Anecdotally, I've worked at the same small company for around 15 years now. Base pay isn't FAANG competitive. But I get a decent percentage of new projects (7

Anecdotally, I've worked at the same small company for around 15 years now. Base pay isn't FAANG competitive. But I get a decent percentage of new projects (7%), not all are successful though of course. It might fall short even with that factored in, but I've made enough such that I could have retired in my mid 30's if I didn't have kids. I like what I do, I like who I work with, I get to work from home, and we have had a variety of projects over the years so things stay fairly fresh. I might be able to make more if I landed a job at a hot new startup or FAANG. But I might also hate working there. Doesn't seem worth the bother given I'm pretty happy here.