http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=US$100000+2017+in+1980+...

$100,000 today would have been $33,000 in 1980, $53,000 in 1990, $70,000 in 2000, and only $84,000 in 2007.

You are totally right about the $200k mark feeling comfortable. $200k is the new $100k.

The interesting thing though is that you wouldn't really want to entice me that way, because I'd guess you'd get a worse product out of me. So there are different types of motivation that are important. The motivation to make a choice, versus the motivation to work hard on a choice.

2. I can't imagine being independently wealthy & keeping my day job but I suppose it's conceivable!

2. For example, all employees at the VP and up level at Google, Facebook, etc., make more than a million dollars are year. It doesn't take long at this level of compensation to have more wealth than any reasonable person could spend. Yet they still work, normally not to satisfy an unmet financial need.

Financial independence to me is not needing to work ever again, even if I'm living quite frugally.

I've run the numbers on what I'd need to not work and the total amount required would clearly put me in the 'wealthy' camp.

I would say yes. Well, maybe not dependent but not independent.

Some people with large incomes are still up to their eyeballs in debt, or at least not living within their means.

IMO financial independence requires living within your means until the point where you never need to work again to continue that lifestyle for the rest of your life.

Money may not motivate me in small numbers, but this goal of financial independence (what they call fuck you money) is definitely a motivator.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

And this nifty calculator: https://networthify.com/calculator/earlyretirement

It's mostly about the savings rate.

What would your 18yo self said about 100k?

What do you think about a Netflix engineer making 300k? They'd probably be happy with 500k (though, cost of living, derailment ahead..).

At $200k, I could maintain the same standard of living, easily pay off all of my student debt in about a year (without sacrificing anything), easily buy a house, buy a new car outright after saving excess money for 3-4 months, pay for my kid's college education outright, and save a ton of money for retirement. At $100k, I constantly have to pick and choose which of these things I work on.

If I made $200k, living in the same area, I might not be wealthy in the grand scheme of things, but I sure would feel like it. About 70% of the negative stress in my life comes from anxiety about being able to afford everything my family will want and/or need eventually.

Interestingly enough, I have already lived through the experience of having my salary double almost overnight. I used to live in a relatively low-cost area, but I was still getting paid about $25k below market. Then I moved to a higher-cost area, and took a more advanced position at a company that paid a little more than market rate. Went from below $50k to just under $100k. The impact on my life was significant. I went from feeling poor and helpless to finally being able to breathe. I used to be depressed and angry all the time because I could barely take care of my family and my household. Now I'm more or less happy.

However, if someone offered me $200k today for a full-time position at a private company, I would almost certainly accept. I can deal with less than ideal or even boring work as long as there's a good work/life balance that lets me keep working on projects at home. And even if the work isn't glamorous, I'm the type of person that enjoys all kinds of work, physical or mental. Before I got into security I did everything from shovel half-rotten fish into buckets for a living to running network cable. As a caveat, if its a government/contracting job, it would probably have to be $300k (which is probably unrealistic). There are aspects of government work that are interesting, but from my experience the negatives almost always outweigh the positives.