I was in the car last week and That’s What I like by Bruno Mars was playing.  I thought to myself, damn, Bruno Mars in this song has the life!  Then, I started thinking of how much this life would cost per month and I started sweating.

I thought it would be a great idea to have a little fun and add it all up.

We can do this, first, to figure out the total Bruno Mars would have to spend monthly to afford the life portrayed in his song.  And, two, we can figure out how much someone SHOULD make in order to afford a life like this.

Here is the video; I highly suggest you listen to some of this before reading!  Or, better yet, play it as you read the article.  It’s going to  put you in a great mood.  Just watch out if you are at work, you may end up dancing. 😉

So pop it for a player, pop, pop it for me.  We’re about to get down with some Bruno.

First Verse

Hey, hey, hey
I got a condo in Manhattan
Baby girl, what’s hatnin’?
You and your ass invited
So gon’ and get to clappin’
So pop it for a player pop, pop it for me
Turn around and drop it for a player drop, drop it for me
I’ll rent a beach house in Miami
Wake up with no jammies
Lobster tail for dinner
Julio serve that scampi (Julio!)
You got it if you want it
Got, got it if you want it
Said you got it if you want it
Take my wallet if you want it now

*source: genius.com

Condo in Manhattan

Ok so here we go.  Our first lyric mentioning how much Bruno spends each month on his condo in Manhattan.

(I am going to obviously be making quite a few assumptions in this post)

Well, guess what, Justin Timberlake has a condo in Manhattan!  Particularly in SOHO.  I think Bruno and Justin are in a similar financial situation.  Let’s use the same assumption and assume Bruno also lives in a $6 million condo in SOHO.

I used Zillow to lookup a 3 br 3 bathroom 2,459 sqft condo in SOHO with a price tag of $5,995,000.

Condo in Manhattan Breakdown:

$22,916 / month = 30-year mortgage (assuming a 4% interest rate with a 20% down payment)
$3,765 / month = HOA
$1,666 / month = Property Tax
$450 / month = Utilities

$28,797 per month = Total for the condo in Manhattan

Beach house in Miami

Oh yea now we’re talking; South Florida is where I grew up!  I am familiar with this part of the world so we are going to assume Bruno is renting a place over in Key Biscayne.

Checkout this sweet pad for $1,200 per night: AirBNB Rental

Actually, it’s not a pad so much as a villa.  6 bedrooms 5.5 baths on the beach.  It’s Bruno Mars, we know he’s not staying in some shack on Miami beach!

We will assume Bruno is staying a week in Miami and average that out for a month

Beach house in Miami – Breakdown

$8,400 / month = Miami Beach House
$1,200 / month = airfare for two to Miami business class

$9,600 / month = Beach House in Miami

Wake-up with no jammies

Good job Bruno, saving money on clothing!

Wake-up with no jammies – Breakdown

$0 / month = wake-up with no jammies

Lobster tail for dinner (strawberry champagne on ice)

Should we go lobster tail at the Ritz Carlton in Key Biscayne located just down the street from that house?  Or, should we go with a restaurant over on Miami beach?  Hmm.  Ok, let’s go with Miami beach.

Stripsteak at Fontainebleau serves the Imperial Tower for $125.  One whole lobster accompanied by various other tasty seafood pairings.

Bruno mentions drinking strawberry champagne on ice later on in the song, but we know he’s going to pop a bottle at Fontainebleau.  Let’s assume he drinks Moet & Chandon Nectar Imperial Rose served infused with strawberries (since there’s no strawberry champagne on the menu).  We will go with $125 for a bottle.

Julio serve that scampi

You gotta tip Julio!  And I don’t see any scampi at our restaurant.  Let’s just add on another $20 for some scampi, and a 20% tip for Julio.

Lobster tail for dinner, strawberry champagne on ice, Julio serve that scampi – breakdown

$125 = Lobster Tail for Dinner
$125 = Strawberry Champagne on Ice
$75 = Julio Serve that Scampi (tip + scampi)

$2,275 / month = Total Miami dinner expenses for the week (($125 + $125 +75) x 7 days).

First Pre-Chorus

Jump in the Cadillac, girl, let’s put some miles on it
Anything you want, just to put a smile on it
You deserve it baby, you deserve it all
And I’m gonna give it to you

Jump in the Cadillac

I’m going to go with a Cadillac Escalade ESV and assume he has the luxury package.  This comes with a price tag of approximately $80,000 all in.  I’ll assume Bruno leases it for $900 per month.  Add gas in for $400 per month and insurance at $150 per month.

Jump in the Cadillac – Breakdown

$900 / month = lease
$400 / month = gas
$150 / month = insurance

$1,450 / month = Jump in the Cadillac

Anything you want, just to put a smile on it

Cost = Priceless (Sorry, I had to!)

