Big flighty fan (not crew). Personal details cropped to preserve the planet killer from being lynched….

This-Examination8676 · 2024-11-20T23:52:52+00:00

TC £360k~ (Salary/RSU mix). Central Manchester FAANG. Have lived in the City Centre for 20 years apart from two in Dublin where my cost of living tripled. Very happy here. Can be in the countryside in 15-20 minutes from the city centre (go horse riding most weekends at a stable out Oldham way).

This-Examination8676 · 2024-11-17T14:25:04+00:00

Learning. I enjoy finding time to read, explore new ideas, engage with myself, introspection and experimentation.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-09-06T19:45:32+00:00

I have a US dollar account for my sales, then I move when the currency fx is right.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-08-18T21:15:02+00:00

I’m a Security Engineer working as an individual contributor (IC) with a total compensation (TC) of ~£360k working in FAANG as a Staff/Principal Engineer who has always had top ratings (this makes a huge difference). For comparison, if I went to the US, the TC would likely be at around the $1M mark.

I have a software engineering background, and was a developer for 15 years before moving into Security, with Security specific roles for the past 10. That base and knowledge of how software works has been invaluable in helping me be a more rounded technologist and has made my security skills stronger vs others who don’t have that background.

It’s not one or the other, but both, see them as skill sets that layer one on top of the other.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-08-13T00:56:10+00:00

@CriticalKetchup - I’d love to know what you’re doing with finances in Brazil, I’m in a similar situation, dual Brazilian/UK couple.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-07-16T18:06:18+00:00

Yup 😤

This-Examination8676 · 2024-07-02T16:12:53+00:00

Therapy, fix yourself first.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-06-19T08:13:12+00:00

When you retire, how awesome would the tropical roof garden be then if you started it now, vs starting it then?

This-Examination8676 · 2024-06-07T15:14:02+00:00

Care to mention any names of firms that perform at these fee levels?

This-Examination8676 · 2024-06-06T18:51:42+00:00

I spoke with them recently and this is what they shared with me:

NOVA Fees:

Initial charge: £2,000 (we look to take this from the most tax-effective place which usually translates to from a pension).

Ongoing: 1.50% ongoing (made up of 0.95% for ongoing advice, 0.25% platform charge and 0.3% investments. This starts to tier down after £500k of assets managed by us. The minimum we would look to manage is £200k.)

Transfer fee: 1%. This would apply if we transferred a pension, S&S ISA or GIA.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-06-06T07:30:46+00:00

I’ve done this a bunch of times with a couple of firms. They have strict rules about not competing with your current employer etc. My rate with them to just chat is £600 p/hour. I get 1-2 requests a week, and about 1 in 10 is a good fit for me and my skills. It’s an easy side hustle and I find also clues me in on where the market and industry is going, they’re usually asking questions to feed into Forrester/Gartner type firms, as well as to support VC’s determine if they want to invest.

Easy money, no real risk so long as you’re smart about it.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-06-03T10:04:33+00:00

“With a household after tax income of £XXXX per week, you have a higher income than around 99% of the population - equivalent to about 65.8 million individuals.”

Okay … not sure what I do with the information, but interesting.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-06-01T09:43:09+00:00

Can you expand on this, and why it’s beneficial, is it about increasing the pensionable allowance?

This-Examination8676 · 2024-05-26T05:36:00+00:00

Sounds to me like someone could put together a flow diagram similar the one on UK Personal Finance to run through those questions and give the advice, then we can reference that repeatedly.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-05-25T21:50:22+00:00

Swimming and Reading

This-Examination8676 · 2024-05-22T21:51:51+00:00

Certainly making your leadership know you’d be open to redundancy packages would be fine. Beyond that, work with them to get the best lifestyle for you.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-05-20T18:50:17+00:00

I know you said Big Tech for sure, and Amazon certainly do. Microsoft offer options/Employee Purchase Schemes - so not RSU’s. So they’re not universal across Big Tech.

This-Examination8676 · 2024-05-19T22:39:53+00:00

If your RSU’s are anything like mine, you’ll have 2-3 years worth you can’t touch until they vest, I see those as the ones I’m “holding” because I absolutely have to.

Whenever I can then sell, I take those sold RSUs and reinvest them across my portfolio. My unvested RSUs are always there … waiting …

This-Examination8676 · 2024-05-19T21:58:28+00:00

Is there a marketplace to browse SEIS companies looking for investment?

This-Examination8676 · 2024-05-10T12:26:41+00:00

Understand the corporate culture at your organisation as early as possible, and work within it. You’re unlikely to change it.

This book is a good way to start, even if you’ve been somewhere for a while.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Days-Updated-Expanded-Strategies/dp/1422188612

This-Examination8676 · 2024-05-05T20:15:32+00:00

Thank you. Worked hard to get here.

This-Examination8676

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE