Not necessarily, I grew up pretty poor, my mother stealing food from kitchen she worked to save money (and I had to lug it every day when I was older), father h

Not necessarily, I grew up pretty poor, my mother stealing food from kitchen she worked to save money (and I had to lug it every day when I was older), father having mediocre salary (later divorced without father's income), yet now belonging to like top 3% earners in country I live, I have like 150K EUR in stocks and don't really give a F about losing currently 10-20%, it's long term investment. It probably also helps I bought apartment without mortgage in 4th most touristy city in Europe. So yeah, I dislike the idea of being mortgage slave, but if I didn't optimize my income I wouldn't mind taking one to buy investment apartment, so I had to invest money in stock. But the funny thing is I will refuse to buy something I consider overpriced even when total sum makes absolutely no difference at my income, I just don't like the idea of wasting my money on something which can be bought cheaper, so some people may think I am poor or cheap although I don't mind spending money on something I consider worth the money. For instance almost nobody here in Czechia has AC, but I am one of those few people who have one, because I value my comfort at home more than having newest smartphones and other crap.