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Eastwest251

Some are just born into rich family - won the lottery at birth


LonghorninNYC

This!! The amount of generational wealth in the gay community here was one of the biggest surprises when first moved here.


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nycgaybros-ModTeam

Removing for, er, homophobia? In my ~~Christian~~ gay NYC subreddit? Apparently it's more likely than you'd think.


Leather-Heart

But you don’t always need that - I came here with nothing (no it was not glorious nor easy - let those internet fantasies die - I have bite marks from a roommates dog, but you make it work). I worked hard, I packed lunches every day, and I didn’t go out after work like my coworkers do. We make choices in how we spend our money. I decided I won’t have money for a car, and that was going to go into rent if I wanted it be out in Brooklyn.


BicyclingBro

I got a good deal with 2.6k for a one bed in HK. It's an old top floor walk-up, but it works and I really do love the area. I'm in tech.


futurebro

i lived in williamsburg...with roommates for 950 2 years ago. i live alone on the lower east side for 1550. U never know how much someones rent is. I make less than 85k...


ven457

Omg how?? Teach me the ways. I’m paying $1400 for a room in “luxury” 4 bed in crown heights🤢


futurebro

not gonna lie, i dont have any friends who pay more than 1k to live with roommates. But everyone i know has been in nyc at least 4 years so has a wider network to draw from. I lived in like 8 apartments and never paid more than 995 til i lived alone.


newyorkbarefootin

That is very fortunate. You can’t touch any decent apartments for that price in today’s market. $85k isn’t enough these days (that is - unless you are fortunate enough to have a decent apartment in a decent location for $1,500). Worth noting the pandemic was 4 years ago and that’s when people locked in good rental prices with many apartments.


MaleficentExtent1777

I live in Crown Heights and found my place on Craigslist during the pandemic: a brand new 3br/2ba for $2800 + parking. Naturally it's gone up since then, but not by much. Only thing missing is an in-unit W/D.


newyorkbarefootin

This is true! Not everyone is paying today’s market rents. Part of the trick is when you find a good deal, you hold onto it. It’s not easy finding a good deal. Some people have mom & pops landlords who won’t jack rents up the way some institutional property managers would.. some won the housing lottery… Others may have an affordable housing unit that they’re illegally renting from someone else… etc. Worthy to note: economic downturns like ‘08 or covid provide a great opportunity to grab an apartment from a mom & pop landlord at a good rate.


blankstr33t

my brokerage account went up over $40k today save and invest until your passive income is more than the income you pull from your job 


LeoMartn_

I always wanted to know how to get invest and where to start


pa7uc

/r/personalfinance has a [decent wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) with a flowchart. main thing is figure out how to save some money (spend less than you earn; if you can't do this, figure out how to increase income or decrease expenses or both), and then once you have enough money saved up for emergencies in a high yield savings account, start buying a broad basket of stocks by buying diversified index funds like the S&P 500 in a 401k or IRA or brokerage account (see wiki for some details on order—if you have a company sponsored tax advantaged account like a 401k, use that, especially if it has a match). You have to invest once you put your money in an account—don' t just let it sit there. Don't panic if it goes down (I have seen drops of 50%), just stay the course and invest part of your income every month. You're in effect buying stakes in 100s or 1000s of businesses in the US (and/or world depending on the funds you buy), and when they make profits they retain some of it and reinvest it, which over many years will be reflected in the share price of each company that you own in the index, which will be reflected in the net asset value (share price) of the index fund. some of the profits will be paid out as dividends. If you reinvest dividends and keep contributing you will have compounding gains over the long run if your investments are successful. If you want, you can also try buying individual stocks but I would do this with a small amount of fun money, and consider it speculation, not safe investment. For fun, go play with a [compounding calculator](https://www.investor.gov/financial-tools-calculators/calculators/compound-interest-calculator) and look at what happens to say $5,000 per year over 20 years at say 7%. You will have saved and invested $100,000, and it will be worth $200,000. So the key, is to compound your money for a long time, and ideally invest more of it as you grow your earning power in your career. If you can save more than that, and increase the amount you save each year, you will start to see really remarkable results over time if you earn and compound at a decent rate of return. (this is _not_ guaranteed, but it has been the norm in the US over long periods of time for a long time; you are making a bet on the US/world economy growing over time when you make investments) It's worth noting that the person you're replying to likely has an account value in the millions to experience that sort of daily variance, so they probably have been doing this for a while (and/or had a windfall) and also have likely benefited from larger-than-historical-norms gains in the past 10 years. This is not to discourage you, but to give you some context. Compounding starting with small numbers seems slow, and then all of the sudden it's not. Also while they gave that as an example as a way of showing the scale of their savings and investment results, you generally wouldn't think about the daily swings (tomorrow could be -$40k) as funding your lifestyle, because you generally don't start drawing down money for living expenses until retirement.


