[00:02] to live comfortably in the United States. This is a new study from SmartAsset and the numbers they're shocking. So, prepare yourself. just want to explain the study was done using something called the 50/30/20
[00:15] rule. This says that 50% of your income should go to necessities like housing and food and clothing and so on. 30% of your income should go to things that you want. These are things like vacation or just having a little bit of
[00:28] comfort in your life. And 20% should go to long-term things like saving for retirement. That is their definition of comfort, being able to spend 50% of your income on things that you want and long-term saving. And when you rank
[00:41] states that way, Massachusetts is the most expensive state. And the amount that it costs to raise a family of four in Massachusetts is $314,000 per year. And as you can see, the top 15
[00:55] states here are all above $250,000. But to me, that is not even the craziest part of this list. What is crazier is that when you look at the bottom 15 states in the United States, they're still mostly around $200,000. That's
[01:09] just It's just too much. I don't I don't get it. How do people afford this? I mean, the obvious answer is that they don't. They spend their 50% on those necessities, but the 30% that's supposed to go to things that you want and the
[01:21] 20% that's supposed to go to long-term savings probably just don't exist. And Americans are spending less on things like vacation, the savings rate in the United States has dipped to multi-year lows. So, this is not just speculation.
[01:35] People can't actually afford this comfortable life. Whatever way you look at this, to me at least, these numbers are insane. But I would like to know what you think. Are these numbers realistic in the first place? And if so,
[01:48] why are things so expensive? Let me know in the comments.