[jogjayr]

If it's a FAANG-type company, the stock has done well in the past 10 years so it's been a pretty good bet to make. Public tech companies have done well overall.

Sign-on bonuses don't have a vesting period. That's why they're called "sign-on" - you get them when you sign on. You might have to give them back, pro-rated, if you leave the company within a certain time period (typically a year).

> Cash is king.

I'm not disagreeing here. I'm just pointing out that the fixed $125k number in your mind is inaccurate in reality. The total value of the stock+sign-on+bonus may not be $75k (that might be the ideal case) but it's not $0 either. The total comp is a lot of money for any new grad in any city in the world (again, outside of finance and law at the top end).

[scarface74]

At Amazon, you have to pay back the sign on bonus if you leave within one year and you have to pay back relocation expenses if you leave in two from what I have heard.

[scarface74]

If it's a FAANG-type company, the stock has done well in the past 10 years so it's been a pretty good bet to make. Public tech companies have done well overall.

Realistically, what are the chances of Apple, Google, Microsoft or Facebook who are all circling $1 trillion to see the same types of returns over the next ten years?