6 ms·

You're a king? So you live in a mansion? I live in the midwest, wife doesn't work, 10 years experience - we live in a 4k sqft house in the best school distric

You're a king? So you live in a mansion? I live in the midwest, wife doesn't work, 10 years experience - we live in a 4k sqft house in the best school district in the state about 25 minutes from the city. How much does that cost in SV?

geggam 9y ago
In the city... 10k + a month in rent alone... 25 minutes out 5-6k a month in rent alone Keep in mind 25 minutes out can easily turn into 1 hour or more.
- _d8fd 9y ago
  In SF, I have a 250 square feet studio with no kitchen & I pay $1550/month in a cheaper part of town (the Tenderloin).
DerfNet 9y ago
do you have to commute an hour a day? I'm not from silicon valley but priorities vary a lot from person to person. I value shortest possible commute time much higher than an extra ~2500 square feet I don't need.
- anonacct37 9y ago
  I hope you're not implying that the typical commute for someone in the city is less [edit] than 25 minutes. http://kron4.com/2017/10/30/study-san-francisco-ranks-among-top-5-us-cities-for-worst-commute-time-stress/ http://kron4.com/2017/10/30/study-san-francisco-ranks-among-...
  - DerfNet 9y ago
    No idea what stats show, but I can tell you personally that I have a 20 minute round trip commute daily and wouldn't have it any other way (except shorter if possible)
sidlls 9y ago
How much is it going to cost you when XX years from now you have half the savings of a SV engineer plus your house?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- jriot 9y ago
  If he owns his house, he doesn't need more because his main living expense is paid for.
  - sidlls 9y ago
    The engineer can buy a similar house and still have significantly more retirement savings.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
robotresearcher 9y ago
I could handle living in an apartment and retiring to a cheaper city at 45.
smudgymcscmudge 9y ago
This is my situation. I’ve become emotionally attached to my wife and kids, and they are emotionally attached to our mcmansion and spending their afternoons at the country club pool. I would have to be a billionaire to maintain our midwest lifestyle in California.
sulam 9y ago
Yep, I'm a king. I don't live in a mansion, but I don't need one. My wife works because she wants to. My kids go to a wonderful school 2 minutes from our house. I commute 25 minutes into SF (worst part of my day, BART is seriously crowded). I make a fairly absurd amount of money (it's embarrassing to say, and I don't need the hassle of having it out there, but let's just say that I hit 6 figures many years ago). We spend well under half that, and we have enough saved that we can retire anywhere in the world tomorrow if we want. I _am_ older than you, but what people are saying is true, after 25 years working as a developer in the Bay Area, I am making money hand over fist and the only place that can compete compensation-wise is NYC -- and honestly you couldn't pay me enough to live there.
- justonepost 9y ago
  agreed, you can have better toys if you live elsewhere (though probably not near the ocean). It’d be good also if these salary surveys were after taxes. Be interesting to compare that.
b4lancesh33t 9y ago
4k sqft 25 minutes from mountain view is probably a cool three million at least. Otoh I have saved four and a half million over the last ten years as a simple non-workaholic individual contributor at one of the big cos. So maybe it's ok?
- justonepost 9y ago
  Yeah, RE appreciation probably has paid out way more than salary in the valley. At least to the avg engineer. Stock options have done well too, but that’s more like top 1%

geggam 9y ago

In the city... 10k + a month in rent alone... 25 minutes out 5-6k a month in rent alone Keep in mind 25 minutes out can easily turn into 1 hour or more.

_d8fd 9y ago
In SF, I have a 250 square feet studio with no kitchen & I pay $1550/month in a cheaper part of town (the Tenderloin).

DerfNet 9y ago

do you have to commute an hour a day? I'm not from silicon valley but priorities vary a lot from person to person. I value shortest possible commute time much higher than an extra ~2500 square feet I don't need.

anonacct37 9y ago
I hope you're not implying that the typical commute for someone in the city is less [edit] than 25 minutes. http://kron4.com/2017/10/30/study-san-francisco-ranks-among-top-5-us-cities-for-worst-commute-time-stress/ http://kron4.com/2017/10/30/study-san-francisco-ranks-among-...
- DerfNet 9y ago
  No idea what stats show, but I can tell you personally that I have a 20 minute round trip commute daily and wouldn't have it any other way (except shorter if possible)

sidlls 9y ago

How much is it going to cost you when XX years from now you have half the savings of a SV engineer plus your house?

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
jriot 9y ago
If he owns his house, he doesn't need more because his main living expense is paid for.
- sidlls 9y ago
  The engineer can buy a similar house and still have significantly more retirement savings.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

robotresearcher 9y ago

I could handle living in an apartment and retiring to a cheaper city at 45.

smudgymcscmudge 9y ago

This is my situation. I’ve become emotionally attached to my wife and kids, and they are emotionally attached to our mcmansion and spending their afternoons at the country club pool. I would have to be a billionaire to maintain our midwest lifestyle in California.

sulam 9y ago

Yep, I'm a king. I don't live in a mansion, but I don't need one. My wife works because she wants to. My kids go to a wonderful school 2 minutes from our house. I commute 25 minutes into SF (worst part of my day, BART is seriously crowded). I make a fairly absurd amount of money (it's embarrassing to say, and I don't need the hassle of having it out there, but let's just say that I hit 6 figures many years ago). We spend well under half that, and we have enough saved that we can retire anywhere in the world tomorrow if we want. I _am_ older than you, but what people are saying is true, after 25 years working as a developer in the Bay Area, I am making money hand over fist and the only place that can compete compensation-wise is NYC -- and honestly you couldn't pay me enough to live there.

justonepost 9y ago
agreed, you can have better toys if you live elsewhere (though probably not near the ocean). It’d be good also if these salary surveys were after taxes. Be interesting to compare that.

b4lancesh33t 9y ago

4k sqft 25 minutes from mountain view is probably a cool three million at least. Otoh I have saved four and a half million over the last ten years as a simple non-workaholic individual contributor at one of the big cos. So maybe it's ok?

justonepost 9y ago
Yeah, RE appreciation probably has paid out way more than salary in the valley. At least to the avg engineer. Stock options have done well too, but that’s more like top 1%