Mint launched in Canada and sent out this cute little infographic.
- We are somewhat satisfied with our finances
- It’s weird to me that you can make $100,000+ and less satisfied than other incomes* WTF?
*Money really doesn’t buy happiness 😛
- We don’t seem to have high amounts of debt but 23% of us have $20k+ in the hole
- That means the average amount of debt at $29,00 is thrown off by that 23%
- I’m guessing student loans & mortgages for the most part
- We have debt, but we’re trying hard to clear it.
- Am pleased to see a quarter of us have no debt at all! 🙂
- The majority of us pay attention to our finances in some way (84%)
- I am curious as to what they mean by “some” or “a lot” of attention.
- Great follow-up to yesterday’s post: Do men prefer women who make less money than them?
- I guess we’d each be in a bit of both.
- We each take care of our own money, but we share the common budget between us for food, rent, etc.
Entire infographic found here on Mint.com*.
*No, I am still not a believer of Mint.com, even though they’re in Canada now.
I’m too paranoid to let anyone else get a hold of the exact numbers, stats, what stores I shopped at, when, for how much, etc. I don’t mind posting general numbers but it’s all I’ll do. I’ll stick to my budgeting sheet.
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
Great post. I am curious as well if the survey is based on household or individual. I also agree with Cassie above, that the survey might not be truly accurate. It would be interesting to know. Never the less, awesome post. Great job!!
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A lot of the 100k plus people who are unhappy are probably highly-educated professionals. Since people tend to make friends as adults through professional circles or through professional schools where people have similar educational and professional backgrounds, they tend to get a warped sense of perspective about what a normal income is and also tend to compare a lot. Consider the doctor who makes over 100k as say, a pediatrician or family practice doctor, but all his doctor friends from medical school and all the doctors who work at the same hospital are surgeons and specialists making over 250K (I just made up these numbers, but you get the general idea…)
Seems like you guys are doing better than the average American.
Blessing
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Sure seems like it but I wouldn\’t be too sure. $29,000 in debt as the average may not include mortgages. What\’s the debt in USA?
This surprises me. As an adult when I was poor it was incredibly stressful. I'm not saying having money (I'm in the middle class bracket now) doesn't have it's frustrations but it's a cakewalk in comparison. I'm very interested in why it's so stressful to have a high income?
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Why it\’s stressful to have high income? I think maybe it\’s any or all of the following:
1. Lots more money = Lots more to keep up in image
2. A lot more things available to buy because they\’re within reach
3. You upgrade your lifestyle as well: private school, new car, nice home
4. They say lottery winners get stressed with so much money because they\’re paralyzed. Perhaps high income earners have that too.
5. Maybe the high income is just one breadwinner in the household, with a SAHP (stay at home parent) and kids. That causes a lot of stress.
6. They don\’t know how good they have it, not having lived at poverty level or minimum wage
7. Don\’t know how to manage their money to invest for the future, and are stressed
I don\’t know? 🙂 There must be more.
oh wow, the first graph surprised me. The more people make, the less satisfied they are with their income level.
I guess this goes hand in hand with the saying that what people don't know can't hurt them – basically, people making more $ are usually in professions that expose them to a lot of wealth, e.g. business deals, mergers and acquisitions etc. Thus, seeing all that potential makes these people feel that they are not making enough.
btw, I just read a report done by a Quebec consumer agency that found that for the year 2009, the average Canadian spent $1.49 for every $1 they earned. it doesn't exactly fit with the data provided above, but scary to think about – unless the majority of such debt were "necessary" ones such as mortgage.
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Wow. They spend $1.49 for every dollar earned? Was that earned dollar before or after taxes (meaning, gross or net)?
I think the people at the lower end of the highest level are always looking upward with resentment and jealousy! See that law prof's rant about his $250,000 income that was all over the internet. He closed down his blog, but you can still find it: Todd Henderson was his name, I believe. Scorn was heaped upon him. (But he got what he wanted! No tax increases for the upper ends!)
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About the higher incomes being less satisfied…I found this true because when I was broke, I didn't pay much attention to my money, other than whether I had enough to pay a certain bill or put gas in my car. When I smartened up (which coincided with me getting my first real job out of grad school), we had a lot more money to play with, but I felt a lot more pressure to do the "right" thing with it, and there seemed to be so many "right" things to do-retirement savings, buying a house, insurances, emergency fund, etc etc etc I became distinctly unhappy with our finances for a while, even though, objectively, we were doing a whole lot better than we were before-bills were always paid on time, we were finally spending less than we made, we were saving, paying off debt. I wonder if others with higher incomes feel similar pressures.
I also wonder if those with higher incomes figure that they "ought" to be able to afford more than they actually can, so they spend a lot keeping up appearances of what they should be able to afford, making them miserable when the bills come in?
What you\’re saying is true. I felt something similar when I worked at minimum wage. Then again I was living at home with my parents in high school. When I was in college I guess i was just eager to start working but conveniently forgot about my loans. I was kind of unhappy paying off my debt while making all this money to pay for what was already gone and finished (college).
Perhaps it\’s more a emotional thing then.
In reference to the first image, I would guess that the higher the income the higher most people's expectations. It's hard to be satisfied with your finances when you (or your family) are always coveting something new/larger/better/more expensive.
I was surprised, and a little disturbed, by the jump in the debt balance category at $20,001. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not including mortgages.
If only 26% of people have no debt, but 50% pay very close attention to their finances, how many of that 50% do you figure only started paying attention to their finances because they realized they were in debt?
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You don\’t think that $20,000 is mortgages? I would think they would consider that debt…
Either their stats don't include mortgages, or the subset of people who responded aren't a good cross section of the economy. Not when you consider how many people own their homes as opposed to renting: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/06/04/homes…
I realize that the Mint stats are based on the group that responded to their survey, and I'm not sure if the census is reporting based on household or individual (I think household), but when you consider the number of people with mortgages, and the number of people with other debt such as school loans, I don't feel that their survey is entirely accurate if it is including mortgages. That being said, I think it may be accurate for the younger generation (us), who would be more likely to do their budgeting online, and are less likely to own their homes. If that's the case, then I could possibly see the stats including mortgages.
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That's true. I really wish they had given us the stats behind that.
Agreed!