Interestingly there does appear to be a plateau or drop just below $100k. I wonder if this is around the transition point between being fairly well off, but st

Interestingly there does appear to be a plateau or drop just below $100k. I wonder if this is around the transition point between being fairly well off, but still salaried and reliant on the salary, to being independently wealthy (or at least, the prospect of achieving independent wealth). Highly paid but salaried people are subject to all sorts of politics and power games, and there's always the prospect of losing it all. Observing the people I know who are truly independently wealthy, the thing they have that no salaried person has is control of their time. Even if they're nominally employed, it tends to be in a flexible manner. That control over your life is a step change in well being.