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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

#231

Post by pvinis »

DVassallo wrote: post #161
lowercased wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless that $1M is stuffed under your mattress, you likely have some income from is. Even sitting in a CD at 2% you'll be pulling in $20k/year - that's not "no income". What I think you mean is you don't have steady W2 income from an employer.

True. I've put most of it in short-term US treasuries at ~2.5%, so making about that much after taxes.

I would much prefer reading a post about quitting to do something off your own, or just about setting up your own thing, without the money angle.

A different post would inspire me to try too. A post like this one makes me sad to be less privileged.

And I'm not saying that to make you feel bad or anything. People have different circumstances and make different choices for themselves, some biased by the circumstances and some not. I'm just saying it as a consumer of a text. Just throwing my opinion with no expectations of anyone catching it.

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

#232

Post by cpursley »

sytelus wrote: post #224
EpicEng wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>$1m is not enough for most people in the US to never work again, unless they are quite frugal. i.e. "$1m is not enough for most people in the US to never work again assuming they want to live to the standard that I have become accustomed to." Which very likely does not apply to "most people". We do pretty well for ourselves and it's easy to forget that "most people" live paycheck to paycheck on far less.

Florida is popular retirement destination in US and comfort living cost there for 2 people is about $50K annual without taxes. Part of the high cost is that most people in our generation won’t have paid off their mortgage and monthly $1500 expense is expected just for that. Add on the top property taxes, high cost of medical, high cost of smart devices, phone plans, eating out even once a week - etc. If you have kids…

+1 for Florida. You can buy a 3 bedroom home on a barrier island within walking/biking distance to a pristine beach for $500k. Even less for a nice condo.

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

#233

Post by DVassallo »

kamaal wrote: post #218

If you are making $500K an year. By many a definition, you are already on a way to NOT needing to work ever in a few years, than even working for yourself. Why would you throwaway an opportunity to amass like $5 million in 10 years, and then put it in a retirement fund and just retire. Instead of throwing it all away and starting all over again on something that is known to work in only exceptional cases(start up lot…

I have no interest in retiring. I like working, and I would miss it if I stopped. And I’m not a believer of the traditional deferred life plan. I prefer doing it now rather than in 10 years.

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

#234

Post by bbg215 »

startupdiscuss wrote: post #138
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're looking at it the wrong way (i think). The point is not that he is starving, or that he is desperate. The point of that number is what he gave up! The point is he gave up a job of 0.5 million, potentially 1 million in a few years. To top it off the job had reasonable hours, great people and he was getting positive feedback. You would not expect people to give that up. The question is why? Instead, you're point…

He didn't give anything up. He can have his job back anytime he wants it back realistically. Title should be "Quitting your 9-5 is easy, just make sure you are loaded with $$$ and have the most in demand skill set on the planet."

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

#235

Post by Veelox »

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.

The 40th percentile income in the US is $43.3k [0], with 126 million households [1], that comes out to about 50 million households that make less than $44k.

To put my feelings bluntly, get out of your bubble.

[0] https://statisticalatlas.com/United-States/Household-Income [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=us+number+of+households

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

#236

Post by DVassallo »

Veelox wrote: post #235
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.

The 40th percentile income in the US is $43.3k [0], with 126 million households [1], that comes out to about 50 million households that make less than $44k. To put my feelings bluntly, get out of your bubble. [0] https://statisticalatlas.com/United-States/Household-Income [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=us+number+of+households

Just my insurance is $20K/year (health, life, disability, home, auto, umbrella). Then $10K/year in property taxes. Then $30K/year in mortgage interest. That's already $60K/year and doesn't include food, utilities, schools, etc.

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

#238

Post by DVassallo »

sherlock_h wrote: post #237

What are your plans now? How are you going to get started? Any direction you want to take or will you first take a few weeks/months off to re-direct?

I will spend a couple of months exploring some idea. Then will test something in the market and iterate/change based on market feedback.

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

#240

Post by DVassallo »

czechdeveloper wrote: post #239

We have saying in Czechia along the lines "he is dissatisfied because he has it too good". I've had friend of a friend like this who ended up in suicide, because he was unable to replicate his success in big company. I wish him luck regardless.

That sucks. I'm okay if I never reach the same income as I had though.
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