| From: | Jonathan Hurley <jhurley1@************.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Annual income (was: Japanese Superswords) |
| Date: | Tue, 15 Sep 1998 21:19:18 -0400 |
> From: Shadowrun Discussion [mailto:SHADOWRN@********.ITRIBE.NET]On
> Behalf Of Sean McCrohan
> Sent: Monday, September 14, 1998 22:18
> To: SHADOWRN@********.ITRIBE.NET
> Subject: Re: [SR3] Japanese Superswords (Was: Smartgun Link Operations)
> General question - I'm sure this has been covered before, but I
> only recently joined the list. What's the commonly-accepted conversion
> rate between nuyen and today's US$ ? I've been meaning to figure that out
> so I can come up with a list of salaries for Ordinary Folks in 2060
> (to put shadowrunning pay in perspective), but I'll need it to
> get the right
> prices for the weapons, too.
Well, the "cost of living" to live at a medium (middle-class) lifestyle, in
Seattle (whose cost of living is going to be skewed because it is a major
port, a city-state, and an isolated colony...), runs you 5000 nuyen a month.
Other factors: no inflation to speak of, and a 1% per annum rate of return
on "sound" investments (derived from the buying a lifestyle rules...), leads
me to believe that the average middle-income person pays somewhere between
2/3 and 3/4 of his annual income on living expenses. This gives a range for
a middle-income person in the 6600-7500 nuyen per month range, or 75K to 90K
per annum. This is for an unmarried middle-income individual, who lives
alone in an apartment, leases a commuter-box or takes mass transit, and who
eats real food perhaps once or twice a week. If he has a family, the
non-working members of it live as "guests" on the wage-earner's lifestyle,
costing 10% more per, and living at an effective lifestyle one step below.
(Primarily, this means that they don't have access to a car, and the family
may not eat real food more than twice a month...) Your average two-adult
(one wage-earner), two-child family, spends 6500 or so on lifestyle, but
still only earns that 6600-7500 nuyen a month, making money tight.
I'm not sure what the "average" middle-income-level is these days in an
urban area, but I know that here in northern NJ, I'd be barely scraping by
at a medium-type lifestyle at $35K to $40K (depending on my commuting
expenses).
That should give you a guideline...
Ian Silvercat claims the above in the name of himself!
--------------
Those who would give up a little freedom for security
deserve neither freedom nor security - Benjamin Franklin
That which does not exist has never been named - Mirumoto Nohito
Jonathan Hurley (mailto:jhurley1@************.edu)
Homepage : http://attila.stevens-tech.edu/~jhurley1
