This is not always true. If you're a quant or a trader, you can live in Jersey and send your kids to good public schools and no one gives a shit if you're good at what you do. If you're doing the soft-side bullshit, you have to live in Manhattan and send your kids to fancy prep schools and keep up with the Joneses (management) who have more money than you do, and you often get through the wringer with almost no savings.