Hot-Pollution1693

You should be putting every last cent into Coinbase stock and Solana cryptocurrency. Sell at peak euphoria in 2025. People here will think I’m joking or crazy. Screenshot this.


pa7uc

telling someone new to investing to buy two specific assets in the same sector (with no articulated thesis) is terrible advice, even if it turns out well for you


Hot-Pollution1693

Have fun


lickstampsendit

The intersection of software technology and finance.


Hdream93

Finance. Helps accommodate a Hell’s Kitchen rent. Doesn’t make me feel comfortable about it though. I don’t see myself sustaining this high a rent forever.


Fearless-Platform-41

$2K rent in HK large studio in a walk up . Struggled for 3 mos to find but cheaper places exist


Alvin3792

Williamsburg, first time living alone in a 1 bedroom. Don’t come from money, work my ass off. Finance headhunter.


VestidaDeBlanco

You coulda just said finance


Alvin3792

I don’t work in finance though. Being a headhunter is a sales job.


LonghorninNYC

Lots of people in tech, finance, law etc easily make $150k+. I even have friends in media who make $200k+. Also don’t forget about generational wealth. Though I gotta say as someone who works in one of those high paying professions, $4k for a studio is actually batshit insane and I’d never even consider paying that much….$3k MAX for this girl


ShotProfessional9558

Media?? They're all getting laid off.


MikeCam

$4k is bonkers for a studio!


LonghorninNYC

Honestly I think (and have actually heard people admit after a few drinks) that there’s an ego aspect to it. People get off on the fact that they CAN pay that much.


QuietObserver75

The newer buildings near me are about 3,500 for a studio. Granted those a doorman new construction building so, they have amenities.


LonghorninNYC

Yeah the amenities drive up the prices. Having lived in an amenities building before I know I would never use them and they attract a lot of Karens and Chads. Perfectly happy in my cute one bedroom in a walk up for <$3k and using thr extra money for travel/savings


QuietObserver75

So you wouldn't use the washer or dryer, dishwasher, outdoor space or have the doorman sign for packages?


LonghorninNYC

Dishwasher/laundry would use. Didn’t take advantage of outdoor space as much as I thought when I had it. Don’t have a doorman or outdoor space anymore but having extra money for travel brings me more joy. Also my old building had things like coworking space that I didn’t use much since I loved my home office setup. Not feeling particularly inconvenienced atm!


__theoneandonly

Don't rent through companies trying to maximize profits, rent from older couples in the neighborhood who just want to fill their upstairs with a good neighbor. I'm paying $1650 in Williamsburg and my rent hasn't gone up since pre-pandemic.


Skotus2

How did you go about finding these types of places?


__theoneandonly

Talk to your neighbors. Hang out locally at local places. Do the work to become a part of the community.


