I Quit My $650k Job After Learning These 4 Things About Money

💡 To try everything Brilliant has to offer for free for a full 30 days, visit brilliant.org/... You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription.
💥 Continue the conversation on my Discord server with like-minded viewers. The advice section is *chef's kiss* - / discord
🙏 My KZbin content will always be free of charge but if you'd like to support the channel, I'd be honored if you supported me on Patreon - / alifeengineered
📈Transform your tech career with my free weekly newsletter - alifeengineere...
BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE
So Good They Can't Ignore You - geni.us/SoGood This book transformed my life when I read it for the first time nearly 10 years ago. It still guides the way I think about self-development today.
Deep Work - geni.us/ALE-De... The most important currency you have is your undivided attention. This book shows you exactly how to spend this currency in a manner that will lead to head-turning accomplishment.
SYSTEM DESIGN
Designing Data-Intensive Applications geni.us/DataIn...
Currently the best reference for contemporary for system design.
System Design Interview (Volume 2) geni.us/System... and geni.us/System... - For interviews, the best references are System Design Interview and System Design Interview Volume 2 by Alex Xu.

[@ALifeEngineered]

💡 To try everything Brilliant has to offer for free for a full 30 days, visit brilliant.org/ALifeEngineered/ You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription. 💥 Continue the conversation on my Discord server with like-minded viewers. The advice section is **chef's kiss** - discord.gg/HFVMbQgRJJ 🙏 My KZbin content will always be free of charge but if you'd like to support the channel, I'd be honored if you supported me on Patreon - www.patreon.com/ALifeEngineered 📈Transform your tech career with my free weekly newsletter - newsletter.alifeengineered.com/

[@rmdashrfv]

Quitting your $650,000 job with $6 million+ in the bank, 18 years of experience at a big tech firm, and a job he could probably go back to tomorrow if he asked is the epitome of risk-taking ... This is peak Tech KZbin 😂

[@风险控制]

At least he did not hide these info to u😅

[@abysswatcher4907]

Well if you think from his perspective he is also losing $650K/yr revenue stream and face inflation in the upcoming decades if he doesn't invest accordingly.

[@rmdashrfv]

@@abysswatcher4907 Well hopefully he can scramble to put something together before the upcoming decades of inflation wipes out everything he's earned! You guys are grasping at straws, but really you don't have to. Look he isn't doing anything wrong at all! What he is doing just happens to not be risky when you put it into perspective of what most people define as risky. That's all. The term "risky" is relative, and what he is doing would be quite risky for the 1%, there are multi-millionaires who probably think he's a mad lad

[@rubiirae]

@@abysswatcher4907well 18 years of Amazon stock he doesn’t even have to invest at all. Just sell the shares when needed & he still live a very comfortable life 😂

[@tomaszzieba315]

You've made soo much money that quiting a job is not a risk.

[@LinkedInLunatics_Readit]

Maybe not a risk but still a tough thing to walk away from a salary of 750K.

[@applefrogs664]

This is only true if your lifestyle also allows you to quit.

[@rafaelmateodev]

@@LinkedInLunatics_Readit I struggle to see the tough in it. His net worth is prob around $5 million. Unless you really like your job, at that point you are kind of a fool to not start your own thing. And from what I personally know about amazon, it ain't the nicest place to work at.

[@meassurendra]

He joined amazon when stock was $5 , it is now $3500 He has a lot of net worth

[@bacon4life]

Risk of what? Running out money? Sure. What about the risk of working a lot more and not making nearly as much?

[@beejay4397]

*Quitting a job as a millionaire isn't that hard of a choice.*

[@fullmastrinio]

Entry level devs quitting FAANG to start selling courses to experienced devs quitting FAANG to start selling courses

[@bigbigdog]

Stop calling out Neetcode like that!!!

[@fullmastrinio]

@@bigbigdog Neetcode provides value, this guy pretends he has made the most risky play of his life while sitting on millions of net worth. Also neetcode is not scripted and does not read from a teleprompter

[@sea0920]

Literally everyone is doing that. They start posting videos like Day in XXX, How they got their job, etc. And all the sudden, they quit, complain about corporate life and sell their courses and memberships.

[@xuforia1]

Steve, I left a high paying job at the beginning of this year to take a risk and work for myself. Until this point, the fact that I gave up the security of a regular paying job was really bugging me, but your video has made it so much clearer to me that the freedom I now have was a trade-off that I should appreciate more than the monetary gain. "The point of life isn't to die with the most amount of money accrued that I'll never have the chance to spend." Thank you.

