
New Study: You Need to Make Almost $100,000 to Live Comfortably in Minnesota
How much money do you think you really need in order to live comfortably? That answer can vary person to person. It depends on what you like to do, how much your rent or mortgage costs, etc.
But if we're going to look at it broadly, a common rule is the 50/30/20 rule.
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What is the 50/30/20 Rule?
The 50/30/20 rule is a common trick people use to budget their money.
Investopedia says the rule involves you splitting how much money you take home (so, after taxes) "into three categories of spending: 50% goes to needs, 30% goes to wants, and 20% goes to savings."
So that 50% would involve your groceries, rent/mortgage, etc. The 30% is for going out to eat, shopping, and other things like that. And the 20% would go to something like retirement savings.

This 50/30/20 rule is what was used by SmartAsset to determine how much money you need to make in each state in order to live comfortably.
How Much Does it Cost to Live Comfortably in Minnesota?
SmartAsset found that no matter where you live in the US, the cost to live comfortably has gone up about $5,844 from last year for one person and $9,360 for a family of four. Yikes.
In Minnesota specifically, here's what SmartAsset found.
For a single person in Minnesota, they found that you need to make $91,728 in order to live comfortably.
For a family of four, obviously that number jumps. The study found that between all income earners in the house, a family of four needs $251,264 to live comfortably.
That seems like a lot to me! Of course, if I had that much, I would happily be going on many more vacations, so bring it on!
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Gallery Credit: Carly Ross
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