Ehh, regional cost differences are crazy. It may be that to live within a reasonable distance of his job the cost of living far exceeds averages in the rest of the state. That 1500 sqft house might be $3500/month versus $1000 somewhere else. That extra 30k/yr cost makes 100k+ drop out of “luxury money” into “enough to live near I work” money, which is far from a windfall.
Ehh, regional cost differences are crazy. It may be that to live within a reasonable distance of his job the cost of living far exceeds averages in the rest of the state. That 1500 sqft house might be $3500/month versus $1000 somewhere else. That extra 30k/yr cost makes 100k+ drop out of “luxury money” into “enough to live near I work” money, which is far from a windfall.