[@stillmattwest]

Well kids, this is why you go to college. It’s so you can land a high paying job and be smart with your money. It’s so you can have a skill set that is so in demand that you can walk away from a 650k job and know you can always get another one. It’s so you can live so high up on Maslow’s Pyramid that self-actualization becomes your highest priority.

[@sirninjaraiden]

Did he go to college?

[@stillmattwest]

@@sirninjaraiden University of Washington per his LinkedIn.

[@subhobroto]

They don't teach any of this in college

[@风险控制]

​@@subhobrotofew did but majority no. And when ur poor, u won't be interested at this course at all😂

[@stillmattwest]

​@@subhobrotoI'd bet even money he's got a CS Degree.

[@luissolanodev]

Dude, that third point hit hard; I'm gonna live by it from now on.

[@puddleglum5610]

I’m in a similar boat. I’m 25, have a senior SWE job at a big tech, hundreds of thousands in net worth. But, I’m also resigning soon for similar reasons. I’m going to create a startup. The risk is low (I have no dependents, so worst case scenario I burn some cash, everything fails, and I rejoin big tech in a few years. This will delay my retirement by a few years). But the upside is uncapped. And it’s a 2 way door. It might be higher risk than what you’re doing but still I think the time is right for me!

[@Anonyme67]

Please don’t resign. Create your startup first and only resign when it works well.

[@Xoltris]

Joined Amazon 2 months ago post-college and using a lot of your videos to set myself up for success, wish I could’ve seen your phone tool lol but I’m glad you’re making this content! The interview advice video definitely helped!

[@CraigLaValle]

I think what everyone misses about the fisherman parable: the business-fisherman is feeding a lot more people. He built an incredible business that helps a lot of people. And that's a pretty good reason to build a business. It's not for everyone, and especially not for those that are happy living a similar life without building a business, but leveraging your expertise to bring that benefit to more people is a noble goal in itself.

[@creeper20ps]

Just left a bad first impression. Which makes it hard to listen to the whole things. Why spread statements of red lobster losing money from all you can eat shrimp. Seems corporate bs. Blaming all you can eat shrimps. I think he could have opened something better.

[@valsh6181]

"Hope you've enjoyed this video but none of this matters" - Steve, truer words have never been spoken

[@kcnl2522]

You are selling shovels in a gold rush now, thats why you are better off.

[@evroza]

Just watched this video today, funny enough, I made the bet on myself just a week ago and I relate to everything you mentioned. See you at the top - winning at life

[@magtirehmahad4277]

This video is very inspirational and will definitely change how I see things in the future. When I followed your channel last year, it was to get tips on how to climb up the corporate ladder and never expected anything like this. Thank you for your honesty and transparency

[@marcuse423]

He is in a prosperous position due to his career. He has amassed enough wealth to take a risk. If it doesn’t work out he can re-enter the industry or just invest in other ventures. He’s taking a calculated risk.

[@vladimir-ps3eo]

So I guess you're going to start selling courses now lol

[@michaelswisher8005]

El classico

[@recursion.]

@@michaelswisher8005English premier league

[@michaelswisher8005]

@JonathonSmith-vv6yy i am not saying his experience isn’t valuable, but courses are hackneyed and not particularly innovative

[@fullmastrinio]

@JonathonSmith-vv6yyhe has experience…working for one company. Let’s not sugar coat it and pretend he has all of the answers. I am pretty inclined to believe that the majority of his knowledge will not transfer very well as not all companies are or operate on the scale that Amazon does

[@jhors7777]

Great content Steve. I am betting on and hoping for incredible success for you now and in the future. Best wishes to you from Minnesota.

[@kirylbah]

Two weeks ago, I submitted my resignation letter. The reason is simple: no salary growth for years and no professional development either, due to a low-demand IT market and my choice to avoid office politics. In the past few months, I was contacted by two FAANG companies and am currently in the L6 interview process, but I will most likely move to another country instead. I’m hoping to find a better work/life balance there, stay far from Russia, and enjoy life with my family. I don’t have millions in my account, and despite my 20+ years of IT experience, finding housing and work in the local market has been challenging. It’s not an easy decision, but I see it as an asymmetric risk based on insights from this video. Thanks; it was helpful and came at the perfect time.

