People in their 20s don't remember before the banking coup. They think it has to be like this.
If you think that's "just cover rent and expenses" money, how do you think the people you buy coffee, food, or anything else from live??
The author also doesn't seem to discuss what he did the 8 following years, which seems baffling.
> I didn’t know which traits I ultimately wanted in my career, but I appreciated that MIT would offer me more options for the career capital I generated.
So which traits did you build?! Tell me up front why I should listen to you if I wanted to build a career (it's not cause you had two nice offers coming out of college - that's why I'd listen to you if I was a high school senior).
In other words, Seattle housing went from pretty well below-average to wildly more than average in ~15 years.
So $85k in Seattle in 2004 then would be roughly like $160k in Columbus today.
That's exactly who his intended audience was...
http://calnewport.com/books/straight-a-student/
https://cognitomentoring.org/blog/a-summary-and-broad-points...
Since 2000, mostly through consumer debt. Wages have been stagnant in the face of increased cost of living; you can get financing for literally anything these days. Walmart dropped their layaway program in favor of pushing credit cards. Aaron's will rent you furniture for low monthly payments that add up to 5x the retail price. You can even take out a loan specifically to go on vacation.
$85k was worth a lot more in 2004 than it is now. It's still a king's ransom in rural/middle America but it doesn't get you far on either coast anymore if urban proximity is a requirement.