[Russ_Boston]

Not sure if this isn't too political but someone asked to start a poll of your current (or anticipated) yearly RETIREMENT income from all sources. Obviously there is no need to leave any reply - just reply to the poll if you wish to participate. This is to help wannabes determine the 'median' income of a representative portion of TV.

Note: Your ID is not shown so the results are blind.

[Dirigo]

Hey Russ,

Thanks very much. I was stumbing around trying to figure out how to get a poll going and there it was, you'd already done it.

If anyone gets mad, I'll take the blame. It was my suggestion; don't get mad at Russ, please.

Dirigo

[samhass]

OK...what constitutes "beyond rich"?

[Russ_Boston]

You!

Seriously - just put that in to scare the others! I'd say over 150K per year in retirement income would qualify.

That would be 2K per month SS - 2K per month pension - and 2 million in investment stash earning 5% for the other 100K.

[Dirigo]

Early results show that the Pareto principle is applicable to most situations.

Just over 80% of respondents have $85K or more in retirement income while 20% have less than $85K.

Responses may prove a different result after a time...so stay tuned!

[Russ_Boston]

This would be exactly the opposite of the Pareto principle.

That principle states that 80% of wealth is controlled by 20% of the population. Here we have the majority of wealth being controlled by the majority of the population who cared to report. Which means that either people are exaggerating their income or TOTV has some people who knew how to save!! My bet is on the latter.

This can still only be used to get at median since the upper end might dramatically distort any attempt at average.

[Dirigo]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

Pareto principle...states that 80% of wealth is controlled by 20% of the population.

That was the original observation. Pareto's Principle has been, and is, used in many other ways as a rule of thumb. Also known as the 80/20 rule, as you probably know.

[chelsea24]

Looks like that post with average income is running pretty true to form!

[SteveFromNY]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

This would be exactly the opposite of the Pareto principle.

That principle states that 80% of wealth is controlled by 20% of the population. Here we have the majority of wealth being controlled by the majority of the population who cared to report. Which means that either people are exaggerating their income or TOTV has some people who knew how to save!! My bet is on the latter.

This can still only be used to get at median since the upper end might dramatically distort any attempt at average.

As an observation, I'm guessing that the few who control the wealth won't be moving to TV. It was always my understanding that around 5% of the population controlled about 95% of the wealth. Think names from the Fortune Richest People Lists that get published. These folks buy compounds with walls around them, not homes in retirement communities.
Also, some general rules may apply across the entire population, but the population you are accessing with this poll is really very narrow. They are almost like the folks in the famous telephone poll done by some old presidential candidate (who lost). Apparently, people who had phones liked this guy, so he was predicted a winner. But when the voters turned out, it seemed the folks without phones outnumber and disagreed with the ones with phones. Was it Dewey? I don't recall.
Anyway, you are asking the folks who live in TV how much they do or expect to earn. So you've already eliminated the ones who can't afford it. And the ones who have their own tropical island!
And it ignores expenses. The folks earning $2k a month SS with no mortgage and who eats in every day may be better off than a snowbird with 2 mortgages and an income of $150K per year (The old:"It doesn't matter what you make, but rather what you spend").
All that said, it's an interesting poll. With the number of folks in the "Over $85K range", it would seem a little more granularity at the top end would show the distribution better. There's a lot of room between $85K and "Beyond Rich" in my book.
Anyway, thanks for posting the poll.

[samhass]

For some seniors, income can be hugely variable over the years. If you have properties and sell them off over 5-10 years, you can have very large incomes one year and much less in another.
I'm glad to know we have 2 very rich totvr's. LOL
I did not put myself in that category. Income and net worth can be two entirely different animals.

[Taj44]

It would be fun to see a further breakdown poll of the $85K+ category, say those with incomes of $85K - 150K.

[Russ_Boston]

It's been a fun poll without getting anyone's feelings hurt. As Drigo pointed out the 80/20 rule usually works. And it does apply to the 95/5 as Steve mentioned as well. For example the world's three richest people have more money than the next 10 combined and so on and so on.

As Sam mentions net worth and income can be different depending on the stage that your investment is in. Also people who know how to spend well may live better in TV than someone who on the surface makes more money as Steve mentioned.

I think the early results show that we can all be happy in paradise. Life is what you make of it not how much you make.

[Dirigo]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

...people who know how to spend well may live better in TV than someone who on the surface makes more money as Steve mentioned...Life is what you make of it not how much you make.

Well said Russ...

[chuckinca]

I know my mother lived in TV for nearly 20 years on less than $15K/Year (with paid medical and no mortgage).

Soo -

If people can do that and still have a great time, I would imagine bringing in $85K/Year or so provides unnecessary luxuries (New Beamers instead of 5 year old Grand Marquis', Two Carts instead of one, regular Championship golf instead of Executive, Diner out every other night instead of twice a week, etc, etc, etc).

[zcaveman]

This is a very unqualified poll. It does not restrict the question to the retirees of the Villages.

It asks "What is your current or projected income from all sources". This no way reflects the income of the RETIRED members of TOTV. Wannabes or semi-retired members have a different level of income than those that are fully retired and living on pensions, SS and annuities.

If Russ is trying to find out what the annual income of the fully retired people of TV is, this is not the poll. If that is what Russ is after he should make it clear as to what he wants so that only the fully retired members respond.

If this is not what he wants, why the poll? We already have those inflated numbers.

Z