The American Dream is expensive
 

Interesting article about how much it costs to achieve the American Dream - $5,043,323!!

The American dream now costs $5 million. Here'''s a breakdown.

Retirement: $1.6 million
Owning a home: $957,594
Owning a new car: $900,346
Raising two children and paying for college: $876,092
Health care: $414,208
Annual vacations: $180,621
Pets: $39,381
Wedding: $38,200

I can see some room for savings:

Owning a home - sure, if you want to live in The Hamptons, but I suspect most areas have a selection for well under $957,954 so let's halve that figure.

Not sure what new car they are getting for $900,346 - possibly a McLaren? - but, with modern cars having a much longer trouble-free life than the clunkers from the 1960's, buying a new car every ten years should suffice, so let's divide that figure by three.

Kids - who needs them?

Wedding - swallow your ego and just get married. It's meant to be a solemn occasion, so you don't have to try to impress everyone by spending a lot of money on frippery.

There should probably be an 's' after wedding, so that number could rise.

:BigApplause:

Wow................that is a bean-counter having fun.

Interesting to see it laid out this way.

Sure, there are some +'s and -'s to numbers for different people, but good observation.

:thumbup:

The preferred lifestyle makes a huge difference in "living the dream."
I live a modest lifestyle, and that is as much as I want. The cost is much, much less.
If you want to travel the world, eat out at the best restaurants, and live among the rich and famous, that costs a lot more.

Apparently, people want to live in Palm Beach or Fisher Island and not Scranton or Akron.:angel:

Our lifetime of expenditure is a little different

All of our homes throughout the years is definitely over a million
All of our cars from age 16 to present around $600,000. Looking at a new EV $87,000 will add $
We loved kids so 3, plus college until medical school more than a million
Health care out of pocket deductible and monthly copay $2,000-4,000 year to age 18-64yo.
Vaca less $$ we worked too much
Pets less $$, we didn’t prolong their deaths
Wedding today is far more $$$ than 30 years ago. Our 400 guests today would be over $25,000

Retirement don’t have a clue, dirt nap is still in the future one hopes. Our parent memory care is $7,000 a month. So there is that.

So, you're talking over the span of a lifetime? I mean, who drops $900K on a car?

As for housing, find me a house in Orange County for under $750K that isn't a mobile home or in rent-controlled Laguna Woods (formerly adult community Leisure World). At least find one over 1500 sq ft you would want to raise a family in.

Additionally, that housing price is probably not adjusted for people who bought a house once, made a few years of payments, then sold for a big profit and bought again just to do it again. I did that multiple times, so one is not paying the full asking price outright for each new home when one is rolling over equity (paid and gains) from a previous house.

I don't know what kind of vacations people are taking for $180K, I worked my whole career. A couple thousand less than 10 times to go to Napa or Hawaii, but that's about it.

My wedding was $2500 (Helllllo Vegas!), and I can't imagine I've spent that kind of money on pets over the years, and I've had at least one dog (as many as 4) since 1995 without interruption even up until today.

Still, kind of a fun thing to read through and compare with reality.

"It now costs $5 million over"

I guess it depends on what you consider to be YOUR American dream. Mine doesn't require a fancy car, or much expense on it at all. Because I'd be healthy and able-bodied and walk or ride my bicycle wherever I needed to go, and call a limo to take me to the airport if I want to travel away from my own state. I think I spent maybe $50,000 total for my last car, including the cost to buy it, insure it, and maintain it for 12 years.

It wouldn't need a big home, it's just the two of us, 1200 square feet on a 1/4-acre wooded lot is plenty.

No kids.

Health care hasn't cost us more than $12,000 in any given year, ever, including premiums and co-pays. That's not including a couple of years when we had major dental expenses. Those were the exceptions to the rule. With the current situation, it'll probably cost more. Let's call it $50,000 now. Still nothing like the above example.

Vacations? In MY American Dream, I'd be going on river cruises and maybe a trip to Europe, and back to New England. Not every year. This wouldn't be an "annual" cost of vacations. Maybe $10,000 annual, on average. Less for New England trips, more for Europe.

Once my cat dies, I will probably not have any more pets, or possibly foster one, which means the vet bills are paid for by someone else. So that's a savings right there.

That's my American dream.

Depends on how big your dreams are and where you want to live. If you leave out Cala, NW, NE and anywhere on coast. It’s not dream can be reality. IMO biggest problem the American dream has be flush along with all middle class jobs went elsewhere. IMO also any 3rd world country the American dream just getting here. Government will take care of rest, until become citizen….. then dream turns into taxation nightmare and r back line for healthcare and freebee’s.

When grow up with silver spoon in their mouth they expect all things they are accustomed too. Us they grew up poor grateful just to be alive at retirement time and able to retire.

Sounds right
 

Over 55 years of adult life that equals to about $92,000 per year.

Please note that the total amount ($5 million) is over a lifetime. It does not refer to a one time purchase.

It is pretty easy to hit $1,000,000 on housing over the course of 50-60 years.

I bought a modest home in the Villages for under $400,000. But I am paying $5000 a year in taxes and bonds plus insurance and utilities and maintenance, etc., so my yearly upkeep is about $10,000. My house up north was about $300,000 plus taxes and upkeep so I have probably spent close to a million on housing in the past 50 years.

I grew up with a silver spoon, but it was often in need of polishing, and was a hand-me-down from my grandmother. In other words - solidly middle-class, with upper-middle-class grandparents. We had trust funds but they weren't million dollar trust funds, they were multi-thousand trust funds which we spent on our college educations, and medical expenses. Not caviar and yacht clubs.

But my grandmother turned her family into the wealth she did have, by being somewhat frugal, and incredibly attentive to expenses and income when my grandfather started out his dental practice - at the height of the Depression. That was when most of his patients were unable to pay for the services. They'd pay in kosher chickens, or roof repair, auto repair, ice for the ice box, milk and butter delivery, tuneups for the car. People who did have money, paid my grandmother who sunk every penny she could into savings, until she was able to invest. And then, she invested. And turned "nothing" into "something." She taught us the value of not just hard work - but compassion for our neighbors and the value of having and being a real neighbor in the community. Of giving, trading, exchanging ideas and material goods, saving when you can and spending ONLY if you have a community to support you when you run into trouble and need help. Owing as little as possible, but not being afraid to owe if the alternative is a suffering family.

My grandmother never worked an actual paying job in her entire life. But she was a volunteer, a philanthropist, a playwright, and a genius when it came to turning zero income into invested assets, while keeping her family clothed, fed, housed, and loved. And importantly, she taught us that we had no right to "expect" success, or income, or luxuries, or nice things. The world didn't owe us these things. The world didn't owe us anything at all.