Can you be rich as an engineer?

[Anonymous]

Top engineers at FAANG make 500k-1M. Lots of unicorn startups pay this much as well after IPO (of course requires lots of luck). Yes, this is considered elite engineering pay and only a small fraction will make 500k+ but the same applies to lawyers. Making 190k starting as an associate isn’t the norm for everyone who goes in to the field, IIRC the average pay of a lawyer is only slightly more than 100k, about the same as a Software Engineer. Same goes for finance.

Not to mention, huge barrier of entry in these fields where GPA and pedigree is heavily emphasized. If you were not an amazing student in your teens you’ll probably be locked out of these traditional fields at least at the high end. Then there’s the opportunity cost incurred by those additional years of education while a Software Engineer can begin earning at 21 with a Bachelor’s. Also most SWE’s are working 40 hours a week or less if they’re competent since top companies have pretty good WLB.

[Anonymous]

I think many are confusing engineers with computer science majors or software engineers. They are very different fields and very different career trajectories.

[Anonymous]

You can easily make 500-600k a year as an engineer in big tech. There’s no capping out at 150k there and that’s actually a low starting salary for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top engineers at FAANG make 500k-1M. Lots of unicorn startups pay this much as well after IPO (of course requires lots of luck). Yes, this is considered elite engineering pay and only a small fraction will make 500k+ but the same applies to lawyers. Making 190k starting as an associate isn’t the norm for everyone who goes in to the field, IIRC the average pay of a lawyer is only slightly more than 100k, about the same as a Software Engineer. Same goes for finance.

Not to mention, huge barrier of entry in these fields where GPA and pedigree is heavily emphasized. If you were not an amazing student in your teens you’ll probably be locked out of these traditional fields at least at the high end. Then there’s the opportunity cost incurred by those additional years of education while a Software Engineer can begin earning at 21 with a Bachelor’s. Also most SWE’s are working 40 hours a week or less if they’re competent since top companies have pretty good WLB.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"it would take an investment of 50k per year"

that's not hard to do when you're married

But then its not because you are an engineer; its because you married a decent earner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son graduated HS last year. He is relatively bright and hard working thus had many career options. He chose the study EE at Purdue (with merit scholarship) and will then pursue banking/finance job opportunities with Wall St firms. I was unaware but Wall St hires so many EE majors from top schools. They make great analysts, good with numbers, etc. My son does not plan to be the traditional “engineer”.

Right because engineers make peanuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 27 year old engineer friends who make 150k and it seems like they will be set for life with such a high income from the onset.

How come they aren't considered in the high income category such as lawyers, doctors and financiers?

Lawyers? The ones who make it do well. Most “lawyers”, however, have trouble finding jobs. In CA, it’s not unusual to see lawyers working as paralegals. There are not enough jobs for all the ambulance chasers out there.

[Anonymous]

Talented engineers that used to build and create are now opting to work on Wall Street because of the money. It’s true they do become very rich but they don’t actually invent/build anything. For example: semiconductors. We do not manufacture semiconductors in this country anymore. It is now done in Asia byemployees with advanced engineering degrees. We are no longer leaders in the world of chip manufacturing, it makes us dependent on countries around the world that may or not be friendly to usand can jeopardize our national security.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because $150k isn't HIGH income. But engineers can get rich by starting a company (gov't contracting, start-up, or the like).

I actually know one billionaire guy who started his own company and sold it. He was an engineering professor before started his own company.

[Anonymous]

42 year old engineer here with Masters degree making $240K
salary in the DC area working for a small defense company.

I get multiple calls a day for jobs but the salary tends to be a showstopper. Most offer in the 180k range.