|
You can go significantly higher than this, for example: - From your comp I assume you are a L5 at FAANG. Getting to L6 is challenging but not impossible and would put you in the solid ~500k range. From there, you could push into L7+, which would get you close to ~800k+, but that is more rare and reserved for truly brilliant and lucky folks. L6 is definitely achievable though. - Join a unicorn on a good growth trajectory, enter with a standard ~300k offer, and hope in a couple years you'd get to ~1M thanks to equity appreciation. I know several friends who entered into the right unicorn at the right time and made ~1M+ per year just by doing senior SWE work. It's riskier than the above option, but much less riskier and with better odds than joining an early stage startup, which I wouldn't recommend at all. The key is, when you are interviewing don't ask about what technology or text editor they use, ask to see their growth rate data and make sure you join an already-exploding rocket ship, backed by real numbers. I think there are some good arbitrage opportunities for candidates looking to join a unicorn. Finally, don't squander your cash flow, live frugally, save aggressively and invest. I am at a slightly higher but pretty similar compensation, and the game has become growing my investment portfolio. Just this year, my portfolio itself has returned well above 200k, which is the amount that I usually save from my paycheck every year, so I literally had an employee (more senior than me!) working for me this year and making me money :-) Once (if!) I get to ~4M, I'll quit and chill for a couple years around the world. I'm halfway there. |