Has your income kept up?

[carpe pugna]

I made $6.50 an hour working at a radio station in 1972 while in high school. My new car was $3,501. School tuition was $230/sem, gas was about $1.00/gal.

My first house had a 10% mortgage and when I borrowed money for my business in 1978-81 I paid 15-19% interest. My taxes in the late 70s were in the 49% bracket. After Reagan they went down to 45% bracket.

With 35 years as a systems engineer I make well more than 7X

Now I have the end years of a 15 year mortgage at 3.66%, my taxes went "up" to the 39% bracket and my 401K has gained all back plus some from the 2008 Recession.

All in all, I can't complain.

 

[Airpark]

Realized after posting this that a better question would have been."

Has your "BUYING POWER" kept up.

Do you earn enough now to buy for $266,000 what cost $37,500 in 1967?

Yes, our hourly dollar rate has increased....however...I do not think the buying power has increased in concert with it.

Has Yours?

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

I read a good book entitled "Family and Nation" by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, he points in 1953 the first 3/4s of the national average/median income was tax-exempt, by the 1980s the tax threshold was down the first THIRD. In addition the proliferation of state and local income taxes, sales taxes, etc. takes a bigger and bigger bite. Look up Ray Stevens video "If 10 Percent is Good Enough for Jesus", read the lyrics.

 

[swMO]

my buying power has NOT increased for me. my first job in the mid 90's paid 5/hr. i worked for a phone tech support subcontractor for a major PC company at 12/hr with no raises for the last 6 years till the contract went back over seas. just started a new job at 13.75 that looks promising, but it is hard to optimistic.

most degrees don't seem worth the student loans from the people i've worked with.

 

[mike from st pete]

What income?

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

Social Security....best Oxymoron ever....so no, it's not keeping up. Every time prices go up, my spendable income goes down. If I got back all the money I put into SS in the 45 years of paying into the system I would be a rich man.

 

[SmokewagonSD]

In 1976 I purchased my first revolver, in cost me 50 hours of my labor, pre tax. The revolver I purchased a couple of months ago cost me 15 hours of my gross labor.
I can't complain, life has treated me well but I had to do my part. Constantly upgrading my skills, making moves to get better jobs along the way and giving my employers their money's worth.

 

[snubbyfan]

We were doin' ok, making enough to replace our old Dodge Neon and '87 Toyota truck with newer vehicles. A 2009 Toyota Yaris for my wife and a 2008 Toyota Tacoma 4wd truck for me. We were making enough for 2 car notes, a mortgage and enough to put away.
Then my degenerative motor nerve neuropathy started. I lost my job as a saw operator and had to go on disability. My wife had to quit her job to drive me around to see doctors, fill out forms and make sure I didn't topple down steps. Now after a year of treatments, tests and therapy, I've basically relearned how to Walk by using the muscles that still work. My wife got a job as a home health care aid and works just 3 days a week. Going down steps and stepping off curbs is still tricky for me but I've managed to stay out of an electric wheelchair so far. We're lucky if we break even now.
Luckily for me my wife made sure to put money away while we were doing well. We have about 1 year left on our mortgage and after that's paid for we'll be able to breath a little easier.
It just amazes me that, if you tell someone that your right handed and your hand no longer works well enough to write, they give you bunches of forms to fill out.