Percentages are good for rules of thumb but often crap for individual circumstances. Why?

If I told someone who made $40k a year that they had to put 25% of pay into investments, 25% into a house and 8% into a car (gross income) leaving them with only 43% of their pay for all their other expenses and whatever else they wanted they would quickly realize that would mean. $833 on a house a month, $833 into investments a month, $267 into a car a month and after taxes that would only leave them with $1120 a month for literally everything else. That wouldn't really work for them.

If I said the same thing to someone making $400k a year I'd basically be telling them they would have to live on only $11,200 a month at which point well yeah no problem.

Its not the same thing. That doesn't make Money Guys wrong, they are trying to give advice to a broad group of people whose incomes range all over the place...but that advice only actually fits the mean income, everyone else its going to be a bit off and further out its going to be really really off. So don't follow it blindly, if it seems off to you...its probably just off.

I mean if I tell you the percentages my budget breaks down to I bet you would have a pretty good guess at what my income is if you think about it.

I'm 14% housing, 2% car, 40% investment leaving about 44% of gross left over (which of course the net would be after tax)