Dude i drive a prius and my wife drives a camrey we arent exactly keeping up with " the jonses" as you call it. 2500 a month for rent in HB good luck dude that will be in some transient condo/apt building in HB. You obviosly are not living in the same realty as the rest of us. 150k is okay if your spouse works. We pay about 37% in taxes because my wife and i make over 200k. We live in a little suburban home in valencia ( far stretch from your grand notion of a million dollar HB home that you think will only cost 2500 per month) and it is still more then 2500 per month. 1 kid, 401k plans, college savings, insurance, car payments, $4 per gallon gas, food, utilities. Do the math we go in debt most months. Everyone thinks that these 150k a year jobs pay too much but most of them are in in LA/NY areas and these are extremly expensive areas to live in. I will leave you with my favorite quote " you don't know what you don't know"