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Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

danielvassallo.com

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Re: Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

#101

Post by pureagave »

cpursley wrote: post #58
blaisio wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$1m is not enough for most people in the US to never work again, unless they are quite frugal. It's barely enough to retire with.

What bubble/ivory tower part of the country are you in? $1m is enough. Especially with a paid-off mortgage. Most people get by for way, way less than that.

In the bay area and almost everywhere on the west coast you are looking at over $1k/month in property taxes for that house with a "paid-off mortgage." In most states you never really "own" your home. You only own it while you pay tax every six months until you are dead.

Re: Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

#102

Post by ljf »

blaisio wrote: post #45
Dayshine wrote: post #6

> When I first hit $100K income, I would take a peek at my W2 for a few days admiring the six digits, but then it wore off. When I hit $200K, $300K, $400K, and $500K, it was the same thing. I would be delusional to think that earning $1M, or $10M would suddenly make it different. >What is out there that I could do that would make me excited waking up every day for the next 45 years that could also earn me enough mone…

$1m is not enough for most people in the US to never work again, unless they are quite frugal. It's barely enough to retire with.

What is the average household income in the US?

Re: Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

#104

Post by DVassallo »

fma wrote: post #97

Looks like lots of comments here are negative. I hope it doesn't deter you or get you down. It's tough to leave a high paying job to pursue something different and I wish you all the best. It's interesting timing to quit now. If you have 45 years to work, why not work a few more years to have a much longer runway? Safe withdrawal rate now is $40k...if you did 3 more years to and saved $2 mill, that's a double of your…

> why not work a few more years to have a much longer runway?

Because I didn't want to keep postponing. There will always be something that I could be waiting for.

PS. Regarding health insurance. No $1.2K/month is from the ACA marketplace. I could have continued Amazon's through cobra for 1 year, but it was about $1.5K. When I was with Amazon, I think I only paid $300/month.

Re: Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

#105

Post by Jotra7 »

DVassallo wrote: post #89
Someone1234 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you'd have $275k net. If you remove generous expenses, you have $200k a year in savings. In Seattle Washington? You'd have an extremely hard time making ends meet on $75K, it certainly isn't "generous." For example median home value in Seattle is $725K.

My expenses are about $150K a year. Fixed costs per month: * $5K mortgage * $1.2K health insurance * $300 life and disability insurance * $800 utilities * $2K home services: nanny, sitter, cleaner * $800 school / preschool and kids activities * $2K groceries, essentials, etc I have a family, two small kids (4 and 2), and live a comfortable life in Seattle. I could obviously adjust my standard of living, move somewher…

$2K home services: nanny, sitter, cleaner.

Spends more per month on luxuries than most people make in the US, cries.

Get a grip, dude.

Re: Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

#106

Post by fierro »

cpursley wrote: post #30
Dayshine wrote: post #6

> When I first hit $100K income, I would take a peek at my W2 for a few days admiring the six digits, but then it wore off. When I hit $200K, $300K, $400K, and $500K, it was the same thing. I would be delusional to think that earning $1M, or $10M would suddenly make it different. >What is out there that I could do that would make me excited waking up every day for the next 45 years that could also earn me enough mone…

I get that everyone's priorities are different, but I'm always amazed that ultra high income earners don't do this (this being live well below means, invest the rest in index funds then go work on passion projects, hobbies, focus on family). Lifestyle inflation and projecting status is a pricey hedonistic treadmill that is ultimately unrewarding.

lifestyle creep is real

Re: Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

#107

Post by hinkley »

duxup wrote: post #22
hprotagonist wrote: post #3

I’m going all in on independence, and I’m going to try to make a living with my own bare hands starting from nothing. 500k/year in your last year is "nothing", huh? It really undercuts the entire thrust of the post, because you're starting with a nice big war chest and a hell of a safety net, not "nothing".

You see a lot of that in some odd lifestyle bloggers and media folks. They have a bunch of money, move upstate, talk about all these crafty / cosey things they do and how great a life choice they made and contrast it with a lot of bad things .... that are the only reason they can make the choices they can now.

I’m about to downshift myself. I have no illusions how much lower my cost of living will be due to selling my big city house and needing a comparatively tiny loan for the next one.

I’m reminded regularly about a line from the Dalai Lama. When we are young we sell our health for money and when we are old we will pay anything to get it back.

My original life plan was to do this maybe 8-10 years earlier. But the startups I picked didn’t go big (I chose for impact not cash out potential), two recessions and a divorce. And I can only do this now because I have simpler tastes (except for tools).

Re: Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

#108

Post by [deleted] »

DVassallo wrote: post #89
Someone1234 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you'd have $275k net. If you remove generous expenses, you have $200k a year in savings. In Seattle Washington? You'd have an extremely hard time making ends meet on $75K, it certainly isn't "generous." For example median home value in Seattle is $725K.

My expenses are about $150K a year. Fixed costs per month: * $5K mortgage * $1.2K health insurance * $300 life and disability insurance * $800 utilities * $2K home services: nanny, sitter, cleaner * $800 school / preschool and kids activities * $2K groceries, essentials, etc I have a family, two small kids (4 and 2), and live a comfortable life in Seattle. I could obviously adjust my standard of living, move somewher…

[deleted]

Re: Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

#109

Post by sadris »

pureagave wrote: post #101
cpursley wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What bubble/ivory tower part of the country are you in? $1m is enough. Especially with a paid-off mortgage. Most people get by for way, way less than that.

In the bay area and almost everywhere on the west coast you are looking at over $1k/month in property taxes for that house with a "paid-off mortgage." In most states you never really "own" your home. You only own it while you pay tax every six months until you are dead.

Why would you retire in a high cost of living area?

Re: Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

#110

Post by icedchai »

Why not stay there and milk it for a few years? Once you have that safety net built up, there is little reason to care. So do as little as possible... Come in late, leave early. Do this a little bit at a time. With your good reputation, you can probably get another mil out of them.
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