[DeadReckoning]

I am an ambitious employee at a large tech company and I think about this a lot.

I am living my dream life. I'm 26 and about to break 200k base salary. I have been programming for fun since I was 13 and I enjoy most of what I do every day. I feel myself growing both technically and in soft skills. I rarely work more than 40 hours a week but I still feel very productive. I'm receiving excellent feedback and am being groomed for engineering management. I walk to work, the grocery store, and the weed store. I have time outside of work to focus on self improvement, fitness, and side projects.

But then my acquintance tells me he bought a house in cash after earning XX million from their startup and I feel I'm completely off track.