Silicon Valley is thick with those who might be called working-class millionaires — nose-to-the-grindstone people like Mr. Steger who, much to their surprise, are still working as hard as ever even as they find themselves among the fortunate few. Their lives are rich with opportunity; they generally enjoy their jobs. They are amply cushioned against the anxieties and jolts that worry most people living paycheck to paycheck.

But many such accomplished and ambitious members of the digital elite still do not think of themselves as particularly fortunate, in part because they are surrounded by people with more wealth — often a lot more.

The article details the "plight" of one of these "working poor millionaires" (my term, not theirs):

[Hal] Steger, 51, a self-described geek, has banked more than $2 million. The $1.3 million house he and his wife own on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is paid off. The couple’s net worth of roughly $3.5 million places them in the top 2 percent of families in the United States.

Yet each day Mr. Steger continues to toil in what a colleague calls “the Silicon Valley salt mines,” working as a marketing executive for a technology start-up company, still striving for his big strike. Most mornings, he can be found at his desk by 7. He typically works 12 hours a day and logs an extra 10 hours over the weekend.

“I know people looking in from the outside will ask why someone like me keeps working so hard,” Mr. Steger says. “But a few million doesn’t go as far as it used to..."

Time to get out the world's smallest violin. Steger, most likely chose by the Times because he is a represenative of this new class of middle class millionaire as two million in the bank and a paid off house worth at least another million. What, exactly, is stopping him from selling the house, moving someplace cheaper, and retiring (or finding a job that doesn't require him to work so many hours)?

I might be wrong, but given Steger's age (he's 51), I think this is another example of that baby boomer "I want it all" mentality.