Human needs are unlimited, so no matter how much you earn, you will never achieve financial freedom. So never be dissatisfied with your position, keep trying to achieve something big.
No job allows you to be independent. Is money the key to freedom? Which freedom are you referring to? Freedom in purchasing? Or freedom in real life?
Always remember, money is the main cause of dependence. If you look at the richest people in the world, you will see a common problem among them, which is lack of time. When they have a lot of money, they do not have time to spend that money, they are dependent on money. Having little money means that your purchasing power is low but you are free. At the end of the day, we can eat simple food and sleep peacefully. So it is better to earn as much as you need. If you cannot enjoy earning money, that money is of no value.
The billionaire who can't enjoy their money, that's a them problem. Nobody's forcing them to continue working. They chose that. Keep choosing it actually.
And okay, less money means more freedom? Really? Because from where I'm sitting if you're broke, you can't say no to anything. Bad job? Take it anyway. Toxic situation? Stay because you need the income. One emergency and you're entirely screwed.
Real freedom needs options. You can't have options without some base-line of security.
There's two kinds of freedom we're confusing here. Financial independence gives you freedom from being coerced, from being forced into situations. That's real. But it doesn't give you freedom from yourself, freedom from wanting more, from the comparison game. That part's work in it and money won't fix. We act like it's binary. Either chase money and lose your soul or be poor and free. Why? Why can't you build enough security so that you have choices, and have the discipline to stop there?
Most people never even get to step one though. Too busy to be thinking of any of this while trying to stay alive.