How well off financially do you see yourself?

[Sympthsical]

20. You make a good point

Sometimes just putting numbers on things isn't really getting the picture. My mom is retired and widowed. She let go of the house after my father died. Now, she lives in an apartment in a senior community as a renter. However, she has social security and part of my father's pension. She's not struggling to pay her bills or cover her medical costs.

While the strict numbers might put her in a lower income, she's living a perfectly comfortable life.

Compare that to younger people who live and work in the Bay Area. I have friends who make six figures who are renters with home ownership out of reach and many of them have been paying student loans their entire working lives. When you put together cost of living and debt, they could be one medical crisis away from having their situations upended.

Even though we might see, "Oh, you're making this much money and have this job. You must be doing awesome!" we never really know what anyone's individual circumstances might actually be.