Question Wednesday

Photo by Evan Dennis on Unsplash.

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to question our financial questions.

Today, I’m curious how much money it would take for you to feel “financially comfortable.” This is one of the survey questions that Charles Schwab uses to develop its annual Modern Wealth Index, and I was very surprised at the number — though I wasn’t surprised that it was higher than last year’s.

I’ll go first: I actually feel pretty financially comfortable right now, with a gross income of around $66K and an AGI of just over $40K in a low cost-of-living area. But I’m also a single woman in a studio apartment with no car and no debt, so my overhead costs are pretty low.

The main reason I feel financially comfortable is because I’m earning enough to save and/or invest 22 percent of my gross income, although you could also say the only reason I’m earning “enough” is because I’ve used a combination of strategy/luck/privilege to keep my overhead costs low.

Sure, I’d love to earn more. But I don’t think I need to earn as much as Charles Schwab suggests — and yes, I’ll share that number in the comments this afternoon, though you can click the link if you want to know right away.

Discuss — or ask your own questions — in the comments.

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