> Once they have been established in their careers for a decade or more, they 1) feel secure in their job 2) have accumulated some money and 3) feel compelled t

> Once they have been established in their careers for a decade or more, they 1) feel secure in their job 2) have accumulated some money and 3) feel compelled to start spending. And once everyone in your peer group is spending more money — well, then everyone is looking over their shoulder at everyone else’s spending and this is really how the whole Keeping Up game begins. This tendency overtook even people I would not have suspected to be vulnerable to the treadmill — one of my old friends from college for example, who grew up poor and didn’t spend much back in the day, now has a summer home in New Hampshire and a 4000 sq foot McMansion and all the trimmings. With that condescending attitude to have toward other people's personal tastes and preferences. It's great that this person doesn't care about material goods. But the fact that he so clearly thinks that his choices are "better" than the ones others have made makes it no mystery to me why those "friendships" suffered.