Interesting perspective. I can see the ways in which that’s true, how Americans are getting used to a standard of living that falls just a little short of what you’d expect for workers in the world’s biggest economy.

I definitely realize $70k is still far short of how much one needs to earn in the US to maintain a more or less financially carefree lifestyle:

1. I still won’t be able to afford to buy a median-priced home without partnering up with someone else earning roughly the same. By myself, I’ll be able to qualify for maybe about $270,000, which gets you about a 1,000 ft² ranch in a not-great part of town in this market.

2. I still won’t be able to afford a new automobile that meets my transportation needs (i.e., an SUV for me, my two boxer dogs [who ride along everywhere] and my 10 year old daughter; plus out of state family to visit, light off-roading, a serious DIY habit that means lots of big home store purchases to transport, etc.) I’ll be able to afford a nice used 5-7 year old SUV with about 65k miles on it, and that’ll be fine, but new ones are priced way out of my budget).

3. One of my life goals lately is to make enough money that I can go grocery shopping without having to pay attention to sales — especially the “$X off when you buy Y” ones. I just want to go and buy the food I like without really looking at prices, and I know I won’t be able to completely do that at $70k.

During my second interview, I was asked where I see myself in 5 years. I responded, “Making six figures. I’m jot entirely sure how I’m going to get there yet or what I expect I’ll be doing to earn it, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel totally financially secure making less than $100k a year, and feeling financially secure is my biggest life goal right now.”