid as the rest of us."

______________

To answer your original question: "What do people propose to fix this?"

Nothing. And everything.

Until Mankind takes that quantum leap beyond 'what he's always known,' there's nothing TO be done. We'll still be slaves of our lesser demons (which are clearly laid out in the '7 Deadlies'), we'll still do the same chit we've always done... and our grandchildren's grandchildren will still be wrestling with their own version of the same crap that plagues us in 2015.

500 years ago, Shakespeare nailed ALL OF US... when he wrote:


"What a piece of work is Man..."


We should all spend more time reading Willie Shakes- and less time reading political blogs by duds who know nothing more that we do.

The new GT Ford unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show is incredible.
https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia...t-supercar.html

I had a chance to drive one of the 2006 models at the London Cobra Show several years ago and it was amazing. Hope I get a chance to drive one of these new ones, or a chance to drive an original (odds of that are pretty slim).

The new Acura NSX is pretty sweet too.

Instead of revolution how about enforced regulation. Much of this current wealth redistribution has happened because of de-regulation or imaginary regulation.

Regulation has become an evil word in the same way communism and socialism have been evil words misused to keep people in fear.

No one wants a revolution, but everyone can see the huge difference between the wage increases at the top compared to those at the bottom. Never in our recent history has the percentage of increase been so insanely unbalanced.

The GT40 has been my dream car since they came out. Could I get one? I could if I truly wanted to, but I just can't justify it. I am not filthy rich to where the expense would not mean anything, but I make enough to finance and pay for it, I just can't justify it.

I have my 2006 Mustang GT, which just turned 100k, put money into it to make it very unique, and love that car as the day I bought it, partially because it looks nothing like the other mustangs on the road, it is unique, it is me.

Wow, reading some of your financial layouts per month I'm definitely not living remotely as efficiently as any of you. That said I track expenses and investments pretty closely. Our household expenses are a little under $22k/mo but that includes everything, not just the line items you listed. I'm betting a major portion of that is about living in the shadow of NYC. You pay to be in the job market.

Well, you show very clearly here that you just don't understand the issues at all.

NOBODY has caviar for breakfast.

#brunchduh #sheesh

The top 1% is still a lot of people. There are literally millions of people in the US that qualify as the top 1% of Americans. It's not like it's a tiny secret society.

22k a month?

jesus.....

Pretty sure he meant $2,200.00. Not $22,000.00 a month. But it'd be nice wouldn't it?

If he is only spending $2,200 a month living in or near NYC, I'd like to talk to his realtor.

Yeah, it's an unfair comparison as you make more but spend more there. The money just doesn't mean the same.

My first NYC apartment was basically a jail cell with a bathroom.

$950 a month.

I remember being ashamed to have girls over, but when they found out what I paid, they often asked if there were spots open in the building.

JC..



Reminder, this is top 1% worldwide, not just the US.

And to be in the top 1% (US based) only takes around 400k a year.