https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs The point of this is that while money doesn't buy happiness, it is a tool to help you achieve the lower levels of the pyramid (shelter, security, safety). It can even help with the higher levels of the pyramid. Money can be used to buy you time by hiring people to do menial tasks you don't want to do. It can allow you to live in a location that requires less commuting on your part. It can allow you to live in a location that has higher quality food options and thus makes living a healthy life style easier. You might argue that anybody on here can easily afford all of these things. The reality is that people who are lower down on the compensation spectrum have to make forced hard choices. For example, how many things do you sacrifice in order to increase your savings rate in hope of being able to accumulate the down payment for a home? Given that you might be paid well but lack job security (i.e. Amazon PiP), how much do you save in a rainy day fund? Moreover, remember that your expenses constitute a burn rate just like that for a startup. So reducing your expenses isn't just a matter of how much I can afford, but how long I'll stay solvent if I do lose my job. I can't figure out if the people making 500k+ who tell us not to be worried about compensation are just trolling or are completely delusional. Please wake up. Money does matter because it is a means to so many important things in life. It is a necessary but insufficient condition, but it is necessary. We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are. Maybe this is an empty status game for you, but it isn't for a lot of us. We're trying to save to have the resources to be able to pursue our aspirational, self-actualizing goals. Not because we are on some ego trip. TC: 190k.
I think people making 500k+ say not to worry because more than likely most people in tech are headed this way anyway. I mean if you’re making ~200k at ~4 YOE, at 10/12 YOE you will probably bank the 500k or at least make this up with investments included. I think it’s just a process - don’t obsess overly :)
May be you want to invoke Adam Smith not Maslow, if you are persuading whoever about chasing TC is meaningful.