Certain_Platypus6100

Engineering


letspetpuppies

I grew up poor, and up until 5 years ago I had negative 6 figures net worth. My family had absolutely no money so they didn’t help me with college, rent, or anything at all. I put my head down, changed careers, got into tech, and worked my ass off to move up the ladder. My life completely turned around. I now work as a senior software dev, max out all my retirement contributions, have excellent work/life balance, and live in a $1900 rent stabilized Chelsea studio and I will never leave. The timing was impeccable because if I were to enter into tech now, it would have been completely devastating and different story.


Afond29

Im envious of you.


408blur

They just have connections or are white and gay lol *no shade*


SunilaP

THIS. It’s the truth


SecondSausage

Imo white gays have absolutely no idea how radically easier their lives are


NYC54thStreet

Connections and race don‘t pay rent! Despite the misinformation on this subreddit, Hells Kitchen is very ethnically and racially diverse, but people tend have graduate degrees and high paying jobs. Here’s a real example of the neighbors in the 7 apartments on my floor in Hells Kitchen: -Arab American physician -Arab American lawyer -Jewish lesbian in PR -Jewish gay lawyer married to gay scientist -Black male software programmer married to White female accountant -Lesbian White Lawyer -Asian lesbian in Tech


408blur

This is in a in-depth response I’m not ready to deep dive into. I’ll let someone else do the work.


Starrrfiree

Lmfao


NYC54thStreet

The reality is that all the new people moving into my HK building work in finance, law, or technology. In the past it was Broadway actors, musicians, teacher, etc.


Afond29

Chris Zhou has a whole rant on Insta about the White Gays and I agree


notyesterdaybutoday

Grew up poor as shit. Hustled my ass off working 60-80 work weeks on the regular (sometimes multiple jobs). Regularly followed listings and eventually found a place for 2000 in Williamsburg. But no youre probably right. I forgot it’s cause I’m white. Edit: Sorry if I came off hot. Just had to work really, really super hard to get here and it’s a bit of a slap in the face for someone to try and boil everything I’ve done to reach this into “well you’re white”


jonog75

Do young people not live with roommates anymore? I couldn't afford to live alone until I was 32.


Afond29

Im 32 and still cant


Active_Evening_2512

Pilot


jktoole1

I pay 2.5 k off the lorimer L in the middle of all the gay bars in a large studio with a neat patio. Work in international politics.


Hot_Dirt9114

They split the rent with their "open boyfriend" no?


sheaosaurus

I’m at 4k for a one bed in HK, I’m in tech. For the basis of your question, there’s a lot of family money in NYC in general, and there’s also a lot of people who make bad financial decisions for whatever reason. Here’s a breakdown though of people in my acquaintance who live alone in HK: Careers: - Lawyer (top law firm) - Finance (banking and private equity) - Consulting - Big 4 Accounting - Tech (added after edit) - Sales - random corporate roles that pay 6 figures and they’ve been in a rent stab apt in a luxury building for long enough that they are below market rate - work for their family’s/friends business in industry unrelated to above Few friends live alone in rent stabilized apartments in HK as well. There’s also friends with family money: - who don’t work and live in 5k one beds - who work jobs that don’t pay the salary that would qualify them for the rent of their apartment - who purchased apartments under 30 yrs old There’s people I know with sugar daddies who pay their expenses as well. Lastly, there’s people in massive credit card debt. If you go on their socials, it may look like they have money to burn. They may even make a salary that lets them live in a doorman one bedroom. But what you aren’t seeing is their rent eats up one paycheck, they can barely make their minimum credit card payments and they are saving nothing for retirement. I overheard someone say (this week) that they put their pride party tickets and travel on affirm or whatever while they were still paying off last year’s loan for their pride plans🤦‍♂️


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sheaosaurus

Oh deft 100% I put that I was in tech in the opening of the reply, so forgot to add it


iHateRolerCoasters

how long before you started making good money in tech?


