Anyone? I know many people in Silicon Valley, Boston, Seattle, New York, and elsewhere who would consider that a reasonable expense if it kept them viable in the job market for a few more years.

My entire career has been based on purchasing the most hardware I could afford at home and using it near its peak. I've given up other life pleasures (dinners out, nicer car/housing) several times to max out my computational capacity.

Also hardware like this, if chosen carefully, often has a viable lifetime over 5+ years