Comments on: Would You Rather… Make $50k or $100k? (But…)

By: weenie

weenie — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 17:31:12 +0000

£100k (it’s a bit more in pounds sterling, haha!) – firstly because this is so much more than my current salary but also because I’m in a situation already where most of my friends earn more than I do and I don’t have a problem with it. Their high salaries = higher debts in most cases!

As long as said friends don’t change when they’re on £200k, then I’ll be fine!

By: Cecilia@thesingledollar

Cecilia@thesingledollar — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 23:02:19 +0000

I think it depends: if everyone around you is making $25K, does that mean COL is set to where $25K gets you a middle-class comfortable lifestyle, while $50K is over the top rich? If so, then I pick $50K. But as someone who currently makes just shy of $50K, I can easily say I’d take $100K and damn what everyone else was doing, if it meant I got to double my salary and keep my normal expenses where they are now.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 01:32:04 +0000

In reply to Jason. Yeah, that's why the question is supposed to be in "magical world" where everything else would remain the same. Only us smarties know that would never be the case :)

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 01:30:52 +0000

In reply to Logan.

Hah! Well, if that’s the case (kids in the class, which would make MUCH more sense, now that I think about it) then half of this article is now pointless, haha… So let’s go with “the whole world” shall we? ;)

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 01:24:45 +0000

In reply to Kathy. Awwwww, I'm so sorry to hear :( Life is def > than money, and it's unfortunate that many people don't realize it until it's too late. *IF* they even realize it... It's a wonderful thing to be able to appreciate life!

By: Nic

Nic — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 19:44:37 +0000

I side on earning twice as much as everyone else ($50k). I think you have to take into account that prices would fluctuate downward so that more people could afford things and your $50k just became much more valuable (4 times as valuable? twice what everyone else has vs half of what everyone else has) than the $100k was when everything is higher priced (since everyone else is making more). Purchasing power wins out in my opinion.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 16:44:00 +0000

The “everyone around you makes $200,000” part is a bit subjective….

What if…it was everyone in your city/country versus just in your neighborhood?

If it were the former, the prudent option would be to make $50,000, no? Inflation/cost of living alone would make a $100,000 salary harder to survive on (or you’d have to be more of an aggressive saver) when everyone else is making $200K. Fancier grocery stores, etc would be the norm. It’s akin to transplanting a person making $100K from, say, Indiana to Switzerland and having them live the same lifestyle.

If it were the latter, then perhaps the $100K is a good option. You could always go outside your immediate neighborhood to find cost saving alternatives for groceries, daycare, etc.

I have no formal economics training but I assume a lot of economics gurus would say….it all depends….

By: The Roamer

The Roamer — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 23:18:07 +0000

The 100k for me. HAHa I’m going to play the woman card and say I’m already in a position where everyone I work with probably out earns me is it frustrating sure. But I’m not going to shot myself in the foot over it. More money means FI sooner period.

More vacation for sure. More time with my kids.
The beauty one is so lose lose. Do I want to be vain because I want to be the most attractive or do I want to be vain and be the most attractive I can be(an 8). Ugh….

By: Logan

Logan — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 17:44:09 +0000

Of course I picked the 100k right off the bat. But as J Money further explained the stipulations that this applies to everyone in the world I flipped my answer. If EVERYONE made twice as much money as I did then the markets would equal themselves out so that, proportionally, I would be paying twice as much for everything. But if EVERYONE in the world made 25k and I was the only person that made 50k then it would be like buying everything 50% off since the markets would adjust to match the 25k salaries. Therefore, in our magical question, it wouldn’t be a matter of dollar values at all but a matter of if you wanted to buy everything 505 off or pay double.

I think that it is more insightful to ask these questions in a smaller range of effect. Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought that this study was given to students and told that they were comparing themselves against their peers in the class. Which would completely change the outcomes compared to a having a global impact.

But it makes you wonder how secure you are with yourself doesn’t it?

By: Kathy

Kathy — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 13:01:07 +0000

I’d go for $100K and not give a second thought to what others made. For the other questions, I’d choose 4 weeks vacation, 130 IQ, physical attractiveness of 8 (because I consider myself a 4 now so I’d be substantially more attractive at 8) and child’s education of at least 16 (he actually has the graduate degree already so that is sort of a moot point.) On your post from an earlier date where you ask about the billion dollars vs. 15 years of life….I’d definitely choose the life since I’ve had a bout with cancer and now have a liver disease which will be with me the rest of my life. Good health is better than a billion any day….just ask Steve Jobs’s family.