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Isn’t retiring early exactly what it offers? A 500k job would pay the equivalent of ten years of work (ish… taxes).

by dilat 5y ago

swiftcoder 5y ago
Not for most people. A silicon valley job means a silicon valley house and mortgage - you're in for at least a couple of million for a house in those parts, and it'll be fairly modest by US standards. If you have kids, you have silicon valley school fees and activities. And since all your new friends are silicon valley friends with silicon valley money in their pocket, all your own activities are going to grow more expensive too. If you don't make a very conscious decision to step off that flywheel, a lot of people find themselves in the position where that 500k is mostly going to maintain your new normal lifestyle.
- thebean11 5y ago
  The house can be sold though, not exactly "spent" money beyond the buying/selling/maintenance fees
  - swiftcoder 5y ago
    Assuming you didn't buy too close to the annual forest fires, and neither the mortgage crisis or the pandemic wiped out housing prices in your area, yes. Unfortunately hard to predict those events at the time of house purchase. Some people do very well on Bay Area real estate, some not so well.
    - thebean11 5y ago
      Yeah, it's hard to predict events like that in any asset class, what's your point? Keep it in cash? In what areas did the pandemic wipe out housing prices?
      - swiftcoder 5y ago
        > Yeah, it's hard to predict events like that in any asset class, what's your point? Keep it in cash? Obviously not, but do diversify your investments. A lot of homeowners are putting the vast majority of their portfolio in real estate due to the inflated home prices. Most folks taking on a $1 million mortgage with $200k down, don't have an addition $500k of other assets to fall back on if the housing market drops half the value of their house.
- dilat 5y ago
  Ah, I confused this a bit with another remote thread. My intended point is that you can get that TC full-time remote from at least F and G now. They scale down salary based on the market, but not that much, for a 6+ position I think you’d definitely still be at that TC.
- BuckRogers 5y ago
  And that would be easy if you didn't raise kids or have a spouse that will very quickly be acclimated to all of this. Yanking the rug so you can retire early? That's a quick way to ensure you'll be back at work anyway, because your spouse may take the kids and bail. It's only a for-sure viable option for those that never marry or have children. And even then I'd caution someone to do it as long as you possibly can stand, you have no idea what lies ahead expense wise in life in your long retirement.

Isn’t retiring early exactly what it offers? A 500k job would pay the equivalent of ten years of work (ish… taxes).

by dilat 5y ago

Isn’t retiring early exactly what it offers? A 500k job would pay the equivalent of ten years of work (ish… taxes).

Not for most people. A silicon valley job means a silicon valley house and mortgage - you're in for at least a couple of million for a house in those parts, and it'll be fairly modest by US standards. If you have kids, you have silicon valley school fees and activities. And since all your new friends are silicon valley friends with silicon valley money in their pocket, all your own activities are going to grow more expensive too. If you don't make a very conscious decision to step off that flywheel, a lot of people find themselves in the position where that 500k is mostly going to maintain your new normal lifestyle.

thebean11 5y ago
The house can be sold though, not exactly "spent" money beyond the buying/selling/maintenance fees
- swiftcoder 5y ago
  Assuming you didn't buy too close to the annual forest fires, and neither the mortgage crisis or the pandemic wiped out housing prices in your area, yes. Unfortunately hard to predict those events at the time of house purchase. Some people do very well on Bay Area real estate, some not so well.
  - thebean11 5y ago
    Yeah, it's hard to predict events like that in any asset class, what's your point? Keep it in cash? In what areas did the pandemic wipe out housing prices?
    - swiftcoder 5y ago
      > Yeah, it's hard to predict events like that in any asset class, what's your point? Keep it in cash? Obviously not, but do diversify your investments. A lot of homeowners are putting the vast majority of their portfolio in real estate due to the inflated home prices. Most folks taking on a $1 million mortgage with $200k down, don't have an addition $500k of other assets to fall back on if the housing market drops half the value of their house.
dilat 5y ago
Ah, I confused this a bit with another remote thread. My intended point is that you can get that TC full-time remote from at least F and G now. They scale down salary based on the market, but not that much, for a 6+ position I think you’d definitely still be at that TC.
BuckRogers 5y ago
And that would be easy if you didn't raise kids or have a spouse that will very quickly be acclimated to all of this. Yanking the rug so you can retire early? That's a quick way to ensure you'll be back at work anyway, because your spouse may take the kids and bail. It's only a for-sure viable option for those that never marry or have children. And even then I'd caution someone to do it as long as you possibly can stand, you have no idea what lies ahead expense wise in life in your long retirement.