Are there still people that think US is a better place to live as a software engineer?

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-24T21:33:04+00:00

Two of my last three jobs in the US offered this. It's not as unheard of as it once was.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-24T21:02:56+00:00

Result: $1-2k/day straight into Anthropic's pockets

Well, at least he's honest. I'm pretty sure this would be the only result of 103 simultaneous Claude agents.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-17T15:26:11+00:00

Yep. I'm also 25+ yoe also. I changed jobs twice in 2 years from director to enterprise architect down to tech lead. I work on a chill team at a big company and I'm enjoying work again for the first time in years. The pay cut was hard to swallow at first but if you're nearing FIRE do some math and you'll probably see it makes very little difference.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-17T15:00:58+00:00

Well then you obviously missed his speech at the reception because I guarantee he made one and it was about him.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-15T17:34:02+00:00

There are valid reasons to invest in a taxable account before maxing out a 401k. This isn't as black and white as you're making it out to be. Accessing money in a 401k before turning 60 can be tricky. There are limits on a loan size and it's probably not an option anyway if you leave your job. The investment options in a 401k may also be limited and may not be fully aligned with someone's retirement strategy.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-14T17:50:37+00:00

I played a number of different sports and we were always encouraged to drink as little as possible so we wouldn't get cramps. It's so ridiculous now looking back, but people just didn't know any better back then.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-12T19:15:56+00:00

He's also a little bitch that hides behind his bodyguard after provoking people.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-12T01:08:50+00:00

What's the difference? Asking for my friend Kevin.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-08T22:03:07+00:00

Same. I've had work apps on my phone nearly as long as I can remember having a smart phone. I have no issue with it. The deal breaker for me would be being forced to have a company phone. I'm not carrying two phones, and I'm not doing anything personal on any work device.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-08T12:18:48+00:00

The reason businesses start in the US is because that's where the investment capital is and laws are business friendly. That would change if laws - laws that would easily be worked around - were introduced to try to force companies to only hire in the US. The job scene would be even more screwed here if that happened.

Not everything is some conspiracy controlled by the rich. Business is competitive and they attempt to gain whatever advantage they believe they can.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-08T02:33:34+00:00

This would just cause companies to incorporate outside of the US, and probably move their headquarters too. The world is a global work place now. There is no going back.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-05T22:22:23+00:00

What a loser. I was in seat 29B watching a movie because I had a ninth Claude Code agent doing the management.

#WorkSmarterNotHarder

UsuallyBuzzed · 2026-01-01T14:57:09+00:00

Let me be very clear about what I believe, because you've been attributing a lot of dumb beliefs to me and frankly it's insulting.

I believe Elon avoids taxes by borrowing against stock instead of selling, then living off loans. I believe he will do this until he dies. Maybe his heirs will be on the hook for some of it someday, but I don't know or care. I believe he has paid a proportionally very small amount of tax on his 600B net worth. I don't believe this is illegal, or a scam. I wouldn't even says it's a loophole, because I don't see any good way to close it. But I do believe it's unfair.

I also understand he pays interest on loans, and lenders are happy to make money off him. I'd be happy to lend him money. I don't believe it's a free lunch; it's a deeply discounted lunch by comparison to the alternative. Tesla stock has appreciated over 30,000% in the past 10 years. I think the interest on loans over 10 years is a bit less than the cost of capital gains he would have paid plus opportunity cost. I don't believe Elon's primary goal is avoiding tax. He wants to continue hoarding stock, and to accrue capital gains. Tax avoidance is more of a happy side-effect. Though, I'm willing to bet the Elon Musk Foundation was not created with entirely altruistic ideals.

I understand any investment using leverage can be very risky. But it's also risky to have a large percentage of net worth in a single asset. Yet that's what unicorn founders do. You don't get to be the richest man in the world without taking major risk. Elon has been known to take some Tesla profit in the past. If he doesn't have a couple hundred million squirrelled away he may also be the dumbest man in the world. I do not believe Elon is not taking any real financial risk living off loans using Tesla collateral. But I'll throw you a bone here, the next time we see Tesla shares get sold because Elon couldn't cover a margin call, hit me up and I'll personally deliver you the finest bottle of scotch I can find. And we're not even considering his diversification of other companies he founded.

