Yep, I'm a king. I don't live in a mansion, but I don't need one. My wife works because she wants to. My kids go to a wonderful school 2 minutes from our house.

Yep, I'm a king. I don't live in a mansion, but I don't need one. My wife works because she wants to. My kids go to a wonderful school 2 minutes from our house. I commute 25 minutes into SF (worst part of my day, BART is seriously crowded). I make a fairly absurd amount of money (it's embarrassing to say, and I don't need the hassle of having it out there, but let's just say that I hit 6 figures many years ago). We spend well under half that, and we have enough saved that we can retire anywhere in the world tomorrow if we want. I _am_ older than you, but what people are saying is true, after 25 years working as a developer in the Bay Area, I am making money hand over fist and the only place that can compete compensation-wise is NYC -- and honestly you couldn't pay me enough to live there.