Salary no longer determines prosperity

In the past, it used to be that getting paid a high salary ensured an upper-middle class lifestyle. As recently as the 1990s, a salary roughly in the range of 60K pounds, 80K euros or 100K dollars would ensure access to all the trappings of a comfortable lifestyle: a big house, car, restaurants, etc. This is no longer possible. In some cities, like London, New York, San Francisco or even Munich (Germany being traditionally cheap) those numbers are simply the bar for a normal life. The reasons are well-publicised. Some of them are relatively recent, like food inflation – caused by high natural gas/fertiliser prices, plus a contraction in supply from Ukraine – as well as the pandemic, which caused microchips to skyrocket in price, and also made cars more expensive, both new and secondhand. Gas and electric have shot through the roof, although thankfully they are beginning to come down. However, these are short-term shocks, and relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. For example, food prices increased anywhere from 10 to 35%—hardly massive. Whereas housing costs have effectively doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in some areas, compared to the 70s, 80s, and as recently as the 90s. In addition to this, tuition fees and debt has increased substantially. Because house prices and rents have reached such obscene levels, the path to building wealth has diverged markedly from the conventional path: getting a degree, and going to a big city to work, is more likely to make a young professional poor than rich these days. If you want to live like your parents or grandparents did, i.e. house, kids, etc. you need to think outside the box. May I suggest something along the following: 1. Consider a non-conventional degree. Online-only courses and bootcamps can be vastly cheaper. Also consider emigrating to a country where education costs are more reasonable (this is what I did). And don’t assume you need to study for 5 years to master something; a smart and determined individual can learn a trade or profession in 2 years if they put their mind to it. Learn on the employer’s dime! 2. Don’t be afraid to live with your parents into young adulthood to save money. 3. Finally, and most importantly, get a job which can be done remotely, like software engineering, digital marketing and so on. Do not delude yourself into thinking you can buy in London or San Francisco if you *just* try to get that promotion, because it’s not gonna happen. Housing will be your single biggest financial outgoing. If your job can’t be done remotely, look for work in a medium-sized town in the North of England/Scotland, the Midwest of America, etc.