And like there aren't huge advantages you get from being an academic even at the relatively low level of an associate professor. If you ever actually do feel like it, you can probably slide into private industry if you have anything remotely relevant to it. Someone with a STEM degree is probably at least minimally competent and may have made a name for themselves.
And if they get the kush gig of actually being in a tenured position, you get to take year long vacations, do more or less whatever you feel like so long as you can publish, and can even shit-talk your employer with impunity, at least to some extent.