This is one of those areas where family starts to influence decisions. My wife and I had kids between 24 and 28. From that point forward, 'supporting the family' took priority over personal fulfillment.

Now that our kids are grown and self-supporting, it's wild how much simpler the risk calculation is. But at 52 with engineering manager being the dominant role in my CV, not particularly appealing to the small companies making big moves that I'm interested in.

Nobody with a family has ever found a way to make a sacrifice and leave a job they felt was wasting their life?

Well-said

What use is extrapolating what I said to its extreme end? In 1999 I quit my full time secure job to start a company. My wife was a stay at home mom, we had a new baby and a new mortgage for a house that was still being built. Yes it's possible, but counterexamples don't mean it's not a factor.

Your example is as much a counter example as mine is…