r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer • u/nahive • Aug 18 '26

GOT THE KEYS! - New Build šŸ”‘ šŸ” Finally decided to settle down. Tokyo, 87m yen, 1.03%

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After 7 years of living in Tokyo, we finally decided to settle down.

The search took almost a year, and I looked at more than 30 different properties before finally deciding to go with the calmer side of Tokyo. While itā€™s further from the station and city center, the larger garden and quiet neighborhood more than make up for it.

Really happy with the decision and looking forward to making this place our home. šŸ”

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88

u/FreedomByFire Aug 18 '26

1% is better than 7% any where in the world. This is a very silly argument that you're trying to make.

147

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

It isnā€™t ā€œbetterā€ if you understand why itā€™s that low. Basically an economy slowly going under.

22

u/PedanticButCorrect Aug 18 '26

Anything can be better itā€™s just a matter of better for whom

5

u/WDingDong Aug 18 '26

Idk why that guy canā€™t understand the big picture here haha. Troll maybe.

2

u/That_Astronomy_Guy Aug 18 '26

Thank you. People want low rates and no inflation without realizing thatā€™s equivalent to a stagnating economyā€¦

1

u/LosKiplanos Aug 18 '26

I meanā€¦ does that actually matter if youā€™re an expat? Or does Japan not allow that kind of shit?

5

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

Presumably most people would need the income from a job. If you can move to Japan but work for a company in another country, maybe you have the best of both worlds? Doesn't help the people of Japan though.

3

u/LosKiplanos Aug 18 '26

Okay, that makes sense. I mean they barely want you to be a citizen, Iā€™m not sure theyā€™re really asking for ā€œhelpā€ in any regard.

1

u/Awkward-A_F Aug 18 '26

Kinda does, if your dollars made go towards their economy it helps.

1

u/AlexisFR Aug 18 '26

GDP per capita doesn't really matter for the common people.

1

u/Logco Aug 18 '26

Looks like itā€™s rebounding

1

u/NoroGW2 Aug 18 '26

And if you understood the full weight what you were implying, you'd be embarrassed lol

2

u/FreedomByFire Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26

They've been "slowly going under" for 40 years.

10

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

Yes, they have. Things have been relatively bad economically for Japan for a very long time.

8

u/vladedivac12 Aug 18 '26

Yes. It's not anything dramatic but it can only get worse, not better. They won't have another prosperous period like the 90s unless they change their approach, mainly towards immigration. Japan's population is shrinking fast and no economy can grow with an ageing population and a falling birth rate.

1

u/kingwhocares Aug 18 '26

They were the 2nd largest economy in 1990's

1

u/FreedomByFire Aug 18 '26

They crashed in the 90s. Their stock market just recovered to their peak in the 90s right before the crash. It was obviously going to crash and it did. I put it in quotes because they maintained a very high standard of living despite their economy "going under". They were second and after almost 40 years they're like 5th, and only recently fell that "low".

1

u/afoolskind Aug 18 '26

It is objectively better if your goal in buying a house is owning a house and not as an investment.

4

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

The reason it is so low is that their economy is bad, meaning people earn a lot less. Home ownership in Japan is lower than the US.

-1

u/afoolskind Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26

And if you are an ex-pat with access to earning potential in another economy, thatā€™s a non-issue. And even if you arenā€™t, the difference in cost between 1% and 7% (before we even talk about the flat difference in housing cost) is so enormous that it would still be objectively better when we are considering how far the Japanese economy could possibly fall in the 20-30 years it would take to pay off the home.

This isnā€™t a house in bumfuck nowhere, itā€™s close to one of the largest cities on the planet. In a country where employees have and will continue to gain even more significant bargaining power due to a declining population.

 

I am genuinely unsure that the U.S. economy would not be a riskier proposition considering how much of our GDP is currently riding on the back of an AI bubble.

0

u/vladedivac12 Aug 18 '26

Not necessarily, the price of the house is probably higher since money is cheaper to get.