First Chorus

Gold jewelry shining so bright
Strawberry champagne on ice
Lucky for you, that’s what I like, that’s what I like
Lucky for you, that’s what I like, that’s what I like
Sex by the fire at night
Silk sheets and diamonds all white
Lucky for you, that’s what I like, that’s what I like
Lucky for you, that’s what I like, that’s what I like

Gold jewelry shining so bright

We are going to hit this one under Shopping Sprees in Paris

Strawberry champagne on ice

Already hit that!

Sex by the fire at night

Uhhhhhhh…. Free?  I hope.

Silk sheets and diamonds so bright

Here are some nice silk sheets for only $387 on Amazon! 4 Pcs Luxurious 100% Mulberry Silk Charmeuse Sheet Set King Dark Gray Half of Retail!

Diamonds so bright – I am going to approximate that Bruno purchases one ring, one necklace, one bracelet and one pair of earrings per year.  I looked at Zales and it looks like those will add up to the following:

Silk sheets and diamonds so bright – breakdown

$4,999 = Ring (1 ¾ CT. I2 diamond with 14 karat white gold)
$3,299 = Necklace (2 CT. I2 – I3 clarity diamond with 14 karat gold)
$2,499 = Earrings (1 ½ CT. I3 clarity diamonds with 14 karat gold)
$1,299 = Bracelet (1 ½ CT. I1 – I2 clarity diamonds with 14 karat gold)

$1,040 / month = Silk sheets and diamonds so bright ($12,483 annually averaged over 12 months)

Verse 2

I’m talkin’ trips to Puerto Rico
Say the word and we go
You can be my freaka
Girl, I’ll be a fleeko, mamacita
I will never make a promise that I can’t keep
I promise that your smile ain’t gon’ never leave
Shopping sprees in Paris
Everything 24 karats
Take a look in that mirror
Now tell me who’s the fairest
Is it you? (is it you?) Is it me? (is it me?)
Say it’s us (say it’s us) and I’ll agree, baby

I’m talkin’ trips to Puerto Rico

I’ll take a guess Bruno will fly business class from New York to San Juan.  Averaging flight prices from New York to San Juan using the two cheapest discount travel websites (CheapOair and Skyscanner), we come up with $800 per ticket with business class.

San Juan has a cost of living about 25% less than Miami.  We will take the data from Miami and assume it is just 25% less.

I’m talkin’ trips to Puerto Rico – breakdown

$8,000 = Miami less 25% 
$1,600 = Airfare

$9,600 = I’m talkin’ trips to Puerto Rico

Shopping sprees in Paris

Damn Bruno this is getting expensive!  My brain is starting to hurt looking up all these expenses.

Let’s go back to CheapOair and Skyscanner for the plane tickets to Paris.  Flying business class averages $2,500 per ticket.

Let’s assume Bruno spends a week in Paris just like he did in Puerto Rico and Miami.  The standard of living in Paris is approximately 6% lower in Paris than Miami (I lived in Paris for six weeks and this sounds accurate).

Using the data from Miami and decreasing it by 6% we come up with approximately:  $10,000

Everything 24 karats

Wow so we have a shopping spree now in Paris and it seems that it will only be to purchase 24 karat jewelry.  Let’s go with a shopping spree being over 4 items when it comes to jewelry.  I’ll approximate 5 pieces of jewelry bought up and down Camps-Élysées in Paris, all 24 karats at an average price of $1,500 equaling $7,500.

Shopping Sprees in paris, everything 24 karats – breakdown

$5,000 = airfare for two to Paris flying business class from New York City
$10,000 = Dining and a sweet pad in paris (I used the expenses incurred in Miami less 6% due to a lower standard of living cost in Paris)

$22,500 = Shopping sprees in Paris, everything 24 karats.

Bridge Before final Chorus

If you say you want a good time
Well here I am baby, here I am baby
Talk to me, talk to me, talk to me
Tell me what’s on your mind (what’s on your mind)
If you want it, girl come and get it
All this is here for you
Tell me baby, tell me, tell me baby
What you tryna do

Nothing in the Final Chorus!  We are done with our analysis of the cost of a month in the portrayed life of Bruno Mars.

Time to see how it adds up!

