3 ms·

I'd strongly advise you to reevaluate some things about your lifestyle if you haven't managed to save any of your IT salary.

crush_xc 10y ago
student loans :( if I don't put as much towards it as I can after 401k I end up losing money.
shoo 10y ago
possible alternative explanations: 1. laid off after three months into your first job after an expensive education, still have negative net worth with a lot of student debt to pay off 2. unexpected events (e.g. serious medical ongoing problems requiring expensive treatment) completely wiped out savings 3. working somewhere for years that doesn't pay enough money beyond what's required to subsist. I've probably missed a bunch of other things. I'm lucky enough to: be in a country where student debt repayments are tied to income and managed by the government and there's no interest beyond an index for inflation; have never been laid off; live in a country with a functional public health system where health insurance is affordable; have no dependants; have never needed to pay for ongoing serious medical treatment for myself or another person; have always been paid enough (even in non-IT jobs) such that it is possible to save a bit of money.
- ryandrake 10y ago
  Bingo. Additionally, any "book on life skills" is going to emphasize: 1. Building an emergency fund 2. Funding retirement account 3. Paying down debt, highest rate first _IF_ I've managed to "put away a lousy ten grand" it's gone into one of those things, not into a discretionary spending account. Further, even if I was to become so fortunate as to have $10K in discretionary savings (which, by the way, in the real world is an awful lot of money for working folks), I'm sure as shit not going to blow it on an international vacation when I'm surviving on my emergency fund without an income. Take it from someone who has lost their job suddenly in a bad job market: The second that happens, time is your worst enemy. Do the long division, and mark a big red X on your calendar on the day you run out of money. Take any job you find before that day comes.
moises_silva 10y ago
What's with the judgement? A lot of people work in IT in places where the pay is good but not that good that many situations can lead to little or no savings. Having many dependants doesn't help either (kids, sick family members, elders you need to support and what not). It reminds me of the bubble some of us live on thinking everyone has it good and that it's just a matter of being disciplined to save money.
- totalZero 10y ago
  I don't see any judgment in his sentence, only a suggestion. Seems wise to me. > (kids, sick family members, elders you need to support and what not) All of those things can lead to surprise costs, which serves to justify saving some coin.
  - moises_silva 10y ago
    Fair enough, I may very well be reading too much into it, but, just to explain myself: A comment strongly advising to do personal changes in someone's life, and lifestyle in particular, based on barely any information on that person's life, does sound judgmental to me. It's implying that he or she is doing something seriously wrong if he/she hasn't managed to save money and it's on the IT business (like if that were a guarantee of earning good money). The "seriously wrong" interpretation comes from the "strong advice emphasis". The comment is clearly making it sound like someone in IT who hasn't managed to save doesn't know what his doing with his finances and needs basic advice on lifestyle and saving choices. > All of those things can lead to surprise costs, which serves to justify saving some coin I think you're missing my point here. Of course it's a good idea to save, but not everyone's circumstances at any time allow to.
- slgeorge 10y ago
  I don't get this type of structure or fear of being "judged" when addressing articles. When you say this: > What's with the judgement? How does one feel judged by the writer of an article who doesn't know the reader. It's a writing device addressing the reader as if they were physically there, but of course they are not. It feels like eminently sensible advice to "save money", I don't see how anyone can disagree with that, but of course there are a legion of specific circumstances that would prevent someone from being able to do so - none of which the writer can know, which consequently means they are not "judging" the reader. How has it become a thing to feel that some sort of judgement over preferred patterns of behaviour is negative. If everything is written in just plain "of course all choices are good choices" then conversation/writing is inherently uninteresting. Of course, one does not have to agree with the point of view of the article. Ultimately, it's not as if any individual reader is going to be deeply emotionally damaged by the random "judgements" of a writer on the Internet surely?
Gruselbauer 10y ago
Also not everyone is working in the valley, or even the US for that matter. My German income would allow for a nice life in Thailand, but by no means indefinitely and not to a much higher standard than I have here. Still, I'm going to be travelling a lot next year since I a) just did get laid off and b) get 80% of my last wage as unemployment bonus for a year. Anyway, thanks Jason for this blog. I've recently turned thirty and feel like you have listed all the right reasons to just go for it.
- mercer 10y ago
  Same in Holland. I make a very decent living as a freelancer to the point of feeling uncomfortable around many of my peers, many of whom are struggling just to find a non-menial job and/or make ends meet. But it's primarily ease of finding work and a decent salary, not so much that I make tons of money. But being just past thirty and hearing of other developers making bank in SV, Switzerland, or BigCorps, as well as hearing about the problems 'we' will most likely face in older age, I'm getting more serious about trying to find one of those really high paying jobs for a few years. Plus, I can't help but wonder how long all this will last, especially web/mobile development.