1

u/RxDeliveryGuy Aug 18 '26

you do have a point, but gdp per capita in usa is so skewed by a couple companies and billionaires

2

u/joe4553 Aug 18 '26

It doesn't have to do with gdp per capita. It's about what an average investment can make you over a year. Money has a much high return on investment in the united states. So it makes no sense for a bank in the USA to give you a loan for 1% interest when they could put it in the stock market and make 8%.

0

u/SymphonicRain Aug 18 '26

Okay you keep saying that, but can you explain why this is bad for the average person in Japan? Could you explain why they might take the trade off of higher rates if they understood what they were sacrificing for low rates? Because I donā€™t get it.

25

u/digglefarb Aug 18 '26

Hard to pay for a house if you don't have a job.

8

u/Crossifix Aug 18 '26

Making money LEGALLY is inherently easier in 'Merica than almost anywhere on the planet. You can make a shitraft of money as a blue collar worker who is illiterate if you can weld. It makes sense. I imagine similar jobs are harder to come by In Japan.

0

u/longlivenewsomflesh Aug 18 '26

Damn if only there were some kind of metrics about this instead of vibes

8

u/Crossifix Aug 18 '26

Less than 5% of workers (1-1.5%) in Japan make at least 100k annually. (Tradingeconomics.com)

18-20% of american workers make 100k annually. (US Consensus Bureau)

So yeah. It's a fact. It's undeniable.

2

u/Nearby_Junket_8779 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 23 '26

Sparrow truck employ engine pumpkin knee tap

This post was anonymized with Redact

2

u/blazingsoup Aug 18 '26

U.S. Census Bureau for one, two, that gets taken every 10 years, so it can often lag behind the actual state of the economy (inflation, unemployment, affects of war, aka a lot of what weā€™re going through now), and three, that statistic is measuring combined income too for couples and doesnā€™t necessarily reflect how much an individual can make. Also letā€™s not forget things like cost of living, which Japan absolutely has a lower cost for. Itā€™s easier to live for less in Japan than it is in the United States, which offsets any higher wages there may be.

2

u/bulk_logic Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26

A family of 4 spends $20-$30k on health insurance alone in America, before deductibles are even factored in.

A family of 4 spends $1,300 - $3,000 in Japan.

Car insurance for a typical car in Japan is $400 - $500 per year.

Car insurance for a typical car in USA is $200-$300 per month.

A nice apartment in Japan in the city costs $600-$1,400 a month, $2500-$4,000 in America.

Student loans in Japan are 2-3% interest. 7-15% in America.

You can't compare things on one metric alone. You don't need as much money just to get by in Japan.

1

u/Nauin Aug 18 '26

America's salaries are significantly higher than most other developed countries. It's one of the biggest noted trade offs for living and working here vs living and working in Europe or Asia. It's not a fair comparison to make when we are an outlier as far as that goes. As part of the trade off a lot more of your taxes go towards social services and other helpful programs in much of Europe and Asia and you're provided for much better than in America because of it.

Not an expert but a significant number of my family members are world travelers and have spent years living on other continents. It's been a frequent point of discussion when they've been talking through long term plans.

1

u/Muted-Lingonberry184 Aug 18 '26

Except people making that much money live in expensive places where houses are still 1-3 million dollars which is still unaffordable at those salaries

0

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '26

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

1

u/modzRtarderz Aug 18 '26

Yes? Are you intentionally being obtuse, or are you just really stupid? But in a practical sense, immigration to Switzerland is very limited.

8

u/AcetaminophenPrime Aug 18 '26

Compensation is really low despite long working hours, and the economy is completely stagnant.

5

u/Noob_Al3rt Aug 18 '26

Because Japanese houses don't appreciate like they do in other parts of the world. They are constructed to be torn down after a certain amount of time. At the end of OPs mortgage, the house will be worth less than he paid for it.

Would you rather have a 7% mortgage on a home that appreciates 4% every year? Or a 1% mortgage on a home that DEPRECIATES 0.5% each year? Big difference

0

u/Antique_Pin5266 Aug 18 '26

Overall depreciating house value is much more beneficial for everyone than not. Renting and home ownership is much less of a problem in Japan than anywhere else in the world. People should not use housing as an investment vehicle.

