How A CEO Can Live On a paultry $500K A Year

[Bob Hubbard]

How A CEO Can Live On $500K A Year

The New York Times breaks down the annual expenses of your average Fancy Pants Executive Type who lives in Manhattan.

Private school: $32,000 a year per student. Mortgage: $96,000 a year. Co-op maintenance fee: $96,000 a year. Nanny: $45,000 a year. We are already at $269,000, and we haven't even gotten to taxes yet.​

As relatively poor people, we think we can help. Here's the Times-supplied expenses and our suggestions on where to cut costs. More »

 

[tellner]

I suggest I and nine other guys like me could be very comfortable on his salary.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Now now, how can he be expected to drive himself around like one of us poor losers?

 

[Jade Tigress]

I'm appalled. How can anyone be expected to live on such a pittance!?

 

[Gordon Nore]

Nanny: $45,000 a year.

Why am I having trouble believing they pay that much for a nanny? That was my salary not to long ago, and it's probably well above starting pay for teachers, cops, firefighters, nurses.

 

[Flea]

I haven't tallied up my W-2 yet, but I think I came in at something like $15K last year. No debt, despite weathering a few emergencies. Any Nouveau Poor CEO is welcome to be my student for a few days in my little condo in the 'hood. They have to kick in for groceries though. :drinkbeer

 

[Empty Hands]

Why am I having trouble believing they pay that much for a nanny? That was my salary not to long ago, and it's probably well above starting pay for teachers, cops, firefighters, nurses.

Servants for the true upper class are actually very well trained and well paid. Some in the 100K/year range. Your average billionaire doesn't want to deal with paying an illegal immigrant $5/hr to take care of their kid and not understand a word they say to them. That level of cost-consciousness is left to the middle and upper-middle classes.

 

[clfsean]

One year of his paultry 500k & I'm debt free to live comfortably on my pittance compared to his. Let me re-iterate... completely debt free... cars paid off, mortage, student loans, credit cards... all of it. The only thing left is month to month expense.

I'm all for life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness which comes with perks & benefits of capitalism... but when "the few" are stepping on "the masses" to make their outrageous amounts of money literally at our expense, screw'em... let'm try to get by on what I do...

 

[Deaf Smith]

You guys have to understand a few things about CEOs.

1. They work more than any 40 hours. Some live their jobs.
2. They do have to take very well to a wide range of people, anytime, anywhere.
3. They are organizers. Very sharp and thus their pay reflects it.

Now think about this. There must be a 1/2 million companies in the U.S. with CEOs. 99.999 percent do quite well. But it's the greedy ones that screw up the economy (along with government regulations forcing the banks to loan money to people with very bad credit, shaky jobs, and basicly not able to afford what they were buying.

Deaf

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Reminds me of a story about Bill Gates. He ran into an employee leaving at 9pm who had come in at 9am and half jokingly said "working half days huh?". Gates would often work through the night and be found asleep on his office floor, printout spread out from where he'd left it before dropping out of exhaustion. Why's he rich? Because he did what most of us won't. Alot of these guys are like that. I do 60-80hr weeks, and am on call 24/7/365. Server issue? Security concern? Pain in the *** troll? I'm up all night. I just wish I made that $50k. $500k would be sweet.

 

[shinbushi]

. but when "the few" are stepping on "the masses" to make their outrageous amounts of money literally at our expense, screw'em... let'm try to get by on what I do...

I hate the class warefare with legitimate businessmen. We should be angery at congress for the lavish lifestyle they do on OUR dime:
From http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=343

Today, Members of the United States Congress enjoy a vast web of perquisites that benefit them personally as well as professionally, including:

Comfortable salaries that are often determined through legislative sleight-of-hand. Contrary to the arguments of many Washington "insiders," the cost of living has rarely eroded the historical value of lawmakers' pay, which on a constant-dollar basis is hovering near the postwar high.
Pension benefits that are two to three times more generous than those offered in the private sector for similarly-salaried executives. Taxpayers directly cover at least 80 percent of this costly plan. Congressional pensions are also inflation-protected, a feature that fewer than 1 in 10 private plans offer.
Health and life insurance, approximately 3/4 and 1/3 of whose costs, respectively, are subsidized by taxpayers.
Wheeled perks, including limousines for senior Members, prized parking spaces on Capitol Hill, and choice spots at Washington's two major airports.
Travel to far-flung destinations as well as to home states and districts. Despite recent attempts to toughen gift and travel rules, "junkets" are still readily available prerogatives for many Members.
A wide range of smaller perks that have defied reform efforts, from cut-rate health clubs to fine furnishings.
But the very nature of public office itself demands a more comprehensive definition of a "perk" than that normally applied to corporate America. Members of Congress can also wield official powers that allow them to continue to enjoy the personal benefits outlined above, such as:

The franking privilege, which gives lawmakers millions in tax dollars to create a favorable public image. Experts across the political spectrum have labeled the frank as an unfair electioneering tool. In past election cycles, Congressional incumbents have spent as much on franking alone as challengers have spent on their entire campaigns.
An office staff that performs "constituent services" and doles out pork-barrel spending, providing more opportunities for "favors" that can be returned only at election time.
Exemptions and immunities from tax, pension, and other laws that burden private citizens -- all crafted by lawmakers themselves.

 

[MA-Caver]

I hate the class warfare with legitimate businessmen. We should be angry at congress for the lavish lifestyle they do on OUR dime:
From http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=343

There will always be class differentiation no matter what. There are differences between the classes and the classes do have their own differences. Those who were BORN into the money and those who worked their asses off for the money... huge difference, IMO.
Yet the attitudes can by and large remain the same. Poorer than me? Too bad/tough luck, work YOUR *** off and someday you'll be like me. Gee... thanks for the moral support there fella.

Far as our politicians go... again it's our fault for letting them get away with voting in additional pay-raises for themselves without our consent/approval... allowing them to accept monies, gifts, etc. from the CEO's and etc. to gain favour of a bill that the CEO's want passed which would help THEIR company make MORE money.... such actions should be illegal so that a senator/congressman/representative isn't influentially biased when he looks over a bill. But this is politics we're talking about. T'was the same in the days of Rome and throughout history.
Yet "we the people..." can make the changes if we want to.
Right now we're in so much debt that all we can do (as the little people) is hold our breaths, float and hope the plug doesn't get pulled all the way outta the drain.