Getting by on a Few Million

By almost any definition — except his own and perhaps those of his neighbors here in Silicon Valley — Hal Steger has made it.

Mr. Steger, 51, a self-described geek, has banked more than $2 million. The $1.3 million house he and his wife own on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is paid off. The couple’s net worth of roughly $3.5 million places them in the top 2 percent of families in the United States.

Yet each day Mr. Steger continues to toil in what a colleague calls “the Silicon Valley salt mines,” working as a marketing executive for a technology start-up company, still striving for his big strike. Most mornings, he can be found at his desk by 7. He typically works 12 hours a day and logs an extra 10 hours over the weekend.

“I know people looking in from the outside will ask why someone like me keeps working so hard,” Mr. Steger says. “But a few million doesn’t go as far as it used to. Maybe in the ’70s, a few million bucks meant ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,’ or Richie Rich living in a big house with a butler. But not anymore.”

Silicon Valley is thick with those who might be called working-class millionaires — nose-to-the-grindstone people like Mr. Steger who, much to their surprise, are still working as hard as ever even as they find themselves among the fortunate few. Their lives are rich with opportunity; they generally enjoy their jobs. They are amply cushioned against the anxieties and jolts that worry most people living paycheck to paycheck.

But many such accomplished and ambitious members of the digital elite still do not think of themselves as particularly fortunate, in part because they are surrounded by people with more wealth — often a lot more. ....

In Silicon Valley, Millionaires Who Don’t Feel Rich, Gary Rivlin, New York Times, 8/5/2007

Job Satisfaction Advice

In Marty Nemko's latest column, the career/job advice expert lays down his "6 most important career tips", one of which is:

Don't focus on finding a so-called dream career. Focus on getting your career non-negotiables met. It's extraordinarily competitive to land a well-paying job in most so-called dream careers -- for example, law, investment banking, acting, art, sports, nonprofit work, fashion or TV. And once in, dream careers so often turn out to be disappointing. Because so many people want to be in those careers, bosses can demand absurd work hours, be unkind, etc.

Sure, if you're brilliant, driven, winsome and/or well connected, all options may be open to you, but let's say you're a mere mortal. In a less-competitive career, you're more likely to find the things that lead to true career contentment: a kind boss, nice co-workers, opportunities to keep learning, a reasonable commute and a middle-class living.

As long as the compensation is middle-class, your contentment won't be impeded by a lack of income. Study after study shows that wealth doesn't increase contentment. Yes, the extra income may enable you to buy that new suit or new car, but the happiness derived usually fades quickly. After that, you'll seek another material fix and that too will soon wear off, whereupon you'll need yet another fix. Dan Pink, author of the new book, "A Whole New Mind," calls this, "The Hedonism Treadmill." Ultimately, contentment comes mainly from love and from good work.

Bad news for those who want to follow their dream, believe in doing what they love for a living, or who want to live a middle-class lifestyle that includes owning an average-priced home in many parts of California, apparently:

[T]he California Association of Realtors' monthly affordability report for March saw San Diego County again sink to its lowest level ever. The association said the affordability rate for the county was 10 percent, which is the percentage of households earning enough money, $137,758, to buy the median-priced home [$484,000, up 10.3 percent from a year ago] with a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan. Santa Barbara and the Northern California Wine Country had the lowest affordability level of 9 percent.

County housing market decelerates San Diego Union-Tribune 5/13/05

See also 18% able to afford home Los Angeles Daily News 5/6/05 (18% of Californians earn enough to afford a median-priced house: "The median-priced California home -- with half priced above and half below -- cost $495,400, and it took a minimum annual income of $115,910 to buy it.")