3 ms·
> enough money to work for 4 years and retire anywhere that’s not the Bay Area Four years is probably optimistic, unless you got lucky with stock growth. I se
by omoikane 3y ago
> enough money to work for 4 years and retire anywhere that’s not the Bay Area
Four years is probably optimistic, unless you got lucky with stock growth.
I searched for "average cost of living map" and found a site[1] that says cost of living at Santa Clara County is $138K. I then did a search for "average salary at Google" and one website[2] says it's $124K, which suggests saving enough money in 4 years on salary alone would be difficult.
You might think that working for Google while living somewhere outside of Bay Area would be a good way to save, but because compensation is dependent on where you live, this doesn't always work out.
[1] https://www.epi.org/resources/budget/budget-map/ https://www.epi.org/resources/budget/budget-map/
[2] https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Google%2C_Inc./Salary https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Google%2C_Inc....
- gen220 3y agoThat average salary must include non-engineers. The average salary for a mid-career engineer at google is north of $300k if you assume no stock movement. https://levels.fyi https://levels.fyi
- callalex 3y agoThank you for bringing data to the discussion. I’m not sure that average salary is the right metric, however. The people inventing new adtech projects are being paid 4-5x that number based on my experience. Although anecdotes can only be trusted so far I guess…
- 3np 3y agoThat's cost of living for 4 people, mind you: > The cost of living for a two-parent, two-child family The typical case is more likely single or DINK. Manage the money well, throw in a couple of bonuses and a favorable liquidity event around y4 and it's plausible enough to become a motivator or rationalization, I assume.
- 23B1 3y agoThe people building this ad tech nonsense make well over $124k. I'd wager that number comes from nation/worldwide salaries, and the folks that the original comment described aren't data center janitors or whatever. These folks get paid very well to insure Google dominance – in salary and in stock.