Eh, they are doing better than many. In typical bogleheads style, they aren't counting debt payoff as savings (that's why they won't hit the 40k-- debt payoff, so I'd call it a full 40k savings or 33% saving rate).
Sure they could plan better. It sounds like they basically live paycheck to paycheck on salary and then "save" the commission/bonus after taxes.
I imagine I work with a few who have similar numbers