

Ask HN: what careers make $100k/year? $1mil/year? - zxcvvcxz

What career paths will net you these salary figures? What are the drawbacks and sacrifices required to get there?<p>Interested in some personal stories as well.
======
bartonfink
$100k a year isn't terribly hard to net in terms of salary. You can earn it
right out of school with a good offer in the right location, but even without
that, it's not an unreasonable target to hit. If you're a good developer, you
can hit it relatively early in life without living in NYC, Boston or the Bay
area. If you're a patient developer, you can do the same but it will cost you
more time. It certainly doesn't take great career aspirations to hit six-
figures.

$1m a year salary, on the other hand, is going to be almost impossible. At
compensation approaching that level, you're going to be earning less from your
salary and more from bonuses, stock options, and other compensation incentives
that don't fall under the term "salary". I don't know of anybody who makes $1m
salary as a software developer. To earn that kind of money, you've got to be
integral to the business in some way or get it as some kind of a bonus.

------
rudiger
Finance. Drawbacks have been well-documented.

------
rick888
You are much better off starting your own company if you want to get to those
levels.

