Did you upgrade the car?

Lifestyle inflation and keeping up with the Joneses will erode any income.

explain why you were worrying about bills on $150k

explain what nicer things you are buying at $400k vs $150k

explain your additional experiences that weren't possible before

also how'd you make the jump? what industry?

srs

Dont see how this is true at all. If you want to give your kids a blank check to spend on whatever school they want to then yes, you will need to make an absurd amount of money. But Id argue that isn't beneficial to the kid or good parenting.

If you want to pay for their in-state education at a good school (Ohio State, wisconsin, Florida, etc. all GOOD schools) then that is 100% achievable on a 150k salary.

On pace to be able to retire by early 40s without ever having to work more than 45 hours a week, heavily involved in local community, and probably in top percentile of my age for fitness.

There are very few people i'd trade my life with, because I engineered my life the way I want to live. I am willing to challenge the status quo - something few people even think about - and even moreso, am able to follow through on it - something that filters more people still.

This isn't taking any shots at you boyo I know from other posts you have a baller life, but 90% of senior leaders in corporate america live pretty miserable looking lives.

I hate VHCOL cope of 'we have to pay that much on a house, there aren't any other options!'

Do what your ancestors and their ancestors have done for all of human existence. Fuarking MOVE. If you are a tech big baller unicorn start up bro and write that check then go for it. If you are a CPA in San Fran or LA crying about how you cant buy a house then either shut up or move to somewhere you can.

I live in flyoverstateistan. Some benefits are:

- good public schools. Which are completely fine unless you live in a city where the public school system is a joke
- safe. No homeless bums or druggies
- people know and look out for each other
- house currently has ample space, yard, garage we use to build furnitue , work on cars, work on bikes
- easy access to the outdoors
- can pay off house entirely tomorrow if I wanted to. Will probably have it fully paid off though in next few years, just depends on what we want to do with money
- Bike to work to save money. Miscers will laugh but this is the one thing libs are right about. Good for fitness, good for bank account, also more fun. I will go weeks sometimes without using a car
- On pace to hit financial independence between 40 and 45. From there who knows, but nice to have options
- No long urban commutes. No chit air quality. Not long hours rat racing

to each their own I guess. But if there are aspects of your life you dont like you have the agency to make changes to it.

Apart from a more expensive house, my spending habits haven't particularly changed as I've made more money.

I didn't particularly chase money in the first place. I started my own company because I'm the type of person who thinks I can do it better than other people and then grew it so that I could win and work on the kind of projects Iwantedto.

Money is purely a by-product of doing things well and I am deliberately making less money than I could be making. I pay higher salaries than the competition, when I don't need to.

I don't even know how people do it in areas with exorbitant housing costs and without a family member who already owns extra property there or leverages equity in their existing property to help out

but things tend to be cyclical, and yet people will still focus on the grossly overpriced markets

Just booked a 6 day vacation today for a family of 5 OP. So far, already spent $7k on flights and accommodation. Just some food for thought as to why you may need more money than $150k with a family.

Whoever I end up with will be pulling in $ as well. I anticipate having a household income of $250-300k. So this doesn't worry me. I probably should've clarified in the OP but I was talking about single earners as part of a dual income household. My income is closer to $175k and most indian women I date are pulling in decent money as well. So at that point, why bother pushing for higher comp..

Common misconception from the OP - earning more does not mean longer hours. In fact, the people I know who earn more actually work less hours per week than those who earn less.


You just have to work smarter and market yourself and always improve your tradecraft, and pursue raises hard.

Ngl sounds like low inhibition Poor cope. You a tradie or officecel? That I can understand. Get a career you genuinely enjoy and work doesn't even feel like work. I make way more than I need and I enjoy it because I can put it into savings to pass down to my kids one day, that is the role of a strong male provider to his offspring

Ik some CEOs and doctors who only see their home/families at breakfast time only as they are working for the rest of their day...
Sounds terrible

There are definitely trade-offs. I worked 80+ hours a week for years, but then cut down to 40 hours when I had a kid. As I work with my wife, we still saw enough of each other, when I was working 80 hours, to make it work. But, having a kid is a different ball game.

IMO, working crazy hours when young and single, then reducing them when you have a family is the way to go. Many, if not most, people think otherwise, and want to be out having fun and spending all their money when young.