You should have an emergency fund that covers six months of expenses, ideally you never touch this. If you quit without another offer it's safe to prepare for a job hunt lasting up to a year. Six more months for safety is just smart.
Those types of statements are usually made by people who have never had to scrape by to survive for any major time period.
Work 6 months for minimum wage in a major city and you'll find what most people consider 'low wages' to be laughable.
Of course, you should do everything your power to have and maintain an emergency fund, but two years of savings is insane. Don't waste two years of life if you are unhappy in your job just because you're afraid of not finding new work. 6 months is a good target to shoot for.
Outside of a life-altering sickness I see no way for someone who had worked for a top-tier tech company to go without employment opportunities for half a year, let alone two years.
I think a lot of people forget what it was like during the last tech downturn, or the previous one, or the previous one... or they’re too young to have lived through them. I remember being a month from total bankruptcy, 12 months into a job search, and I had a decade of experience at the time. Almost nobody was hiring. If you haven’t been through it you have no idea. Fund that emergency fund, people!! Minimum 6 months but 2 years is much better.
Assuming a $200k income, a modest 2bd Bay area house, 2 preschool aged children, between mortgage/rent (4k/mo), childcare (20+k/child/year), car, food, taxes, and other basic life expenses, it's totally possible not to save 50%.
Unless you meant as a childless single person making 200k/yr. Then yes, it's easy.
> Does $200k not seem low for a two-income family?
Not really, even in the BA, unless they are both in tech or similar; $200K is nearly double the median household (not individual) income for San Francisco & San Mateo Counties.
The previous comment's scenario was "A Facebook employee", with no mention of another income. Also, many people's spouses are students, or non-highly remunerated.
Surely if you work somewhere like that you're pretty employable and not in the middle or nowhere. Why not just go work elsewhere for a bit while you work out what you really want to do next?
You should have an emergency fund that covers six months of expenses, ideally you never touch this. If you quit without another offer it's safe to prepare for a job hunt lasting up to a year. Six more months for safety is just smart.