IMO you can splurge if you are an EM doc but you cant splurge in every area. You get to pick and choose 1) private school for kids 2) cars and other toys (boats) 3) vacations 4) housing 5) Retirement/savings
You can probably have 2-3 of the 4 depending on your job.
I like that and think it is about right. I'd word it like this:
Everyone needs to save adequately for retirement. Beyond that, you have the following options:
1) An extra big/nice house (or one in California)
2) Very expensive vacations
3) Toys (airplane, boat, very expensive car) or second home
4) Early retirement
5) Private school
6) Spouse with a spending problem
You get 2 of these, that's it. Got to moderate the rest. So I chose the following:
1) An extra big/nice house (or one in California) - Nope, it's value is about 1X my income with a mortgage about 0.5X. That said, it's 4400 sq ft with a 100 mile view in the neighborhood of the third best elementary school in the state and 8 miles from a ski resort. You can buy a lot of house on an EP salary outside of the Bay Area and Manhattan.
2) Very expensive vacations - Not really. We do a lot of vacations, but expensive ones are pretty rare.
3) Toys (airplane, boat, very expensive car) or second home - Yup. Got one of those now, but waited 9 years out of residency to get it.
4) Early retirement - Yup, nearly FI already.
5) Private school - Nope.
6) Spouse with a spending problem - Definitely not.