[@Junchengopterid]

I clicked on the video to find out what the $650k job was so I could try to get it

[@alphadiallo6215]

Software engineer at Amazon. He was a Principal Engineer before he quit.

[@Anonyme67]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@circuitfever]

Hey Steve! I met you at an AWS event last year in Austin and just stumbled onto your KZbin page! Looking forward to seeing your future content and rooting for you!

[@anthonyhowell5809]

extremely high quality video. what's up witih some of these comments? there are some seriously golden nuggets in here. i actually work in tech as a PM and loved it. former coder

[@tmsxd1]

quitting 650k job to be a fulltime capybara

[@Anonyme67]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@7edim]

The third point hits very close to home for me. Great video as always.

[@akari3942]

I'd quit after 1 year too if I made 650k a year 🙄

[@2011hwalker]

After taxes thats around 300k...you wont be retiring anywhere with that.

[@JackBauerDev]

How to get rich? Be old and get stocks before they sky rocket.

[@rogercollins239]

What I learned about money: 1. If you have enough money, you don't need more money.

[@AAA-t2b7q]

Thanks for the great content, very inspiring!

[@boot-strapper]

TLDW: Hes half retired

[@htchamber2776]

This guy 100% has an 8 figure net worth and he’s acting like it’s some big risk quitting his job he’s so full of himself get some perspective

[@recursion.]

having a million dollar networth make you full of yourself?

[@htchamber2776]

@@recursion. he spent the intro of this video trying to paint the picture that quoting his job to do KZbin was some MASSIVE risk when he’s worth over 8 figures and has 100k+ subs that’s pretentious, it’s like the girl in class who always gets +90% grades in class telling others “I totally failed that test”

[@fullmastrinio]

@@htchamber2776exactly. The dude is not genuine, like at all. It’s all scripted and he reads from a teleprompter. By no means I am downplaying his career, knowledge and experience but this is a bit much, even for him. Dude joined Amazon when the stock was $2 and now it trades at $190. The majority of his net worth (which would be millions) would be from the stock. The way he phrases his video and the message he sends is not genuine, it’s misleading and this is obvious. The cheap edits and the teleprompter script make me think he simply cannot put out a video in which he is genuine.

[@alphadiallo6215]

@@htchamber2776In which video does he mention his net worth/stock? Quite a few people have said and I’m curious

[@alphadiallo6215]

​@@htchamber2776May I ask where he mentioned his net worth? I've been curious as some other comments have echoed the same thing

[@RollingcoleW]

Well said. This is helpful content. I think your 10-20 minute videos are a sweet spot as a listener. I'd like to hear more content that are stories from your life (Personal or Work)

[@devhausstudios4377]

You’re a smart Uncle, Steve. You know you can’t mention Red Lobster in a video without also mentioning their cheesy biscuits. I’m proud of you 😌

[@muru7514]

Awesome content - thank you

[@eMotionAllDamAge_]

Brazil MENTIONED ! 🚀🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@Taddy_Mason]

It's gonna be Peru soon 😂.

[@MielZozaya-kz6sv]

Good luck on your bet! I’ll be watching how you get on, subscribed :)

[@perlasdevida]

Great información you shared in this vídeo. I appreciate you candid experience and nuggets. Thanks.

[@techandnavid]

Awesome Video! Love to support!

[@NianLisa]

I’m 52 hoping to end the rat race by 60 with above $1M. I know money is a liability to be exchanged for assets with real value like real estate (properties for rent) stocks (dividends) bonds (interest) But, what is it with bitcoin? I hear a lot about it and I'd love to diversify my portfolio.

[@SandraElliot21]

look at the charts, bitcoin has outperformed every stock and banking product ever developed even after multiple pullbacks over the last decade. not a financial advisor but I know what i'm saying

[@DannielleRosales]

The key is diversification. Personally, I delegate my investing to an advisor, cos my job doesn't permit the time to perform market analysis myself. Thankfully, my once ago stagnant portfolio has now 5X in barely 4 years, summing up almost 7 figure as of today.

[@arloc24]

Can't share much here, I take guidance from Evelyn Infurna a renowned figure in her industry with over two decades of work experience. I'd suggest you research her further on the web.

[@anggaerlangga-uo6wl]

You mention your advisor & that caught my attention. I'm eager to learn more and potentially seek her guidance. Could you share how I can get in touch with her???.

