Working in finance will make you realize that earning wealth is very different from achieving freedom, and vice versa Most of the MDs and PMs in the field have enormous levels of wealth. But very few of them have the freedom to simply just walk away from the industry and leave it behind forever Moving up the ladder slowly one step at a time forces changes in lifestyle along with it. After you have met your basic needs, you start to want the next expensive watch, vacation home, and so forth. This is why I am somewhat convinced that the best way to attain wealth is to actually just work towards something for long periods of time with no reward and have one singular payday that compensates you for the effort Might also explain why wealth is viewed differently in NYC vs SF. Tech entrepreneurs mostly see the singular payday, while finance is a slower climb, which tends to invite lifestyle creep much more often