While I agree that a certain base level of income is necessary to have decent life, it becomes a lot less important after that's reached. And that level for me mostly includes enough money for food, accommodation (, and healthcare if you're in the US) and some extras like going out or traveling once in a while. In Europe this is pretty easy to achieve in a technical field. Beyond that, I feel like more money doesn't add much to my happiness. Saying that this is one's most important asset sounds like one should spend most of one's life on maximizing income, which I think is indeed a bit sad.