No, I limited my take home pay and did the best I could with I had to work with. I didn't miss the 18% because I never even really saw it. Even then at the time, the amount wasn't huge, it took many a decade to get over the first 150k. I didn't go in vacations, I didn't go to bars, or buy a motorcycle, or start hobbies that cost more than they brought in. I stayed at home a lot with my cats and smoked weed.

And yes, it's all linked to the markets, so it doesn't really mean shit. My net worth could drop 80% in a day, and all I'll get is a pat on the back and a canned statement about market volatility. People with stupid amounts of money will get bailed out.

And judging by the number of down votes my initial comment got I feel like a lot of you don't realize that the people who play the game well and still fucking hate it are the best allies you're going to get.