Nope. Some of us are perfectly happy doing what we're doing, and to continue with a balance of work and not work for a long long time.

I'm exactly in this position, yet when I said in another thread that I was quite content with my salary that's mid-tier for Seattle (but fantastically wealthy in a lot of the rest of the country), at a company that's all but certain to be around for at least the rest of my working lifetime, doing work to enable that company to do work that I consider useful (we're a medical practice group), and had no plans to change, I got incredulous replies.

One of the things I legitimately struggle to understand about other people is the willingness to exchange an irreplaceable thing, time, for a very replaceable thing, money, and suffer while doing it when other choices exist. The "when" in that bit is very important. A lot of people do not have that choice, and I understand why they continue; there's no other option. But for people who do what we do and how we do it, why chase the brass ring for so long? You don't have to suffer at Amazon, no amount of stock options are worth it. You will never get back that night you spent working on that one last thing instead of going home to your partner or kids or friends. The marginal impact of another $5,000 when you already make $125,000 in a year is very small.

And, as a bonus, not only are you helping yourself, you're helping the rest of our industry. Since we are largely allergic to unions in this industry, the only leverage we have is if enough people finally realize that it is possible to have a good work as part of a good life.

No, money is fungible, and its marginal utility only decreases when you have enough to retire. Another 5k is another 5k, meaning another 2 months that you don't have to labor. Dollars linearly correspond to future free time.

You really will get back that night you spent working: it likely afforded you many more nights retired, free.

A day when you are younger isn't necessarily equivalent to a day when you are older. There are all kinds of potentially fun physical activities I might have done when I was younger if I had had more time that 40 years later I would not try because injuries have bigger impact and take longer to heal now.

> its marginal utility only decreases when you have enough to retire.

If the only thing you value is retirement and complete freedom indefinitely. Personally I'd much rather have an extra day on my weekend now, and have to work an extra year at the same pace I'm working at now (and enjoy it too) rather than minmax to the point of sacrificing everything for the next 15 years to finally be able to do what I want to do - which is what I have right now.