Final Results

Total Monthly Spending assuming Bruno Mars does all the things mentioned in the song on a monthly basis:

$28,797 = Condo Manhattan
$9,600 = Beach house in Miami (including airfare)
$2,268 = Lobster tail for dinner, Strawberry champagne on ice, Julio get that scampi.
$1,450 = Jump in the Cadillac
$1,040 = Silk sheets and diamonds so bright
$9,601 = Trips to Puerto Rico
$22,528 = Shopping Sprees in Paris

$75,285 = Total monthly spending for Bruno

* We are assuming Bruno Mars does the things mentioned in the song monthly.  This includes three, week-long trips, to Miami, Puerto Rico, and Paris.  There are a lot of expenses not included in this, such as insurance, meals other than dinners, entertainment etc…  We will just assume for the sake of argument that these are the only expenses he has.

Using Bruno to learn a thing or two about personal finance

Many of you will say Bruno is simply spending too much money; he’s definitely not living a life of frugality.

But from a financial health standpoint, the question is whether Bruno is living a life he can afford.  Bruno, like anyone, has to ask himself, “What is the material impact of my current lifestyle on my future finances?”

This is no different from yourself.  You need to also look at your finances and figure out if your current path is sustainable.

Let’s answer two important questions about the future that will give us our answer to whether Bruno is spending too much and causing a negative impact on his finances.

Question 1:  What amount of money does he need in the future to continue his lifestyle if and when the money runs out/he retires? 

Question 2:  What amount does he need to be earning and saving so he can live his current lifestyle long-term?

I know Bruno Mars is a little different than you and I.  He may never retire and continue to make crazy money for a very long time.  Or, he may fade into the sunset as time goes on.  Who knows.  But let’s just assume Bruno is like you and I, and will be working until a normal retirement age of 60.

Question 1:  What amount of money does he need in the future to continue his lifestyle if and when the money runs out/he retires? 

This is actually not THAT difficult to figure out.  If Bruno wants to continue this lifestyle when he has no income in the future, he will need to save enough money so he can use the “pot” of money to pay for his expenses.

How much does that pot of money need to be?

We can figure this out by using a rule called the 4% rule.  This rule states that, in retirement, you should not distribute more than 4% of your invested account balance.  If you distribute more than 4%, you increase your risk of outliving your money.

For various reasons, we are going to use a conservative 3% rule.

Now we can figure out what the account balance needs to be down the road.  We know Bruno needs $903,420 annually for expenses to live his lifestyle.  We also know we need to only distribute 3% of an account to achieve this.  We will have to factor taxes in, however.

Assuming a 20% tax rate.  We will end up needing $1,129,275 in annual income instead of $903,420.  This is because we will pay 20% of the money we distribute in taxes:

$1,129,275 x 20% = $225,855 = taxes.

$1,129,275 – $225,855 = $903,420.

Now we just divide $1,129,275 by 3% and we get our account balance!

$1,129,275 / .03 = $37,642,500.

 $37,642,500 = The amount of money Bruno needs to live his lifestyle if he’s retired and has no other income coming in!

Question 2:  What amount does he need to be earning and saving so he can live his current lifestyle long-term?

Since we know we need an account balance of at least $37.6 million dollars down the road, we can figure out how much income is needed to get there.

Bruno Mars was born on October 8, 1985.  This makes him 31 years old as of when this is written.

If we assume Bruno retires at age 60, he has 29 years until retirement.

We need to figure out how much he needs to earn, so that someone can invest at a safe rate of return over 29 years, and create an investment account balance of at least $37.6 million (in today’s dollars).

To make this simple we will assume Bruno’s salary increases each year with inflation, and we will assume Bruno has $2 million in the bank already.

In order to create an account balance of $37.6 million in 29 years at a rate of return of 6%, he will need to save just over $363,000 per year.

Now all we need to do is add these up and factor in the tax, and we know how much Bruno needs to make at minimum to afford this life!

Total minimum amount Bruno Mars needs to earn in order to afford his lifestyle:

$903,420 = Expenses
$363,000 = Savings (increasing with inflation each year)
$1,266,420 = Taxes owed @ 50%

$2,532,840 = Total income needed for Bruno Mars

How this relates to you

Just because these are higher numbers than you may be used too, doesn’t mean these concepts don’t relate to you.  Two extremely important factors of your future finances are determined by your expenses and your savings rate.

You can use the same concepts we used to determine Bruno’s numbers with the 3% rule.  You can try to figure out what the pot of money would need to be TODAY if you retired.  This will obviously change over time, but it’s always comforting to know a target like this.

So there you go!  Given all of the broad assumptions I made, Bruno Mars will need to make an annual income of no less than $2,532,840.  He will also need an account balance in retirement equal to just over $37.6 million in today’s dollars to live his current lifestyle.

I hope you enjoyed this random post!

Was this a stupid post?  Perhaps.

Was this a fun post?  Absolutely!

When it comes to finance, lucky for you, That’s What I Like!

(Bruno Mars Mic Drop)

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Attribution: Flickr – ayoubhoubban – Bruno MarsMJT

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