> How is being able to put a down paymenent on a house or being able to send your kids to collage debt-free not life changing?
Because neither of those are going to change your daily life that much? It simplifies a thing or two, but neither of those things are life-changing.
I can only assume you'd say so if you were able to do either of those things in the first place, so yeah, it doesn't feel life changing. It's like winning a car in a radio lottery when you already had a car - yeah pretty cool, but not life changing.
There's a lot of people who can't even imagine ever being able to put down a deposit on a house or to send their kids to collage debt-free. With an amount of money like that you can go from being trapped in a rent hell forever to actually purchasing your own house. Or you can give your kids the education you want to give them. They are major, life changing impacts. Again, to describe it as "simplifes a thing or two" to me implies that you could do them even without this money in which case yeah, it changes very little.
Property taxes are very high thanks to prop 13. 250k in California is like 30k in states like Texas or Illinois, enough to make it a great year but not life changing.
I think you’re exaggerating a few things, and forgetting that even if expenses like housing are higher, not every cost scales with income. The price of many standard goods are very similar. Not to mention that for example if you have x% of your income left over after expenses, that’s still way more money in one situation over another.
You’re sounding very out of touch to be honest.
Your only definition of life changing is changing your day to day life? That’s an odd way of looking at it. Going from renting to a home owner is a BIG bucket list life changing item for most people
Debt-free college is life-changing for your kid(s).