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I've done most of this. 10+ years ago I started working for a company in a city with good salaries (for Europe, not so much for the US), London. After a while I

I've done most of this. 10+ years ago I started working for a company in a city with good salaries (for Europe, not so much for the US), London. After a while I decided to go back to my home country, and the company offered me to work remotely. I've lived in my hometown for most of the past 9 years or so, a small town in southern Europe, much cheaper than London and any other big city, including the ones in my country. Main differences vs. what the article says are: I've been working for the same company all these years, rather than chaining months-long contracts. Also (sadly?) I didn't invest most of my money, I simply saved it and bought a nice place this year almost upfront (had to get a mortgage for the taxes, basically). Also I've worked hard, very hard. This strategy is good to make good money, I think. Often here in HN I see comments saying that you must hop from job to job in order to get raises, but if you stick long enough so that your knowledge is very valuable, the raises will keep coming. Word of warning though: unless the company is remote-first you can forget about promotions, at least in my experience. It kinda hurts seeing how you've worked your ass off for a long time and despite making good money other people get promoted while you stick to the same role as when you joined.

nzach 5y ago
>if you stick long enough so that your knowledge is very valuable, the raises will keep coming AKA golden handcuffs. I don't think this is something inherently bad but we should always be aware of it.
- Xenoamorphous 5y ago
  Indeed. I'm in a golden cage right now. No one would pay me as much, which makes switching jobs hard to swallow.
spaetzleesser 5y ago
“Word of warning though: unless the company is remote-first you can forget about promotions, at least in my experience. It kinda hurts seeing how you've worked your ass off for a long time and despite making good money other people get promoted while you stick to the same role as when you joined.” Agreed. This is often a bargain you have to accept. I went remote only after I had reached a point where future promotions were very unlikely anyway.
hackingforfun 5y ago
> Often here in HN I see comments saying that you must hop from job to job in order to get raises That's because it's a pretty easy way to get a significant raise. If staying at one job, the raises are likely to be less significant due to them only being able to raise it a certain percent a year due to policy (unless there is a significant title or role change). Now if you get another job for a higher rate and then ask your current employer to match it, and you are valuable enough that they agree, that is another way.

nzach 5y ago

>if you stick long enough so that your knowledge is very valuable, the raises will keep coming AKA golden handcuffs. I don't think this is something inherently bad but we should always be aware of it.

Xenoamorphous 5y ago
Indeed. I'm in a golden cage right now. No one would pay me as much, which makes switching jobs hard to swallow.

spaetzleesser 5y ago

“Word of warning though: unless the company is remote-first you can forget about promotions, at least in my experience. It kinda hurts seeing how you've worked your ass off for a long time and despite making good money other people get promoted while you stick to the same role as when you joined.” Agreed. This is often a bargain you have to accept. I went remote only after I had reached a point where future promotions were very unlikely anyway.

hackingforfun 5y ago

> Often here in HN I see comments saying that you must hop from job to job in order to get raises That's because it's a pretty easy way to get a significant raise. If staying at one job, the raises are likely to be less significant due to them only being able to raise it a certain percent a year due to policy (unless there is a significant title or role change). Now if you get another job for a higher rate and then ask your current employer to match it, and you are valuable enough that they agree, that is another way.