[rsmurano]

The American Dream is different from 1 person to the other. Some people like living on a strict budget, some people can’t afford to pay for a $1000 car repair, and some want financial freedom to do or buy whatever they want.
We are retired or almost retired, you built up your retirement nest egg for these times, so it’s time to enjoy what you have until you’re gone.
Read the book “die with zero”, it will make you think about the future. After I read this, we increased our budget by 6x.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe

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.

$180k for vacations over a lifetime, adds up, I spent the winter months in Hawaii to paint and each year it was closer to $30K, I was there more than 10 years, all on a teacher’s salary but I did consulting on the side. We went to Napa too bought a $30K BMWLT motorcycle plus hotels every night etc for 62 days in the summer, cross country. Two years in a row. I think we spent $108K in quite a short time - but we really liked our vacations, and hubby liked comfort, a bit of pampering and good food.
(Hubby passed away suddenly at a youngish age - I’m so very glad he got to live out his dream.)

[Rainger99]

I would expect that if you are living in the Villages, you are very close to living the American Dream or have achieved it.

I just looked at the Villages website. There are more than 40 new homes listed under $300,000 and the cheapest was $219,500.

And you get the same amenities - golf, pickleball, swimming pools, clubs - if you live in a $219,000 home or a $2,000,000 home.

A $219,000 home dies not seem that extravagant.
However, about 20% of American households have a net worth of about $18,000 so to them, this must seem like the impossible dream.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by joshgun

I read the article and a lot of people are misinterpreting the cost. It isn’t the purchase price of home, it includes purchase price insurance, interest, taxes and maintenance. Also, it isn’t an average and Orange County or Tupelo MS would be more or less.

Our first home was a condo. We took a loss on that, got back only half of our purchase price. So we were down around $60k when we bought our new house at $138k. Since it was a condo and had new appliances, we paid nothing in maintenance but we did pay condo fees. So the price of "living within four walls with indoor plumbing, electricity, etc" set us back a total of maybe $80k over 11 years.

Then we made improvements on our new house - new roof, new fence, couple of tree removals, renovated the bathroom, put up drywall to create a "man cave" in the basement, added a patio behind the garage. All that, plus utilities and property taxes, maybe $100k total over 13 years of living in it. So total cost for our first free-standing house including improvements, purchase price, utilities and taxes, came to around $238. Minus the $60k we got back from our condo and sunk back into the new house, so total expense came to $238-60= $178,000

We got $195 when we sold the house, so we're now $17,000 ahead. We took that $17k and sunk it into our current house, our Villages house. So far we've spent, including purchase price, amenity fees, maintenance, minor improvements and taxes, maybe $200k, after deducting the $17 we already had in profit from our previous home.

So - to recap: we've spent around $260k in total, for living somewhere other than our parent's house, since the year before we got married 35 years ago. That's the $200 we've had to spend since we bought our first house, plus the $60 we lost on our condo.

I think it's easy to misunderstand your own math, when you stack the price you pay for your homes, without including the proceeds from SELLING those homes before buying a new one. Yes, you paid $500k for your house. But you sold it for $600k. So your net expense is -100, meaning - you profited, not spent.

[Marmaduke]

Originally Posted by thelegges

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.

God Bless you for liking children and having 3 and instilling values and education upon them.
It will come back to serve you well, I bet.
... and for taking care of your parents, you should be commended. Go visit and check on them and really feel the Blessings. Excellet job, in my opinion!

[Cliff Fr]

Originally Posted by USOTR

The figures are based on a lifetime of expense not a one time purchase. That said I find it interesting the American auto manufactures now see themselves as important as owning a house and expect our lifetime investment to be the same.

Jump across the pound and most citizens don't even own a car.

You can't really compare America to "across the pond". It's a totally different situation there.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Marmaduke

... and for taking care of your parents, you should be commended. Go visit and check on them and really feel the Blessings. Excellet job, in my opinion!

[Meyerro]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

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.

Regarding the cost of a home, once you add in the mortgage interest, taxes and insurance the purchase price is more than doubled.

[goneil2024]

The source article from USA Today references a recent analysis by Investopedia, so let’s assume the data are credible, I could but will not dispute their findings. I do like the fact that so many readers shared their life journey to reach TV. It’s clear that what constitutes “The American Dream” is very subjective, and relative as many who posted observe.

