I worked in industry for 12 years at market rates after getting my MS degree. In years 10-12 we hired post-docs to do some fancy lab work and publish findings - I could do that work but I was focused on other concerns. Welp, thanks to 9-11 those other concerns lost their funding, but the lab work continued. I inquired about possibly serving as the next lab-tech... those post docs were being paid less than 1/3 what I was making at industry rates. They were still getting around mostly on their bicycles, catching rides with other people when needed, and they had pretty much as many years of study and lab experience after getting their MS as I did industry experience, they just chose to continue on the PhD and Post-doctoral track for some reason... maybe they really like bicycles?