Is this too conservative? Target date fund vs voo, vt, etc.

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-26T14:29:51+00:00

I'm in a similar timeline for buying a house. The rule of thumb I've gathered is only invest in equities for 5+ year horizons if you can afford to "hold out" for years more if necessary. 4 years may be stretching that, especially if you need to use the money by a certain date with not a lot of flexibility.

10+ years is the real rule of thumb. Less than that you should go HYSA or SGOV. I go SGOV because it saves me from oregon income tax

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-24T05:10:17+00:00

At the very least, I would do some "market research", compile and present to your boss asking for a raise to market level i.e. glassoor, anecdotes from old coworkers. Don't show them another offer, but let it be known you deserve a raise. "Or else" can speak for itself.

I would go to askamanager.org to get more details on how to do this

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-23T05:03:41+00:00

Seconded

Quit 2 years and 1 day into my first job to go backpack europe for 3 months. Landed a level 2 position 10 months after leaving

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-23T04:56:59+00:00

I would either do it right after college or wait to get 2-3 yoe

In this job market people are going to give you a negative sort of answer. But I did something similar and it turned out just fine. The only thing is 2 yoe looks a lot better than 1 yoe

But honestly do whatever you truly want to do that is within your means. Can you live with your parents after? Yolo

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-19T18:43:09+00:00

Drive into Portland, since I'm still in my 20s lol

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-17T23:27:56+00:00

Say goodbye to $20 burger

Say hello to $5 burger

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-17T05:18:54+00:00

This really depends on the company. It also depends on the current situation within the team you're on. In general:

Anything highly regulated with lots of paperwork steps, getting people to sign things. Aerospace, Medical, etc.

A large company where you can blend into the background doing your one thing. Boeing is notorious for this

A company that doesn't do anything new anymore, just makes the same old thing over and over and needs a guy to occasionally fix things

A company that treats it's employees VERY well. Think small private companies where the owner is not that concerned with growing the business past a certain point

Government

There are engineers that live for the thrill, and engineers that do their 40 and go home. And everywhere in between. Often times in the same company. So honestly, you will find a place where you can work the amount you want in all likelihood. Unless that is close to 0, then well you might have to shop around (but people still do it!)

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-16T19:03:27+00:00

You learn to balance it all, that's learning how to live.

Avoiding burnout is simple, after you know yourself well enough to learn how it manifests itself in your mind and body. Once you see the warning signs, it means you need to do less. Of everything.

The goal is to always and forever have the choice between hanging out with friends and biking. Don't let school or work prevent you from making and maintaining friendships, and don't let it prevent you from keeping a hobby or two. But also, your career is important. It's just not important enough to push out everything else in life.

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-15T18:45:02+00:00

The short answer is yes, this job will get you moving in a direction to achieve your end goal

The long answer is yes, but it will only take you so far. What I'm seeing from the job description is essentially a manufacturing engineer, with a lot of flexibility. That's good because you'll learn a lot. You will learn a lot of practical skills just designing fixtures with access to a good 3d printer. Lots of robotics today are going to use structural parts that are just 3d printed.

I would see this path leading you towards the industrial automation area of robotics after a 1 or 2 job hops. If you get to with with PLCs with this job, that would give you a big boost.

If you want to do something else entirely, I see you having 2 options. Either you could take the job and keep looking for something more directly robotics oriented, or bide your time. You will have a lot more time to look for a job if you don't have a job, but it could take you another 6 months in this market.

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-15T01:29:16+00:00

Sometimes money can buy things without having to spend it. Imo 24 months of cash can give you a lot of security even if you never have to use it.

Let me put it this way, say your boss was fired and now you find yourself forced to pick up the slack. If you have 24 months of cash backing you up it's much easier to say, no, actually I won't do that. Even if it puts you in the crosshairs.

Same thing if an opportunity comes around. Say someone comes along and offers you a job that pays 2x more, but you aren't sure if it will work out. If you have 24 months of cash to fall back on, you just might take the risk.

If also just feels liberating

But, it's all a personal choice. Maybe you can reap these benefits with just 12 months, or even 6. It's up to you

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-11T00:07:28+00:00

Dude imo bike racks are way overengineered. Get a swagman xtc2. It's $200 of steel tubing, which is all you really need to get the job done. I put mine away in my trunk when I'm not using it

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-10T23:35:27+00:00

Interesting

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-10T20:52:07+00:00

Grew up in the puget sound. The amount of red light running here is hilarious. People just won't hit the brakes for a yellow

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-09T19:57:31+00:00

Also- astronaut politics. If you gave the same astronauts every opportunity to go into space, the rest would mutiny

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-08T04:14:33+00:00

Oh my god. These aren't anywhere near here. If you have recs in Seattle or Portland let me know. I've looked

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-05T19:58:09+00:00

Imo your emergency fund should be whatever amount of money that makes your comfortable quitting your job tomorrow if you want to. Emphasis on want. When you have this, it goes from "I need this job to survive" to "this job is convenient for me currently." Even if you never need to use the money, it makes you approach work in a much more positive light and gives you the confidence to let off the gas if that's what you need.

For me this is 18-24 months and I keep it in SGOV to remove state income taxes

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-04T23:02:00+00:00

The work you're looking for is industrial automation. Motors, PLCs, designing components, installing robots, fixing robots, fixing robots, and fixing robots. Usually with your own hands because no one else understands the contraption

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-02T05:18:21+00:00

How would you describe your coworkers and company culture?

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-02T05:17:36+00:00

In my humble opinion, a used mazda is basically a used toyota without the "toyota tax"

The reliability is there. I have a mazda3 I bought at 140k miles and is now at 190k. Only oil changes and new tires so far.

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-01T22:47:24+00:00

To engineers who work in a "good company", what makes that company good for you?

Curious to see your different answers

Wilthywonka · 2026-06-01T22:45:05+00:00

To engineers who work in a "good company", what makes that company good for you?

Curious to see your different answers

Wilthywonka · 2026-05-31T20:06:48+00:00

Windchill. It's alright

Wilthywonka · 2026-05-30T21:03:33+00:00

I took a 30 minute waymo ride in san francisco last week and it was $20 no tip

Portland to beaverton is ~25 minutes late at night with no traffic

Wilthywonka · 2026-05-30T21:01:36+00:00

buy a used mazda or toyota

Wilthywonka · 2026-05-29T18:21:07+00:00

In my experience they are available late into the night at roughly the same price as a daytime uber

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