Mainline- Airline Pilot Demand

I think I'm following falcon valley. 4,000sq foot houses and 7-series is the domain of real housewives of Atlanta/Dallas.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
A BMW 7-series, a 4,000 sq ft house, and a few other toys like a boat or small airplane, all while putting away 10% of earnings, giving 10% to charity, etc. is "very comfortable."
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That takes about 400K/year where I come from.

My household income is about what a senior wide-body mainline captain brings in, and we still drive used cars, live in a 2,400 sg ft house, put away 25% and give 10% to charity, and we still have to be careful with our money. No matter how much you make, you can still spend more.
 
I'm definitely looking beyond 6 figures (if you want to discuss what I think the airline profession is worth), but I'm glad to know what money management means to me and perspective-wise, I know that increases in disposable income for my family could remain disposable. Although, statistics show that only a very small minority do not increase their standard of living with increases in disposable income. A few toys would be nice.

I find it kinda funny that if I watch one of those house hunting shows, I cannot tell what kind of financial situation that each house hunter is in until I see the asking prices on the houses. The producers and editors of those shows do a good job at only broadcasting behaviors that are the same for all home buyers...another clue that comfortable is different for everybody I suppose.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Where the hell do you live?
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400 Gross
-100 taxes
300
-80 retirement
-40 charity
180

15K/month household budget

Mortgage on a 350-400K house 2500
Insurance for a family of 6 1000
College funds for 4 kids 1500
Leases on 2 80K cars 800
Boat payment
Vacations
Enertainment
ect.
ect.
ect.




My family's budget looks somewhat similar (with less income, a much smaller mortgage, and no car payments).
 
USMCmech said:
400 Gross
-100 taxes
300
-80 retirement
-40 charity
180

15K/month household budget

Mortgage on a 350-400K house 2500
Insurance for a family of 6 1000
College funds for 4 kids 1500
Leases on 2 80K cars 800
Boat payment
Vacations
Enertainment
ect.
ect.
ect.




My family's budget looks somewhat similar (with less income, a much smaller mortgage, and no car payments).
Click to expand...

I'm still not seeing it. For starters, unless you plan to double your standard of living when you retire, you don't need to be putting away 20% of your salary for retirement. Especially if your employer is kicking in anything. And $1,000/mo for insurance is unusually high for an employer-based plan, even for a family. Even the college fund payment is probably high, unless you're figuring zero investment returns and all of your kids end up in out-of-state private schools with no scholarships. But even using those number, and all of the other numbers you list, you're still left with $8,400/mo for the boat payment, vacations, entertainment, etc. That's enough to pay for a hell of a lot of toys.

I'm the first to say that a low six figure salary won't allow a family of four to live "very comfortably," which is what started this conversation, but it's also a bit extreme to say that $400k is necessary. The real number is in between for the vast majority of the places in this country.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
I'm still not seeing it. For starters, unless you plan to double your standard of living when you retire, you don't need to be putting away 20% of your salary for retirement. Especially if your employer is kicking in anything. And $1,000/mo for insurance is unusually high for an employer-based plan, even for a family. Even the college fund payment is probably high, unless you're figuring zero investment returns and all of your kids end up in out-of-state private schools with no scholarships. But even using those number, and all of the other numbers you list, you're still left with $8,400/mo for the boat payment, vacations, entertainment, etc. That's enough to pay for a hell of a lot of toys.

I'm the first to say that a low six figure salary won't allow a family of four to live "very comfortably," which is what started this conversation, but it's also a bit extreme to say that $400k is necessary. The real number is in between for the vast majority of the places in this country.
Click to expand...

We are both private contractors, so there is no employer contribution to anything. Our HSA insurance jumped 500/month with Obamacare kicking in, despite a 4000 deductible.

My wife's career only has a 15 year window before burnout, so maximizing capital into retirement early is critical. Our financial adviser recommends saving 25% of your gross income.

The college plan is probably aggressive, but I'm OK with that.

I'm not going to post my family's budget on a public forum, but suffice it to say that we make a healthy six figure income and still have to watch our money carefully.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
I'm still not seeing it. For starters, unless you plan to double your standard of living when you retire, you don't need to be putting away 20% of your salary for retirement. Especially if your employer is kicking in anything. And $1,000/mo for insurance is unusually high for an employer-based plan, even for a family. Even the college fund payment is probably high, unless you're figuring zero investment returns and all of your kids end up in out-of-state private schools with no scholarships. But even using those number, and all of the other numbers you list, you're still left with $8,400/mo for the boat payment, vacations, entertainment, etc. That's enough to pay for a hell of a lot of toys.

I'm the first to say that a low six figure salary won't allow a family of four to live "very comfortably," which is what started this conversation, but it's also a bit extreme to say that $400k is necessary. The real number is in between for the vast majority of the places in this country.
Click to expand...

Whoa whoa whoa- you just added an adjective to comfortably! Now we're in a whole different tier and we have to sub-define THAT, too.
 
USMCmech said:
That takes about 400K/year where I come from.

My household income is about what a senior wide-body mainline captain brings in, and we still drive used cars, live in a 2,400 sg ft house, put away 25% and give 10% to charity, and we still have to be careful with our money. No matter how much you make, you can still spend more.
Click to expand...
I take it your either on the West Coast or the NYC area?
 
Derg said:
Good lord, if the US goes "Open Skies", we're toast.

We cannot compete with state-sponsored airlines. At all. And we're one of the last markets predominated by airlines that don't have a significant amount of money coming in from a central government.
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We will, it's the next thing to come screw us. You know we can't have more than 5 years without some crisis in this industry. I think we're past due for something to throw our world in disarray.
 
On a side note there is a home in my neighborhood that has a 7 series BMW. I was looking up slightly used values and ones just a couple years old are going for $20k. Apparently they fall apart at 100k miles so they are essentially life limited.

For me, the issue isn't the money at a commuter (once captain) it's the stability. No job security at all means your 100k paycheck goes to $0 when the doors close. I've now worked with 3 Comair guys and their stories are all different but (mostly) sad. I just do NOT want to be in that position - I like my toys too much.
 
USMCmech said:
400 Gross
-100 taxes
300
-80 retirement
-40 charity
180

15K/month household budget

Mortgage on a 350-400K house 2500
Insurance for a family of 6 1000
College funds for 4 kids 1500
Leases on 2 80K cars 800
Boat payment
Vacations
Enertainment
ect.
ect.
ect.




My family's budget looks somewhat similar (with less income, a much smaller mortgage, and no car payments).
Click to expand...

Sadly its actually 130k in taxes right off the top plus even more if you consider you're paying taxes on almost everything you buy.
 
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