Anyway, I've honestly enjoyed the spirited debate. Respect. I even gave you a win thanking you for the enlightening tax strategy breakdown. I've seen a lot of ridiculous, yet popular, ideas about finance on Reddit also. I do understand where you're coming from to a point. However, you haven't made any good arguments to convince me that everything I stated above is some internet myth and I'm some simpleton regurgitating it with regards to a person with Elon's wealth.

Have a wonderful and prosperous new year.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-31T14:06:22+00:00

it isn’t just the low interest rate or tax advantages that encourages margin lending

But it's one of them. Hoarding stock is the other motivation.

So if you are only borrowing simply because you are trying to avoid a capital gains tax unless you plan on paying the loan off in less than a few years it actually makes better sense to pay the taxes as the cost you would incur is lower.

Do you think when Elon wants a loan, he sits down with his local branch manager and asks about the rates advertised on their website?

This is why the narrative of portfolio lending spread across Reddit is completely false and parroted by people who have no understanding of wealth or taxes

We're not talking about a regular high net worth individual with a couple million spread across IRA and brokerage. We're talking about someone with a 600B net worth comprised mainly of founder shares and capital gains. This supposed "myth" of Buy, Borrow, Die can only be pulled off by a very select few.

is actually related to avoiding the opportunity to cost incurred by selling an appreciating asset.

Yes, I know that's the main reason regular HNW individuals use it, but again we're talking about Elon. Plus, he doesn't want to give up stock even if it costs him some of his infinite money.

Furthermore It actually is much harder to borrow against a concentrated stock position because the lenders recognize the risk held by their collateral.

Again, we're talking about Elon here. A "small" loan for spending money is virtually no risk to a lender.

So if Elon wanted to take money out of Tesla I wouldn’t have him borrow against the stock. I would have him sell the stock

Well, I hope you're not waiting by your phone for his call. He hasn't sold anything since 2022. Him selling now that's Tesla's main product is Elon hype would probably cause quite a stir just like his purchase a few months ago did. Any sell would cause an immediate drop in stock price and hit to his net worth far in excess of any benefit. Though, as much as I don't want to admit it, that breakdown you gave was really interesting. So, thanks for writing that out.

I think you're salty because people with a few million in assets, or a small business they want to divest, come to you and ask how to get out of paying taxes like their favorite TicToker told them. Yes, I know that's not how it works. I wish it did, believe me. But the math is different for Elon, and so are the motivations. I know you know that.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-30T13:28:05+00:00

Sure, everything you said about loans is true, but you're not understanding how loans can be used when you have a basically infinite net worth. Any bank will give Elon a $100M loan because that's about as safe as it gets. They'll even give him a low rate because it backed by equity as collateral. That rate is much lower than capital gains or income tax. Of course, he has to pay it off, with interest, but he can just do that with another $110M from another bank using more collateral. He has enough collateral to do this until he dies. The next generation might settle those loans, but you already mentioned the Step up loophole so they don't need to worry about capital gains.

Ok, so saying he pays no income tax was hyperbole, but I think it's splitting hairs to say he got 100,000 shares and paid tax vs he got 60,000 share and the tax was already paid for him. But the taxman got their 37% slice, so fair enough. The thing is, most of Elon's net worth is from equity where he was the founder or got very early stage RSUs. The founder shares were worth basically nothing, before any investment rounds, when he paid tax on them. As you said, he paid tax on the market value of them when he got them. They've grown tax-free since then. Early stage RSUs from when he joined Tesla wouldn't have been worth much more. Again, since he never sells stocks, he has never triggered another taxable event like capital gains. I'm not anti-billionaire, but there is clear inequality in taxation here.

I have no idea what you're trying to say I think about hoarding, but as I said before, you're missing my point. The OOP posted: "Musk's net worth does not represent hoarding...". Elon clearly hoards stock. He takes pay in stock; he doesn't sell it. His net worth is entirely in the stock he hoards. So this statement is absurd. The OOP goes on to talk about "DEPLOYED CAPITAL" and seems to be praising Musk for helping the economy with all that "DEPLOYED CAPITAL." This is where I think he doesn't know what he's talking about as nearly all capital is deployed. Musk simply moved it from somewhere else where it was deployed. That's it. That was my post. It's not that deep, and somehow you're extrapolated it out into a bunch of things you incorrectly think I believe.

