[Eumenes]

imo, 1/3rd of that is more than enough to be 'comfortable'. Certainly enough for a small apartment or roommate situation, yearly international vacation and multiple domestic, mix of eating out (3-4 times per month) and cooking at home (packing lunches is required imo), going to a few concerts/museums/plays per month, cheap gym membership, etc. Add a spouse w/ shit income into the mix + children, okay, not good ... but those are choices ;)

[tptacek]

Sure. For upper-middle class professionals, 300k-400k feels roughly like the modal home price here. Whatever the actual mode is, an 800k house in Chicago is a very expensive place!