crush_xc 10y ago

student loans :( if I don't put as much towards it as I can after 401k I end up losing money.

shoo 10y ago

possible alternative explanations: 1. laid off after three months into your first job after an expensive education, still have negative net worth with a lot of student debt to pay off 2. unexpected events (e.g. serious medical ongoing problems requiring expensive treatment) completely wiped out savings 3. working somewhere for years that doesn't pay enough money beyond what's required to subsist. I've probably missed a bunch of other things. I'm lucky enough to: be in a country where student debt repayments are tied to income and managed by the government and there's no interest beyond an index for inflation; have never been laid off; live in a country with a functional public health system where health insurance is affordable; have no dependants; have never needed to pay for ongoing serious medical treatment for myself or another person; have always been paid enough (even in non-IT jobs) such that it is possible to save a bit of money.

ryandrake 10y ago
Bingo. Additionally, any "book on life skills" is going to emphasize: 1. Building an emergency fund 2. Funding retirement account 3. Paying down debt, highest rate first _IF_ I've managed to "put away a lousy ten grand" it's gone into one of those things, not into a discretionary spending account. Further, even if I was to become so fortunate as to have $10K in discretionary savings (which, by the way, in the real world is an awful lot of money for working folks), I'm sure as shit not going to blow it on an international vacation when I'm surviving on my emergency fund without an income. Take it from someone who has lost their job suddenly in a bad job market: The second that happens, time is your worst enemy. Do the long division, and mark a big red X on your calendar on the day you run out of money. Take any job you find before that day comes.

moises_silva 10y ago

What's with the judgement? A lot of people work in IT in places where the pay is good but not that good that many situations can lead to little or no savings. Having many dependants doesn't help either (kids, sick family members, elders you need to support and what not). It reminds me of the bubble some of us live on thinking everyone has it good and that it's just a matter of being disciplined to save money.

totalZero 10y ago
I don't see any judgment in his sentence, only a suggestion. Seems wise to me. > (kids, sick family members, elders you need to support and what not) All of those things can lead to surprise costs, which serves to justify saving some coin.
- moises_silva 10y ago
  Fair enough, I may very well be reading too much into it, but, just to explain myself: A comment strongly advising to do personal changes in someone's life, and lifestyle in particular, based on barely any information on that person's life, does sound judgmental to me. It's implying that he or she is doing something seriously wrong if he/she hasn't managed to save money and it's on the IT business (like if that were a guarantee of earning good money). The "seriously wrong" interpretation comes from the "strong advice emphasis". The comment is clearly making it sound like someone in IT who hasn't managed to save doesn't know what his doing with his finances and needs basic advice on lifestyle and saving choices. > All of those things can lead to surprise costs, which serves to justify saving some coin I think you're missing my point here. Of course it's a good idea to save, but not everyone's circumstances at any time allow to.
slgeorge 10y ago
I don't get this type of structure or fear of being "judged" when addressing articles. When you say this: > What's with the judgement? How does one feel judged by the writer of an article who doesn't know the reader. It's a writing device addressing the reader as if they were physically there, but of course they are not. It feels like eminently sensible advice to "save money", I don't see how anyone can disagree with that, but of course there are a legion of specific circumstances that would prevent someone from being able to do so - none of which the writer can know, which consequently means they are not "judging" the reader. How has it become a thing to feel that some sort of judgement over preferred patterns of behaviour is negative. If everything is written in just plain "of course all choices are good choices" then conversation/writing is inherently uninteresting. Of course, one does not have to agree with the point of view of the article. Ultimately, it's not as if any individual reader is going to be deeply emotionally damaged by the random "judgements" of a writer on the Internet surely?

Gruselbauer 10y ago

Also not everyone is working in the valley, or even the US for that matter. My German income would allow for a nice life in Thailand, but by no means indefinitely and not to a much higher standard than I have here. Still, I'm going to be travelling a lot next year since I a) just did get laid off and b) get 80% of my last wage as unemployment bonus for a year. Anyway, thanks Jason for this blog. I've recently turned thirty and feel like you have listed all the right reasons to just go for it.

mercer 10y ago
Same in Holland. I make a very decent living as a freelancer to the point of feeling uncomfortable around many of my peers, many of whom are struggling just to find a non-menial job and/or make ends meet. But it's primarily ease of finding work and a decent salary, not so much that I make tons of money. But being just past thirty and hearing of other developers making bank in SV, Switzerland, or BigCorps, as well as hearing about the problems 'we' will most likely face in older age, I'm getting more serious about trying to find one of those really high paying jobs for a few years. Plus, I can't help but wonder how long all this will last, especially web/mobile development.