Good Money

I just started reading The Rainmaker by John Grisham. It didn't take much more than a chapter to see it was clearly written at a different time and in a different place. Why? Because the main character is decently pleased with his $34,000 annual salary. As a lawyer.

This reminded me of a question on the radio a few months back: What is "good money"?

I think the question came up in relation to a woman saying she wanted to date/marry a man who made "good money." The male DJs wanted clarification on what good money was. What was the magic figure?

Surprise surprise, I had/have an opinion.

I vote that "good money" is whatever you need to live without (much) debt.

For John Grisham's Memphis lawyer, maybe $34,000 is good money. If he can pay rent, eat, etc and not go into debt, it probably is (granted I doubt any real lawyer would say $34,000 is good money - how would you ever pay your school loans on that?).

Honestly, even if you make six figures, if you have outstanding credit card debt, are financing EVERYTHING and wonder how you are going to pay your bills - does it even matter if you are making six figures?

I hope the lady looking for a man who makes good money is actually looking for someone who knows how to live within his means and not who makes some arbitrary annual salary. She's likely to be much happier with someone who does the former v the latter.