Cost of living 1962

 We found an interesting graphic this week that says “1962 Cost of Living” and lists living and food expenses from 62 years ago, and I thought we could go down memory lane a bit here. Under the “living” category a new house averaged around $12,550. Average income was $5,556, a new car $2,924, average rent was $110 a month. A movie ticket was a dollar, gasoline .27 cents per gallon and a postage stamp was 4 cents. Looking at the cost of food, granulated sugar for a 10 pound bag was .89 cents. A gallon of whole milk was $1.04. Ground coffee was .85 cents a pound, bacon was .69 cents a pound, a dozen eggs were.32 cents, hamburger .40 cents a pound and fresh baked bread was .21 cents a loaf. Now as nostalgic as this sounds, let's reiterate that the average income was $5,556 a year. It’s all about perspective. One of our biggest expenses today is health insurance. Why did employer based health insurance take off in the 1950s? Well in 1954 the Internal Revenue Code made it clear that employers' contributions for health benefit plans were generally tax deductible as a business expense and were to be excluded from employees' taxable income. We all know health insurance can be expensive today. If you need help through MNSure or Medicare options Todd can help. Call 320-679-5183 or go to yoursafemoneyshow.com.