<prompt> Human: Im in a pickle and I dont know how to proceed, I need to figure out if Im catastrophically screwing our future retirement by taking a much lesser paying job in another state just to keep my wife happy. I know the old adage, happy wife happy life, but I need to hear an outsiders view if its worth it. We have around 300k in investments Index funds and stocks, and around 200k in equity tied up in our house. Im 46 and at the peak of my earnings potential, since we moved here 3 years ago Ive been working hard building my reputation and a new consulting business while shes been staying home raising our two young kids oldest will go to kindergarten this fall, I feel both our hard work is finally paying off.The problem is my wife hates the statetownregion we live in and wants to move far far away from here and I agree with her the area here kinda sucks, but its very safe, housing is affordable, and schools are good. My dilemma is I make a good deal of money, the jobs where she wants to move Charleston South Carolina are paying around 90k less than what I made last year grossed 250k, and this year looking to make even more. The highest paid jobs I can find in Charleston for what I do, Sr. sysadmininfrastructure engineer are topping out at 140k. I figure I have 10 more years of making good money here, so the question is, should I continue to try to convince my wife our future retired selves will be happy that we stayed? Were socking huge chunks of money away into retirement and savings for the kids college, giving chunks to our immediate family whos less fortunate, and are living very comfortable lives, nice house, no debt, etc. In my wifes defense this area and also where I work isnt all peaches and cream, while I like my job I get to work with some really cool cutting edge equipment and some fun projects but a lot of the people at work are pretty sad think government building, and most dont have a great desire for personal or professional improvement, which on one had makes it very easy to shine, but it also can be a huge downer. The locals are all pretty sad sack-ish too, its as if the people here are fearful of others, its kinda hard to articulate but its strange and depressing compared to where we were raised where people were direct and much more outgoing. Its doesnt help that I work in technology, notorious for socially awkward personalities, that its government seems to attract a special kind of socially awkward.More details: My current gig Im paid 1099, which I really like, but for clarity I pay for my own health insurance 14k a year, dont get paid vacation holidays or sick days, etc, which isnt a big deal to me, but still, it eats into the bottom line. Its my wife, 2 young kids, and I, we moved to the DC area three years ago to this prefer not to name small town in the country far from urban, we used to live in the northeast semi suburb semi urban, very close to the ocean 1 mile, which we both miss terribly, its a long 3 hour drive from where we are now, and Charleston seems to have everything we like, ocean living, safe suburbs within easy commute distance to semi urban city center, lots of people living there whove relocated from the northeast, affordable housing, lower taxes. One catch is the schools, they dont seem very good and will likely end up sending the kids to private school, exasperating the financial strain.  <response>: Time for her to get a job 