u/tonyMstark

What is the general TC progression for a SWE at top HFT firms? I know roughly what top Big Tech pays (since I work there) as well as AI lab pay.

For example, the comp for big tech roughly scales from $200k for new grad to $6-700k for staff engineer. AI labs pay considerably more (on paper), exceeding $1m for staff engineers.

Does being a SWE at a top HFT exceed both of these tracks or is it roughly similar? Or is there huge variation based on firm? For reference, new grad return SWE offers at JS and HRT this year are reportedly $750k and $1m respectively, but that is largely made up of a huge one-time signon bonus. Does comp eventually stagnate at high six figures, or do most folks who last trend into the seven figures?

Curious how people value fully remote once you’re already at relatively high TC.

For example, if you had these two offers:
- $400k TC, fully remote
- $600k TC, 5 days/week in office

Which would you take? Or would you consider a middle-ground for a hybrid job?

At what TC difference would you give up fully remote? There are clearly diminishing returns after a certain point, where flexibility/location freedom exceeds any additional TC increase.

What are the different approaches you've seen or experienced to go from 1M to 10M+ NW? For high earners, getting to 1M NW is dominated by a high income + high savings rate and steady investments. But contributions gradually diminish when trying to climb to 10M+ NW.

Aside from simply compounding through investments, are there other ways you've seen someone reach 10M+ NW? Keeping the high income job while creating side income streams, starting a business, concentrated equity positions, real estate, or something else? Curious on how people here are approaching this.