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A comment on A new grad SDE makes 2x more in SF than Toronto after tax and COL. Parent comment

Re:A new grad SDE makes 2x more in SF than Toronto after tax... by tensor on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @09:48PM (#16165068)
That's not true, total compensation in the article is ~1.7 more in SF than Toronto, but that includes stock options which are not actually the same as cash. The 2x figure comes from an analysis that factors in living expenses and refers to the amount of money you get left over for savings and similar things. Also, that comparison oddly compares living in a frat-like house in SF to having your own one bedroom apartment in Toronto.
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Re:A new grad SDE makes 2x more in SF than Toronto after tax... by curmudgeon9 on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @09:53PM (#16165091)
Not to mention the salary difference will get soaked up by real estate differences the moment you decide to buy a house.

Not that Toronto real estate is cheap either. I think Google Waterloo is a great value: high CAD salary but low real estate prices (around half of Toronto).

The optimal play (if you don't want to permanently live in the US) is to go to SF, continue living like a student and sock away your cash while building your reputation, then move back to Canada and work remote with a grandfathered USD salary.

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Re:A new grad SDE makes 2x more in SF than Toronto after tax... by joshuamorton on Wednesday January 17, 2018 @01:15AM (#16165858)
RSUs =/= stock options. At a reputable public company (FAMG, Twitter, Linkedin, Snap, etc.) you will be given restricted stock units. These are more like cash than options (they may have a vesting schedule, but once they vest, you can sell them immediately for cash value).

Also I'll note that you can bump up the SF numbers by 1K/mo for rent (which puts you well into the can easily afford a 1BR apartment range) and still be ahead on savings compared to the canadian salaries.

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Re:A new grad SDE makes 2x more in SF than Toronto after tax... by whack on Wednesday January 17, 2018 @03:08AM (#16166287)
"that comparison oddly compares living in a frat-like house in SF to having your own one bedroom apartment in Toronto."

1. His Excel sheet shows cost of living with 2-3 roommates, across many different cities, including Toronto

2. The frat parties you attended must have really sucked if they were held in 3-bedroom apartments

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Re:A new grad SDE makes 2x more in SF than Toronto after tax... by gsnedders on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @10:14PM (#16165173)
> Also, that comparison oddly compares living in a frat-like house in SF to having your own one bedroom apartment in Toronto.

Um, uh… So how do they compare if we assume similar living situation in both? (And yes, I realise that's still a massively subjective question, given questions of neighbourhood, etc., and rent variation within them.)

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