I think this sentiment is primarily exacerbated when people live in lower CoL areas. Folks routinely balk at typical mid-level comp of ~$500k even here on HN so

I think this sentiment is primarily exacerbated when people live in lower CoL areas. Folks routinely balk at typical mid-level comp of ~$500k even here on HN so it doesn't surprise me that the knee-jerk reaction is that ~$4M is out of reach. Frankly, the software industry has an incredibly low barrier to entry compared to other high paying fields (medicine, law). Sure, not everyone will reach some "distinguished engineer" level but you don't really need to in order to live a life of abundance. Nowadays, if you grind enough leetcode you can land something to the tune of $250-300k (in Seattle/Bay Area). Once you factor in stock appreciation and job hopping every 3 years, comp only goes up. I don't make the rules; it is what it is.