$300K Is The New $100K

Is this a problem of Dementia Joe and inflation, or tied to your own life choices and what you need to feel successful?

I was in Oklahoma City on Friday night to watch Knicks (my hometown team) vs. the Thunder. The Knicks lost. Boo, hiss, etc. Before the game, I was at some bar in OKC with my wife. An old co-worker of mine, and I mean from a while back, texted me to say she met some dude who I lived next to freshman year of college. Cool! We were texting briefly, as she works for a big tech company and I find some of that interesting, and she said she had a co-worker nowadays who makes $230,000/annum but complains constantly that he has to “budget.” I asked some follow-ups in between talking to my wife about Oklahoma and old fashioneds.

Here’s what I got:

• Three kids

• NYC

• Wife is a classroom aide

Alright, so I just want to unpack this for one second.