I think the wealth by level table is sort of the "standard" when designing published adventures. Characters with that much money are at a certain power level, and being under the recommended level of wealth might make such adventurers more difficult then they are expected to be unless the DM mods things down.
As for my games, since I don't run anything but homebrew adventures, I feel fine ignoring the table. Low-wealth/rare magic is sort of built into my campaign.
As for my games, since I don't run anything but homebrew adventures, I feel fine ignoring the table. Low-wealth/rare magic is sort of built into my campaign.