Mark Zuckerberg's estimated net worth is over $14 billion. (That's 14 with nine zeroes.) The Williams sisters, tennis professionals, are estimated to be worth $150 million, much of which is endorsement deals and side projects. And Taylor Lautner made $25 million for starring in the final two Twilight movies and he's barely 21.

Young celebrities are raking in abnormal amounts of cash. Unlike previous generations, we see it everywhere'television, film, YouTube, music, billboards, Twitter. It's virtually inescapable.

And it's affecting our perception of realistic career goals.

In a 2011 Generational Career Shift survey, millennials were compared to baby boomers, Gen Xers, and seniors through a series of questions and the results don't make us look very in-touch with reality, to say the least.

The study showed that millennials, more than any other generation, change jobs frequently, leave jobs for further training and development, change careers for ethical reasons, and take extended leaves for travel or personal reasons. Yet simultaneously, millennials expect quick promotions, don't reach their expectations for rate of advancement, and don't feel they're achieving their full potential.

And this is without touching on their salary expectations, (which are bonkers, at best). Their entry-level expected salaries were reasonable: $48,860 for men and $42,060 for women'only slightly higher than the average first salaries of $43,119 and $35,926, respectively. However, after five years, women expect to be making 61 per cent more ($67,766) and men think they'll be making $84,868, a 74 per cent increase. After five years. That's a 13ÔÇô15 per cent increase every year.

Even more shocking are their peak salary expectations: women believe they'll make $125,664 at the height of their careers'a staggering amount'while men think they'll tap out at $171,036. (That's just $30,000 shy of the top one per cent of earners in Canada.) Meanwhile, the average salary in Canada is $47,200, less than 25 per cent of the average young man's insane predicted salary.

So why are we all so delusional? You could easily say that the folks getting the most publicity are those sitting on piles of dough, so it's all we're exposed to. Paired with our misguided knowledge that our degrees are money magnets, the millennials are a confused group, believing they'll achieve salaries and titles that, for many of us, will never come.

The upside to all of this is that the trends are shifting. Young people are making sacrifices by moving to remote locations to further their careers. And with the realization that a first salary is difficult to come by, let alone a six-figure peak salary, young people will start to aim high and succeed, (rather than aiming too high and being disappointed), similar to Gen X.

Only time will tell if this generation turns it around or stays in the clouds. Maybe if we focus more on local and relevant successes and less on movie stars' obscene salaries, we'd be happier with the smaller wins in life.

James Michael McDonald is the editor of Jobpostings Magazine and jobpostings.ca. He has passions for human rights, gaming, and the Oxford comma. Follow him on Twitter @mcjamdonald.