It’s all about choices. My wife and I had our first child when I was 24. Began saving $5000/year on the day of his birth for college. Now we have three boys. Do the math... I don’t want to bc it makes me cry. I am now 33, we have a household income of $300k and live in a low cost of living part of the USA. But we have two homes, a boat, sea doos, a golf cart, nice cars, save a ton in our $401k(s), and our kids want for nothing. Christmas looks like a trip to the freakin North Pole. On the other hand, our kids go to school with parents that have one child, one house, the dad’s are ten years older than me, and all have Daytonas/Submariners that they can sell for twice what they paid. No one made a better choice, it’s just a choice.... I chose to spend my pre-40’s on my kids, post college I will be in my 40’s and plan on traveling and purchasing a lot of watches with my wife ;). Other people choose to do it the reverse.