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21 Years of Income as a Software Engineer in San Francisco

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Re: 21 Years of Income as a Software Engineer in San Francisco

#141
post #56
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious: why wouldn't you adjust for inflation? That seems to make it more of an apples-to-apples comparison to me.

Inflation is a very broad trend to adjust for. Maybe a dollar was worth 2% more in some part of the country while it bought you 5% less elsewhere. The ups and downs in local cost of living are probably extreme in SF, so adjusting with a nation-wide trend (which is probably nowhere near representative for SF) might be a bit arbitrary.

Excellent point. I just did a quick search and can't really find figures on "regional" inflation or CPI. That's... annoying.

Re: 21 Years of Income as a Software Engineer in San Francisco

#142
post #141
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inflation is a very broad trend to adjust for. Maybe a dollar was worth 2% more in some part of the country while it bought you 5% less elsewhere. The ups and downs in local cost of living are probably extreme in SF, so adjusting with a nation-wide trend (which is probably nowhere near representative for SF) might be a bit arbitrary.

Excellent point. I just did a quick search and can't really find figures on "regional" inflation or CPI. That's... annoying.

https://www.bls.gov/cpi/regional-resources.htm

Re: 21 Years of Income as a Software Engineer in San Francisco

#143
post #80

$150k in 1997 would be a little higher than 150K today. Sharing on average dollars of income available to save after taxes per year would be interesting. At the end of the day it's not just what you make, but what you are in a position to save.

How much do you save per paycheck? What is the average?

Re: 21 Years of Income as a Software Engineer in San Francisco

#144
post #80

$150k in 1997 would be a little higher than 150K today. Sharing on average dollars of income available to save after taxes per year would be interesting. At the end of the day it's not just what you make, but what you are in a position to save.

How much do you save per paycheck? What is the average?

150,000 in 1997 is about $230,000 in 2017 dollars based on an average inflation calendar.

Which would you rather have had to save with?

Saving as much of salary as possible is rarely a bad thing.

With salaries this high - it could be between 40-70% depending on where you live (maybe even more) and if you co-habitate with someone.

Re: 21 Years of Income as a Software Engineer in San Francisco

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting perspective! As an engineer contemplating SG, I would love to hear your Singapore story - what did you find there, and what did you eventually do?

I found it was 98% companies like ^^ that. The companies I actually worked in were bad. I found two companies that seemed more or less sane (ok, but neither blew me away). One of them was receptive to hiring me but I got a different offer before we worked things out which I took and regretted. The other deliberated for, I think, two months before giving me an offer. That was more or less the last straw. I turned them…

> Not long after I returned I discovered that not one but both of these companies were acquihired by Google when they opened an office in SG.

Do you mean the 2 companies were both acquihired by Google when Google opened the Singapore office?

Since that's many years ago, out of curiosity, do you mind sharing the 2 companies' names? Thank you.

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