Ask HN: Is it possible to make $200K/year base salary? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make $200K/year base salary?

#91

Post by iplaw » Mon, Jan 16, 2017, 9:25 PM UTC

dlp211 wrote: post #89

iplaw wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for FIRE, which is why I chose the career path that I have. I could have retired 3 years ago after brokering one lucrative patent deal and collecting my brokerage fee. But earning $200k will not get you there without living a miserable existence.

This is another lie. I make $150k/yr and could retire in a decade (barring a black swan event) and I just started my career 2 years ago. I live in a luxury townhome that is less than a 15 minute commute by bike or car to work, a trader joe's that is literally around the corner, and more restaurants then I can count on my hands within a 5 minute walk. I want for nothing, drive a BMW 5 series, I have a second car that…

Probably the latter, I've forgotten what it means to live a miserable existence. I grew up in a family of four with a combined income of $30k, which linearly grew over 15 years to $100k and plateaued while I was in high school. It wasn't miserable, but I was sheltered by my parents. Bills were stressful.

While I was in law school and my girlfriend was in medical school, we were pretty damn broke and racking up debt. That was miserable.

Fast forward. I start working, and she is a resident. We're making $200k combined and it's a struggle. Student loan debt allowed us to realize these salaries, but they also inhibit financial growth. Trust me, there were no luxurious purchases or apartments.

And then ... I brokered a deal that netted me 8-figures and paid off all debt, bought a house, etc. The end.

For others making $200k while paying off student loan debt, the struggle is real. You'd be able to considering focusing on retirement after 10, 15, or even 30 years of student loan repayment. But I figure that the LAST thing a person would want to do is willingly continue to divert large sum of income to future financial well being after so many years of pinching.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make $200K/year base salary?

#92

Post by iplaw » Mon, Jan 16, 2017, 9:31 PM UTC

dlp211 wrote: post #88

iplaw wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So let me get this right. This hypothetical includes a $200k salary. Once you consider Federal income tax, FICA, and State income tax, you're sitting $130k in CA and NY, $135k in OK, etc. You want to "put away" $80k/year. Haha.

That is literally if you do nothing to shield yourself from taxes AND you are single. Do you plan on being single your entire life? and never investing in any tax advantage accounts?, never tax loss harvesting?, never being semi-serious about FIRE? You are so out of touch it is beyond unreal. There are people that live and work in every single one of those locales on 1/3rd and less just fine.

I have a CPA tax attorney who handles this for me. As I said in the other reply, I don't think that I am out of touch.

$200k isn't as much as people make it out to be. It's enough to not worry about monthly commitments, but it's not enough for much else. A new construction home in a middle class part of Dallas runs $700k, or $3300/month + another $13k in tax = $50k annually. Add your 5-Series for $500/month for another $6000. Plus insurance. Meh.

And as I said before, at $200k, you can utilize a 401(k).

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make $200K/year base salary?

#93

Post by acconrad » Mon, Jan 16, 2017, 11:09 PM UTC

Should I be depressed by this thread or inspired? I may get a raise to $150k/yr and I thought that was doing well for the northeast, but this just makes me feel like I've made bad career choices to be in the workforce for 8 years with only this salary to show for it. I genuinely can't tell if I'm doing well for my age/experience/location or if I'm suckered into a job that isn't valuing me.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make $200K/year base salary?

#94

Post by micahbright » Tue, Jan 17, 2017, 1:04 AM UTC

iplaw wrote: post #82

dlp211 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is absolutely nuts to me. At 200k you should be able to put away 80k+/yr if you are even semi-serious about FIRE. At that rate with a 7 percent return, adjusted for inflation, after 20 years you'd have 3.5MM in assets which would provide a safe withdraw rate of 140k/yr. This assumes that you make not a single dollar more adjusted for inflation than that 200k. 140k/yr is nearly 3x median income in America. This i…

So let me get this right. This hypothetical includes a $200k salary. Once you consider Federal income tax, FICA, and State income tax, you're sitting $130k in CA and NY, $135k in OK, etc. You want to "put away" $80k/year. Haha.

I make $110k per year. I pay, $15k in child support, and save $40k per year. Yes, you can easily save $80k per year on a $200k salary. It just depends on how you decide to spend your money.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make $200K/year base salary?

#95

Post by shaftway » Tue, Jan 17, 2017, 11:26 PM UTC

nunez wrote: post #75

erubin wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why you don't consider stock in a public company that you can immediately sell every monthly vesting period liquid.

Because you have to work for several years (4 at Google) before you can liquidate them completely (don't forget about taxes) and you have to rely on non-deterministic factors to keep that train going (stock refreshes, raises, promo bonuses, etc.) Salary is much more straightforward, and more predictable.

The large companies keep that gravy train rolling. If they don't do refreshes, people walk after their last vesting event.

The hot new thing is to do continuous vesting with annual refreshes. That way you're constantly accruing and the only time you can't exit is during company blackouts.