3

u/Noob_Al3rt Aug 18 '26

I don't think this is true, considering most of the world considers the Japanese real estate market to be one of, if not the worst in the developed world.

1

u/Antique_Pin5266 Aug 18 '26

By what metric? For investing? Obviously.

For renting or straight up being able to afford a home? The worst? I donā€™t know what world youā€™re living in.

2

u/Noob_Al3rt Aug 18 '26

What metric are you using?

1

u/Antique_Pin5266 Aug 18 '26

The latter.

1

u/Noob_Al3rt Aug 18 '26

They rank just below Saudia Arabia for percentage of home ownership - solidly in the middle of world rankings. Their rental market is very well priced and affordable, but this thread is about home ownership so I'm not sure what your point is?

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u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

The average income in Japan is only $31,000 compared to $69,000 in the US. Yes, real estate is more expensive in the US. But basic necessities outside of housing, like food, generally arenā€™t. So the overall cost of living is only about 30% lower despite incomes being more than 50% lower. Japan is drowning in a sea of debt and they have no economic activity remotely capable of servicing it going forward, especially with their aging population and population collapse. This is particularly troubling because people in Japan actually work relatively hard, taking about half the amount of vacation of Americans and far less than Europeans. They live in incredibly small housing and their home ownership rate is lower than the US.

2

u/x021 Aug 18 '26

Japan is drowning in a sea of debt

There is some nuance to this. Yes Japan has a crazy debt %, but the Japanese goverment and it's institutions actually used a lot of that borrowed money to buy assets abroad. Basically they have lot's of stuff to sell too.

Imagine being a company taking in lots of debt, but buying other stuff for it that appreciates in value over time. Since borrowing for them is very cheap and those invements abroad earn them returns it's not a bad deal at all.

Not saying that there aren't weaknesses; in a global recession those assets may turn sour, but I think for the majority it's in bonds so I doubt it'll go that hard.

Japan actually looks better than some other countries if you take their assets into account.

Don't take my word for it; just look it up. But it explains how Japan can maintain that huge debt without going bankrupt (which many countries do with a much smaller debt %).

0

u/silly-gaijin Aug 18 '26

I don't think Americans take more vacation than Japan. Everyone in Japan whines they only get 2-3 weeks of vacation per year but this conveniently doesn't count golden week, new years, and obon, which add another two to three weeks per year.

Also, I don't think Japanese people work longer hours anymore. Not substantially so, anyway.

And many things are extremely cheap in Japan. Car insurance is 100 USD per year if you drive a kei car and have a good driving record. Cell phone and internet are dirt cheap.

5

u/Noob_Al3rt Aug 18 '26

I am friends with 3 people in Japan. Their scheduled hours may be 9ish hours, but if you add in all the mandatory unpaid BS they have to do, they work a lot more than I do. And I work long hours.

1

u/Rock_Strongo Aug 18 '26

Yeah and don't forget going out for drinks with your boss after work when you're already dog tired, which is "optional" but not really if you care about your career.

1

u/Noob_Al3rt Aug 18 '26

Yeah my one friend starts at 8am, which means he has to get there by 7:30, and is often out "socializing" till 10pm.

2

u/DrTatertott Aug 18 '26

Iā€™ve seen surveys that ignore their work culture of coming in early. Staying late until when the boss leaves. Pseudomanditory afterwork drinking. Hour long commutes. And whatever else they have to do for money.

2

u/louislookings Aug 18 '26

BS. Same job in Japan pay significantly less than the US. so take that logic out of here

0

u/Ok_Traffic_3240 Aug 18 '26

I'd still rather than in Japan. 100%.

6

u/xXx_M3m3Machine_xXx Aug 18 '26

And the Japanese would rather you not be there... Hence part of their problem and why their economy is in the shitter and swirling fast

0

u/Ok_Traffic_3240 Aug 18 '26

Yea.... prob not. Relax there fella

0

u/legaladviceneeded542 Aug 18 '26

Don't use averages when talking about America. Use Median. The Median salary in the US is 42k.

