I don't think 10k a month is a reasonable cost of living. It's just what we pay.
Prior to buying a co–op we were paying $8900/month in rent for a 900 square foot two bedroom. Manhattan is certainly an expensive choice to live, but we both walk to work and have 2+ hours a day extra by avoiding commuting.
As for what I do: I solve catastrophically expensive technical problems for companies for a percentage of the savings. My partner works for a large I/T conglomerate. Between us we make enough that $120k/year in housing costs are manageable.
It's not effectively $10K/month because mortgage interest is tax deductible and the percentage of the cost used for the home office can be deducted as a business expense. Also, he's building equity in his investment which he'll get back when he sells the apartment. Once the mortgage is paid off, he owns the unit and all that's left of the monthly expense is maintenance charges (and real estate tax).
Also, Manhattan is currently a pretty healthy real estate market, so he's likely to make a profit when he sells the apartment. So it's hard to compare this number to a simple rent payment.
Mortgage interest is deductible to a point, it starts to phase out at certain income levels, and if you're in alternative-minimum-tax land it's diminished even more.
R/E tax is also deductible.
We “extracted” enough from sales of two previous apartments to give us close to 65% equity in our current apartment.
Some people might reasonably believe that living in Manhattan makes it reasonable due to the unique opportunities doing so provides in areas related to quality of life such as employment, culture, community, political franchise, etc.
Prior to buying a co–op we were paying $8900/month in rent for a 900 square foot two bedroom. Manhattan is certainly an expensive choice to live, but we both walk to work and have 2+ hours a day extra by avoiding commuting.
As for what I do: I solve catastrophically expensive technical problems for companies for a percentage of the savings. My partner works for a large I/T conglomerate. Between us we make enough that $120k/year in housing costs are manageable.