Editor’s note: I updated the income amount in the headline and main image. Originally, it said $525k, but the $685k reflects the couple’s annual income including bonuses.
Today we have a notable Home Economics because it’s the first time a man has shared his story.
I’ve been reluctant to feature men for a couple of reasons. The first, and most obvious, is that men dominate personal finance narratives. Just look at a book like The Psychology of Money—it’s a huge bestseller filled with anecdotes that almost exclusively feature men. I’ve always liked that The Purse is a place where women can be the stars of the stories, ideally offering some inspiration to our readers. I really do believe that it’s harder to be what you can’t see.
But there’s another reason that I’m not so keen on featuring entries from men—they are often not as good at sharing little details about their spending, nor are they as forthcoming about some of the more emotional aspects of personal finance. It’s that info that I think makes a series like Home Economics so compelling. It’s not so interesting to read that someone drops $1,000 a month on groceries if we don’t also understand how they feel about that spending.
Still, I’m a firm believer in “never say never.” So recently, when a Purse reader suggested one of the commenters submit his own entry, and he noted that we exclusively feature women, I followed up with an email encouraging him to participate.
I thought his story was interesting because he and his wife bring in a similar income to the family of five from Chicago that we featured earlier this month, but with a very different financial picture: no debt and nearly $2 million in savings and investments. When I read the Chicago Home Ec, I felt like a $500,000 salary didn’t go very far, whereas when I read today’s entry, I felt the opposite.
Of course, a $500,000 annual income is objectively a lot of money. But it’s interesting to compare how the two families manage it.
I do think it’s worth pointing out that today’s writer has been making a significant income his entire career, while the Chicago couple started earning more just in the last eight years (and only in the past year did their annual income reach $475,000). Today’s writer shared that he’s always been interested in money management, and he is a long-time fan of personal finance communities like The Bogleheads. He has a thorough understanding of where his income goes, noting to me that their spending breaks down so that 40% is for expenses, 40% for taxes, and 20% for savings. And deep-seated career anxiety keeps them off the hedonic treadmill, he says.
I broke pretty much all of my unwritten Home Ec rules when publishing this entry: It’s written by a man, featuring our second high earner of the month who lives in Brooklyn (making that our fourth entry from my favorite borough). I promise we’ll mix it up next month! We’re still trying to get entries from all 50 states (it’s crazy we haven’t published one from Connecticut or Michigan yet!), and we always want to feature a mix of incomes. Want to share your story? Fill out the form here!
Age: 40
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Relationship status: Married
Age of partner: 40
About me: I’m an attorney who works for a small firm in New York City. Like the recent Texas-based Home Ec, I worked in Big Law for 10 years. My wife is a former academic and current tech-ish person, and we have two kids.
Income:
- Your job title/salary: Attorney, $310,000 plus annual bonus (usually about 20% of base, so around $62,000)
- Partner’s job title/salary: Data scientist, $215,000 plus an annual bonus (probably around $85,000)
- Your monthly take-home pay (paycheck amount after taxes and other deductions): $12,950
- Partner’s monthly take-home pay (paycheck amount after taxes and other deductions): $8,630. She receives a paycheck every two weeks, so there’s two months a year when she gets three pay checks.
- Other income: $1,000 from interest and dividends. I don’t include this in our monthly budget, but I do track it for tax purposes.
- Total monthly income: $22,580