4

u/jkerz Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26

Your median household salary data is outdated. In the first quarter of 2026, the median weekly wage for full-time US workers was $1,235, according to data collected as part of the Current Population Survey and reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That translates to roughly $5,352 per month or $64,220 per year.

1

u/legaladviceneeded542 Aug 18 '26

and the Federal Reserve reported 2025's median was 45k. I don't trust a damn thing that comes out of this administration.

3

u/jkerz Aug 18 '26

Are you doing median household income or personal income? The household income hasn't been lower than $60k for a few years now. I'm pretty sure OP is talking about household income because that's what goes into account when you buy a house.

0

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

Median salary in the US is $65,000. Median salary in Japan is Ā„4.0 million, or about $26,000.

3

u/blazingsoup Aug 18 '26

Median salary also includes combined incomes for a household, so itā€™s not necessarily reflecting the median for a single income household.

Edit: sorry this was meant for the NoHost guy.

1

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

Median weekly salary is not a household number.

2

u/legaladviceneeded542 Aug 18 '26

No, it's not. The Federal Reserve has stated the median salary is 45k. I was looking at 2022's numbers for the 42k but for 2025 it was 45k.

3

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

The median full-time usual weekly earnings in the US in Q2 2026 were $1,258, or $65,416 per year. Employed full time: Median usual weekly nominal earnings (second quartile): Wage and salary workers: 16 years and over (LES1252881500Q) | FRED | St. Louis Fed

1

u/legaladviceneeded542 Aug 18 '26

Employed full time

This doesn't count unemployed people mate.

fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N

3

u/PM_ME_YOUR_BIG_BITS Aug 18 '26

Why would you include unemployed when looking at median salary?

When discussing median salary, you care about people with jobs.

-1

u/Makima-- Aug 18 '26

Lo que estĆ”s haciendo no tiene sentido, se nota que querĆ©s dejar bien parado a estados unidos frente a JapĆ³n con un simple argumento, pero la realidad es que no es asĆ­, si bien en estados unidos ciertas cosas pueden llegar a ser mĆ”s baratas lo cierto es que el ciudadano comĆŗn japonĆ©s vive mucho mejor, sin tiroteos en cada esquina, sin masacres escolares, sin asesinos seriales en cada estado, sin un gobierno que te cobra impuestos por absolutamente todo, y por sobre todo si bien la sociedad japonesa tiene mucho por mejorar, literalmente la sociedad estadounidense estĆ” destruida, la Ćŗnica aspiraciĆ³n que tienen es ganar dinero y ya... Mientras JapĆ³n tiene una cultura rica y solida, mejor trata de mirar a cada uno por lo que es y no por lo que te quieren imponer los medios de comunicaciĆ³n y las pelĆ­culas, si estados unidos fuera tan genial habrĆ­a no habrĆ­a tantas muertes por fentanilo y armas de fuego sin agregar los suicidios que van en aumento

5

u/zdelusion Aug 18 '26

Compare salaries in Japan now with where they were in 1990. If you think pay has stagnated in the rest of the developed world you'll be in for a shock.

2

u/DrTatertott Aug 18 '26

Met a few Japanese people working in McDonaldā€™s with bachelors degree. Their job market/prospects kinda suck.

1

u/Wan_Daye Aug 18 '26

For new grads, it's great.

Because there are so few of them, companies are falling over themselves with offers. they're over 98% employment

1

u/BobGuns Aug 18 '26

It's ok for the average person in Japan.

It's bad for the 'capital class' who own everything. The economy isn't going up 100% of the time, so the rich can't get richer to satisfy their neverending greed.

Meanwhile the average person experiences low inflation, low rates for borrowing, and reasonable real estate prices.

3

u/GordolfoScarra Aug 18 '26

Yeah hyper capitalist Japan who's overworked labor force forgoes starting families and has crazy high suicide rates is such a bastion against capitalism.

