Yeah I mean, $300K HHI in a 2-3 BR coop in Manhattan with multiple kids is tight, right. People in that category are probably "house poor". Easily spending no

Yeah I mean, $300K HHI in a 2-3 BR coop in Manhattan with multiple kids is tight, right. People in that category are probably "house poor". Easily spending north of 50% of monthly income on housing, with most of their savings tied up in home equity. I had a friend like this who lived in a $2M condo and conceded the down payment came from family (even after flipping up other condos for a decade) and that he didn't really have a 6 month savings cushion. $300K in Manhattan..after-tax you're looking at $180K/year maybe, so $15k/mo. $3k alone on RE Tax, maintenance & insurance on a 2-3BR coop in Manhattan, forever, whether you have mortgage or not. $5k on mortgage probably, even if they've owned a while with a good entry price and high down payment.. probably $1M mortgage. So now you have 53% of your money immediately just to having a roof over your head. Hopefully you are saving 20% for retirement, your kids college, and a rainy day. Which brings you down to having $4k/mo for electricity, internet, phone, food, clothes, transport, holidays and basically everything for a family, in a place where everything costs a lot of money. Hopefully you don't do something dumb like own a car and spend another $1k/mo on loan/insurance/garage.