That wages are basically "pay off" for the amount of abuse you're subject to. That running your own business takes a lot of energy & involvement and is not the

That wages are basically "pay off" for the amount of abuse you're subject to. That running your own business takes a lot of energy & involvement and is not the route to make money easy. That every raise / significant amount of money, inspires for about 3 months, then it is the new normal. That there will be people around you who do less and get paid more. That budget is addictive and it hurts to shrink it. That people who work for you or live with you, will not doubt that the money flow is eternal and guarantied and take 0 measures to prepare for the day you can not provide. That it takes hard work & dedication to improve your income, and is freakishly easy to sustain. That there is one moment in time to do financial negotiations and that is before the contract is signed, after that you will have to move to improve. That when "the man" is hurting, employees instantly become assets that are let go in the blink of an eye. My initial projection to out perform my parents financial improvement compared to their parents took rather drastic risks and I guesstimate my kids will have a hard time to sustain that improvement. Money does not make you happy, the lack of it makes you creative. What hurts is having less then last year. Income, costs & (net) results varies greatly per geographic area. One man's fortune, is the other man's pocket money.