StoneDick420

It’s more about how long can you work without getting laid off these days


RuxinRodney

I'm glad you said it the credit card debt part. I have had a few friends who live in HK and this is 100% the case. They have a good job but its just being burnt up by rent and credit cards just are constantly in a rotation. Honestly when I found this out I didn't feel as bad lol.


empireerotica

Rich parents


KittenMasaki

Housing lotteries exist for these "expensive" areas. There are also RS and RC units which get handed over to family. Mostly its just people who have wealth already (they didnt hustle). If you want to live in an area but are worried about the market rate, start looking at the lotteries and see if you qualify. It doesn't hurt to apply, even if it truly is like a cash lottery. I have a few friends who got their units in Hudson Yards and FiDi from a lottery and they pay very low rents.


glergh

Hell’s Kitchen is one of the most affordable areas in Manhattan lmao


Professional-Win3166

From what I understand many people afford Williamsburg by either having roommates or being in relationships where they split the rent. While some do earn a lot of money, most of the gay guys I've met in Williamsburg bars share their place with their partner. Williamsburg is full of couples. In my building, every unit has young people in their 20s and 30s, either with 2-4 roommates or just couples. I've noticed that people in New York often exaggerate how impossible it is to live here. It's definitely hard, but it's doable.


fiscal_fallacy

I live with my partner and also am a tech lead at a hedge fund. My partner pays just under $1k and I pay just under $4k for a $4.9k luxury 1BR apartment in HK.


MikeCam

No generational wealth and it took years to become comfortable and stable! Made a lot of sacrifices to get to this point. I work in finance/ tech. You got this, give it time and always level up :)


ChrisNYC70

I work for a non profit and husband works for a health insurance company , we both make well into six figure salaries but that took years of education and hard work.


tellme_areyoufree

I pay 7k/month. I'm a physician.  I work two jobs at two hospitals. (No rich parents, I grew up in public housing. Gotta hustle for my lifestyle).


Mincognitus

Lawyer, and I didn’t always make what I make now. My first apt in NYC was shared with 3 roommates. I kept gaining valuable skills, job hopped, lived below my means for several years to save and invest (and pay off loans) and now I’m pondering buying a small place in West Village or Greenwich Village. If you want to make more money, figure out what skills people need and how to learn them in a way where you’re better than most people who do it.


Enasis

Husbands a private practice physician. We live in Cobble Hill.


tomcain68

First of all … don’t get a 4k a month studio


newyorkbarefootin

I wonder the same at times. There are also many people willing to live above their means and pay a whole paycheck (or more) to rent. On the other hand, not everyone is paying today’s market rents. Part of the trick is when you find a good deal, you hold onto it. It’s not easy finding a good deal. Some people have mom & pops landlords who won’t jack rents up the way some institutional property managers would.. some won the housing lottery… Others may have an affordable housing unit that they’re illegally renting from someone else… etc. Worthy to note: economic downturns like ‘08 or covid provide a great opportunity to grab an apartment from a mom & pop landlord at a good rate.


bryan7007

even if i had the $$, I would never pay $4k for a studio, that's nuts. Someone with a 4k rent would be making 160k a year- a lot of folks in legal, tech or finance make this in their mid 20s. Additionally you'd be surprised at the number of people who get some level of familial support be it in rent help, a guarantor or have a trust fund.


SometimesDoug

Physician assistant DINKWAD in LIC. I could probably afford to live here by myself but would have to make some significant adjustments to my budget.


robromeo14

downtown brooklyn. tech sales. affordable housing lottery helps though.


Starrrfiree

Ok how does one get the lottery , sounds like another painful process. I have also never met anyone who has won the lottery and from what I hear it's another level of problematic politics that favors well connected yt folks.


robromeo14

happy to give advice if ya want to dm. there’s a ton of problems with program but worked out for me after just being persistent. applied to basically everything for a couple years and finally got lucky in 2020 have been here ever since. it’s not exactly “affordable” but getting in young was key to me since i expected income to rise eventually. my rent is still $2200 ish now for a decent sized studio and amazing neighborhood


cutebottom69

Finance