[@arloc24]

Use her name to quickly conduct an internet search.

[@superdooper6969]

I love this type of content: makes me think.

[@quangphu1912]

I am a fan of your content, Steve. Keep your good work, it’s informative and inspiring :)

[@chochylindt]

Amazon has become demoralised since Jeff left. Tbf, Jassy had to reverse Jeff's big expansion mistake but Amazon no longer has the optimism and energy it used to have. Managers have become risk-averse (as they become older, balder and whiter), punitive for failures but greedy for wins, and (even more) ass-covering. Selipsky played safe until he got his stock grants vested. He doubled down on the ol' storage and compute of AWS and never made the big bets to convert their AI/ML lead. Inferentia/Tranium are sub-par; Zoox, Kuiper have stalled. AMZN stock has gone nowhere. Steve made a good call on this one.

[@ottokruse]

Congrats on the step Steve!

[@carcorr]

Click baitty tittle kept me from watching this video for a while. But there's some good stuff in here.

[@ThatMarkGilroy]

Fascinating Steve. Thanks for sharing!

[@davidwhumke3406]

Really enjoy how you laid out some of your thinking on risks and how you are thinking about your life. Thank you for sharing.

[@simpleplan2528]

How can you be sure you will be re-hired back where you worked?

[@aaaaaa-ql1vj]

This is the way. I love your approach, I wish all the best for you Uncle Steve. Always bet on yourself. However, don't bet on your subscribers or patreon supporters. Don't shoot on the foot.

[@DiabeticGameGuy]

Great advice. Thank you.

[@subhobroto]

Looking forward to your journey and thank you for committing to making it all public. I also noticed a lot of the comments say you could do this because you have advanced degrees so please mention what skill you're using was taught to you in college. As a holder of degrees myself, I'm still self taught for the skills I'm using right now. I just learned how to do extremely complicated maths in college which would have been only useful if I had become a research scientist, which I'm glad I didn't become. In hindsight I should have solely focused on starting and running businesses instead of following the traditional track to a PhD

[@MashiroRedo]

What’s your net worth before quitting? It’s different for everyone

[@stevenliu868]

Just to give a more measured response here: Yes, he and many tech workers are super lucky on the financial front that can allow him to make the decision he made. However, that still doesn't mean it's a hard mental hurdle to jump through for him to quit his job. He and many tech workers are super privileged and that's an objective fact, but that doesn't dismiss it's still a hard decision to leave the corporate life stability (nor does that discount anyone else's hardship)

[@i_youtube_]

You did not tell us how did you plan to leave your job?

[@Cweasy101]

🔥 content Steve

[@OneOverCot]

What do you think of being the fisherman who followed the businessman's advice and covering his tail risk? Re: parkinson's law -- isn't it natural and correct to put your newly found time at least partly into the same tasks so that they can be executed with higher quality?

[@seeknndestroy420]

I understand that you have been going through tough times but your videos were more engaging when you had your energy back then uncle Steve, please come back

[@CarlosRosario]

Got me to subscribe...so good.

[@ryans9930]

You did it because you’re rich…

[@stanislavremezov3936]

14:50 It's a b-roll from Ukraine! :) So different from the rest of professional shots

[@alfckchung]

How do you handle health insurance?

[@sea0920]

Probably his wife is working.

[@DavidDLee]

Of course, I wish you success, but here is how your asymmetric risk can become not so much so: 1. Somehow, your YT channel does not succeed. You invest more good money after bad, but it does not work. You lose a significant part of your savings. 2. As a principal engineer, it will be difficult to get a job at this level, because not many such positions are available and you are overqualified for more 'junior' positions. You can't return to your cushy job. 3. After some time out of tech, you lose your edge, you don't have experience in X or Y. Since you've worked for 18 years, you can no longer quickly solve those pesky Leetcode type questions, as you'd be rusty. It becomes challenging to return to tech.

[@2011hwalker]

Im sure he isnt that bothered about returning to tech.

[@ArticulateArena]

More like " i finally got laid off" lolol

[@8Infiniti8]

When I see that such a video can't get 30k views in a week, I realize that doing a YT channel is not a great idea after all

[@clarmso]

I would like to see Uncle Steve to chat with Financial Samurai on money.

[@andyschubert6730]

Congratz on taking this leap of faith!

