4 ms·

Advice on Remote Work

12 points by seekingfreedom 10y ago

I am currently an embedded software engineer with around 7 years of experience in the aerospace industry, and between my main job and contract work, I earn between 150k and 200k per year. In general, I enjoy my job and think very highly of my employer. Like most people in this salary range, though, I am stuck living in a crowded, gridlocked, high cost of living area, where most of my money goes to taxes and an small, cruddy house. With my skills and work history, I think I could easily land a job at a major tech company or hedge fund and earn in the 300s, but my situation wouldn't really improve because it would require moving to an even more expensive area and paying more taxes. The older I get, the more I realize that the secret of success isn't just earning good money, it's doing so in a low cost of living area. Therefore, I am wondering how likely it is to earn in the mid 100s doing full-time remote work in the embedded software field (specifically, real-time, high-reliability systems)? Does anyone have any advice or personal experience developing a work-from-anywhere income stream in this field? Is it easier to find a handful of customers to do contract work for or hope to find a 100% remote position? My ultimate goal is to build a beautiful house on ~100 acres in a rural part of the country and work 100% from home and have passive streams of income. thanks!

jack_pp 10y ago
It seems to me remote jobs are mostly suited for positions that can be easily replaced so web development fits wonderfully. For anything low level where the company needs you specifically to keep the project going I doubt there are widespread remote opportunities. Since this seems to be a throwaway account could you maybe disclose how much money you get after tax and how much you pay in rent? I'm curious because I'm from Europe and at a crossroads. I started doing mostly C++ but now considering switching to web because of the remote opportunities. It would be nice to know what to expect from a carrier in low level stuff even though the salaries sound very good (150-200k) it's more important to know what one can realistically save in a year with that salary.
- seekingfreedom 10y ago
  I live in California and pay an effective tax rate of around 35%. I'm single, but I max out my retirement savings (401k) contribution every month. I can save around $500 per month on top of that as well as 100% of any contracting income that I make, which averages a couple thousand after taxes. My rent is reasonable for CA ($2000/month) for a 40 year old, small house, but it has central heat and air, some remodeling, and a garage. I have a punishing commute, though, which averages door-to-door round trip time of 3 hours per day. Thankfully, my contract work is almost completely remote (would LOVE more work like this!) and I can telecommute two days per week at my full time job. Despite being able to save a good amount of money, actually affording to buy a house is out of the question. Something decent that is close to my work is around $1 million+ and houses with a long commute start at around $600k. I absolutely hate living in apartments and hate cities in general, so I would quit my job before living in a condo, but you could find an apartment here a bit cheaper. I hope that helps...
  - jack_pp 10y ago
    Thanks, appreciate the disclosure. To be honest I don't know why you're in a hurry to buy a house. If I were in your position I would save and switch to some tech that's very good for remote if you don't find much contract work for your specialty. There are web developers that are making north of 100$/h while working remote, keep that in mind. There's a lot of nice places in the world where a VERY nice house is 150-200k.
stockkid 10y ago
> how likely it is to earn in the mid 100s doing full-time remote work in the embedded software field I maintain a list of remote friendly companies. Here are a list of companies that might be doing embedded stuff. https://remotebase.io/companies?technologies=C&technologies=Golang https://remotebase.io/companies?technologies=C&technologies=... I don't have enough information to help you, but on the website there is a chat community for remote workers. Feel free to ask questions there.
bsvalley 10y ago
That's why I like HN! I could have written the exact same post (I'm not in the embbeded field though.) In your case and in order to be %100 remote, you would need to have access to a company intranet, access to the source code, be able to compile, deploy, run, etc. Can you easily do that in your space? If it's web, desktop or mobile all you need is an internet access. Just curious... Also, there are places like Texas or Oregon where you can make 80-100k per year in a tech or related company. The cost is much lower outside of the main cities unlike SF/NYC where you need to drive 2h away to start getting into a 2-5 acre lot.. Outside of Austin TX for example, 1h away, you'll find huge lots for cheap. Contractors are super good and fast at building houses over there because they don't have to deal with stupid laws like "we" have in California for example. No state income tax in TX, Austin city is amazing (super crowded now though), then you get to be in the middle of noware at only 1h away from Austin. In the bay area 1h is the average commute to work. Same for Portland oregon, 1h away and you live like a king. No sales tax in OR. The key is to find the right balance, being %100 isolated in the middle of nowhere isn't necessaraly healthy. I thought about it because I want land as well. But imagine being an hour away from a major city, living in a 15 acre property with a nice custom 5000 sqft house, a flexible state not far from a mini tech hub... sounds like a good alternative to your goal right? People don't realize how much work it involves to own a huge property. With 100 acres, it will become your fulltime (unpaid) job! 10-20 acres is enough for you to feel isolated. Last but not least, the key here is to make sure you land a mortgage/construction loan while being at your current job. Lock it first because you will use your buying power and stable job situation to buy in a cheap place. Your current salary will help you qualify quickly and will help you initiate the process of getting/building a new house. Then look for a job in one of these places (cross your finger). Now you'll have the house, you'll have he job, you'll be able to quit-pack-and-go.