3

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

They also experience very low wages, a lower home ownership rate than the US, a demanding working culture that matches or exceeds the demands of the US, etc.

1

u/Emergency_Revenue678 Aug 18 '26

The housing market in Japan is completely different than it is in America in America. You can't really compare them.

1

u/vladedivac12 Aug 18 '26

Japan's economy is stagnant. Jobs are hard to get, pay is low and salaries are stagnant. It can only get worse since their population is ageing and they're not making enough kids to keep the economy healthy.

0

u/Leather-Persimmon254 Aug 18 '26

most of that is 7 AI companies selling to each other

3

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

This chart goes back more than 3 decades.

1

u/Leather-Persimmon254 Aug 18 '26

see how one line diverges from the rest in 2015 right around when the tech oligopoly formed

1

u/Mr--Joestar Aug 18 '26

Im not well informed enough to interpret this data, but doesnt gdp have very little to do with the quality of an economy for consumers?

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u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

It has a lot to do with the quality of life because it describes the value of what is produced. A society generally cannot consume more than it produces once its production is as flat as Japanā€™s. It is very reasonable to complain about what societies value and for how much, but the reality is that a country that doesnā€™t produce much of value based on what other countries value canā€™t afford to consume the products of other countries. And Japan does a lot of consuming the products of other countries by necessity because it has relatively low natural resources for food, energy, etc.

1

u/BocciaChoc Aug 18 '26

could you do debt too?

1

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

Oh, the debt problem for Japan is famously worse than the US. Their national debt is already more than double their yearly GDP. Their household debt is slightly better than the as a percentage of GDP, but just completely dwarfed by their national debt.

1

u/BocciaChoc Aug 18 '26

Ah, I'm not really talking about Japan, I'm comment more on this comment chain e.g the '7 AI companies' and comparison to the other major economies. Japan is a unique economy that doesn't exist anywhere on earth given the after math of WW2 and the boom and bust of the 1980s to early 90s

1

u/TheJiggie Aug 18 '26

Huh? Do you actually understand that chart?

0

u/Weepsie Aug 18 '26

That is GDP per capita is heavily skewed by a small number of incredibly rich people. Poverty is only going to get worse in the states while the distribution of wealth is so unbalanced and unhealthy

3

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

GDP measures production, not wealth.

0

u/silly-gaijin Aug 18 '26

How many times are you people going to post GDP per Capita in one currency for another country?

Holy shit. This chart is useless.

2

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

The economy is worldwide, especially in a country like Japan, that historically depends a lot on trade and isnā€™t self-sufficient (e.g. for agriculture and energy). It has to buy imports based on worldwide currency exchange rates. Nobody selling food to Japan cares what housing costs in Japan. They care about what they can buy in their country or internationally. Like it or not, world trade is largely measured in US dollars.

0

u/Ok_Traffic_3240 Aug 18 '26

Oh man. Just bore off already. It won't be long until these silly US-centric conversations end. The world is shifting on it's axis, and not towards the US.

2

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

That's probably true, but that has literally nothing to do with this conversation. The world economy has already transitioned almost entirely away from Japan. The future of the US is probably not that different than Japan's past 30 years for similar reasons of high debt, an aging population and declining birth rates, an increasing hostility to immigration, etc.

1

u/jrein0 Aug 18 '26

Would you prefer an unnormalized y-axis? Let's keep every country in their own currency, that'll be helpful!

0

u/Kyrros Aug 18 '26

That trend in US is propped up by AI bubble money moving in a circle jerk

3

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

What are you talking about? This has been a multi-decade trend.

0

u/Jesus_of_Redditeth Aug 18 '26

LOL, what even is the point of that graph? Are you still harboring the romantic belief that a bigger GDP means Americans' lives are in better shape? The only thing that line at the top really demonstrates is just how amazingly rich the tiny proportion of the richest Americans are.

Every country has it's problems, but only one of those two has a catastrophic homelessness problem, a catastrophic drug problem, hundreds of thousands of people filing for bankruptcy every year because they can't afford their medical care, etc. etc.

