Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#131

Post by adamnemecek » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 3:22 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #112

adamnemecek wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s definitely not standard. Esp at say amazon.

You forget: Everyone on HN makes $300k, drives a Porsche and has a supermodel as a significant other. I’d regard the self-reported anecdotes as outliers. $300k (total including equity) is at least one, possibly two standard deviations above the mean for software professionals. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years and work at one of these ‘top’ places and don’t make anything even close to that. These threads are alw…

Lol, I know.

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#132

Post by madeofpalk » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 3:22 PM UTC

chrisper wrote: post #23

adamnemecek wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber stock has more promise of growth. Also there are private markets (idk to what extent one can participate tho).

Uber Stocks don't feed you tho.

Can't pay the rent with private equity!

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#133

Post by friedman23 » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 3:22 PM UTC

devilmoon wrote: post #72

slantedview wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mostly cost of living. The locations where these jobs are tend to be very expensive to live (which is why the location part of this question will be interesting).

what would rent+bills cost in SF, for example?

Rent + bills cost around $3700 for me for a 1 bedroom apartment a 15 minute walk from work but I also get paid $147k salary. I make the maximum contribution to my 401k every month, so after rent, payroll, retirement, health insurance, and taxes I take home around $3500 a month.

This doesn't include my stock bonus, free breakfast lunch an dinner which I do take advantage of, and other small perks that add up to thousands a year.

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#134

Post by Blackstone4 » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 3:22 PM UTC

devilmoon wrote: post #103

Blackstone4 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The large software groups i.e. FAANG have very high margins and are very profitable. This means they can afford to pay their staff very well. I live in the UK and the cost of living in London is roughly the same as NYC but salaries are lower for the same job. Certain companies and countries (Luxembourg, Switzerland, UAE) have structural advantages which means staff get paid more. It is not always merit based. So you…

What really pisses me off about FAANG branches in EU is that they will pay you way less than what they're paying for the same role in the US, which feels like an insult. London I believe is the best market in the EU for cost of living/salary tech-wise - luxembourg, switzerland, UAE have a cost of living which is off the charts, i.e. yes in switzerland you can get 5k€/mo for an entry level job but having breakfast out…

It's frustrating right.

Stating the obvious: the world isn't fair. If you're in software, the US is the place to be. Haven't said that it's not always easy.

I almost got an investment job in the UAE with a SWF. They had a change of strategy which I didn't fit into. This was after 7 stages and me flying out there for two and a half days of back to back interviews. Comp included accommodation and a tax-free salary in the $200k range....

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#135

Post by thrwwyphdsalary » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 3:23 PM UTC

dx034 wrote: post #98

enothereska wrote: post #14

https://www.financialsamurai.com/living-a-middle-class-lifes...

> * A 26 year old middle school teacher making $55,000 a year plus her $250,000 a year VP of Marketing wife Strange article. It's a creative way to connect a teacher's salary with a $300,000 income but in the end, this kind of salary remains the exception and is only normal in small pockets of the US.

TBF $2k minimum rent and $500,000+ minimum housing prices are also only normal in small pockets of the US. I have no idea how teachers survive in expensive coastal cities.

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#136

Post by bjourne » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 3:23 PM UTC

devilmoon wrote: post #27

Question from someone not living in the US: How come you guys have such high salaries compared to ROW? Is the cost of life that much higher than other countries, or is your income simply taxed less / companies have generally more money to spend on employees? I am currently working in one of the highest paying (if not the highest) consultancy firms in my country, and my salary is probably lower than your minimum wage.…

They are measuring total compensation. In European countries, you have five weeks of paid vacation and money that is put into your retirement fund in addition to your salary. Plus sick days. That is worth 10-24 % more than your base monthly salary.

The spread of US developer salaries appear to be insanely high though. Median is "only" 70k according to this site: https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Developer/...

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#137

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 3:23 PM UTC

thrwunderpaid wrote: post #48

devilmoon wrote: post #27

Question from someone not living in the US: How come you guys have such high salaries compared to ROW? Is the cost of life that much higher than other countries, or is your income simply taxed less / companies have generally more money to spend on employees? I am currently working in one of the highest paying (if not the highest) consultancy firms in my country, and my salary is probably lower than your minimum wage.…

Cost of living in the US gets ridiculous. Healthcare is expensive and gets more expensive the more you make. As much as I make I'm probably one bad accident away from being wiped out financially When you add a family, child care is super expensive; think $350/week for two kids Not to say we aren't hyper-consuming gluttons, but I think that's only about one third of the picture

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#138

Post by inventingwithmo » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 3:24 PM UTC

LandR wrote: post #130

The US compared to the UK is insane salary wise. A good developer in the UK might make £40-£45k a year ($56k) According to glass door at Amazon in the UK you can make anywhere from £30k to £50k. Microsoft goes a bit higher (in London, but everything is higher in London) to around £65k for SE2. I only know one friend who is a developer on £100k+, most of us are on around £30k to £40k. I know one Senior Developer doing…

There's a bunch of senior roles in London going for 70+ at the moment. The market is changing (slowly)

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#139

Post by ryandrake » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 3:24 PM UTC

reacharavindh wrote: post #109

Reading such a post on HN is only fanning my financial insecurity. I'm a Comp. Engineer in early 30, who used to draw approx. 130K (105 + 25K RSUs) from a major company in the south east USA. Moved to Europe(Denmark) for personal reasons, and have been essentially working for less than half that money I used to make. ($96K after taxes in US vs $48K after taxes in Denmark) - 10 years of experience. Before you ask, tha…

These threads are mostly comedy and hot air. Don’t let them fan anything. Everyone here says they’re making $300k. It’s a trope that won’t die. They are either statistical outliers or exaggerating. Median for the Bay Area (which tends to be the highest in the country if not the world) is around $115k plus equity. I’m not going to trot out the links again, but these numbers are Googlable unlike all the anecdotes.

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#140

Post by yespleasethrow » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 3:24 PM UTC

thrwunderpaid wrote: post #110

wyldfire wrote: post #81

Does anyone have this kind of compensation at FAANG but outside of those megalopolis, ultra-expensive real estate cities?

I've read previously of machine learning specialists in Atlanta reaching this level of compensation

I am one of these Atlanta-based machine learning specialists, here to confirm that we do exist. But I think it is very rare, and I am not sure many at all are doing $300k+. Since the cost of living is comparatively low, though, I am doing way better than I ever could dream of doing in the bay.