golden handcuffs

“Because of high interest rates,” he said, “there’s no mobility out of rental situations to buy homes. Everyone is stuck — homeowners with golden handcuffs, renters basically with unadorned handcuffs.”

"Buyers are jumping back in the fray as the new normal of rates are setting in. Homeowners who would typically sell their home, however, have the golden handcuffs of yesterday's rates making it much more attractive to stay put," says Rachel Mehmedagic, owner of Windermere Real Estate's office on Mercer Island in the Seattle region.

Advisers had counseled him that a possible indictment by a Manhattan grand jury involving hush-money payments to an adult-film star would not come for some time — if at all — and Trump had even begun joking about “golden handcuffs,” said one person who spoke with him in recent days.

Trump ahead of the indictment had been joking about "golden handcuffs," according to The Washington Post, but did not expect the news to land this week.

Some workers may now, post-layoff and with their golden handcuffs snipped, take the chance to find jobs more aligned with their values.