The economics of sugaring seems to be an issue of perpetual interest. Here are some of my recent thoughts - would appreciate feedback/discussion.

Many guys, especially in NYC, have wealth rather than income .. through inheritance or a lucrative career. Also, for a single guy, living well in NYC costs $20k/month, plus the cost of housing.

So, (wealth * 3%) /12 post tax income - ($20k cost of housing) gives you the true “disposable” monthly income. Also note that I don’t count the investment income in post tax income, as that would be double counting the wealth.

For a retired CEO or a trust fund guy with $20mm in wealth, the number plays out to be: $600k/12 0 - (20k 12k) =$18k. He can easily afford a sugaring budget of $10k/month .. but not twice that. (I am assuming he is spending $12k/month on housing .. this number could be a lot more).

For a working finance bro with $5mm in wealth, and a $1.2mm pre tax annual income, the number plays out to be 150k/12 600k/12 -(20k 12k) = $30k.

You will observe that in my formulation, someone making $600k per annum pre tax (and with no wealth) will have nothing left over for sugaring. By the way, this income level is representative of many 40 professionals (lawyers, doctors, etc). Of course, they could choose to live in cheaper housing, cut down on eating out etc. But my point is that to truly be a generous SD in NYC, you need substantial income/wealth. Easily top 1%, if not higher if your comparison group is the US population.