You do the math
Kent Harris
Written by Scot Meyer
SwitchYard Media, Inc. - contact | website
Designed and produced by Kent Harris
Tin Can Rocket, LLC. - contact | website
A production of SwitchYard Media, Inc.
Photo Credit: Alan Light
Driven to extremes
Buying everyone in your studio audience a new car, as Oprah Winfrey did in 2004, is definitely a classy gesture.
But Oprah certainly has the money for it. With an annual income of $275 million, according to Forbes magazine, Oprah makes $523.21 every minute, even when she's asleep. So she earns enough to buy a new Pontiac G6, the kind of car she bought her audience members, in roughly 37 minutes.
The median household income in the U.S., by contrast, is $50,233 per year, or about 9.6 cents per minute. So earning enough for a Pontiac G6 would take more than 140 days.
Starting point There are 525,600 minutes in a year.
Winfrey's earnings: About $275 million last year, or about $523.21 per minute.
Worker earnings: The average American household earns about $50,233 a year, or about 9.6 cents per minute.
Purchase: A Pontiac G6 has a suggested list price starting at $19,415.
Photo Credit: Tim Wohlford, GNU License
Fill 'er up
For millions of Americans with SUVs, filling the tank with gasoline can cost over $100.
That wouldn’t mean much to professional race car driver Danica Patrick, who earned about $5 million last year in prize money and endorsements, according to Forbes Magazine. At that rate it takes her just 9.5 minutes to earn enough for a fill up.
Not everyone who makes a living behind the wheel is so lucky. Cab drivers earn about $23,000 a year, on average. So if they want to do any driving on their days off, it’ll take them nearly 38 hours to make enough to buy a tank full of gas.
Starting point: There are 525,600 minutes in a year.
Patrick's earnings: About $5 million in a good year, or about $9.5 per minute.
Worker earnings: The average cab driver earns about $23,000 a year, or about 4.4 cents per minute.
Purchase: A 25 gallon gas tank costs $100 to fill at $4 per gallon.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Jaap Buitendijk, Universal Studios
Bundles of joy
Being a parent is expensive, but celebrities like Angelina Jolie have an advantage over most regular Americans.
With earnings of about $14 million a year, even the most deluxe baby rearing gear is not out of reach. Jolie earns enough to buy a deluxe Bugaboo Bee stroller, which sells for about $530, in just under 20 minutes. So she can basically afford to have as many children as she likes.
It's a different story for child care workers, who probably need to opt for less expensive transport for their own kids. It would take them about 10 days to earn enough to buy a Bugagoo Bee stroller.
Starting point: There are 525,600 minutes in a year.
Jolie's earnings: About $14 million in the past year, or about $26.63 per minute.
Worker earnings: The average child care worker earns about $19,670 a year, or about 3.7 cents per minute.
Purchase: A high-end Bugaboo Bee stroller retails for about $530 in New York City.
Photo Credit: Jim Epler
Virtually affordable
Besides being a star on the golf course and in commercials, Tiger Woods now appears in a video game called Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09.
With earnings of about $115 million, according to Forbes, Tiger could earn enough to buy a Wii system to play his new game on in just over 68 seconds.
Earning enough to be a virtual Tiger would take longer for someone who has to deal with real tigers all day. Zoologists and wildlife biologists make about $58,480 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So it would take one of them more than 37 hours to earn enough to buy a Wii.
Starting point: There are 525,600 minutes in a year.
Woods's earnings: About $115 million in the past year, or about $218.79 a minute.
Worker earnings: Zoologists and wildlife biologists earn $58,480 a year, on average, or about 11.1 cents a minute.
Purchase: The original list price of a Wii system was about $250.
Photo Credit: Mike Schmid
Music to her ears
Miley Cyrus, who plays the 14-year-old rock star Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel, can afford to indulge her own musical tastes.
The $25 million she made last year means that she earns enough to buy a Rock Candy electric guitar in about 8.4 minutes.
Other Hannahs in Montana will need to be more patient if they want their dreams of rock stardom to come true. The median household income in Montana was about $35,574 in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. So it would take a typical Montana household about 4 days to earn enough to buy that same pink guitar.
Starting point: There are 525,600 minutes in a year.
Cyrus's earnings: $25 million last year, or about $47.56 per minute.