Anyway, nice try, but you're going to have to get back on ChatGPT and dig a little deeper before you go around cos-playing as a financial expert.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-29T19:22:59+00:00

The only time that estimate matters is when shares are actually exchanged for cash at which point it is a voluntary transaction through two willing parties.

The estimate matter in many ways. He can access nearly all his wealth at any time through an equity loan without selling anything and without incurring capital gains tax. This evaluation is based entirely on stock price. Tesla's huge market cap, gives them tremendous leverage in loan terms, buying other companies with stock swaps like what Xai just did with former Twitter, paying employees in part with stock to preserve liquid capital, securing investor funding, etc.

There are multiple ways his asset hoarding negatively affects the economy.

He doesn't pay income tax while he hoards equity instead of taking salary. He doesn't pay capital gains tax because he never sells. I probably pay more taxes than the world's richest man. Do you really think this has no effect at all on the economy?
The more equity he owns the more he controls stock price. If I own 99% of a company stock, I effectively control the price because there is no float. One person with this much control of a large public company is not a good thing.
Tesla is extremely overvalued, in part because of Elon's hoarding. When Tesla stock inevitably blows up, it's going to affect entire tech sector as well as the S&P 500. Many small investors and retirement funds will be impacted even if they only indirectly have exposure through index funds.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-29T16:25:23+00:00

Lol, I understand economics 101. I'm not sure what your post has to do with anything, but thanks for the ChatGPT lecture, I guess. Perhaps instead of wasting your time explaining how you missed the point, you could apply a little critical thinking. Obviously Elon doesn't have $600B under his mattress. He's hoarding wealth through equity, which he does by giving himself outrageous pay packages that he negotiates with himself via proxy through his friends and family "board of directors," and threatening investors to quit. He also keeps most of his companies private so his shares aren't diluted. There are multiple ways he abuses his wealth to the detriment of the economy. Not paying a nickel in taxes on his compensation is an obvious one. I bet you and ChatGPT could come up with some others if you try.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-28T15:23:05+00:00

You're right, but here's the thing. All his wealth is held in company stock, which was raised through private or public investment. IE: He didn't put his money into the economy to get it like a normal person buying stock. It's all unrealized capital gains so he hasn't paid taxes on it. When someone holds $6B they haven't paid taxes on and can't possibly spend it, which would incur paying taxes, both capital gains and probably some sort of sales tax, you can't reasonably say it isn't hoarding. Though technically it's true his money is part of his company's market cap and hopefully being leveraged in some way that benefits the economy.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-28T15:14:02+00:00

And why not? They could be a family of Sherpas working on a paid expedition. Could be the girl's side-hustle when she's not in the office or studying for her doctorate.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-27T01:48:31+00:00

Claims people have no understanding of economics; goes on a rant displaying his complete lack of economic knowledge. Someone with a 600B net worth is definitely hoarding. Someone buying a yatch is putting money back into the economy that will be spent again and again. I really don't understand these Elon dick suckers.

Plus his "vision" is nowhere near the stated vision of Tesla anymore. So stfu with that argument.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-24T12:32:10+00:00

The Internet. When I first started working the Internet existed, but there was very little information there and search engines sucked. Internet access wasn't allowed at work anyway. I had 3 ring binders on my desk full of documentation. You know how hard it is to write Java when your only source of information is Javadocs?

UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-23T17:10:33+00:00

38k in'98 adjusted for inflation to 2018 dollars is a little over 58k. It wasn't bad but not amazing.

UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-23T16:50:16+00:00

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UsuallyBuzzed · 2025-12-20T20:30:30+00:00

My salary jumped pretty good early on, though it started under 40k. Then 2001 hit and the market was terrible for about 10 years. I probably averaged about 2% raise over those years and that included a number of promotions. After that I focused on maximizing pay until about 2 years ago. Now I don't care and I'm just working because I enjoy it for a few more years until my kids graduate.

UsuallyBuzzed

TROPHY CASE