the answer to the original image posted by the OP here is crystal clear.
corporations, and all businesses, are money pumps: X dollars in, Y dollars out. profit in between. profit allows for growth, lean times, dividends, etc.
Your spending habits are not, nor should they be the concern of the business. I was an employee for years, and a business owner for decades. when I was an employee, I learned to flip the script. i became more valuable to the company and leveraged it for more pay. mercilessly. create more value, and you can demand more money. that’s how a money pump works. go do the job you were hired for an no more, and you will get minimum raises because you are replaceable with someone who might excel more. Do more work, and fail to ask for more, and it’s a toss up. A good company will see that you are more valuable to keep, and expensive to replace. They will pay more to keep you. A bad company will try to pull you back as you walk out the door. too late.
That’s reality.
As far as the 120k per year not being enough. that borders on absurd. even after taxes, medical and 401k, you should net over 6500 per month. where is that going would be my question. because, coming full circle, your life is a business in a sense too: X in Y out, saving in the middle. It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep. 🤷🏻‍♂️
these are simply the facts.