On When $100,000 Was Enough

A before/after exploration of lifestyle, class identity, and the new meaning of affluence

“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” - James Truslow Adams, Epic of America (1931)

The Benchmark of Enough

In the American imagination of the late twentieth century, $100,000 a year was the golden number. To earn six fi…