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I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

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Re: I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

#241

Post by ratmeadow »

elegantlie wrote: post #167
ratmeadow wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about America, but keep in mind that having an income which is a large number doesn't necessarily mean you have tonnes of wealth (in most general sense of the word), due to cost of living. In my country, you could be in the top 5% of earners and still not be automatically set or life or anything like that, because tax and housing is so bloody expensive it's ridiculous. Even on $200k+ you're still stuck a…

I worked in big tech in one of the coastal cities. Most of my coworkers, although great people, were delusional in terms of money. I was getting paid between 200k to 400k during my tenure, and after working there a few years, I was set for life. Reality check: even in "high cost of living areas", typical salaries are around 50k. Most of my coworkers came from wealthy families and perceived buying condos in Chelsea as…

I agree with that most tech workers are delusional about money. Yet I still disagree with being the set for life, in my area.

Out of curiosity, what are the tax rates and housing prices where you are?

In my area, the maths would work something like this. Let's say $400k income (extremely high for my city). After tax, more like $200k. Rent might be $30k, plus other costs, let's be generous and say $40k total. That comes out around $160k savings per year. Lets say you work there for 5 years (which IMO is a long time at the start of your career), that's $800k. Median house is $1.5M. You could probably buy a substandard apartment and be back to 0 savings. Is it possible? Absolutely. Is it better than what everyone else is getting? Absolutely. But I don't think it's exactly "set for life" given you've achieved pretty bare minimum...

What I've also found is there's a correlation between people in tech who don't seem to care about money, and having already started from wealth. Oh, how are you saving so much money? Right, you live in your parents' second house... How did you afford that apartment? Oh, your parents paid for half of it... (For added effect, add in a rich partner too.) Etc etc. Strip away generational/systematic wealth and even at the top of the layperson ladder, you're barely getting anywhere.

Re: I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

#242

Post by sangnoir »

saagarjha wrote: post #138
ratmeadow wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about America, but keep in mind that having an income which is a large number doesn't necessarily mean you have tonnes of wealth (in most general sense of the word), due to cost of living. In my country, you could be in the top 5% of earners and still not be automatically set or life or anything like that, because tax and housing is so bloody expensive it's ridiculous. Even on $200k+ you're still stuck a…

That depends on how you live your life. Most of the people who are making even the top 1% of the salaries in the US are probably not set for life. They could be if they quit immediately and moved to Vietnam maybe, but otherwise their cash is probably locked up in a house or spent on things like their car or school for their kids.

What does "set for life" mean? If you're earning $788,000 per year (top 1%), there are many places you can live and be set for life in the US, or even in the state one is currently living in after working for a few years.

Obviously you won't be set for life at any income level if you spend money as quickly as you earn it - hedonic treadmill and all - but there is an income level sufficient to meet all of ones needs, and the rest can be saved and invested.

Rule of thumb is: if you can barely afford the lifestyle you have with an income, you probably can't maintain the same lifestyle without an income.

Re: I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

#243

Post by sangnoir »

ratmeadow wrote: post #241
elegantlie wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked in big tech in one of the coastal cities. Most of my coworkers, although great people, were delusional in terms of money. I was getting paid between 200k to 400k during my tenure, and after working there a few years, I was set for life. Reality check: even in "high cost of living areas", typical salaries are around 50k. Most of my coworkers came from wealthy families and perceived buying condos in Chelsea as…

I agree with that most tech workers are delusional about money. Yet I still disagree with being the set for life, in my area. Out of curiosity, what are the tax rates and housing prices where you are? In my area, the maths would work something like this. Let's say $400k income (extremely high for my city). After tax, more like $200k. Rent might be $30k, plus other costs, let's be generous and say $40k total. That com…

> Yet I still disagree with being the set for life, in my area

I think this might be the root of the difference in perspective. Very few people can be set for life maintaining a lifestyle only just afforded by their income. You may have to move to a cheaper neighborhood or less costly metroplex, and perhaps not buy a new car as frequently. But you won't have to work a day again

Re: I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

#244

Post by [deleted] »

ratmeadow wrote: post #241
elegantlie wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked in big tech in one of the coastal cities. Most of my coworkers, although great people, were delusional in terms of money. I was getting paid between 200k to 400k during my tenure, and after working there a few years, I was set for life. Reality check: even in "high cost of living areas", typical salaries are around 50k. Most of my coworkers came from wealthy families and perceived buying condos in Chelsea as…

I agree with that most tech workers are delusional about money. Yet I still disagree with being the set for life, in my area. Out of curiosity, what are the tax rates and housing prices where you are? In my area, the maths would work something like this. Let's say $400k income (extremely high for my city). After tax, more like $200k. Rent might be $30k, plus other costs, let's be generous and say $40k total. That com…

[deleted]

Re: I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

#245

Post by saagarjha »

sangnoir wrote: post #242
saagarjha wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends on how you live your life. Most of the people who are making even the top 1% of the salaries in the US are probably not set for life. They could be if they quit immediately and moved to Vietnam maybe, but otherwise their cash is probably locked up in a house or spent on things like their car or school for their kids.

