Why do we need so much money? Why not go do a job I love that pays peanuts?
Some of the jobs in which you can make a difference or pursue a passion are not the best paying jobs. For example, acting. The average member of the screen actors guild makes $1000 per year. Musicians? I know a little about this from personal experience. I never made any money to speak of playing my own songs. Orchestra players, unless they are in a big city, do not make enough to live on, and maybe nothing at all. Playing in clubs, if you play cover music and not your own, you can make maybe a few hundred dollars for a weekend gig. All this is before expenses, taxes etc. More importantly, all artists have to hustle to get work. Even if you make $50 per hour, the average for film and tv actors, you’re not guaranteed to get those hours. Teachers make about $45K per year, and police officers make $39K. Suppose you are passionate about your religion and want to make a difference there? Priests in my diocese get room and board plus $1,000 per month.
Isn’t this enough? Well, let’s look at how much of this you get to keep while pursuing your dream job. Average living expenses for a single person add up to $13K not including rent, which is $17K on average. That is $30K for a single person. Average tax is 23% including Social Security and Medicare. So the average teacher, probably the most stable job I mentioned, is down to about $400 a month left over. No entertainment, no savings for retirement, no medical care, no student loan payments, no vehicles. We haven’t included anything here except survival. And this is assuming you are able to work and able to find work. Are you starting to get the picture?
Let’s take a look at the other side of the “coin”. Financial anylists don’t have the most interesting job, but they make almost twice as much as a teacher. So do software engineers, many of whom don’t have college degrees. IT and other computer fields, average $82K, and field growing by 12% a year. Engineer make $78,000, lawyers $118k.
Even without a degree, you can make a pretty good living. Some software engineers as mentioned above. You can work in a power plant and make $79K. Repair elevators and make $79K. Being a commercial pilot takes a lot of training, but not a degree, and they make $82K. Managers in the transportation industry $94K without a degree.
Why are we talking about this on RAF? Healthcare is the #1 most expensive thing you’ll buy … and it’s not optional. Millionaires have health insurance! Why? Because they need it. The cost of healthcare is rising faster than personal income. A princeton university study said that US government healthcare “reform” has caused costs to go up because of increased demand. We pay for it, even if we wind up destitute enough to get government benefits. When we get to that poverty level, we can get minimal care but we have no choice.
Let’s put some real numbers on this. Virtually everyone, unless he dies very young, needs help as an adult at some point. 50% of americans have either heart disease or diabetes, which are responsible for 85% of health care costs. I once spent $8K for one night in a hospital. I didn’t have a heart problem, probably just a muscle spasm. But because of the location, they did not know that, and so I had to have many expensive tests, and spend the night in a cardiac unit. At that time I did not have any medical insurance because I was a self-employed contractor. Fortunately I was making more money than I ever had, or have since. More than twice what I make now, more than 10 years later. Otherwise I would have spent years paying off the cost of that one night in a hospital.
Assisted living costs at least $3000 per month for one person. Skilled nursing costs $7000 per month for one person. Obviously, few people can sustain this for very long. Imagine paying $84,000 per year just for rent! If you are fortunate enough to own a house, which for most people is the most valuable thing they own in terms of financial value, would you sell the house to pay your rent? Does that make sense? Does it make sense today? Would it make sense if you wanted to live a long life?
I’m not trying to be all doom and gloom, quite the opposite. I want you to understand that there is still reason to love life even when you need help. We’ve seen that in our study of centenarians. The oldest woman every was riding a bike and rollerskating when she was over 100. She spent years in a skilled nursing facility. You can have all the areas of life you have today — spiritual, mental, physical, and social.
So think about these things. I’m not saying don’t go follow your dream. But don’t ignore the financial aspects of life using the excuse that “money is not important”. Financial health is an important part of living a long, healthy, active life right up to the very end.
And that’s what it’s all about!
References:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-salaries-revealed-movie-stars-737321
https://transferwise.com/us/blog/cost-of-living-in-the-usa
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-urban-rents-hit-all-time-high-at-average-1405-report/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/03/10/whats-the-average-americans-tax-rate/98734396/
https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/median-salaries-career-fields/
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/24/the-10-highest-paying-jobs-you-can-get-without-a-college-degree.html
https://www.thebalance.com/causes-of-rising-healthcare-costs-4064878
Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2018): 227 (-47)
Workout time: 100 Minutes
Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 3.57 Miles (576.2)
Steps: 8766
Muscle Mass 7-day Avg. (change since Aug 2018): 160.29 (+17)
Body Fat 7-day Avg.: 29%
Daily Sleep Duration 7-day Avg: 6 hours
2019 Goal: 15% Body Fat