There's the slight problem of there not being a conservative 4% annual return and inflation. How about marrying a spouse during that period who is raising your children and not working? Also that 1M is basically your house (or a portion thereof).
I think the reality of our generation is that the middle class (and yes, these guys are all middle class) has faced erosion of its standard of living. Salaries for engineers have barely kept up with inflation (in some case simply not) coupled with higher risks. Just as you say, being a millionaire ain't what it used to be and a lot of these middle class families are far from being millionaires. MS like many other companies is hoarding it's cash and helping increase the class gap.
That said it's still better to be an engineer in MS with a good salary than a homeless drug addict. Clever/frugal/single/some people can save money but it's not as easy as you make it sound.
I was talking about one specific scenario (no kids, living very frugally).
If you want kids and you want to do it on a single income, you're going to have to make compromises, very serious ones. Unfortunately, that's all there is to it. Keep in mind that one possible compromise is that you move--take a 20% paycut (or more) and move to an area where you can afford the lifestyle that you want while still saving a reduced but proportional amount to my example.
It's frankly a really bad idea for someone making very low six figures to try to raise a family on that income alone in an area where homes cost $1M (as you suggest they do).
I think the reality of our generation is that the middle class (and yes, these guys are all middle class) has faced erosion of its standard of living. Salaries for engineers have barely kept up with inflation (in some case simply not) coupled with higher risks. Just as you say, being a millionaire ain't what it used to be and a lot of these middle class families are far from being millionaires. MS like many other companies is hoarding it's cash and helping increase the class gap.
That said it's still better to be an engineer in MS with a good salary than a homeless drug addict. Clever/frugal/single/some people can save money but it's not as easy as you make it sound.