I currently live in the Bay and have 2 offers on the table. Both are Senior SRE positions. SF - 340 tc Fully Remote position - 160 tc If I went with the remote I'd move to Atlanta for family reasons, hotter weather, and lower cost of living. I'm looking for advice on if taking the remote position makes longterm career and financial sense.
- finance negative immediately - career most likely negative in longterm
Do you think long term financially it balances out?
No. 340k is a lot of money - saving the same or even a smaller % of income with this SF offer will mean much larger savings. You’d have to decide to do this for reasons other than money (commute time, family time, whatever) because financially the decision is obvious.
I'm remote working from Atlanta. I save alot of money in my 401k, life insurance, and pay like 500 a month for a condo I bought out near the Cobb galleria. When I'm traveling to different countries I still work remotely and rent out my place. I was previously in the bay area making a good amount but working long hours. Let me put it this way, do you love working your ass off and want to buy a 3 bedroom 1.6 million dollar house in the bay area? Or do you want to spend like 200-300k on a huge 5 bedroom house and take it slowly? That's up to you and where you want your family to be.
Is there a way to make SF level salary and work remote?
Per calculator of col comparable salary in Atlanta is 174K. Can you negotiate? As for remote position - what kind of career do you want? Managerial one or technical one? Also, I would recommend you to look at Florida as well, your net will be 18K higher there than in Atlanta.
Go remote. Atlanta is a great city. On 160k salary you'll live like a king. And you will be free to travel. Bay is shit.
As Sansa said, “Uncle, please sit” (In Bay Area)