Anonymous wrote:Just married at 24. Probably 24k. We were both students working in restaurants. 2004. By the time we got divorced in 2012, we were making 125k.
New DH now and we were around 125k last year, but probably 95k this year (new baby, lots of unpaid FMLA).
Somehow my life doesn't feel that much different than when I was making 24k, but I know it is.
Research suggests it is and it isn't.
It is in the sense that you can put more into savings and spend more on things you enjoy (but these are ephemeral gains).
It's not in the sense that you're still working, sleeping, eating, and spending time with people and hobbies.
This is why people in poor countries are generally as happy (or happier) as folks in rich ones.