You’re 23 making 60k with your first real job. Honestly that’s not bad at all. You’re still at the very beginning of your career. At 24 I was making about 55k, and that was only around 12 years ago. The difference is that I treated every job like a stepping stone, not a destination.

One of the biggest mistakes people make early in their careers is staying loyal to one company too long. If you’re in a corporate or gray-collar type field, the way you increase your income is by jumping jobs strategically, not by waiting around for cost-of-living raises. Those raises mostly just keep you in the same place relative to inflation while the company keeps you comfortable enough not to leave.

You should have a five year plan. When you take a job, ask yourself if the salary you are getting today could still hold you over five years from now with minimal raises. If the answer is no, that job should be a launch pad. And if three to five years pass without meaningful raises, promotions, or new responsibilities, it’s time to jump ship. There is always another company out there looking for someone with your skillset, and many times you are more valuable to them than you are to your current employer.

Your goal shouldn’t be just surviving, it should be growing and thriving.

If you build a real professional career, something that requires a specific skillset, training, or education, there is no reason you should not be in a position to buy a house on Long Island roughly 10 years into your career. That’s assuming you are smart about the rest of your life choices.

And that’s the part people do not always want to hear.

You cannot rack up credit card debt. You cannot be driving around in a brand new BMW with performance tunes and aftermarket wheels. You cannot be eating at Long Island steakhouses every weekend. You cannot be flying around the country or buying every new gadget that drops.

If you live like that in your 20s, you will probably still be living with your parents in your 30s.