The Dr. Sheldon Cooper Variable
Paris Hilton is said to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars just to show up at a party event. So how much does certified genius Dr. Sheldon Cooper, a theoretical physicist with a Master’s and two PhDs make on CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory“? Gotta be at least twice or three times as much as the heiress with a prison record, yes? It is important to remember that Sheldon is currently part of the vast educational system in America, but despite being at the top rung of that ladder, he is still part of the educational system in America. No wonder that a man with two PhDs is forced to find a roommate to share expenses despite being almost preternaturally anally retentive in regard to handling his finances.
The Genius Conduction
Dr. Sheldon Cooper is currently teaching theoretical physics, as well as engaging in continual research into string theory, all after going directly from the fifth grade into college. He began his graduate work when he was 14 and received his very first PhD just two years later. Interestingly, the year before he received that PhD, he spent time in Germany as a visiting professor. The upshot is that Sheldon Cooper is a genius and is hardly representative of the typical American, and if he lived in a bizarro America that might exist in one of his many comic books, he could better enjoy the benefits of an America where brains and hard work are rewarded over good looks and personality. The future may bring a taste of that bizarro world, however, because Cooper appears to have a track toward one day winning the Nobel Prize. Currently, the monetary reward for winning is one million dollars and that amount should definitely have risen by the time Cooper wins a Nobel.
The Financial Exclusion Principle
The estimated yearly income for a theoretical physicist/college professor is $65,000. Despite the fact that he shares an apartment with another PhD who teaches at the same college, Sheldon lives in a rather pedestrian apartment building where the elevator has been out of service for two years. The lack of living quarters appropriately analogous to his earnings is coincident with his lack of a car. Cooper also saves money by rejecting the influence of the fashionistas. He is almost always seen wearing retro T-shirts and plaid paints, with at least one pair which was bought by his mother. The brilliance of Cooper’s economic status is, in fact, a persistent and predictable rejection of the influence of consumerism, except in regards to the vagaries of geek-dom: Cooper owns a large collection of comic books, a state of the art laptop computer, sci-fi and comic book memorabilia and both an X-Box and Nintendo Wii console.
The Savings Equilibrium
Perhaps because he is a genius, or perhaps because he rejects the concept of buying what he doesn’t need with credit cards, Dr. Cooper would be an ideal candidate for any kind of credit extension. He knows exactly how much of his after-tax income is spent on expenses — 46.9 percent. That means his disposable income is over half of his entire taxable income. Wow, Sheldon Cooper really must be some kind of genius. Of course, that would not explain why he keeps a wad of emergency cash stuck in a Green Lantern collectible figurine. Then again, it is said that Paris Hilton keeps an emergency wad stuck somewhere just as ridiculous, so who’s to say what makes one a genius.
