FWIW, when I did the financial analysis on the stay-vs-go question back about 9-ish years ago (and before the current wave of pay and QOL increases at the majors), all of the financial benefit to separating as soon as your ADSC was complete were wiped out in the event of a single furlough or bankruptcy.
All of that analysis and discussion is still here on APC for anyone who wants to go dig it up.
That discussion ultimately came back to quality of life being more important than the bottom line. Thus, guys that were unhappy with the lifestyle of being on active duty were better off cutting loose and going to the airlines immediately. Guys who could tolerate and navigate the military career BS were better off staying until 20 before going to the airlines.
I will say that, as someone who retired at 20 and has a year or two of flying at the airlines behind me, at this point in my life I vastly prefer the airline lifestyle to the active duty fighter pilot lifestyle -- and so does my family. I don't at all regret staying until retirement...but I do wonder how my life would be different if I'd separated when my ADSC was done 10 years ago and gone to SWA or FedEx or Continental or...