50% paycut for similar cost of living. Do you want to put 3 kids into a 2-bedroom apartment on your US$120k salary, with $10k of RSUs the government takes 53% of? In addition to a 13% sales tax?

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oenton an hour ago | parent [-]

How much of your U.S. paycheck goes towards healthcare premiums?

How about much is daycare in the U.S. for 3 children? Conservative estimates put that at $4-$5,000 per month, and that's after tax.

Is there a reason your comment omits these key differences when comparing a SWE's quality of life living in the United States vs. Canada?

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jjmarr an hour ago | parent [-]

I don't get free daycare in Canada either.

I'm not American, but I pay a few hundred dollars a year for the premium health insurance plan at my company. I also pay tens of thousands of dollars more in taxes to grant me the ability to wait for 72 hours in an ER hallway whenever I can't wait weeks for an appointment because urgent care isn't a thing.

My take home would triple if I lived in the USA as a new graduate because of things like favourable treatment of stock grants, less income tax, and the fact my salary would double.

I'm sure the $80,000 extra dollars is enough to pay for the healthcare premiums and daycare. My effective hourly rate would be high enough that going from a 72 hour wait to a few hours would be worth the thousands of dollars in ER bills. If I worked for the government or another lower paying profession it would not be good, but I am a well-compensated software engineer.

There's a reason why 90% of Waterloo immediately moves to the United States after graduation.

	▲	oenton 33 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		My apologies. I thought $10/day daycare was universal in Canada. I guess my broader point was the difference in disposable income between U.S. workers vs. other countries becomes a lot more nuanced when things like healthcare, childcare, retirement, and taxes are taken into account. > I'm sure the $80,000 extra dollars is enough to pay for the healthcare premiums and daycare. You're probably right. That said, SWE compensation in the U.S. has been quite an anomaly compared to the vast majority of American labor, especially in the last 5-10 years. I don't think those who are comfortable right now are thinking far enough ahead about what they'll do if that changes, or perhaps when that changes. If this AI hype has taught me anything it's that those with capital cannot wait to start trimming their pesky engineers with those high salaries. And maybe that's always been the case, but seeing them go full mask off hits different. Unrelated, I like your website. It's simple and the color scheme is aesthetically pleasing.