What do I really want from my job?

Recently got converted from contract staff to perm. After doing some research with people I know who are in the same industry, turns out that the terms of the conversion as well as some other factors regarding the conversion itself resulted in me getting shafted. Net result is that I am now entertaining the possibility of looking for another job.

However, in the process of researching the job market, I keep asking myself, what do I really want from my hypothetical new job?. For the past year I’ve been telling myself and others to reject the rat-race, and to only do work that I enjoy. I enjoy my current job, the working environment and the people there. Ostensibly, the only real reason that I am unhappy is that I am quite significantly underpaid compared to other companies out there ( as well as somewhat clueless managerial support ).  

However, while I am getting underpaid, I can still live quite comfortably on my salary, and if all goes well with my investment matters, I can hope for an early retirement. So if I can still carry out my plans on my current salary, doesn’t the act of looking for a new job go against my previous philosophy?

This confuses me!