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My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

software.rajivprab.com

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Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#491

Post by 2-718-281-828 »

VirusNewbie wrote: post #485
2-718-281-828 wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but to also encourage the successful to share their insights with others laughing my ass off ... I expect the successful first and formost to share their success through actually paying taxes - then we can talk about their advice which won't be useful for the majority anyway b/c success in monetary terms is always defined by being focused on a minority.

I'm not sure where you live, but in the US, the government has done a terrible job with capital allocation and for every dollar given to the government in taxes what % do you think goes to helping those in need who deserve the help?

so, charities and donations instead?

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#492

Post by stocknoob »

supernova87a wrote: post #449
stocknoob wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re floating on a boat in the ocean. Do you want to be in a boat that is sinking, and requires you to bail water every day, or one that is naturally buoyant? “Oh, if you don’t have to bail water to keep from drowning you’ll just sit there in the ocean not doing anything.” No. You can go where you want, without worry. “But I like bailing water, it gives me purpose, I want to do this forever!” That’s nice, I like fi…

Interesting, but that's a particular interpretation of work, isn't it? That's it's toiling at bailing out a sinking ship? What if work is like growing a garden and the more you do the more you get?

Sure, it’s like growing a garden, where if you don’t grow enough you go hungry ;-).

For most, work is first about survival/decent quality of life, and then life satisfaction. FI is about taking the survival element off the table, so you can pursue satisfaction at work (or elsewhere).

(Put another way, people seem to argue that they prefer to stay financially _dependent_ — stay that way if you want, and hope your preferences never change.)

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#493

Post by lucaspm98 »

Zababa wrote: post #424
dogma1138 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I don’t get how their outgoings are so low given where they must live… rent or buy it simply doesn’t fit even if they are renting a room and living of cup noodles based on rent in the Bay Area some of their outgoings are suspiciously low. So I think getting a house gifted by your parents is also a requirement for their path.

Not really. An appartment alone is $2000 a month according to the post. That's 24% of your income at $100k, and not even 4% at $620k. I don't know how much people in the US usually spend on rent/housing, but anything under 30% of your income seems low to me.

30-33% of income is the rule of the thumb as the maximum a landlord would accept a tenant to rent in the US.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#494

Post by ambrose2 »

htormey wrote: post #126
georgeburdell wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I don’t consider myself in anyway special As someone who has within the last few months failed three FAANG on-sites and a Coinbase phone screen, I’d say you’re special.

I hate tech interviews. If it’s any consolation, I remember when I interviewed at Apple, I failed 10 interviews for multiple teams over 2 years before I got my first job.

I thought there was a maximum lifetime limit for applying e.g. 3?

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#495

Post by stocknoob »

mwattsun wrote: post #437
detaro wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"caring about" != "caretakers"

Right, I didn't say caretakers. You can hire those to come in daily. Another nice option money buys is a great luxury senior living home. A good one starts at $3500 a month but typically costs more (while the average cost for a senior living community in Santa Cruz, CA is $5,595) https://www.merrillgardens.com/senior-living/ca/santa-cruz/s... https://www.dominicanoaks.com/

No post body was provided.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#496

Post by garmaine »

yunohn wrote: post #305
garmaine wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Students also have lots of debt over the past decade (15k on average) Those are amateur numbers. -USA

I know loads of students with more debt, but indeed, it’s less than the USA. Not an acceptable amount regardless.

Really? That seems something that could be paid off pretty easily. Not like US student debt which is the size of house in value.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#497

Post by mrVentures »

2-718-281-828 wrote: post #491
VirusNewbie wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure where you live, but in the US, the government has done a terrible job with capital allocation and for every dollar given to the government in taxes what % do you think goes to helping those in need who deserve the help?

so, charities and donations instead?

I would certainly go with a givewell approved charity before donating my money to the government

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#498

Post by dogma1138 »

vr46 wrote: post #374
dogma1138 wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a 2019 purchase there is no way that’s more than a studio maybe maybe a tiny 1 bed, if I want to buy where I rent now (W2) I’m looking at 1M+ for any two bed that isn’t a 50sq/m lower ground closet, the non council is a given I don’t think there are any council properties in Soho… The 2 bed flat I’m renting got recently evaluated at 1.7M it’s very nice and very large (for London)but the lease remaining on it is 6…

I stayed at my ex's flat in W2 around twenty years ago, the estate was selling 2-beds for 240K then - are you suggesting those flats are over £1M?? I dare not look at prices. Edit: Reader, he looked at the prices Found almost identical flat at 499,999K, so coming in at less than Millbank flats were going for in 2016. Those flats are only £25K more now. This seems perfectly doable for software engineers who have a goo…

Which site are you looking at?

The only flats in my area around 600K all have a huge asterisk the leasehold on them is about to expire so you can only buy them in cash.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114810275

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109851434

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#499

Post by vanusa »

sneak wrote: post #95
pyrale wrote: post #58

Turns out, earning half a million dollars every year makes it easy to be a millionaire after a few years.

Your flip comment seems to belie the fact that he's only earned at least a half a million dollars for one year. Most of his years he earned substantially less than that. The majority of his NW comes from investment and savings, not income. The point of the article is that cutting expenses, saving, investing wisely, and aggressively pursuing pay raises can yield a few million well before retirement age. These sort of…

Your flip comment seems to belie fact that he's only earned at least a half a million dollars for one year.

475k == 500k for all practical purposes. The guy averaged 525k for 3 solid years (not "one year") -- which makes the parent comment rather less flip.

These sort of casual dismissals negate the educational value of the post.

The bottom line is that while saving and investing is certainly smart -- you better damn sure be earning 98 percentile income as well if you want to get as far ahead of the game as this guy has.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#500

Post by Supermancho »

AYBABTME wrote: post #487
giantg2 wrote: post #481

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what an optimistic person would say. A pessimistic person might believe they have a better outcome because of hedging against the pessimistic possibilities. It seems we should need objective data to filter through the bias.

There's research supporting the optimist strategy but I'll be lame in that I can't link you to it without searching for it longer than I can dedicate time for. I think Codex Alpha talked about it fwiw. Personally, I'm in the "shoot for the stars, hope for the moon" camp. Pragmatic optimism or realistic optimism? Some such.

> I learnt that even an average engineer with a five-figure salary can become a millionaire by her late 30s, through financial discipline and investment planning.

I can collect enough pennies to have a million dollars too. What do you trade for that and how likely is it that you will have the resources to live it out? His living expenses are put at 0 with a network of whatever his salary was. No rent, no car, default employer health insurance, 600/mo to eat ramen and cover utils, no kids, etc.

> There's research supporting the optimist strategy

The statistical evidence supports the pessimist strategy. In theory, theory and practice they are the same...

These blogposts feel like clickbait to troll. It inevitably leads to people arguing past each other with the predictable outcome of neither being wholly right, but the optimists blowing sunshine like it's a useful fairy dust and the premise remains laughably unrealistic, regardless. I know plenty of dirt poor optimists.

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