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This question's gauche, but: given the prevalence of $400k++ comp packages for ~30-year-olds in Big Tech, why aren't there lots more "gentle[wo]man scholars"? i.e. people quitting to do non-remunerative creative projects I can think of some, but shouldn't there be thousands?

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Harry Tormey

| tormey.eth

@htormey

Jan 28

The answer for many is likely they purchased a home in the Bay Area and now have a very expensive mortgage to pay.

Andy Matuschak

@andy_matuschak

Jan 28

Right! The thing is… that doesn't seem to make this all that impossible? We have a nice condo in SF; our mortgage is ~$3k/mo. But an annuity which would pay that mortgage would only cost ~$600k; one could readily set aside triple that in a few years as a senior eng…

Well, the pattern I’ve seen is people wanting to have a house with kids in the Bay Area. At that point you enter a new tier of expenses and discomfort.

Andy Matuschak

@andy_matuschak

Replying to

@htormey

Yes, that's very true!

2:09 AM · Jan 28, 2022Twitter Web App