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If you're making $100k in say, San Francisco, about half your paycheck is gone to federal, state, and local taxes, social security, retirement plan, etc. Say yo
by svachalek 14y ago
If you're making $100k in say, San Francisco, about half your paycheck is gone to federal, state, and local taxes, social security, retirement plan, etc. Say you're left with $4200/mo. Take a look at house prices and rents there. There goes half of that. Now half of what's left on food. Now you need transportation, clothes, a phone, insurance, etc.
Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty good life. And you can definitely spend a lot less money by having roommates or living in a dangerous neighborhood or eating only noodles. On the other hand, good luck raising a family. All in all, it's not nearly as much money as people imagine when they convert it to local currency and cost of living.
- baddox 14y agoI make significantly less than $100k in San Francisco and net significantly more than $4200 a month. I don't have a retirement plan, but I doubt that would be enough to cover the difference.
- inovator 14y agoI think it does. We are talking about 1k-1.4k per month here; well, if you are aiming for $10k+ 401k per year.
- nilkn 14y agoWith no retirement savings at all (terrible idea, by the way), something between $76k and $77k nets exactly $4200/month in California, after taxes, social security, etc. (According to PaycheckCity.com) If you put back 10% into a 401(k), you need $88k minimum to net $4200/month.
- ttrreeww 14y agoIF you make less than 100k in SF, you are doing something really wrong...
- baddox 14y agoThanks for the advice.
- sharkweek 14y agoAs someone who lives in Seattle, where housing prices are getting pretty ridiculous, the running joke is "at least we're not San Francisco" I love the bay area, but you're right, it's pretty deceptive to look at a dev salary in SF at 100k and compare it to a dev's salary in the rust belt.
- Evbn 14y agoMortgages are so cheap now, though, that housing costs so much less per month than it did 7 years ago.
- jwatte 14y agoAll that does is driving up home prices. 1600 sqft 4 bedrooms in cheap cities (san mateo, redwood city) are inching towards a million. If you want 2500 sqft in a walkable city with amenities, expect to pay closer to two million!
- hcarvalhoalves 14y agoYeah, I'm aware the living costs impact the salaries. The living cost in my city (São Paulo) is on par with SF though [1], while the salaries are not even near. Taxation is also heavier than in US. This makes my current salary minuscule in real terms. [1] http://bit.ly/XWLkyu http://bit.ly/XWLkyu