Right, so even less incentive to stick around for a retirement based on compounding interest, when I otherwise have a small pension in the bag. Furthermore, schedule is never truly yours until you retire in earnest, especially for a guy with less than 15 years of longevity. If I ever make the switch I'm setting myself up for a late 50s exit. Less than 20 years in a second career is simply too little time to make it worth it.

Fact remains, Americans are workaholics as a collective. Blame it on vestiges of pilgrim work ethic and/or a dilution of pay as a function of productivity (which is in the bozosphere for americans) and you get this second marriage dynamic to one's job. Don't get me started on the misopedic nature to most work environments (which are now getting called to task by the sheer number of women and single parents in the workforce). America is a tough place to make family a priority, regardless of income potential.

Not me though. I wasn't raised pilgrim and have no quarrel with retiring at 57 regardless of what I'm doing. I rather go grab an additional 10 years of active lifestyle to do as I wish before things start slowing down. I've seen it in my boomer parents. People in their 40s overestimate their level of activity and health in their mid 60s when they decide to project these "money over time" extensions at work. To each their own though.