I suggest that those reading and posting here are not “Average”, and actually you are in my view “Exceptional”. I offer as evidence the many life journeys that were shared by readers on this board. In each case we see how over a lifetime each overcame obstacles, navigated the system, and achieved their goals, the life stories are a testament to resourcefulness, grit, perseverance and vision so that now you are living your best life in TV.

My journey shares many of the same elements as others posting in this thread, HS graduate, working for minimum wage in a textile mill, during Vietnam enlisting in the military, college on the GI Bill, buying used cars keep for 10-yr, act as GC building my own home(s) accumulating equity for the next home, . . . etc. Learning the difference between consumption vs. accumulation; investing vs. speculation; cost vs. value were important and hard learned lessons.

For me it is all about the journey and the satisfaction that comes from overcoming challenges, helping others, succeeding and having the freedom to now enjoy the future for the time remaining.

So I say, “well done”, stay the course, you are the exception!

[ElDiabloJoe]

goneil2024, nicely stated. In fact, if one read through the various posters' journeys to get to The Villages, one could pull out certain commonalities that would help others lead a life so they could "be rich" as it is perceived by many outside The Villages of Villagers.

[Latoo]

Most do not make that in their lifetime.

Lifetime Earnings by Education Level
Less than a High School Diploma: ~$1 million (men) / $0.5 million (women)
High School Diploma: ~$1.5 million (men) / $0.8 million (women)
Some College: ~$1.8 million (men) / $1 million (women)
Associate Degree: ~$2 million (men) / $1.4 million (women)
Bachelor's Degree: ~$2.8 million (men) / $1.4 million (women)
Graduate Degree: ~$3 million (men) / $1.9 million (women)

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by Latoo

Most do not make that in their lifetime.

The article talks about what it costs to achieve the American Dream.

That is the goal. Obviously, most people never achieve the dream. But many people do reach middle class - which is higher than many of us started.

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

The article talks about what it costs to achieve the American Dream.

That is the goal. Obviously, most people never achieve the dream. But many people do reach middle class - which is higher than many of us started.

The American dream is what each individual imagines. There is no guideline as to perfection of financial standards. There is an excellent book which is The Psychology of Money. The richest people are those who realize when they have enough money, not the most. We realized 30 years ago that my spouse and I were were working different hours, raising children, making great salaries and quality in our life was lacking. And the more money we earned, the more we needed. We changed our lifestyle or I should say workstyles, cut the excess in our lives, lived well and no longer were chasing our tails. If we were starting all over again we would never buy as much "stuff". We would live well and streamlined. Everyone has their own goal but we are not interested in chasing our tails.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by Aces4

The American dream is what each individual imagines. There is no guideline as to perfection of financial standards. There is an excellent book which is The Psychology of Money. The richest people are those who realize when they have enough money, not the most. We realized 30 years ago that my spouse and I were were working different hours, raising children, making great salaries and quality in our life was lacking. And the more money we earned, the more we needed. We changed our lifestyle or I should say workstyles, cut the excess in our lives, lived well and no longer were chasing our tails. If we were starting all over again we would never buy as much "stuff". We would live well and streamlined. Everyone has their own goal but we are not interested in chasing our tails.

I like this. I was told long ago something that has borne out to be a truism for me. The secret to happiness is to be happy with who you are and where you are (in life).

Yes, improving one's self in various ways (professionally, education-wise, physically, spiritually, etc.) is laudable but don't make it an obsessively driven goal. There will always be something to strive for: more money, more power, faster cars, bigger houses, more land, etc.).

To be happy, one must be happy with who they are, and where they are. That is the secret.

[Velvet]

I think when it comes to “stuff” it also depends on what you were used to. For example, hubby came from both a wealthy and famous family. His nursery was painted by a “named artist”. Over time, with bad investments, his family lost a lot of money. But hubby never lost his taste for the highest end stuff available. However, to his credit he became a great bargain hunter. And he did it a lot. Which felt, to me, a bit like hoarding, ok expensive stuff, but a lot of it. It made him happy. I learned to live with it. There is nothing better than a happy spouse. I just had my (functional and tidy) area of the house and he had his. I did sometimes wish, for example, that I was not tripping over 8 motorcycles when I went into the backyard but I had my area of beautiful roses, so all was good.