Perhaps that gets at my intended point, which is that different people have different comfort and stability thresholds.
If someone doesn't feel comfortable leaving a job to bet on a startup project with 20 years of mortgage payments in the bank, it is unlikely they ever will.
1 million is 40.000 dollars per year indefinitely, by the 4% rule, with a small risk of ruin that you'll most likely see coming years in advance.
It should be possible to live in the Bay Area on that, given that the place still has cashiers, cleaning personnel and maintenance workers. It won't be a middle-class lifestyle, but you'd have to make _some_ sacrifices in order to indefinitely work at whatever you want in the most expensive place in the world.
Never having visited myself, this is what I don't get about the bay area. How is it still a functioning city? How far out do you have to live to be able to afford rent on a non-tech bro salary?
but why would anyone do this not making a stupid salary? i don't get the appeal why anyone would put up with that just to have the privilege of serving coffee to techies in a formerly cool city. (not to imply that techies aren't cool)
> It should be possible to live in the Bay Area on that, given that the place still has cashiers, cleaning personnel and maintenance workers.
There’s no reason pay for cashiers, cleaning personnel, and maintenance workers can’t rise, or to meet the demand of labor with a little bit of automation also. Making $40k per year as a cashier means $80k as a couple or roommates.
Why not? If you have a partner, you would be able to cover half a mortgage, and if not you can get a roommate. I know tons of people who aren't in tech that make ~50K. It makes sense because 50K is pretty close to the median per capita income in SF [1] and a starting teachers salary [2].
I mean, I don't live in SF so maybe I'm off base. But my impression is that even with a roommate you're looking at $1500-2000/mo. That's oppressive on $50k/yr.
Even assuming 0 tax we're talking more likw 2200-2600 and there are gonna be some taxes, especially in CA.
Assuming this is investment income of course, and not just spending down the principal, which obviously wouldn't work.
So probably under 2k, and it's not fun money, it's everything but housing starting with food and transportation.
Doable? I guess. Fun? Eye of the beholder, I'd say. And that's assuming kids don't enter the picture, say goodbye to every part of this plan if they do.
True, 1M in savings gives you ~40K per year to live off. This wouldn't be sufficient in SF, but given that you're basically retiring at that point, you might as well buy a home somewhere else and then you'd be able to live comfortable off of that.
$1M is about 20 years of coast on a modest bay area mortgage + family healthcare.