Are you familiar with how expensive it is to live here? You cannot buy a decent house in a fair school district for less than $500k. Probably more like $750k. For two bedrooms.
The Bay Area is the center of the universe of software development. Not that you can't work as a software engineer elsewhere (I have) but you have a limitless amount of interesting work here.
And while costs are higher, salaries are much higher as well.
It's absurd to act like a $500k payout puts you on easy street.
Well, give me the 500k payout, I'll gladly take that hard street.
It's absurd to act as if it's pocket change. Upon receiving that kind of money, you just leave the valley and move elsewhere doing the work you want to do, living off the interests.
Well, unless all you want to do is working for somebody else on the valley :)
