[ilaksh]

I have $0 in checking, $30 in Paypal, maybe $10 in bitcoin, no house, car, almost 0 furniture. No assets. I have been working for mainly startups (including my own for no pay part of that time) or small companies for the last several years.

The reason there is no savings is because there is never any extra in recent years. There have always been things I went without, like insurance or more recently a car. Or eating out hardly ever.

[kobeya]

Um, off-topic but you might be making poor life choices here.

First of all we're in the middle of a boom cycle and any competent engineer (which I assume you are) can get a six-figure salary WITH equity at even the earliest-stage funded startups.

Second, your chances of making it big on equity alone are pitifully small. The expected returns on startup equity is less than the salary cut you take when compared with the stable job at Big Co. The median return is zero.

If you were bootstrapping your own startup with only ramen profitability, I would have mad respect for you. But you say you aren't even working on your own startup right now. Wherever you are working you are likely very underpaid for what you are doing.

[quickben]

But these 'competent engineers' rocking 100k+ in this boom cycle, are not 69% of the population.

If you are in the lucky minority, be honest with yourself and put money aside while it lasts. I have friends for whom it didn't.

[kobeya]

No really, by competent I mean just general competency. Like the ability to ship a product at all. Not talking about superstars or whatever.

[madengr]

Do you expect the startups to pay out? Seems sort of like waiting to win the lottery. Even if it does pay out, maybe on average you won't come out ahead compared to a 9-5 daily grind.

Maybe people ought to do the opposite. Work for the risky startup during middle age when you have a cushion built up, and you are opt not to give a shit.