The Trap of Golden Handcuffs

Then your salary increases to $90,000, and the pattern repeats. A better neighborhood.

A newer car. More conveniences. More subscriptions. More “rewards” for working hard.

Each raise feels like freedom. But each one tightens the noose. Because now,

you’re no longer free to leave that job. You need that salary to support the life

you’ve built. These are the golden handcuffs—and the cruelest part is that no one forced

them onto you. The system simply offered the options, and human psychology did the rest.

We’re conditioned to see progress as “moving up,” not as becoming independent.

So we climb—right into a lifestyle that consumes every dollar we earn. A CEO earning $500,000