Worker earnings: The median household income in Montana is about $35,574 a year, or about $97.46 per day.
Purchase: A Rock Candy guitar from Daisy Rock costs $399.20.
Photo Credit: Jeramey Jannene
That’s the ticket
If Kobe Bryant wants to return to China and relive his memories of earning Olympic gold as a member of the "Redeem Team," affording the air fare shouldn't be a problem.
With an annual salary of about $39 million, he could earn enough for a first class ticket from Los Angeles to Beijing in a little more than two hours.
If you make your living as an umpire, ref or other sports official, though, you might want to fly coach. With an average salary of $34,720 per year, it would take you a little more than three months to earn enough for that $9,000 first class ticket.
Starting point: There are 525,600 minutes in a year.
Bryant's earnings: $39 million a year, or about $74.20 per minute.
Worker earnings: Umpires, referees and other sports officials make $34,720 a year, on average, or about $95.12 a day.
Purchase: A first class ticket from Los Angeles to Beijing costs about $9,000.
Photo Credit: Barack Obama Campaign
Something to cling to
Barack Obama lost some primary votes when he contended in a speech that some rural people cling to their guns and religion out of frustration or bitterness.
Obama doesn't need to cling to guns himself; with the $4.2 million he earned from his books in 2007, a $780 Remington hunting rifle would cost him the equivalent of 97.5 minutes in earnings.
Buying that kind of gun would be a bigger deal for a fish or game warden, who has an annual salary of $55,720. It would take a warden more than five days to earn enough for that rifle.
Starting point: There are 525,600 minutes in a year.
Obama's earnings: $4.2 million in 2007, which works out to about $8 per minute.
Worker earnings: A fish or game warden earns about $55,720 a year, or about 10.6 cents per minute.
Purchase: A Remington Model 700 LSS hunting rifle costs about $780.
Photo Credit: Chris "Mojo" Denbow
Affordable housing
John McCain provided late night comedians plenty of material when he was unable to tell an interviewer how many homes he owned.
That may be partly due to the wealth of his wife Cindy, though, because his 2007 earnings of $405,409 means it would take him just over 6 months to earn enough to buy a typical American home.
But even on his own he does better than the typical real estate broker, whose average salary of $79,800 means it would take more than two and a half years to earn enough to buy a $206,500 home.
Starting point: There are 365 days in a year.
McCain's earnings: $405,409 a year, or about $1,110.71 per day.
Worker earnings: The average real estate broker earns about $79,800 a year, or about $218.63 per day.
Purchase: The median home price in the U.S. is $206,500.
Photo Credit: Joi Ito
A simple plan
Ads for the new iPhone promise that it's half the price of the previous version, but critics point out that the savings go away when you factor in the cost of the service over the life of the contract.
But even that $1,975 price for an iPhone with two years of service is nothing to Steve Jobs, who is worth an estimated $5.7 billion, according to Forbes. A 7% investment return on that fortune earns Jobs enough to pay for the phone and the contract in 2.6 minutes.
The price looks different to economists, who earn an average of $86,700 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For them it takes more than 8 days to earn enough for the phone.
Starting point: There are 525,600 minutes in a year.
Jobs's earnings: With a net worth of about $5.7 billion, if he earns a 7% annual return on that money, he will make $399 million a year, or about $759 per minute.
Worker earnings: The average economist earns about $86,700 a year, or about $237.53 per day.
Purchase: An iPhone 3G with two years service will cost $1,975.
Photo Credit: Joi Ito
Endless vistas
Bill Gates makes so much money from the sale of computer operating systems that he wouldn't have to think twice about upgrading his PC.
Even Windows Vista Ultimate, which has a list price of $319.95, would require the equivalent of about 2.4 seconds worth of earnings for the world's richest man, who is estimated to be worth about $59 billion.
Someone who makes their living helping people cope with computer operating systems would need a lot more time to earn enough to buy the priciest version of Windows Vista. It would take a typical computer support specialist about 62 hours to earn enough.
Starting point: There are 525,600 minutes in a year.
Gates's earnings: With a net worth of $59 billion, if he earned a 7% annual return on that money, he'd make about $4.13 billion a year, or about $7,857.69 per minute.
Worker earnings: The average computer support specialist earns about $45,300 a year, or about 8.6 cents per minute.
Purchase: Windows Vista Ultimate has a list price of $319.95.