You answer your question in your post: > $150/hour as a dev That's about $25k/mo gross. Minus ~50% for taxes and vacation (hourly pay means you buy your vacat

You answer your question in your post: > $150/hour as a dev That's about $25k/mo gross. Minus ~50% for taxes and vacation (hourly pay means you buy your vacation). So call it $13k net. > housing costs $1m+ If you live in a top 10 major metro in the US, this is your city. So call housing ~$4k if you have a family. Now you're at $9k. Buy health insurance for $1500, tally at $7500. Did you mean to save 15% of your gross income, as is the guidance? Minus another $3,750. Tally at $3,750. You haven't bought food or paid for transportation, vacations, clothing, etc. yet. You're not an intense saver, so you need to be confident you can earn at this level for decades to come. You probably are in the process of eating the inflation of '21 & '22 as your contract is not going to re-price automatically, so your earning power is being eroded. This is why people are pushing to earn more. If you are fortunate enough to have a spouse who is also a high earner, great.