Tell them at the end of the year you’re going to give them the next nine years of paychecks as a Christmas bonus and then ask them if they feel financially independent.
Tell that hypothetical average American to buy a mediocre house in Sunnyvale and see what reaction you get.
Nobody cares what lifestyle $400k can buy in Mississippi because very few people are making that much in a locale that cheap.
This is completely independent of CoL. There are very, very few Americans who will ever be able to seriously consider doing this.
Or, 90 minutes from Sunnyvale, an amount of time they are keenly aware of as they commute there every day to clean the clothes, cook the food, and maintain the real estate of the “not rich” people you are describing.
> Tell that hypothetical average American to buy a mediocre house in Sunnyvale and see what reaction you get.
They would say I’m sorry I can’t, because the prices of those houses have been bid up by the rich people who currently live there and make $400k a year.
> Nobody cares what lifestyle $400k can buy in Mississippi
People in Mississippi do. They also get a say in setting tax policy for the U.S. which is the topic of current discussion.
A little perspective is always a good thing.
Calling that lifestyle "rich" just serves to muddy the water. This is soundly in the category of upper-middle class and decades away from being financially independent.