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Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?

#131

Post by rebaco »

ryandrake wrote: post #116

OK, time to blow some karma. This is one of those “only on HN” posts. Seriously? “I have $500k income and $2M savings but I’m still not happy!” Here’s some blunt feedback: get some perspective. You can do pretty much whatever you want with that kind of coin. If you milked that job for a decade or so, you could retire in opulent luxury almost anywhere in the world. Hell, you could retire now and live modestly in a low…

I thought that when I first started - if I just could go make X/year, I'd retire really fast and it'd all be great!

it tends not to work out that way for most people, I think. Life gets complicated. Sometimes we are the ones doing the complicating, some of it is just that life gets more complex (promotions, kids, wife, stuff).

Being able to wipe away your tears with $100 bills comes at its cost too. Once you have a bunch, you really start to wonder whether it's worth what you paid to get them.

Viktor Frankl observed in a small book that the only thing we truly control is our attitude to our situation, and that small book became a true classic. Unfortunately, he had to live in a concentration camp for a few years to reach that enlightenment. Zen teaches us that we need to let go of the struggle. Again, few are enlightened. Christ called on us to follow Him and worry not for the future because the cares of today are enough, and He was right, but few of us can manage that either.

Perspective is everything, I always used to say. Perspective (and thus what you ask) is, however, very difficult.

Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?

#132

Post by GoldenMonkey »

I have done this many times. Failing each time. The last failure left me with a job at 1/2 of my previous salary. And that after burning thru savings.

What I have discovered. No matter how well your product meets the needs of your market. It is sales that will make your company. And sales can be a lot harder than it seems. Even in a b to b business where companies stand to make $, using your product.

What I am working on now... my free by age 50 plan (i am 42). Create enough streams of income to not need a job. If you don’t want to work. Become anti-fragile... no debt, not reliant on a single source of income(job). So, I am not quitting the crappy job anytime soon. Reduce expenses, save more, create income streams in your spare time. The Mr money mustache blog has this figured out. You can do anything you want, after you have secured your future forever.

Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?

#134

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

tachyonbeam wrote: post #49
poof131 wrote: post #10

Avoid drastic moves. The older I get the more I realize most “drastic move” stories are bs PR pieces. Think how you can move in the direction you want to go in steps. Move to a cheaper location: see if you can move to a satellite office or work remote. No, then look at other jobs you could interview at in the area you want to move to. Translate your FANG experience into a career jump. Then you will have experience an…

I agree that drastic moves are not always wise. OP said they had 1.1M in the bank. If that money was invested in dividend stocks, they could have over 38K of passive income a year. In the US, dividend income is only taxed at 15%, too. They could opt to withdraw the 600K from the 401K, use that to buy a condo in cash, and live off the dividend income. Retire now, basically, and live a fairly comfortable life. It's not…

withdraw the 600K from the 401K, use that to buy a condo in cash

OP wants to move to a lower COL area. Around here $600k, even if you take the tax + penalty hit for an early withdrawal, buys plenty of house. We're talking 5,000 sq ft on 3-5 acres about 15 minutes outside town if rural living floats your boat.

I'd do it in a heartbeat!

Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?

#135

Post by badpun »

siculars wrote: post #129

Clearly you're very good at what you do. Speak to the folks at your company and help them help you make the situation better. Stay at your job. Especially if you have people depending on you like a spouse, kids or parents. Hold out longer and build a bigger cushion. Remove the risk from your plan by building a passive income stream now through investments in the market and/or real estate. Life is a long time if you'r…

> Clearly you're very good at what you do. Speak to the folks at your company and help them help you make the situation better.

I'm in a very similar position (less money, but in a much cheaper country, so I still make about 40x minimum wage). I think in my case partially the reason why the company is paying me so much is precisely because the overall conditions there are so shitty, not because I'm some genius. So, as soon as they improve the conditions, they can start paying less.

Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?

#136

Post by shoulderfake »

justonepost wrote: post #40
lacker wrote: post #18

In 2009 I left my well-paying job at Google to start a startup. I wasn't terribly unhappy at Google - I just didn't want to spend my whole life there, so it seemed like a good time to do something else. Over the next year and a half or so, that startup fizzled. Psychologically that point of failure felt pretty bad. But it seemed pretty clear that I would be able to come back on the job market in a fine situation. Emp…

Wrong advice. First live the life before doing it. Going to move somewhere? Rent first. Going to live a life with a lower living standard? Start living on a budget first. So when you are forced to do this, you and your family will be able to accept and adapt properly.

Overly cautious approach. The guy has a very nice cushion as it is. He doesn't need to live off a budget before switching to a startup. And obv he would rent something in a new place before straight up buying a place in a town he's not familiar with.

Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?

#137

Post by badpun »

maxwin wrote: post #4
haser_au wrote: post #2

Take a year of unpaid sabbatical leave. If the company you work for actually wants to keep you around, they'll give you this opportunity to take a career break to really have a go at something different. It works for you and for the company. You get to go out there and see what it's like for startups, the challenges, etc. And then apply those lessons internally. I know lots of people in their 40's and 50's who have d…

Most company can’t leave a position open for 1 year. If they can , then they probably don’t need this person anymore.

I'd say that, especially in a large corporation, if you're a company veteran, with X years of knowledge of the internals, systems, business cases, managers etc., then you're really worth a lot more than a random guy from the street, even he matches your CV in terms of generic experience. A smart company would be more than happy to take you back after your sabbatical.

In other words, in large organizations, organizational complexity can be the main challenge, while tech challenges are really secondary. I see that in a large bank every day.

Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?

#138

Post by badpun »

sigi45 wrote: post #115

I don't get why you would invest your money into it? You have more than enough money to retire for life. Get a nice house, add solar power, get your water out of the ground, make your living expense low but with quality. THAN start putting the most valuable thing into your idea/startup: Your Time. When you have something good enough, to show, find investors. IF your idea is good enough and it is relevant enough, you…

> THAN start putting the most valuable thing into your idea/startup: Your Time. When you have something good enough, to show, find investors. IF your idea is good enough and it is relevant enough, you get help from others. If not, yeah forget it.

He may need work done that's beyond his skillset. For example, he mentioned mobile gaming, where the brunt of the work is in the assets (art, audio).

Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?

#139

Post by baalzaamon »

This would be a great question for https://www.indiehackers.com/ . Really supportive community for people who want to bootstrap something on their own. Most people there will tell you to ease into it. Can you spend a few weeks or months doing both to see if you even like it, and then gradually transition?

Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?

#140

Post by dmoy »

smilesnd wrote: post #60
dmoy wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cost of living in Cali is crazy expensive, though your example is a bit exaggerated. $250k if it's medium-ish midwest town maybe.

There is a website that calculates this kind of stuff. https://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/charlotte-nc/palo-... *Edited: Should also say I fully understand that if your duckduckgo skills are hardcore mode you can find a website to support anything you say.

Sure if you cherry pick like literally the most expensive 25sq mile neighborhood, and are dead set on buying real estate and not renting.

But even then, the calculation on bestplaces.net appears to be a bit farcical:

Assuming you spend $8k/month on renting a large modern 2500+ sqft house, and are in the tax bracket which knocks your after-tax income to $300k from $500k, you still have ~$200k after tax and housing. The rest of your expenses are not going to be so much more expensive (~4x) that they don't vastly exceed $100k - tax (~25k) - housing (24k for similar) in NC.

$250k in NC vs $500k in bay area though sure, that's in the right realm.

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