I'm not even sure how the 10% lives unless you combine two professionals in a household. Even in a place like San Diego, which supposedly doesn't have much of a

I'm not even sure how the 10% lives unless you combine two professionals in a household. Even in a place like San Diego, which supposedly doesn't have much of an economy, you have to spend $500k to get a decent enough home to raise a family in. Close to $4,000 a month for mortgage + taxes + insurance. So you need to make over $11k a month to do this responsibly. I understand that we're in a 2-income household world now, but I don't believe your fixed expenses (housing) should be tied to this expectation. One of you could easily lose your job, or one of you could decide to stay home with the children. Imagine one of your kids has special needs, is disabled, etc -- you will probably end up not being able to have both of you handle full-time professional careers. This isn't just the case in America, housing is even more expensive in other western countries. I just don't understand it. There's too much credit (30 year mortgages shouldn't exist!) and not enough income out there. People are all too willing to saddle themselves with this stressful existence and it punishes those who wish to avoid these dangerous and stressful obligations.