The advantage is not always having more; sometimes it is needing less.

Someone who needs very little is difficult to pressure. Most leverage works by threatening something you depend on, whether that is money, approval, status, or access, and the fewer of those you truly require, the less anyone can do with them. This is why simplicity so often functions as strength. It removes the handles.

Look at what you would find hardest to lose and ask how much of it is genuine need versus habit. Reduce one dependency this year, even slightly. Lower requirements buy you more freedom than higher income usually does.