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I don't know how easy it is to minimise taxes by being a contractor in the US but assuming you can do so, gross circa $300k/year on Wall Street, and live frugal

I don't know how easy it is to minimise taxes by being a contractor in the US but assuming you can do so, gross circa $300k/year on Wall Street, and live frugally (including apartment not in Manhattan, or even NYC), you should definitely be able to save at least $100k in a couple years. Granted you're temporarily reducing your quality of life, but arguably you're doing that with a startup anyway. The point is I think it's possible, not that I think it's something I would want to do myself.

michaelochurch 13y ago
gross circa $300k/year on Wall Street, and live frugally (including apartment not in Manhattan, or even NYC), you should definitely be able to save at least $100k in a couple years. You'll have a hard time moving up the ladder on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley if you live in a low-COL area. You have to signal confidence to be groomed for promotions, and that requires buying a house in an expensive place (Brooklyn Heights is OK in most circles) and sending your kids to brand-name private schools. Once you've made Partner or MD or CTO, you can live whereever the fuck you want; but until then, you need to project that "hungry" image.
- morgante 13y ago
  > You'll have a hard time moving up the ladder on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley if you live in a low-COL area. You have to signal confidence to be groomed for promotions, and that requires buying a house in an expensive place (Brooklyn Heights is OK in most circles) and sending your kids to brand-name private schools. That's true, but that's also only if you really want to be moving up a lot in finance. Elsewhere, you can make $150-200k as a developer without anyone caring where you live. Just live off $75k and save the rest—soon enough you'll have a couple hundred thousand dollars in savings.
- nostrademons 13y ago
  Silicon Valley doesn't give a shit what sort of house you live in or where you send your kids to school. The way to signal confidence in Silicon Valley tech circles is to always know your stuff when it comes to technology, to have a solid track record of delivering software that people use, and to be ready to walk if a better opportunity comes along.
hristov 13y ago
To have a starting salary of 300k/year is very difficult. But if you are a star you can perhaps get to that after a couple of years. But it is pretty much impossible to get to that point if you do not live close to your job. There are people that make that much and more that live in the suburbs but they are usually the ones that have a lot of experience and seniority. If you are young and want to make that much money you have to be in the office all the time you have to have a flexible schedule, which means you have to live in the area.
- nostrademons 13y ago
  You do not need to be in the office 24/7 to make $300K/year. You do have to deliver significant business value to your employer. Usually that is more easily accomplished by working steadily but leisurely, keeping a careful eye out for what problems really need to be solved that nobody else is working on, and then solving them quickly and efficiently.

michaelochurch 13y ago

gross circa $300k/year on Wall Street, and live frugally (including apartment not in Manhattan, or even NYC), you should definitely be able to save at least $100k in a couple years. You'll have a hard time moving up the ladder on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley if you live in a low-COL area. You have to signal confidence to be groomed for promotions, and that requires buying a house in an expensive place (Brooklyn Heights is OK in most circles) and sending your kids to brand-name private schools. Once you've made Partner or MD or CTO, you can live whereever the fuck you want; but until then, you need to project that "hungry" image.

morgante 13y ago
> You'll have a hard time moving up the ladder on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley if you live in a low-COL area. You have to signal confidence to be groomed for promotions, and that requires buying a house in an expensive place (Brooklyn Heights is OK in most circles) and sending your kids to brand-name private schools. That's true, but that's also only if you really want to be moving up a lot in finance. Elsewhere, you can make $150-200k as a developer without anyone caring where you live. Just live off $75k and save the rest—soon enough you'll have a couple hundred thousand dollars in savings.
nostrademons 13y ago
Silicon Valley doesn't give a shit what sort of house you live in or where you send your kids to school. The way to signal confidence in Silicon Valley tech circles is to always know your stuff when it comes to technology, to have a solid track record of delivering software that people use, and to be ready to walk if a better opportunity comes along.

hristov 13y ago

To have a starting salary of 300k/year is very difficult. But if you are a star you can perhaps get to that after a couple of years. But it is pretty much impossible to get to that point if you do not live close to your job. There are people that make that much and more that live in the suburbs but they are usually the ones that have a lot of experience and seniority. If you are young and want to make that much money you have to be in the office all the time you have to have a flexible schedule, which means you have to live in the area.

nostrademons 13y ago
You do not need to be in the office 24/7 to make $300K/year. You do have to deliver significant business value to your employer. Usually that is more easily accomplished by working steadily but leisurely, keeping a careful eye out for what problems really need to be solved that nobody else is working on, and then solving them quickly and efficiently.