I would never have wanted salary transparency, because I would not have wanted to be jealous of others who were at a similar level who might have made more than me. I did fine, and I’m retiring fine. Having a 20-40% higher salary sounds great, but at the end of the day, you’re not really that far ahead financially (those pesky taxes, for instance, which take a proportionately bigger bite the more you make). It’s really about what you do with the money you make. Do you live within or even below your means? Do you invest wisely? Those can more than make up for an incrementally higher salary.