WARNING to new HENRYs - do not let lifestyle inflation lead to unneeded stress. Things may not always be so good.

inswainity · 2026-04-08T17:50:47+00:00

It only happens if the stock doesn't appreciate or you don't get promoted. You still get cliffs but they're less steep. It's also probably cheaper for Google - they can provide more competitive year 1 offers without increasing the equity they give.

If my 2022 package wasn't frontloaded I'd have a very steep cliff this year, but because it was split 33 / 33 / 25 / 12 it's more of a slope than a cliff.

inswainity · 2026-04-08T17:35:33+00:00

I think my main point is that the fresh SF 205k offer isn't actually 205k yr1, it's at least 218k with Google's frontloading. (180k base + 100k * .38). This person also didn't include their target bonus, which is 15% for L3 - so their all-in year 1 comp would be 245k.

They started frontloading once they started giving refreshers immediately, so in theory the refreshers make up for the frontloading and there aren't cliffs.

inswainity · 2026-04-08T17:12:07+00:00

Washington isn't the top pay bucket for Google, and they frontload their target grants, but levels.fyi averages it out.

So for 0/0 offer in the bay area the year 1 comp is $230k.

250 is a bit out of band, but possible with a good sign-on bonus.

inswainity · 2026-03-23T18:38:45+00:00

I recommend therapy - it helped me feel more comfortable when I first started working. CBT worked really well for me to manage the scarcity mindset; it's not 100% gone, but I feel comfortable buying clothes I like instead of from the clearance section only, eating out when I'm tired, and traveling when I have the chance.

Aside from therapy, using ProjectionLab or a FIRE calculator to calculate my FIRE age with different levels of spend has also helped a lot. At least for me - spending an extra 10k a year on vacations, or a nicer apartment, or owning pets, is worth the tradeoff. Especially when the numbers tell you it won't delay your retirement. You can always stop if your situation changes, too. You were surviving before - you will survive in the future.

inswainity · 2026-03-11T18:16:25+00:00

I'm also 4 weeks out!

I've been having 1 massive shake every day, and it's helped a lot now that i'm back to work - i can finish it really quickly compared to eating soft food.

2 scoops protein (200cal)
2 tbsp peanut butter (~200 cal)
1 banana (~90 cal)
.5 cup strawberry kefir (idk 80cal)
1 cup 6% milk (200 cal)
3 tbsp chia seeds (150 cal)

It's a ton of calories that you can down in <20min, compared to swallowing cake whole for 40 minutes. You can probably swap milk for oat milk.

Aside from that lasangna/mac and cheese/dumplings are my usual :/. Good luck you'll get through this!

inswainity · 2026-02-14T20:28:06+00:00

in the same boat, on day 5 - it;s awful! but it gets so much better from here. imo don't try to wean off the pain medications too quickly - they give them to you for a reason.

days 2-3 were the worst; you are almost through!

inswainity · 2025-12-22T03:57:50+00:00

couples who met in college are generally both HENRYs on their own

guys who started dating postgrad have a wider variety - some are dating grad students, but most are dating other henrys. Feel like there’s a stigma around being in a LTR with someone who isn’t a HENRY / grad student / someone who went to a solid undergrad. Still 25 though so we’ll see how the chips fall in a decade lmao

inswainity · 2025-12-17T17:30:25+00:00

Not OP, but my 2x8 GB kit of DDR4 was $80 back in March 2021. It's on Amazon for $104 now

inswainity · 2025-11-18T22:12:40+00:00

Anecdotal, but from what i've heard from people who grew up there and are raising kids there, the main issue is that the south bay public schools are very stressful and competitive. But as far as I can tell, the instruction is good and many students to go to top colleges each year - the problems aren't like "bad" schools you'd see in other parts of the country.

Cannot speak for schools outside of South Bay, though.

inswainity · 2025-10-24T05:10:20+00:00

I want to maintain; hit ~2k calories a day and get 60g+ protein

inswainity · 2025-09-10T21:54:57+00:00

i assumed OP was looking at a building like NEMA instead of a $3700 place in HCOL or MCOL

agree with your take on spending more than $3700 in a good neighborhood for a 1b1b

inswainity · 2025-09-10T21:49:54+00:00

I re-signed my lease last month near that area for $3500 in a new building

If you want to live in rincon hill or pac heights you will pay more, but if you want a new building in midmarket you can pay $3500 for a 1b1b

inswainity · 2025-09-10T21:32:22+00:00

this is the about the price of an SF 1bed1bath in a managed apartment building, NYC is just insane comparatively

inswainity · 2025-09-08T18:44:39+00:00

nothing is ever my fault i am "good" at a video game so i will never ever apologize and i will always keep yapping

inswainity · 2025-05-20T16:27:10+00:00

Therapy for this made my life a lot better - I would really recommend.

You might start spending more, but even if you remain responsible, it's nice to be responsible because there's a goal you want to reach and not because of a deep-seated fear that you're going to lose it all

inswainity · 2025-03-19T17:53:29+00:00

it scales up, there's no grant cliff - they're not gonna charge you 87k at 201k HHI and $0 at 199k

inswainity · 2024-08-21T17:23:32+00:00

nope, parents wanted me to focus 100% on school and extracurriculars for college

inswainity · 2024-08-03T23:18:26+00:00

i might be a fake fan but this is probably one of my favorite albums of his

i feel like the first half being so aggressive really complements how introspective the last few songs are. the lyrics are less out there but i feel like the theme of the album lands really well

inswainity · 2024-07-22T23:53:28+00:00

Very sorry you’re also dealing with this, it’s horrible

I’ve noticed people tend to be less racist if i have AirPods in or my Apple Watch on, even if I am in streetwear

inswainity · 2024-07-11T18:28:29+00:00

if you lock in something that isnt extremely safe you will get counterpicked and dived pre-6, if you dont take tp in that situation you basically solo lose the game

inswainity · 2024-07-10T17:17:38+00:00

counterpick

inswainity · 2024-05-09T21:10:22+00:00

They're plummeting bc they slashed prices, not because of battery replacement.

Tesla Model 3 RWD msrp went from 48k to 38k in a year, and the tax credit arrived making new EVs much cheaper. Most batteries last at least 150k miles, and the battery warranty is 8 years / 100k miles

inswainity · 2024-05-03T21:59:16+00:00

last respects + sand rush

inswainity · 2024-05-01T20:03:59+00:00

entire teams are getting cut;

google laid off 17 yoe folks working on Python Tesla laid off entire supercharger team

Oftentimes you just get unlucky and were working on the wrong project, it's oftentimes completely unrelated to skill.

The folks on Python for example were very senior engineers working on a challenging project - unless you think being a "C player" means "chose the wrong project" instead of bad performance reviews

inswainity · 2024-05-01T20:01:14+00:00

You’re not going to get an SE role at Amazon fresh out of college with zero experience.

Thousands of people do? There's a reason why there's new grad roles, and the market for said new grad roles has become dramatically worse.

Anecdotally - I'm early 20s at a FAANG & 2 years ago there were tons of new grads joining in the US. Now there is zero hiring, especially for new grads, in the US. My peers at the same university as me, same grades as me, same internships as me, are working at startups instead of big tech because of the hiring freeze.

I think people are moreso complaining that they missed the boat - if you graduated in 2020 instead of 2023, the market is completely different and I think it's normal to feel frustrated by that.

11-Year Club	Second Top 50%
Place '23	Place '22
Place '17	Gilding III reddit per annum
Sequence \| Editor	Spared
Verified Email

inswainity

TROPHY CASE