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Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

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Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#11

Post by baddox »

acangiano wrote: post #3
Tyrant505 wrote: post #2

From someone who's been failing startups since 2000, I can't imagine what I would do with that much money... It's really baffling..

Sadly, 100K isn't that much these days if you have a family and you live in an expensive city like Toronto or New York.

I think you need to elaborate on what you mean by "not that much these days." According to a bit of Googling, 100k in NYC is about 48k where I live. 48k family income around here for a family with 2 adults and 2 children is far from rich, but it's fairly reasonable middle class and it's certainly doable with a modicum of responsible finance-handling.

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#13

Post by redthrowaway »

acangiano wrote: post #3
Tyrant505 wrote: post #2

From someone who's been failing startups since 2000, I can't imagine what I would do with that much money... It's really baffling..

Sadly, 100K isn't that much these days if you have a family and you live in an expensive city like Toronto or New York.

Vancouver here. 100k is really only enough for a very middle class life.

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#14

Post by flyosity »

loboman wrote: post #12

How much is 100k a year in the US? I thought it wasn't so much for good programmers, at least in SV. Is a 100k programmer something unheard of in the US?

It really depends on where you live. $100k in the Bay Area or New York City is a good salary but doesn't go that far after you pay for the exorbitant rent and other high cost of living expenses. Compared to Raleigh, NC (southeast U.S.) where I live, $100k goes pretty far and is a very good salary for a software engineer since living costs are so much lower.

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#17

Post by acangiano »

baddox wrote: post #11
acangiano wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly, 100K isn't that much these days if you have a family and you live in an expensive city like Toronto or New York.

I think you need to elaborate on what you mean by "not that much these days." According to a bit of Googling, 100k in NYC is about 48k where I live. 48k family income around here for a family with 2 adults and 2 children is far from rich, but it's fairly reasonable middle class and it's certainly doable with a modicum of responsible finance-handling.

$100K in expensive cities is equivalent to a squarely middle class income elsewhere. Not a bad life by any means, but it's far from, "I can't imagine what I would do with that much money". Six figures are still six figures with responsible management of one's finances, but it's not the well-off lifestyle some may imagine.

Re: Redditors earning $100k+ a year, what are your secrets to your success?

#18

Post by baddox »

feverishaaron wrote: post #9

Be careful about chasing a dollar amount. $100K is pretty baseline for someone who has technical/design etc. skills. Moving into the $200K+ salary range often means working a lot of overtime, which leaves little time for enjoyable pursuits, or side projects which may eventually earn far more than that extra $100K a year.

$100K baseline? That sounds like you're talking about entry-level, which can't be right regardless of where you live. I believe that the mean annual income for a software developer in the USA is about USD 75k. I found one estimate as high as 90k. In non-coastal areas (even big cities in the Midwest, Texas, etc.), entry level positions requiring a 4-year CS degree are commonly 45k-60k.
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