What does "set for life" mean? If you're earning $788,000 per year (top 1%), there are many places you can live and be set for life in the US, or even in the state one is currently living in after working for a few years. Obviously you won't be set for life at any income level if you spend money as quickly as you earn it - hedonic treadmill and all - but there is an income level sufficient to meet all of ones needs,…

People who make $700k a year generally do not live in a way that makes it possible for them to retire at 30. Usually they’re aiming for 50+ or even 65 like everyone else, which of course means they both are spending more than someone making $70k but also their requirements when they retire are more. If they let go of the latter they could in fact be “set for life” sooner but it’s typically not the case that someone is capable of doing that suddenly. You have to plan for it over years and decades even then.

Re: I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

#246

Post by SR2Z »

ratmeadow wrote: post #132
sangnoir wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This might also be a microcosm of why the working class is pissed off in America I know it's topical, but I really don't think the working class on America is pissed because they are struggling to increase their annual income from $350,000 to $500,000 at their Big Tech job. That's an elites-problem; or whatever you choose to call anyone in the top 5% earning bracket.

I don't know about America, but keep in mind that having an income which is a large number doesn't necessarily mean you have tonnes of wealth (in most general sense of the word), due to cost of living. In my country, you could be in the top 5% of earners and still not be automatically set or life or anything like that, because tax and housing is so bloody expensive it's ridiculous. Even on $200k+ you're still stuck a…

At $300k, your "cost of living" argument falls apart pretty much everywhere in the US.

Even at $200k, only NYC/SF are so expensive that cost of living changes are meaningful.

Re: I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

#247

Post by maslo0 »

Funny enough, optimizing for promotion is not only a common strategy among individual contributors but is also encourage by mgmt. During my single year at Google I collaborated with a guy from a different team. His strategy was to do most of the meaningful (measureable) work on his own. Fair enough, I don't care. But he didn't predict that the project can be reassign. At that was exactly what happened. When I ask product manager why, he said that this is normal practice, credits should go to the product owning team. When discussed such situations with other googlers two separate views emerge: either you're new and you exploit the system as is or "It's not the same google any more". Funny fact that we still think about that old google when it comes to culture, work, ppl, etc.

Re: I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

#248

Post by epicureanideal »

rswail wrote: post #232
amrocha wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I see what you’re saying, and I agree with you that the wealth inequality between the ultra rich and everyone else is the real challenge. The tech worker with a Google salary is a lot closer to a homeless man on the street than he is to the true 1% in the US, and that’s a real problem.

The top 1% are closer to a homeless person on the street than they are to the top 0.1%. The wealth inequality in the US is the underlying fracture in the social compact that is driving the populist politics that are at play.

Although wealth inequality would not be such a big deal if there were sufficient merit based social mobility and plentiful opportunity to develop merit.

Re: I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

#249

Post by amrocha »

epicureanideal wrote: post #248
rswail wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The top 1% are closer to a homeless person on the street than they are to the top 0.1%. The wealth inequality in the US is the underlying fracture in the social compact that is driving the populist politics that are at play.

Although wealth inequality would not be such a big deal if there were sufficient merit based social mobility and plentiful opportunity to develop merit.

There is no merit that warrants more than 10 million dollars. At that point money is just power, not consumption.

Re: I quit Google to work for myself (2018)

#250

Post by tsunamifury »

epolanski wrote: post #207
egypturnash wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if this is sarcasm or not but: You could make it work if this "everyone forms an LLC in school" initiative comes with "everyone gets a chunk of cash to invest into this business". I assume the time would come from restructuring curriculums so that half of your senior year is spent on this project. Maybe add another year onto high school instead that is the Business Year. This would also require a massive…

I would legit support a law that gives every 18 years old 50k to decide what to do in their life. And to adjust it with life. As a society we would be making a better long term investment in the economy. And give them good education, but most importantly examples we can.

You haven’t lived very long have you. Because this belays a fundamental misunderstanding of how most people work.
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