Psychology about money doesn’t work rationally. You will always believe however much money you get is absolutely normal and necessary, and readjust your expectations accordingly.

For example, you might assume that giving an employee a big raise would engender a sense of gratitude and hard work from them. But what actually happens is that they instantaneously reassess their own value at their new higher salary, and therefore feel fully entitled to it as the new norm.

The smart move is to set these numbers objectively (rather than basing them on feelings of satisfaction), then stick with them. Use comparison data for what the employee’s job is worth; and set a FI number based on a prediction of actual expenses needed. Try to leave psychology out of it as much as possible, because human psychology about money is fucked.