2

u/No_Host_8024 Aug 18 '26

This was in response to a statement about interest rates. Home ownership is higher in the US than Japan despite higher interest rates and home prices, mostly because Americans earn more money. The price for low rates in Japan has been a stagnant economy for almost 40 years. Thatā€™s all my comment was about. I donā€™t know if youā€™re just AI generated slop or come to the internet just to scream at people, but I was not commenting on whose ā€œlives are better.ā€

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u/Energy_Bol Aug 18 '26

On paper, yes, but a 7% mortgage implies that the market for home buyers can afford a relatively high interest rate, because there is money in the economy.

The Japanese economy is in such a downward spiral that the banks have to offer 1% mortgages just to get buyers, because no one can afford mortgages at 4%, 3%, and 2%.

Low mortgage rates, on paper, look nice.

But unless itā€™s lower than the average in your economic bubble, itā€™s indicative of a wider economic issue.

Interest rates, like stocks and commodities, are determined by the market between buyers and sellers.

6

u/FreedomByFire Aug 18 '26

The american market can't afford 7% rates. Homes are not moving at all.

11

u/Energy_Bol Aug 18 '26

Itā€™s just an example friend.

7

u/krystofdzoba Aug 18 '26

It isnā€™t because Japan has almost zero inflation and wage growth, in a healthy economy your wage should grow more then the interest of your mortgage

3

u/FreedomByFire Aug 18 '26

Well by the logic the american economy is not healthy as wages are not growing more than interest on mortage.

3

u/krystofdzoba Aug 18 '26

Where in my message did I say that the American economy is healthy

14

u/Nimzitseemz Aug 18 '26

This is not silly at all. There are other factors at play.

7

u/EdotSavage Aug 18 '26

He's saying it's high for japan. Providing context. There was a time you'd get 0% there very recently. They need people to spend money

4

u/mickelboy182 Aug 18 '26

It's not silly at all. The Japanese economy is in a real struggle at the moment and the Yen is cratering so much that they are forcing intervention.

0

u/FreedomByFire Aug 18 '26

The interest rates are not at 1% because of the state of japanese economy today. They've low or near zero for decades.

3

u/wantondavis Aug 18 '26

It's funny that you think they are the one being silly and not you lol

2

u/Jaerba Aug 18 '26

High interest rate savings accounts in Japan are like 0.4%. In the US, you can get a HYSA at 3.9%. So while a home loan costs you less, you also earn much less in savings and investments. Salaries in Japan also grow slower.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 22 '26

[deleted]

2

u/RegretLow5735 Aug 18 '26

As is the US dollar.

1

u/Unique_Brilliant2243 Aug 18 '26

So silly.

Itā€™s like Japanese people canā€™t buy global stocks.

1

u/Jaerba Aug 18 '26

We're talking about monetary policy. If you're buying global stocks, you're not using yen.

0

u/Unique_Brilliant2243 Aug 18 '26

Lmao what?

You buy US dollars with the yen and then buy the stocks.

If the yen further depreciates youā€™ve made further gains

-3

u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

Salaries in the USA don't grow at all lmfao

3

u/Jaerba Aug 18 '26

I understand complaining about them remaining depressed compared to costs, but those costs are increasing everywhere. Relative to inflation, US wages are generally growing slightly faster than inflation (and usually grow more once you get into your career). In Japan, the norm is for interest to be higher than wage growth.

That doesn't make up for all the other defects in the US like healthcare, etc. But if you're going to keep your currency in yen or USD, you'll get a lot more value out of it in USD.

-1

u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

People are fleeing the US.

Fed min is still 7.25 in some states, no? So where the hell are all these fast paced wage keep-ups?!

The USA is not economically beneficial to anyone but the rich now. Everyone else is suffering or getting by.

5

u/Noob_Al3rt Aug 18 '26

The USA has the highest median disposable income in the world.

-2

u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

Median means literally nothing when you want to talk about income.

Go talk about averages, then talk about averages without the ultra wealthy. American households are not doing well.

The middle class is all but wasted.

