Same here. Soon after graduation (~y2k) I know another, older EE who just retired early because it just wasn't worth it to work (and his SO made good money).

Same here. Soon after graduation (~y2k) I know another, older EE who just retired early because it just wasn't worth it to work (and his SO made good money). The salary he was going to get with 10 years experience as an EE was about what I got straight out of college.