huh, there are some terms and notions been thrown around in this discussion that may lead to a very skewed world-view but let me first respond to "With computer driven cars nearly here"(as in "Shut up and work till it last since you are going to be replaced sooner than later").
There is an upcoming revolution (not only) in the IT sector knocking on the door, comparable(in principle, not in scale) to the aftermath of the big industrial revolution in the late 19/early 20th century. Not only are most of the it-services jobs going to be obsolete(I'm not talking about people facing the customer, although this segment will be affected as well), even many of the "high-level" engineering jobs have an expiration date. Just look at your team, how many "code-pushers" do you have within that team compared to creative folks coming up with new radical(emphasis) ideas. There are "thinkers" and "hands"(and - since the world is never this polarized / clear-cut, some overlap in between - mentioning only so nobody would nit-pick an argument over this). The ratio may vary based on the team/project but "hands" are usually the most in numbers(and this is OK, we do need people that can actually finish a project, can get the work done; this was argued a 1000times here and I agree with most of the conclusions). If you see yourself in the first category(please keep in mind that the term is not a very lucky-chosen one) - there is no reason to be anxious .. well with trade agreements plowing the global economic field 24/7 I'm sure there is no-one on the planet that could do the same job as good as you for far less(well, to be honest, there indeed are people with a combination of skills that you probably would not find anywhere else - hence the "evil-genius" acquisition by google - and you may be in that category).. for everyone else, something to think about.
This process is already gaining momentum in "ES-like" environments - the IT job market is going to change once again and this time it won't be a zero-sum game(even when we widen the scope to the whole economy - we have already passed the point where new emerging industries could compensate the rising efficiency of the old ones).
Now to the notion of class. To have money is not the same as being wealthy. Having a 6fig salary doesn't push you “one class" higher - just imagine what would happen if your skill-set would become obsolete tomorrow. You'd have to start over in a new industry(I will assume that median of the IT crowd is above average on the IQ scala and therefore would not have a problem finding another job*), the house/apartment you could barely afford is now over your budget and since most of your peers have the same problem, the housing market normalizes; you'd loose even more money if you'd want to sell it and move to a cheaper area(now throw-in a mortgage and you are set for years). Being upper-class meant that you had enough diversified "income-producing" assets to overcome such changes without loosing your living standard(I'd say even more important was/is the "upper-class" social network you were/are a part of, which handles the diversification even better and represents a valuable safety net on its own). How many peers owning stocks from companies across the industry, real-estate(fe an office building on the main street in some "emerging" town), with at least some connections to leaders of other industries / politics etc do you know?
So, TL;DR
A 6figure salary doesn't make you jump to a higher "class", it doesn't even make you "wealthy", it just widens your economical horizon / makes you a little more free(the money-to-freedom function is not linear, nor is the money-to-wealth func)
We all are facing the same, unavoidable employment crisis as those bus drivers mentioned above.
+ I fully agree with sschueller's comment - why not invest in public transport and give something back to the community German Mittelstand-like instead?
There is an upcoming revolution (not only) in the IT sector knocking on the door, comparable(in principle, not in scale) to the aftermath of the big industrial revolution in the late 19/early 20th century. Not only are most of the it-services jobs going to be obsolete(I'm not talking about people facing the customer, although this segment will be affected as well), even many of the "high-level" engineering jobs have an expiration date. Just look at your team, how many "code-pushers" do you have within that team compared to creative folks coming up with new radical(emphasis) ideas. There are "thinkers" and "hands"(and - since the world is never this polarized / clear-cut, some overlap in between - mentioning only so nobody would nit-pick an argument over this). The ratio may vary based on the team/project but "hands" are usually the most in numbers(and this is OK, we do need people that can actually finish a project, can get the work done; this was argued a 1000times here and I agree with most of the conclusions). If you see yourself in the first category(please keep in mind that the term is not a very lucky-chosen one) - there is no reason to be anxious .. well with trade agreements plowing the global economic field 24/7 I'm sure there is no-one on the planet that could do the same job as good as you for far less(well, to be honest, there indeed are people with a combination of skills that you probably would not find anywhere else - hence the "evil-genius" acquisition by google - and you may be in that category).. for everyone else, something to think about.
This process is already gaining momentum in "ES-like" environments - the IT job market is going to change once again and this time it won't be a zero-sum game(even when we widen the scope to the whole economy - we have already passed the point where new emerging industries could compensate the rising efficiency of the old ones).
Now to the notion of class. To have money is not the same as being wealthy. Having a 6fig salary doesn't push you “one class" higher - just imagine what would happen if your skill-set would become obsolete tomorrow. You'd have to start over in a new industry(I will assume that median of the IT crowd is above average on the IQ scala and therefore would not have a problem finding another job*), the house/apartment you could barely afford is now over your budget and since most of your peers have the same problem, the housing market normalizes; you'd loose even more money if you'd want to sell it and move to a cheaper area(now throw-in a mortgage and you are set for years). Being upper-class meant that you had enough diversified "income-producing" assets to overcome such changes without loosing your living standard(I'd say even more important was/is the "upper-class" social network you were/are a part of, which handles the diversification even better and represents a valuable safety net on its own). How many peers owning stocks from companies across the industry, real-estate(fe an office building on the main street in some "emerging" town), with at least some connections to leaders of other industries / politics etc do you know?
So, TL;DR A 6figure salary doesn't make you jump to a higher "class", it doesn't even make you "wealthy", it just widens your economical horizon / makes you a little more free(the money-to-freedom function is not linear, nor is the money-to-wealth func)
We all are facing the same, unavoidable employment crisis as those bus drivers mentioned above.
+ I fully agree with sschueller's comment - why not invest in public transport and give something back to the community German Mittelstand-like instead?