nah back in the 90s, it was a pretty good gig. not rich rich. Ross wasn’t rich rich either. but you made more money than your average Joe and society was way cheaper back then, even in new york. there were also way less phds, so there was higher demand and cost of education was way less. I dropped out of my program in the late 80s for a private sector job, but my friends that continued lived pretty decently.