10 times the U.S. median income isn't "rich enough"?
For sure, we aren't hurting. The only debt we have is the one-bedroom condo next to a highway and in the flight path of an airport we live in (well, and a car, but we could pay it off in cash tomorrow if need be, which would be stupid because the APR on the loan is less than 1%). But it's extremely frustrating that this condo would translate to a 5 bedroom house with an acre of land where I grew up a mere 3 hours from here.
And that's really only because, for the first 15 years of our careers we've lived within our means and have not had children. $150k is not what it's cracked up to be. If one of us lost our jobs, we would definitely have to move. Unfortunately, hers is tied to this area, so if it were me to lose the job, we'd be royally screwed.
And you have to define your terms here. What do you mean by "living"? If you mean, "able to feed themselves and live under a roof", that's not living, that's subsisting. I'm talking about being more than just a serf and actually making forward progress in life. Sure, the bartender at the insanely overpriced place a few blocks from us probably only makes $60k, but he also probably lives with a roommate in a tiny apartment, still owes money on a 7 year old car, has no assets, has no savings, has no health insurance, has no chance of retiring at ANY age.
At this point, I don't think there is anything within our current distance to her job (20 minutes) that A) we would be eligible for, and B) would be cheaper. I telecommute. If we both had to drive an hour to work, then we'd have to buy a second car and the increased transportation costs would certainly eclipse any savings in housing.
Mind you, an hour away in DC is 15 miles on a good day. There are people who work here for half of what we make, and they commute 2 hours to work every morning. I hope you're not suggesting that that is a livable scenario. "Well, it is for them." Maybe for them (I'd argue they are sending themselves to an early grave, but I digress), but not for society as a whole.
At that point, if we're living 2 hours away, we might as well be working for less where we lived. Thus my point: we can't live and work here for much less than we're already making.
Instead the gp is talking about a threshold of "rich enough" where you can roll your money into these GRATs and other investment vehicles. It requires a far greater level of wealth, because you're living on the returns from investments and financial objects entirely, and in order for those returns to be enough to live on, you need a much bigger chunk of money than 150k a year.