Coast or seek high TC in FANG?
Mid 40s male living in Chicago. Work a comfy government job with a low 135k TC with excellent WLB and flexibility (40hr weeks, 0 travel, tons of PTO). I can always take off to see my kids school events. Wife has 100k TC => Household TC is 235k. Our net worth is currently 1.8M. Goal is early retirement with 3M and enjoying time with my wife/kids along the way. I discovered Blind and was awestruck on the high compensation within FANG. My best opportunity for a high TC is joining AWS, Azure or GCP as a Solutions Architect related role in Chicago (won't relocate). From Blind and levels.fyi I estimate that I can get 220k TC. With 220k TC it would shorten my retirement timeframe from 9 years to 7 years assuming no change in earning potential. However this would most likely put a big dent in my WLB (travel, >40hrs work). I've also read the Amazon horror stories! I don't care for prestige or brand name on resume. I don't even think it makes sense to leave my comfy job for 20K increase at a non FANG job. Is a FANG job worth it somewhat close to early retirement? Thoughts ?
Levels.fyi
If you have found the perfect balance then stay with it! Adding work stress might lead to health issues and/or family problems from less time together. Life is short and you've played the game well enoygh to enjoy life. Cherish it!
Thanks for the feedback. Currently I have zero work stress. I am actually in the best shape of my life, as my current job allows me time to work out 4 days a week, 2 hours per day. However I struggle with leaving a lot of money on the table be being complacent in my job. Is Amazon really that bad concerning WLB ?
The company is so large that the experience varies. Some of my friends love it, others hate it. Instead of looking at it as if you're leaving money on the table, look at it as what you're gaining by not pursuing it. It seems like your family has already built a pretty decent nest egg and as long as you don't have life style creep or become greedy you now have the luxury of pursuing other things in life whether it is side business or being present in your children's childhood. Those are things some of us employees yearn for and should not be taken for granted. Its merely my perspective, at the end of the day take some time to look at the bigger picture with all the stakeholders in your life.
Consider the high COL if you join FANG and want to move to Seattle/Bay Area, which will vanish your savings if you don't get a much higher comp. Also consider your wife's job situation in case of the move, plus kids' schools, etc. Also honestly retiring 2 years early is not worth losing all that great wlb. I wouldn't do it.
They said they wouldn’t be leaving Chicago.
If you are just looking to cut off 2 years for early retirement, why not just do some contract stuff and dump it into savings? That way you can sort of pick up and drop off as needed for continued wlb?
FANG job is great for college grads and people who are in the middle of their career, because they can earn a lot early and so retire early. But for people like you who already gained what you needed to retire and have a great WLB with a stable and secure job, it's really not worth it. Many people in their early career really want FANG to get a good saving in case they get fired or the economy goes down, but with a government job and an already good amount of saving, there's really no reason to go to FANG and destroy your great wlb.
Thanks. This really puts it in perspective.
Very well put. No need for op to leave their comfortable position just to retire in 7 years instead of 9.
The whole millennial TC chase is to finally retire early and get financial independence soon so that they can lead a relaxed life, work a job that makes us happy, and doesn’t over work us, and gives us true “freedom” When you already have that why go through high levels of stress just to retire 2 years sooner?
Financially it makes no sense especially if there's a recession coming and layoffs will follow and the 'new guys' will typically get tossed first. However, is it just a financial thing or are you feeling completely unfulfilled at work? Cuz if you're completely unfulfilled at work maybe just get a hobby.
Do your family a favor and keep your gov job. I’m a SA at AWS. The role is cool and exciting, learn a lot, work with smart people and pay is ok but very fast pace, intense all the time, always challenged to improve, managers follow a ranking system not always data driven(politics), poor WLB, a lot of stress, travel may be 30%, long working hours, not enough sleep on the first year, very ambiguous goals, 3 weeks PTO if you can find a SA to cover for you and benefits 401k, healthcare etc are not good.
Reading this made me kinda glad I got rejected.
No
Don’t leave gov’t job
Cushy WLB + government level of PTO, don’t even think about joining amazon. The financial reasons for doing this make no sense... if however it was about work specifically, maybe.