[@adrianarceo2809]

Lesson number #1 make $650k at Amazon for 18 years. Lesson #2 realize that you made $650k by working at Amazon got 18 years. Lesson #3 realize that it’s free to start a KZbin channel. Lesson #4 quit the job that pays you $650 working at Amazon.

[@CarlosLopez-kx6bf]

Just read your story at business insider and it Says you were earning $ 270k in 2024. That's a big difference from the 600k+ you are calling out on this video.

[@ALifeEngineered]

They aren't counting my stock based compensation, just my base wage. I'm working with them to get it corrected.

[@ALifeEngineered]

They have just issued a correction.

[@AshesWake-sf7uw]

Stonks bro

[@ivanleon6164]

you quit again?

[@hedaros17]

Bro don't know that the past tense of quit is quit

[@shaso567]

gotta keep putting out videos to sell courses and newsletters and don't have much to talk about when you aren't doing much.

[@amanagarwalx]

too much BS after nearly making millions of dollars bro. Do you really think that we are that much dumb by justifying things like this. I don't care about your comp and justification and all , people here are struggling to find jobs and put food on their plate and you are justifying why you are going to sell courses now. Why do you think your experience matters and it will help us devs. You are as nearly equivalent to a software engineer with some skills in the industry. Please don't even think of that you are a superman and get off that high bar standards. You are just a person who now is fed up with tech corporate and want to change things up.

[@kelvinfok]

Nuggets of gold, thanks Steve

[@V8LC100]

650k annual salary as an engineer???

[@Stella-se1lg]

Not sure what’s going on in the comments. It’s still a risk because it’s a total different path!! Many (including my self) may not have the courage of you😊

[@seeknndestroy420]

regret minimization framework wor the win!

[@lebonhost1266]

I find it hard to believe you on face value. You quit 650k job to make KZbin videos for a channel with only 150k. There are thousands of channels with contents like yours and millions followers

[@FrocketGaming]

I fail to see how this is all that risky for you...

[@YungBapacito]

your courses still go for 4k? 😂

[@nunofigueira8691]

I cannot understand where this people find the 650k job as a software developers 😂 I study Engineer course and I am software developer since 2012 and I never make 100k in salary😂😂😂

[@chriss4365]

I'm sure you make good money from youtube, I would ditch a 650k job too if youtube paid me decent money.

[@sokkimly8182]

I wouldn’t do it.

[@stasgridnev]

Pure gold.

[@partharanke5925]

i guess soon he will start selling his own courses

[@LogicTherapy]

Wow, losts of soy boys in the comments. He literally told you why it's not a big risk and you're repeating it back to him like he didn't just tell you. Your blatant jealousy for him sharing his success is sad. Why not learn from his lessons instead?

[@rodneyjenkins6931]

Another rich engineer quits???? My sympathy.....

[@eglobalsystems2554]

read. "Time to Jump"

[@hkim9151]

You have been working for Jeff Bezos and made him over $100Billions, in return he award you a small $650K….. not even $1 million. 😂😂😂😂

[@ynie1]

Thanks for sharing! Please dont become tech lead

[@Human-k4r7s]

Sir i completed btech in july 2023, since then i am unemployed and gap is increasing, i am learning different skills but am not in the eligibility criteria of most of the companies, sir please suggest what to do about the increasing gap

[@ScissorN]

Yeah right i make $300 a month and im also going to quit

[@spurgeonwrightjr.3115]

Bored 😴!!!!!!

[@Priva_C]

No kids?

[@MrTeslaX]

It's easy to quit if you are worth $20million!

[@alphadiallo6215]

Has mentioned that he's worth 20mil?

[@MrTeslaX]

@@alphadiallo6215 No, but I have worked at Amazon and understand the compensation and how much it could accumulate in certain years!

[@tenebrae1191]

👍

[@danieljoseph7407]

❤

[@13skyburger]

lolz..quit 650k job n become a youtuber???

[@hackenstring]

LOL

[@kevykev2]

Lol

[@pranavrm]

Ur a wise mofo

[@sugaith]

waw

[@jakehaskins8850]

NNT

[@daddac]

The Batman looks awesome, but to be honest, it doesn't really fit the vibe of this channel, lol.

[@recursion.]

your comment does not fit the vibe of your networth too?

[@Nopanop]

I dont think people would care much if ur channel doesnt succeed 😂. They wont call u a failure with multimillions in bank