We’re in some wild times right now for those who aren’t already established, because something just isn’t adding up.
I graduated high school in 2007 where the average US salary was $40k.
Home interest rates were about the same as they are now.
But home prices… were a whole lot lower.
Becoming a homeowner here in the Midwest back then (long before I got here) was not only possible, it was probable even with that average income.
A couple years ago…
I talked to someone who was excited to get a new job making $15 an hour because it would be easier to pay their $500 per month mortgage.
Five. Hundred. Bucks.
And as I heard this individual say this, I was sitting behind the desk of a job paying me $56k a year wondering how it made sense I was burning $1,400 per month on rent for a… not-so-ideal apartment at the time.
Buying a home?
Ha, yeah right.
If I want to live anywhere close to society, a house is $300k+ which makes the mortgage $1,400 minimum before taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.
That’s with $60k cash down and closing costs on top, just to keep that mortgage payment down.
Oh, and if you have a lick of debt?
Forget it.
Pay off the car loan and any other loans or credit card balances if you hope to ever buy a modest home on the current average US salary.
This may be bold of me to say…
But in 2026, I really do think life starts at $100k per year, and that number goes up dramatically for coastal states in the US.
I don’t say all of this to be negative or some kind of doomer…
In fact, it’s the opposite.
The old plan of single income families with 2 cars and a house just doesn’t work the way it used to.
So for those of us who aren’t already established…
We have to adjust the plan.
A hard choice must be made:
Do we subscribe to the somewhat broken two income household model where someone else raises the kids?
Or do we do everything we can to stack as much income as possible from building a career, side hustles, and online businesses to have one parent work and the other stay home?
I know we choose the latter and it’s a non-negotiable.
So as I build my career in sales and work my way back into management…
I’m building my digital product biz on the side.
And while I’m no mega-millionaire guru renting new supercars every 3 months by slam jamming people into a $5k course…
I have earned thousands of dollars by posting on the internet in my spare time without a big audience.
And my goal is to help people launch their own biz around their passions, interests, hobbies, or skills.
Here’s the method you can use to get started:
https://gabejohansson.com/blueprint
There’s never been a better time to start building something of your own.
Talk soon,
-Gabe
P.S. For newer readers, I don’t rant like this often but someone had to say something and apparently it was me. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled digital product biz insights tomorrow.