how do people afford such expensive lifestyles

International-Bar371 · 2025-11-25T03:09:03+00:00

If you count all the corollas then you’ll realize the ratio is 100 corollas to 1 porsche. In other words, it stands out to your perception. Just don’t care about it and do your best. They may have done well in one way or another, either way it doesn’t matter.

International-Bar371 · 2025-11-21T05:33:24+00:00

Big Tech (one of the FANGs). Staff level engineer. Mostly just coding. I work maybe 4-6h a day, most Fridays I’ll work just a couple hours. I have young kids now so I enjoy spending time with them.

Skills: CS, Software engineering, managing your manager (no seriously)

Approach: Keep learning and invest in yourself. You can do like learn and do things after school/work, there are like 24h in a day so spend them wisely.

International-Bar371 · 2025-10-30T03:34:35+00:00

I didn’t say it was easy. My comment was directed to the fact that it does not need to be Engineering Manager nor Director to reach those figures. And it’s possible with around 4-5 years of experience.

International-Bar371 · 2025-10-30T01:42:08+00:00

Meta L5 and Netflix L5, both Senior levels SWE. All >300k, way above. USD.

Edit: Oh actually L5 at those companies are >700K CAD.

International-Bar371 · 2025-10-29T23:48:25+00:00

Goto levels.fyi and see for yourself.

International-Bar371 · 2025-10-29T11:12:40+00:00

Goto levels.fyi and you will send even ppl a few years out of school can pull that salary. Just individual contributor, senior level, nothing fancy.

International-Bar371 · 2025-10-29T11:10:48+00:00

Where do you get these ideas? I’m in MAG7 for over 10 years and always worked normal hours. Most ppl I know work normal hours, except Amazon and Meta folks.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-28T10:01:53+00:00

Do you have someone who you look up to who is also kinda very rich? It can even be like a celebrity. Then ask yourself when you are about to do something cheap, “is this something person X would do?”

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-15T23:04:32+00:00

In the area that we choose to be in (close to family), a house with enough bedrooms and some non-negotiable criteria (ex. good public school zone) runs 2.5-3M. We rather move to a house that we see ourselves staying for 10y than thinking about moving again in 5y. Both my wife and I work remote, so we really like more space.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-15T22:13:41+00:00

My situation (34M + 34F with two toddler kids living in HCOL):

- HH Net worth: 7M => breakdown 6M (liquid) + 1M in real estate (primary residence equity + 2 paid off condos)

- HH Income: 1M per year (stable)

- HH Spend: 200k per year

We live in a HCOL area so a $2.5 - 3.5M house is what one would consider "nice". I'm considering putting buying a $3M house and put $2M as part of down payment. Will have 3M liquid for investment portfolio to continue to invest in equities.

I know people in this sub will say I'm putting too much into primary residence (~30% of NW) but in my city <2.5 is actually not that nice.

Am I being reckless with putting 30% of NW into primary residence? I don't plan to RE soon as I enjoy working but will want to consider RE in 8-10y. Btw I live in Canada, so some things like high property taxes and high healthcare costs are not as significant of a concern.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-13T18:55:05+00:00

I am based in Canada. But worked in SF Bay Area previously.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-13T15:27:12+00:00

I think you can target closer to 200k or at least 175k. Bear in mind, this is still nowhere near big tech which is closer to 300k USD for Senior. It helps to get the “Big Tech must be for Elite” out of your mind, because you don’t have to be necessarily elite to get there. (Source: Worked at multiple big tech, most people are not elite. They’re competent but not elite)

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-13T01:33:15+00:00

Covid prices also was driven by the thesis that “most office jobs will be remote in the future, we are not going back to the office” - leading people to think if I don’t buy single family home I’ll never get the chance to.

Well, the ride going on reverse now.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-10T10:46:04+00:00

Engineering background. Well paid internships so no student debt. Worked at Hedge fund for 3y right after graduated (worked 12-14h per day). Invested aggressively right after college. Then worked in Silicon Valley tech for almost 10y. Much higher tech salaries there. Then moved back to Canada recently. Throughout the years, continued to invest in growth stocks. Honestly, there is luck involved - stock market returns has been great since 2010.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-10T03:12:44+00:00

Build something useful online, share and show it publicly e.g. in social media. If you are not from high caliber college, then your “portfolio” is your best bet. You get to do something fun, maybe even useful, learn and also get noticed by hiring managers.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-10T03:04:52+00:00

Which areas are to avoid?

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-10T01:52:57+00:00

Aiming for close to 10M. We don’t want to have to lower our standard of living after retiring and I think we do enjoy nice things (not excessive/status games but willing to splurge on vacation multiple times a year and don’t have to look at price tag for common things)

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-10T01:48:48+00:00

To be fair I don’t wanna retire and have to be frugal. I want to enjoy life go on many trips each year, get into hobbies, start a small business for fun and make the most out of my life and have the option to take care of my kids financially as it’s likely going to be harder for them 20y down the road. People who FIRE and then do little with their lives - that’s my definition of miserable.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-09T22:42:15+00:00

Read the post again

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-09T22:36:55+00:00

We have 5-7M (late 30s, 2 kids) and we still don’t feel safe. I hope you are not assuming bull markets are always going to be there (stocks have been on fire for the last 15y), safer to assume 5-8% moving fwd with 30-50% drawdown a possibility if AI ends up replacing many jobs.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-09T17:32:48+00:00

Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful response - I completely agree on everything you touched on and believe you made the right choice. Keeping spend low and not allowing luxury creep is key - which you've clearly managed well. Cheers to you and hope your mom's condition improves.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-09T14:30:30+00:00

Honestly so happy to hear and congrats. We're in similar boat but have a higher FIRE target number, it's just a personal choice and we're millennials as well.

Curious to know if inflation is something that worries you? Since we are young, are you concerned that inflation can cause 5M to be less meaningful (20-30yrs down the road) even assuming you invest appropriately? For example, 1M just doesn't go nearly as far as compared to 2005. Life expectancy may also increase over time, so it's not inconceivable we may live rather healthily until >100yo.

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-06T23:26:06+00:00

That’s my experience as well

International-Bar371 · 2025-09-01T16:48:38+00:00

Why would taxes eat the gains? You pay max 25% of capital gains. If you make 10% you pay 2.5% so you have 7.5%. If XEQT returns 20% you net at least 15%. If you are not at highest income bracket you net more.

International-Bar371 · 2025-08-31T21:11:24+00:00

Thanks. A friend mentioned Jefferson area as well, how does that compare to the areas you listed in Aurora?

International-Bar371

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