I spent some time today crunching numbers, looking at the median income of people across the nation.  Boring stuff, but it gives you a good idea of where we all stand.  Here is what I found.

According to the US Census Bureau, in 2006, the median the median annual household income was $48,201.00.  This is pre-tax income, mind you, before any deductions, withholding taxes, city taxes, on and on.  This also takes into consideration children 14 and up.  It includes someone who may be living in a home who is a non-relative.  Too, the median income per household member (including all working and non-working members above the age of 14) was $26,036.00.  Consider that there are usually two members of a household holding a job.

Now we look to the newest FHA ruling concerning the cap on loans, which are the jumbos.  Jay Damato, owner and broker of Elite Financial in Walnut Creek, did a hypothetical $500,000 loan with 10 percent down and a 680 credit score.  His results showed that the FHA jumbo monthly payment was $3,152 with mortgage insurance versus $3,264 for a similar Fannie Mae loan.  Oh, gee, look at the savings!

Now, let’s look at Mr. Average Joe making $26,036.00 a year.  He can’t count on his wife’s income due to circumstances of child care, travel expense, the cost of commute and the cost of child care.  His wife is better off staying at home taking care of their 4 children.

Do the math.  Joe is making $26K.  If we divide that by 12, we see a gross income of about 2166.00 a month.  Joe is paying $3.58 a gallon for gas, has a 35 mile commute, and can’t afford a new vehicle that gets great gas mileage.  The cost of food is rising at an astronomical rate.  A dozen eggs is $2.34 a dozen.  Costs of services are going out of sight, so the family can no longer have the simple pleasure of having pizza on Saturday night. Joe reminds himself that people in Haiti are eating dirt, so he has it pretty good.  But can Joe afford this jumbo loan?  Of course not.

It takes the people in the 19.01% of all households with annual incomes exceeding $100,000 to be able to even come close to this.  That is also dependent on a squeaky clean credit score.

I often wonder how many people take the time to crunch the numbers.  If they paid more attention to the real figures out there, I am thinking a lot of them would be very upset.  Once again, we have a wait and see attitude.  And in the interim, the government will be praising themselves for all the good they do in the country, while pumping billions into a failed war.  Gee, I better climb down off my soapbox.  Until next time…