My dad is going to retire in years with more than 5 million in assets separate from his home. He likes to tell me that he's not rich like a movie star or a sports figure... And he's not a big spender. Up until about five years ago he drove a Camry, he upgraded to a Lexus but he'll probably drive it for 10 years. He's just made what most people would call lots of money for long enough that he doesn't remember what it feels like not to make lots of money.
I think people's perspective just get skewed because they're surrounded by lots of people that are like them, or worse, people with even more money.