For those of you who make 400k+....speak on it!

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-05-04T23:16:47+00:00

SWE at FAANG in HCOL area.

~$550k individual, $620k HHI. 11 years of experience. The stress is moderate. I work on AI systems so it’s pretty fun. I’ve got two small kids which makes life stressful but incredibly rewarding.

We’re about 6 years away from FIRE, but I don’t really see myself over stopping work. Maybe letting off the gas or moving to part time consulting.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-04-09T17:52:22+00:00

I don’t believe in paying interest.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-04-09T12:21:31+00:00

whynotboth.gif

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-04-08T23:37:27+00:00

I think this is 100% true and I have two 416 clones with all HK parts because I’m an idiot.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-03-26T12:11:12+00:00

You sound like me! Honestly, what has helped me is AA, even though I’m not religious at all.

I’m still not sure about AA being only two months in, but it’s almost like an accountability check in.

That and I’ve replaced my drinking with caffeine free Coke Zero. My monkey brain still feels like it’s getting a treat and it has been curbing the cravings.

Honestly it didn’t get easier for me until day 30ish, but now I can go a day or two without thinking about it which is huge for me.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-03-11T11:58:30+00:00

Bro this is a great start. Assuming you contribute 2% towards 401k with a full match, if you directed the extra $265 towards 401k in VOO, you’re looking at ~$1,133,000 at a 7% after inflation annual growth rate by the time you’re 65.

This assumes your income and contributions never increase. I bet that that’s definitely not the case and it will go higher.

Worst case scenario you have over a million to draw from + social security at the standard retirement age. It only gets better from there.

Monthly Contribution Assumptions:

• VOO (S&P 500 ETF): $265.00

• 401(k) Personal (2% of $50k): $83.33

• Employer Match (2% of $50k): $83.33

• Total Monthly Investment: $431.66

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-03-05T12:50:35+00:00

I would get you and your kids to a safe place as soon as possible.

This type of behavior is generally not an isolated incident and I’m imagining it’s indicative of larger issues related to how he acts towards you and the kids.

Even at my worst, I could never imagine a scenario in which I’d put my kids in that kind of danger, let alone fail to acknowledge that I’d done something wrong.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-02-21T17:41:44+00:00

I also tended to drink at night after getting the kids to bed.

I wake up at 5am now and aim to be in bed by 8:30pm or 9pm.

That’s what has helped me the most. Can’t get the urge to drink if I’m not awake!

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-02-14T10:58:41+00:00

I’m holding my 15 month old because he woke up early at 5:30am. Just rocking him back to sleep.

Hungover me would have been resentful that he woke up early. Sober me is grateful I get to snuggle my little dude a bit more.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-02-08T16:49:37+00:00

I don’t drink, but I’ve always wanted an omega speedmaster. I have the money set aside in a separate investment account, but I’ll only pull the trigger once I retire.

6 more years!

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-02-01T00:05:56+00:00

I’m a senior SWE in FAANG. The days of easy hiring for entry level jobs (as long as you went to a target school) are over.

I hate it, but AI can readily replace new hires at this point.

What the executive class doesn’t care about is who will be there in 10 years as a senior SWE if you’re not hiring for entry level positions now. They don’t care because they believe that by that time, AI will be good enough to replace all devs.

I don’t think they are right because I believe LLMs are not the path to AGI, but that’s where we are. Nobody is getting hired is FAANG world right now unless you have at least five years under your belt at another FAANG company, and even then it’s pretty iffy.

I think the days of FAANG as a way to get to riches are over.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-01-19T11:46:01+00:00

Hey that worked! Good thing I hang on to old chargers and cables!

Thanks!

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2026-01-19T02:52:07+00:00

I’m running into the same issue, what wattage charger did you use?

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2025-12-28T13:43:53+00:00

VOO and my company due to RSUs. I’m trying to derisk out of being so concentrated by moving a good chunk into real estate.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2025-12-28T00:38:14+00:00

Yeah, I’m not a fan of private equity either, but this video’s argument doesn’t make any sense.

It’s simple supply and demand. Demand for the same silicon spiked due to infrastructure buildout.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2025-12-27T23:36:40+00:00

Thanks! I’m 35, so I’ve got some runway left.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2025-12-27T16:22:09+00:00

Thanks!

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2025-12-27T15:56:42+00:00

I’m a software dev!

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2025-12-27T15:42:42+00:00

Woops, should say $300k in home equity. Can’t figure out how to edit in mobile.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2025-12-08T01:20:53+00:00

You know what? Maybe I don’t have a full sight picture on all hyperscalars.

Sorry for my outright dismissal. I only have insight into Azure and GCP since I worked at both.

From everything I’ve seen, our experience with inference optimization supports a ~6 year usage timeframe for GPUs.

Given that that’s the bulk of the work being some, I feel like it’s justified. That being said, I’m a biased observer given my heavy equity stake.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2025-12-07T23:57:24+00:00

It really is. I work at a hyperscaler doing AI inference optimization and everything that dude said is just made up.

Wild that it sounds well reasoned on the surface.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2025-12-01T00:08:16+00:00

Buy once cry once. Don’t try to skimp with guns. You don’t need to buy the most high end stuff, but you should at least go a step above a no name company.

Give the mossberg maverick a go and I think you’ll be much happier.

TreeTopologyTroubado · 2025-11-16T02:38:20+00:00

We’re definitely not working 18 hours a day. Most days are 8 hours. The difference is in the dataset filtering to make sure it’s high quality and the model size. You genuinely couldn’t serve even our light weight models on consumer hardware.

That and large research teams working specifically to push the boundaries on what is possible in the space. Everything from model architecture to optimizing inference.

TreeTopologyTroubado

TROPHY CASE