A lot of people here think this is about you parse "savings". It's not: 47% of Americans say they lack the cash to pay a surprise $400 bill http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/jun/09/...
I think the audience on this site is mainly out of touch. When you're making a fine salary it's easy to forget that most people don't. When you're spending your time looking up at those above you and positioning to get to their level (because upward mobility is an option) it's easy to forget to look at the piles of people below you where it isn't It's easy to assume throwing $100 around here or there is normal when y…
Yep!!
I grew up in an entirely different mindset than the upper middle class office workers I work with. I often feel like that I can't fit in or relate to them in many ways because they seem very out of touch with the world outside of their own upper middle class existence. Even in college they never worried about bills or living expenses, their parents paid.
It wasn't that long ago (less than a decade) that spending $600 on a car repair was absolutely unbearable for me. I went through that stress and now it almost seems surreal that sort of money was such a stress in my life when I look back on it.
I will never, ever, lose touch with the sort of lifestyle that my income can provide me (though I prefer to blow $800 on a weekend trip instead of an iPhone...)
The most interesting thing is that having so much extra money provides so much more opportunity to earn even more money. The old "You gotta have money to make money" really is true. I do money making activities outside my day job that I would never be able to do if I didn't have several thousands of dollar on hand to float for a month or so. If you are talking about real estate you need tens of thousands of dollars. The more money you have the easier it is to obtain more.