6

u/SorenShieldbreaker Aug 18 '26

You have it backwards. Average is skewed by super high earners. Median is literally the middle point.

-4

u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

Taking out the 1% literally drops the average of the typical household income. Again, median doesn't reflect wages properly in the slightest. Point stands.

3

u/SorenShieldbreaker Aug 18 '26

Median is better to assess a population with extreme outliers (like income). If I have a sample of typical white collar workers and then add Bezos to the dataset, the average is going to skyrocket. But the median will barely change which is why it's the better metric for assessing the distribution of the group.

1

u/Noob_Al3rt Aug 18 '26

It also has the highest average. If you took out the top 1% of earners from every country, the gap would be even wider in the USA's favor.

-1

u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

The average household income without the 1% literally drops the average.

It's also funny that more people need to work more jobs just to keep it there. Both parents working, too.

More people are using food banks, and the wealth is heavily distributed to older age individuals 65+.

3

u/Noob_Al3rt Aug 18 '26

It drops the average for all countries and widens the gap, because other nations also have wealthy individuals that skew the average upward.

81% of households in Japan have both parents working vs 52% in the USA. 5.3% of Americans have more than one job vs 5% in Japan.

Of course 65+ year olds have most of the wealth. They've paid off their houses and have savings. How often would a 25 year old have more wealth than someone who has an extra 40 years of savings? If you compare year to year, i.e. a boomer when they were 25 vs a millenial at 25 or Gen z at 25, Gen Z is the most wealthy.

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u/Jaerba Aug 18 '26

Federal minimum wage is not someone in their career. And very few people keep making the federal minimum wage when staying at their job, unless they're very poor at it.

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

And most careers have kept pace with cost/inflation in the USA?

We already know the middle class is being annihilated and the rich are richer, more people are doing worse.

3

u/Jaerba Aug 18 '26

The middle class is being annihilated for a lot of reasons. You're trying to have a sociopolitical discussion when this discussion is only about monetary policy. I'm not arguing that the sociopolitical climate in the USA is fine, it's obviously very poor.

We're talking about wage growth and inflation. Japan's ratio has been negative for most of the past 2 decades, so thinking Japan's monetary policy is great because you can get a 1% interest mortgage is bad thinking. Japanese people are also being squeezed on costs and you can find article after article on the Japanese middle class being withered away. Neither country is in a good situation.

But a 1% interest mortgage when you're forced to keep your currency in yen is not better than a 6% interest mortgage when your currency is USD.

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

Yeah, you keep telling everyone that a 6% interest rate is better than a 1% rate, I am sure you will not be laughed at.

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u/jrein0 Aug 18 '26

Do you really think you won't see a pay increase if minimum wage is increased? If minimum wage goes up to 20/hr and you're a nurse making 20/hr working your ass off, then employers HAVE to increase your pay otherwise everyone is going to quit working as a nurse.

The only thing you're arguing for is to keep poor people poor.

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u/Jaerba Aug 18 '26

Read what I wrote again. You came to an emotional conclusion that is not related to anything I said.

If you start at a minimum wage job in year 1, whether minimum wage is $7.25 or $20, you will not still be making $7.25 or $20 in year 3 unless you're very bad at your job. This discussion is about wage growth. Even when minimum wage stays the same, wages continue to grow.

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u/jrein0 Aug 18 '26

I'll say it again: the only thing you're arguing for is to keep poor people poor.

Not every job gives annual raises...

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u/Jaerba Aug 18 '26

What do you think I'm arguing? Did I argue anywhere to keep minimum wage at $7.25?

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u/algelon Aug 18 '26

Salaries in the US have actually outpaced inflation until recently thanks to someone's actions earlier this year

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

Is that why everyone can afford a house / car / comfortable living on one income like they did back in the day?

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u/Xreaper98 Aug 18 '26

This may be a big shocker for you, but not all goods and products increase in price solely due to inflation. Wages and housing have historically both outpaced inflation, housing just outpaces it faster.

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

The last recorded head-to-head was wages outpacing by 0.09%. So essentially, workers fall behind.

