In my case I work for a defense contractor and make decent money. I could work for another company doing more meaningful work. But I almost certainly would mak

In my case I work for a defense contractor and make decent money. I could work for another company doing more meaningful work. But I almost certainly would make less money. This would cause me to fall behind my peers pay scale wise. This is not terrible, as I live well within my means, but this impacts my future pay, and the money I can set aside for investing. If I take that step now, I’d be leaving a lot of personal wealth on the table. But if I build up enough investment wealth to pay for my life in the future, I could take on more meaningful work in the future. If I leave for meaningful work now, I may be making money at that pay scale trajectory for the rest of my career, similar to how people who graduated in 2008 have never caught up to their peers wealth wise. I think it comes down to control about your financial options. Relinquishing income puts you at a disadvantage.