$174K Congressional salary ($14500/month) is nothing to sneeze at, but with median rent being $4480 in NYC and $2549 in DC, she’d still manage to be “overburdened” (i.e. spending more than 30%) on housing costs.
Although I know I (being a FIRE type of guy) could max out tax-advantaged investment space ($23K 401k + $7k IRA = $30k, or $2500/month) from the $7k/month left over after housing, I don’t know what other high expenses a Congressperson might have that could make it harder (lots of travel costs, etc.).
Not to mention that the government takes 24% of that in taxes, and she might be paying income tax in two different states. Add on sales tax and POOF, there goes half her money.
She has to maintain a residence in both DC and NYC. That could be a big factor in not having money to invest.
$174K Congressional salary ($14500/month) is nothing to sneeze at, but with median rent being $4480 in NYC and $2549 in DC, she’d still manage to be “overburdened” (i.e. spending more than 30%) on housing costs.
Although I know I (being a FIRE type of guy) could max out tax-advantaged investment space ($23K 401k + $7k IRA = $30k, or $2500/month) from the $7k/month left over after housing, I don’t know what other high expenses a Congressperson might have that could make it harder (lots of travel costs, etc.).
Thanks for putting some numbers to my theory.
Not to mention that the government takes 24% of that in taxes, and she might be paying income tax in two different states. Add on sales tax and POOF, there goes half her money.