This is excellent insight. I've lived in the extremely poor end of the spectrum (grew up on welfare and know what's it like to skip a meal because there's no food) and somewhere in the comfortable end of the spectrum (I make a generous salary, live on half of it, and fret over my 401k too often). I spend a lot of time wondering if the financial choices I make now would make Poor Me proud. I try to be smart with my money but I still get lazy and order Doordash. We really do just upgrade to better problems as our salaries increase... I just try to have empathy for anyone who is struggling and to be eternally grateful for what I have now. I realize most people who grew up like I did won't manage to get out of it.