jack_pp 10y ago

It seems to me remote jobs are mostly suited for positions that can be easily replaced so web development fits wonderfully. For anything low level where the company needs you specifically to keep the project going I doubt there are widespread remote opportunities. Since this seems to be a throwaway account could you maybe disclose how much money you get after tax and how much you pay in rent? I'm curious because I'm from Europe and at a crossroads. I started doing mostly C++ but now considering switching to web because of the remote opportunities. It would be nice to know what to expect from a carrier in low level stuff even though the salaries sound very good (150-200k) it's more important to know what one can realistically save in a year with that salary.

seekingfreedom 10y ago
I live in California and pay an effective tax rate of around 35%. I'm single, but I max out my retirement savings (401k) contribution every month. I can save around $500 per month on top of that as well as 100% of any contracting income that I make, which averages a couple thousand after taxes. My rent is reasonable for CA ($2000/month) for a 40 year old, small house, but it has central heat and air, some remodeling, and a garage. I have a punishing commute, though, which averages door-to-door round trip time of 3 hours per day. Thankfully, my contract work is almost completely remote (would LOVE more work like this!) and I can telecommute two days per week at my full time job. Despite being able to save a good amount of money, actually affording to buy a house is out of the question. Something decent that is close to my work is around $1 million+ and houses with a long commute start at around $600k. I absolutely hate living in apartments and hate cities in general, so I would quit my job before living in a condo, but you could find an apartment here a bit cheaper. I hope that helps...
- jack_pp 10y ago
  Thanks, appreciate the disclosure. To be honest I don't know why you're in a hurry to buy a house. If I were in your position I would save and switch to some tech that's very good for remote if you don't find much contract work for your specialty. There are web developers that are making north of 100$/h while working remote, keep that in mind. There's a lot of nice places in the world where a VERY nice house is 150-200k.

stockkid 10y ago

> how likely it is to earn in the mid 100s doing full-time remote work in the embedded software field I maintain a list of remote friendly companies. Here are a list of companies that might be doing embedded stuff. https://remotebase.io/companies?technologies=C&technologies=Golang https://remotebase.io/companies?technologies=C&technologies=... I don't have enough information to help you, but on the website there is a chat community for remote workers. Feel free to ask questions there.

bsvalley 10y ago

That's why I like HN! I could have written the exact same post (I'm not in the embbeded field though.) In your case and in order to be %100 remote, you would need to have access to a company intranet, access to the source code, be able to compile, deploy, run, etc. Can you easily do that in your space? If it's web, desktop or mobile all you need is an internet access. Just curious... Also, there are places like Texas or Oregon where you can make 80-100k per year in a tech or related company. The cost is much lower outside of the main cities unlike SF/NYC where you need to drive 2h away to start getting into a 2-5 acre lot.. Outside of Austin TX for example, 1h away, you'll find huge lots for cheap. Contractors are super good and fast at building houses over there because they don't have to deal with stupid laws like "we" have in California for example. No state income tax in TX, Austin city is amazing (super crowded now though), then you get to be in the middle of noware at only 1h away from Austin. In the bay area 1h is the average commute to work. Same for Portland oregon, 1h away and you live like a king. No sales tax in OR. The key is to find the right balance, being %100 isolated in the middle of nowhere isn't necessaraly healthy. I thought about it because I want land as well. But imagine being an hour away from a major city, living in a 15 acre property with a nice custom 5000 sqft house, a flexible state not far from a mini tech hub... sounds like a good alternative to your goal right? People don't realize how much work it involves to own a huge property. With 100 acres, it will become your fulltime (unpaid) job! 10-20 acres is enough for you to feel isolated. Last but not least, the key here is to make sure you land a mortgage/construction loan while being at your current job. Lock it first because you will use your buying power and stable job situation to buy in a cheap place. Your current salary will help you qualify quickly and will help you initiate the process of getting/building a new house. Then look for a job in one of these places (cross your finger). Now you'll have the house, you'll have he job, you'll be able to quit-pack-and-go.