[VirusNewbie]

conversely, money early on in life is worth more than money later on in life. This can be especially true once you get into a house you're happy with.

Your housing expenses are likely to be your single largest (fixed) expense, so if someone can work hard for a few years and buy a place, it's a lot easier to coast on lower paying jobs.

[ethbr1]

Agreed from personal experience. And a huge component of housing is where you live.

I'd argue that the single most financially-beneficial choice you can make as a SWE is finding a remote or hybrid job, then leveraging that to live somewhere you enjoy that allows you to save much more money.