I have a bone to pick

I check into a few news and financial sites each day and read the articles that look interesting to me. With this whole economic crisis business, I have seen the term HENRY a few times (quite possibly being used by one author, I haven't paid that much attention). HENRY stands for High Earner Not Rich Yet. It applies to people (married couples with kids, from the context of the article) who just can't save any money on their income of $250,000/yr or more. The argument goes that the poor pitiful HENRYs are unfairly taxed by the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and NEED to put all their money towards lessons and private schools for the kids, college savings, house payments, etc.... The most recent article suggested changing the name to HENRI (high earner not rich indefinitely) because new tax policies will take even more from them. I'm going to briefly put the tax issue aside because I just don't care to discuss it here and start a battle (if you know me in real life and would like to discuss in person, I'm always up for that). For the sake of argument, lets assume these people bring home $125,000/yr after taxes (they're really in the 35% bracket, I think, so I'm erring on the side of caution). With over $10,000 to spend every month, they can't save anything?!? Really?? I have a HUGE problem with this argument. The problem is not that they CAN'T save, it's that they CHOSE not to. They are choosing to live a $250,000 lifestyle. Here's a radical idea....when a major windfall or raise comes your way, keep living the exact same way you are and SAVE the leftover. If these families led $50,000/yr lives (and plenty of families feel very very blessed to make $50,000/year---BEFORE taxes), they would have at least $75,000 per year to put towards savings. They might quickly pay off a reasonable house (no McMansions) with that money. If they put it all in a measly low-interest savings account (1.75% interest), they'd have over $800,000 saved in 10 years. I'm really finding it outside my abilities to have sympathy for the poor pitiful HENRYs---how big is their house? How big is their TV? Their cable package? Do they drive new cars? What kind of family vacations? How often are they eating out and where? How often is everyone getting new clothes? We all make our choices and regardless or fair or not tax policies, someone who makes $250,000/yr and has no savings, has made the CHOICE not to have savings (barring major unexpected medical expenses, natural disasters....). I will continue to think of this grouping as HENRY-BTSIAs: High Earners Not Rich Yet....BECAUSE THEY SPENT IT ALL!!!!