But my mom was born dirt poor. Like, the Beverly Hillbillies looked rich in the intro before they struck oil poor. Didn't have indoor plumbing till she was a teenager poor. Dinner was what her older brothers shoot after school poor.
She made it to small town middle class. I moved to a city and I'm "city middle class" which is practically non existent these days. It's all subjective. If I moved back to the hill I'd be like Jed Clampett coming home for a family reunion.
I don't make a lot (more than most tho in my area, but not even close to 6 figures). But because of my upbringing and being able to avoid lifestyle creep, I have a very good buffer and don't stress about bills piling up.
So instead I stress when my buffer is low.
I freak out if emergency savings is less than 5 digits, I imagine for the really wealthy, it's the same just a higher number.
They might not stress about keeping the lights on, but they stress when their "high score" drops. It's just how human brains work. There's human variation, but if someone doesn't have that mentality, they're not going to stay crazy wealthy.
Which is why the saying goes:
First generation makes wealth, second saves wealth, third wastes wealth.
Usually to prolong generational wealth longer than that, someone from the first or second generation has to protect it via trusts so their kids literally can't fuck it up but sometimes they still find a way