If more people read MR MONEY MUSTACHE they would probably start seeing the light.... but in the meantime, keep buying a new car every 2 years, live in a house that is 3x too big, and be sure to get the latest iphone - if you don't, you might die immediately.

“Cope” as I have coworkers who are careercels and:

- talk about their therapy sessions
- on ozempic
- in 30s and need a physical therapist because fat
- talk about how they have no hobbies
- somehow still financially not secure
- stressed and working around the clock



Lol just lol at thinking more money means a damn thing after a certain point. “Muh legacy”. As your spoiled kids or grandkids blow all your hard earned labor away on stupid chit

Because they're broke. They have a decent pay raise and they'll spend the monthly pay raise on a new car.

So they're not better off they've just got a shinier car now with the pay raise so they''re still broke.

Then they'll have a massive pay raise and buy a more expensive house which is even more per month which swallows up the massive pay raise so at the end of the month.. they're still broke. Just have a nicer house and a flashy car but one month of no pay and they'd be losing it all.

If a person wants to make more money, that just sounds like they're driven. It's a personality thing

your supposed to work hard while young so you don't have to when you get old

The reason why billionaires are still working and trying to make more is because it's in their DNA. They are type A personalities. They could easily retire and LDAR but they would probably go insane from boredom

Oceanfront ain’t cheap boyo

Obviously you don't own any real estate. You can blow through 160k easily. New deck 30k, new roof 20k etc


160k year is only around 110k after taxes.

... so you're going to slave away for a higher paycheck due to home improvement needs? lmfao

I'm single and don't want to own, not sure what relevance that has at all.

Lmao

Whatever makes you feel better brokie

It's because there is nothing else to do anymore. Life is based on materialism and keeping up with the Jones now.

I'm a degenerate gambler; I would wager billions of dollars in less than an hour if I had access to billions of dollars; OP is a ******* pussy that doesn't gamble

It’s really not hard to spend $200-300k, even responsibly

dual income can get there on two 100-150k salaries

Why do squirrels bury so many nuts?

Speaking of burying nuts, tell your mom I said hey.

I work a lot to make lots of extra $$$ with OT and can invest all the extra money I make. After 10 years that money that I invested in index funds makes me more than I was making by working and it’s 100% passively (srs).


So the more money you make early on has a massive impact on the rest of your life if you invest well. So it’s worth grinding early on so you can chill later on and work part time etc.


Money also doesn’t go as far as you think. People think $500k or so makes you incredibly rich or something but I’m here to tell you that’s not true at all. 50% goes to taxes so you’re left with $250k to spend/invest for retirement etc which is decent but not that much actually.


I agree with your sentiment, BUT some people want to have good lifestyles even in retirement, take care of their kids futures, and retire early. If you’re saving a lot for retirement as you should that $150k becomes barely anything. Buying a ton of expensive **** is stupid asf though. I still drive a Honda accord from 2011 right now.

$150k is good OP if you plan to remain single. If you’re gonna have a family and children, $150k somewhere in midsized town would be good living, but you’ll be living paycheck to paycheck in a HCOL area.

I do agree that after a certain point, more money is just a number. But nothing lasts forever. You can lose you ability to make high income almost immediately due to some unfortunate event/circumstances. That’s another reason to grind and accumulate while the going is good. You may not have that opportunity later. But worklife balance is also important and you may not be alive later either.

I don't know how you think people wouldn't spend $300k/year.


After tax that's probably $220k/year


That's like $19,000/month after tax


A big house = $7k/month mortgage. I don't mean mansion, just like a good sized 5 bedroom house built in the last decade in a good part of the country.

Daycare for 2 kids is $5k/month

Cars, like mid level cars is $500/month (x2 = $1,000), that's even more entry level.

Food $1k/month

That's 14k/month right there. Add a little bit to 401k or savings, $15/16k/month.


Want to go on vacations? A solid vacation will cost anywhere outside the US costs maybe $10k/head. That equals roughly $1k/month, per person. That's one decent vacation a year.


You can absolutely cut back costs, the above is 2 cars, international vacation, and a 5 bedroom house, but it's not luxury yacht money.

That’s a lot of money in mortgage and childcare. That’s a $million plus house. They have no business buying that on $300k income unless they are living California. Also, 5k in childcare is exorbitant. You can get a live in nanny cheaper than that.

Idk OP. Its crazy. Im on the other side of it. I dont care about work or money. I got enough money. Im actually an employers worst enemy.

More money means more power.

You can:
- Upgrade your lifestyle
- Retire early
- Handle all emergencies of your own
- Handle all emergencies of your friends/family
- Be generous
- Remove anxieties/weight associated with finances in general
- Achieve the freedoms of being who you want and doing what you want

It's never a "wrong" decision to pursue overtime. But it can be a "wrong" decision to pass on it. Hindsight is 20/20, perhaps that overtime would've enabled heavier investing, fully fund an emergency to evade some debt, etc.

You never know when you could get laid off and the job market for your industry declines. You never know when you'll encounter some major emergency and find out that your income for the rest of your life is reduced to crap. Make the cheddar now to prepare for the worst and feel more secure in life.

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That said, I agree that after a certain point ($120k/yr income probably for most single kidless people these days in most areas) the change in lifestyle for every $10k gain is near zero. Major diminishing returns.

As a direct example, if you use the 5x rule, then $120k/yr gets you up to a $600k house, which is probably a nice modern spacious house in the suburbs. Subtract $40k and you get $80k/yr, getting you a $400k house, which might price you out of a lot of neighborhoods but it still gets you something a bit older and/or smaller, it is possible that the people living in the cheaper neighborhoods might bring you some trouble, and also you'll likely be located further away from the city so more commuting/driving to do what you want, more time waste in general. Add $40k instead and you get $160k/yr, and a $800k house, very likely that there's not much difference in neighborhood accessibility for most areas at that point compared with the $600k house.

At that point people shouldn't be "slaving away" for lifestyle purposes. It's to retire early, or earn enough to invest to count on bringing in your CoL by itself. My CoL is like $36k/yr max right now. I'd need $600k to guarantee $36k/yr at 6%.

Minimalism crew checking in.

This. Hustling my ass off to be debt free and having enough to buy a home in my home province to semi retire to.

Also making sure my kids are well taken care of and my wife doesn't have to work and can support them full time.
Another year or two of busting my ass and I'll be there. 40 hour work week would be semi retirement for me.

Bezos makes 1.4 million an hour, that’s some real baller chit right there.

Yeah, I don't know...quality of life is important. There's that part of you that feels like "well if I'm going to wagecuck then I want to make as much as I can" though.

I live quite frugally/simply, and make way more than I need already, but even I have that part of me that still wants to make more anyway.

Every man has two lives. The second life begins when he realizes he has only one.

Yep. I've come to realize that the distance to retirement is measured in dollars, not years, and the more I make, the sooner I can retire. I could change to a similar job with no travel, but with my field bonus I figure every day on a rig offshore is 3 days closer to retirement.

3x annual income on a house isn't bad at all, you'd be hard pressed to find that on average in many major metro areas

In the major California cities, median house price is 8-13x median household annual income

I've made 100-150k and now over 400k. there is a massive difference in lifestyle for me, never worrying about bills, buying nicer things, more travelling and new experiences etc. I work the same hours so no stress to me. 2023 was the best year of my life and thats because I had money/disposable income to do whatever I wanted