(MONEY Magazine) – I WAS MOST INTERESTED IN "Financial Lessons From the Class of '83," September's account of how alumni of California's Palisades High School are struggling to live as well as their parents did a generation ago. I'm also an '83 graduate but have a hard time sympathizing with those earning "only $20,000 to $50,000 a year." My first job out of college paid $3.75 an hour. The most I ever have made has been $7.50 an hour, and I am currently working for $5.75 an hour. My wife also works full time, and our household earned income has averaged under $20,000 a year. But we own a comfortable three-bedroom home in a nice neighborhood, two dependable cars and are able to afford vacations with our five-year-old son. James W. Steamer AUSTIN