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Senior should make 175-200k base plus 100-200k in RSUs per year rolling - that is if you get a good initial grant and keep getting good reviews by year 4 you ha

Senior should make 175-200k base plus 100-200k in RSUs per year rolling - that is if you get a good initial grant and keep getting good reviews by year 4 you have staggered vesting that nets that amount. At 300-400k per year you should be able to live a good lifestyle while saving for a house. Really senior engineers can certainly make more; 500k for a top 10% performer. For reference I just got my tax statement for last year and I’m over 300k.

jmathai 9y ago
I don't think that's what a typical software engineer makes. A Level 5 SWE at Google makes that. But that is far from representative of the vast majority of SWEs. More likely, you can afford a $1m mortgage on a double income of $150k which, IMO, is a lot more common. The reality is that a lot of people (single and married with kids) rent with the hopes they will be able to afford a mortgage.
- deleted 9y ago
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visarga 9y ago
Is it even worth it? It's like buying a car in a city where average commute time is two hours. Diminishing returns, not worth it to have a car under those conditions. Maybe a different region would have better balance, even at lower pay. I know people who own a newly constructed, large house with a garden, two cars, and raise kids in Romania on a meagre salary compared to yours. In the Bay area most of the profit and hard work goes to pay the exorbitant housing prices - just making the landlords and constructors rich. Reminds me of Andrew Ng who expects "70-90 hours a week" from his employees, and is talking up "importance of velocity" with his new fund. That's 15 hours of work per day and one day off per week. Crazy! Why bother to do that, it would be a disaster for balanced life. (https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/30/andrew-ng-officially-launches-his-175m-ai-fund/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/30/andrew-ng-officially-launc...)
- fbdjskajxb 9y ago
  If you buy, you have expenses but any principal payments you make are wealth that you keep. So you can retire to Romania later if you feel like it. Getting paid Bay Area salaries and owning a home is a great way to build wealth even if you ignore the massive price appreciation.

jmathai 9y ago

I don't think that's what a typical software engineer makes. A Level 5 SWE at Google makes that. But that is far from representative of the vast majority of SWEs. More likely, you can afford a $1m mortgage on a double income of $150k which, IMO, is a lot more common. The reality is that a lot of people (single and married with kids) rent with the hopes they will be able to afford a mortgage.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

visarga 9y ago

Is it even worth it? It's like buying a car in a city where average commute time is two hours. Diminishing returns, not worth it to have a car under those conditions. Maybe a different region would have better balance, even at lower pay. I know people who own a newly constructed, large house with a garden, two cars, and raise kids in Romania on a meagre salary compared to yours. In the Bay area most of the profit and hard work goes to pay the exorbitant housing prices - just making the landlords and constructors rich. Reminds me of Andrew Ng who expects "70-90 hours a week" from his employees, and is talking up "importance of velocity" with his new fund. That's 15 hours of work per day and one day off per week. Crazy! Why bother to do that, it would be a disaster for balanced life. (https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/30/andrew-ng-officially-launches-his-175m-ai-fund/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/30/andrew-ng-officially-launc...)

fbdjskajxb 9y ago
If you buy, you have expenses but any principal payments you make are wealth that you keep. So you can retire to Romania later if you feel like it. Getting paid Bay Area salaries and owning a home is a great way to build wealth even if you ignore the massive price appreciation.