I am just...asking. Are people outside of IT not able to have a comfortable life there and all living in misery? I am in a way different country probably but there are lots of people living with a third or a quarter of my current salary in the same city I live and while none of us is considered rich, they are not in total misery and seem to be relatively comfortable as long as they manage their expense wisely. People here don't seem to need to buy/consume whatever thing or service is deemed new/cool/trendy like in more "consumption focused countries". I don't know about NZ but here we enjoy spending most of our non working hours outside.

I moved nearly 6 years ago from one very wealthy country to another much less wealthy. I chose a job with a 3 times lower salary. While I miss parts of my life in that previous country and understand my retirement will be lower, I still find a lot of positives in that life change for various other reasons.

When you move from one country to another, reaching the maximun salary you can obtain is not necessarily the most important parameter/goal.

I'm an immigrant so to me it seems like everyone who is local inherited some property or at least got in early in property market.

It takes prime ministers salary to get a mortgage for an MEDIAN house in Auckland. I really don't know how normal people get by.