Congratulations. Very inspiring. I believe I heard in China families save around 50% of their income. However, it could be that they do that because there is no social safety net. Americans and Europeans, from what I understand, with an adequate safety net (SS/Medicare) all too often make the mistake of thinking they don't need to save, or save as much as they probably should (or could).KlangFool wrote:Boglegrappler,Boglegrappler wrote:Not happy about uttering a discouraging word here, but........
Being able to save half of your after-tax pay requires either stunning austerity, or a rather high income. It does, however, put you in a position to be independent and also to live from your assets income rather than consuming it and worrying about running out. Nice job.
<<Being able to save half of your after-tax pay requires either stunning austerity, or a rather high income.>>
Or, none of the above. I came from a country/culture where the average gross rate for the whole country is 30+%. It is how we live. It is part of our culture. And, that is not the only country in the world with that level of gross saving rate.
KlangFool
Anyway I agree that saving half your pay doesn't always lead to austerity. I believe Mark Zuckerberg could save 50% of his pay without living much of an austere life. So I don't think we can make blanket statements like that. KlangFool said he makes an "above average income". Perhaps what boglegrappler is thinking is those with "below average" incomes would be living in austerity. That's probably right but again depends upon particular circumstances.