I've made a little over 200K for the past few years, but my problem is how to keep it and build wealth from it. I store a fair amount in home equity, 401k, etc. but any time I've tried anything in the stock market I've lost my ass. But to answer your question, I will echo a lot of people and say "specialize". My brother made a lot of money in the 00's by becoming the last expert of an obscure database product used by local governments.
Ask HN: Do you make more than $200K? What did you have to do?
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Re: Ask HN: Do you make more than $200K? What did you have to do?
#42If you are already at $170k, you are doing good (even considering you are in the Bay Area).
Like it was mentioned here, focus more on the value you bring to the company, always make decisions like you own the company. If I were the owner, this is what I would do ...
It is a whole different perspective than thinking about "how much can I personally make". Once you get comfortable thinking in that mode (may take a couple of months & years), things will get clearer and you will be able to elevate your thinking and see the forest. It will then get easier for you to talk about "business" and negotiate your pay relative to what you bring. You may realize you are in the wrong company as getting paid $200k is not possible where you are.
If you keep looking around your peers and "at your level" (aka, why is he making more than me), it is definitely easier but you will not elevate your game and get to CTO/VPE.
Re: Ask HN: Do you make more than $200K? What did you have to do?
#43I have the opposite question for people here: what drives you to more money? A very expensive house costs a few million dollars, which you should afford quite easily, especially if you have a partner making a decent amount of money. Children and their education cost quite a bit in the US, but even that shouldn't cost a lot. A few expensive holidays per year plus retirement money should be easily doable. So, basically…
1. To be able to live well and pursue my hobbies without a partner or cohabitant.
2. To travel comfortably. More generally, to be able to seek out distant experiences without fear.
Re: Ask HN: Do you make more than $200K? What did you have to do?
#44It's really not very hard to crack 200. Finance and top tech companies all pay this
I don't even know if I can get a job once I get my associates in this kind of environment. I think you're overstating the occurrence of this phenomena.
Re: Ask HN: Do you make more than $200K? What did you have to do?
#45SWE at Post IPO in SF, Currently making (~150K Base) + (~200K from stock option proceeds at current stock price) + (~20K from RSU bonuses) = ~370K but will vary based on stock price fluctuations.
I got pretty lucky honestly. Joined a pre-IPO company at a good time so I ended up with a relatively low strike price. People I know who joined only a few months later make a fraction of what I do from their options because the valuation went up a lot shortly after I joined. Company went public 1 year after I joined.
Re: Ask HN: Do you make more than $200K? What did you have to do?
#46Staff level at Google/Facebook/LinkedIn will give you ~200k base + stock + bonus without being 'specialized' like others claim here. E.g. for me at Staff level it's 200k base (>400k total with stock and bonus for last year) with ~5 years working as a Software Engineer. As a Senior at these companies you'll likely max out at 180-190k base but with stock + bonus you easily break 300k after your stocks starts vesting. The stock based part of your salary will increase more and more the higher your position gets. E.g. from the salaries I know it's perhaps 20-25k more base salary per level but the amount of stocks you get each year (or at offer time) will increase by a multiple of that while also depending a lot on how your work is perceived.
Re: Ask HN: Do you make more than $200K? What did you have to do?
#47To clarify what people are saying: 200 k$/yr+ in base salary is rare (but not unheard of) in SV/NYC for programmers. It usually implies some degree of specialization beyond "Java programmer" ("highly available systems expert" being an example that I know has garnered that base salary.) 200 k$/yr+ in total compensation (ie, salary + bonus + RSUs, at a public company where RSUs are liquid) is much more common. I person…
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Re: Ask HN: Do you make more than $200K? What did you have to do?
#48Staff engineer at Google pays pretty well. I'm somewhere in the $215-245k base salary range, with a 20-30% bonus target and equity comp that is roughly equal to my base salary. So all in all I pull down about $500k per year. I get a bit more if the stock has been going up, a bit less if the stock has been going down. We sell all our stock automatically as it vests, so the compensation is very close to being like cash. I have 8-12 years of experience and tenure with the company. (The ranges are partly obscured so that I can't be identified, and partly because I genuinely do not keep track at this point of how much I make.)
Didn't do anything particularly amazing to get here. Worked for a few good teams, and people liked the code I wrote, especially my management. I had very supportive managers who pushed hard for their people to be promoted when warranted. I don't have any special skills beyond being a C++ server programmer and everything that entails -- expert knowledge of debugging and performance on various levels, solid design and coding skill, and deep familiarity with many Google proprietary systems.
Re: Ask HN: Do you make more than $200K? What did you have to do?
#49I've made a little over 200K for the past few years, but my problem is how to keep it and build wealth from it. I store a fair amount in home equity, 401k, etc. but any time I've tried anything in the stock market I've lost my ass. But to answer your question, I will echo a lot of people and say "specialize". My brother made a lot of money in the 00's by becoming the last expert of an obscure database product used by…
www.bogleheads.org
Re: Ask HN: Do you make more than $200K? What did you have to do?
#50I make $190k base: $190k base + $10k signing bonus + RSUs = ~$300k total comp > what your role/salary/experience is. Senior full-stack engineer. Located in SF. > How did you get your high salary? Interviewed at many companies and received multiple offers. Kept every door open, made sure the company/team knew I was excited to join, and moved the negotiations and base salary forward. It helped a lot to have an existing…
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