The Low Stability of High Income
You’ve been HENRY (High Earning Not Rich Yet) for say two years and life is good. You feel successful and respected and have a fat stack of unvested RSUs. A few more years at this rate and you might be set for life!
Your lifestyle crept up (and/or your partner isn’t working and/or you have kids). You have savings, but your burn rate suddenly feels quite high. That 6.5% mortgage felt manageable at the time, but now… woof.
All those unvested RSUs you were granted before the stock price went up? Poof! Gone. You can delete the widget you added to your home screen then counts down the days until your next vest.
Even if you can find another job at the same level, which might take 6-12 months, your total comp might be half what you were making prior (given the difference in RSU value).
Life comes at you fast. While such stories are rare, they illustrate the fickleness of some high income occupations especially in the tech industry. One day you are flying high and the next day you are trying to pick up the pieces.