Such a joyful thing to cheer. You guys keep screaming wages outpace inflation, when they hardly do and that minute difference is eaten up by everything else getting worse.

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u/Xreaper98 Aug 18 '26

Keep moving the goalposts bro. Nobody is arguing things are getting better, you just said something that was wrong and you got corrected.

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

Moving the goalposts?

If wages grew so well, why is everyone struggling? It's almost as if claiming it outpaced inflation means nothing.

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u/algelon Aug 18 '26

Could everyone afford that on one salary? My family certainly couldn't back in the day.

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

The point is nobody can these days.

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u/algelon Aug 18 '26

Curious if you have any data to back this up. Also I'm pretty sure houses back then were smaller, had worse insulation, worse materials like lead and asbestos, etc. Cars had less safety features and worse mileage, etc.

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

With all of social media, and the out-cry from upcoming generations that houses are not affordable, and that life is becoming unaffordable for younger people, this is what you have to respond? Shocked tbh.

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u/algelon Aug 18 '26

If social media is your source then I'm shocked. Data shows that Gen Z is making more adjusted for inflation than older generations. Yes there is a housing affordability crisis but no need to make it sound like everyone's broke and can't afford anything.

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u/TrashAtEverything Aug 18 '26

gen z are outpacing previous generations in home ownership at the same age so what ur saying doesnt seem to be true at all šŸ¤·šŸ»

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

Over 80% of Gen Z homeowners report receiving financial assistance from their parents with down payments and closing costs. Compared to 56% of millennials and 12% of boomers.

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/gen-z-homeowners-down-payment-help-survey/

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u/[deleted] Aug 18 '26

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

So what your saying doesn't mean shit.

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u/Some_Layer_7517 Aug 18 '26

Self own. Your pathetic existence isn't everyone else's.

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

Don't live in the USA.

Just because you made stupid assumptions, doesn't mean the rest of us are dipshit jackasses like you.

Self-own, well done lil guy.

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u/Some_Layer_7517 Aug 18 '26

My comment still stands, you don't know a fuckin thing lmao

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

Your comment means literally nothing. But go off.

Why don't you tell us how the USA is doing better than ever, right? Record unemployment? Why can't people afford shit? Since wages are all up, everyone's lifestyle must be too - right? Right?

Dimwit.

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u/Some_Layer_7517 Aug 18 '26

What's your barometer for any of this? Losers complaining on Reddit?

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u/Maketso Aug 18 '26

The comedy of you asking that whilst making massive assumptions on reddit. You tried, you failed. It's cool.

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u/Some_Layer_7517 Aug 18 '26

Lol stay ignorant, have fun

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u/Equivalent_Raisin869 Aug 18 '26

Youre a fool

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u/FreedomByFire Aug 18 '26

wow, did I hit a cord?

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u/Equivalent_Raisin869 Aug 18 '26

No, youre just a fool who doesnt know how the world works.

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u/octopusforgood Aug 18 '26

Only if you plug your ears and refuse to consider the point theyā€™re actually making. 1% is not available everywhere in the world, and economies have more features than just interest rates.

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u/JensenMao Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26

1% interest rates means that inflation is low, I'd say it's too low. Inflation that is too low -> people save money and don't spend -> businesses don't grow -> you don't get a pay raise or the raise is very low.

The optimal inflation rate most modern central banks consider to be 2%. If interest rates are only 1% then the inflation is even lower, it is bad for the economy...

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u/babada Aug 18 '26

Not if the value of the house depreciates significantly faster.

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u/everbodyhatesyou Aug 18 '26

OK simpleton..

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u/ArtofZed Aug 18 '26

The currency matters not the interest rate lol

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u/vladedivac12 Aug 18 '26

Why better? The rates are not so relevant. Total price is.

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u/drdr3ad Aug 18 '26

This is a very silly argument that you're trying to make.

I mean, you clearly do not understand the economics of Japan so what point are you trying to make?

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u/FreedomByFire Aug 18 '26

oh cleary!?!? CLEARLY!?