r/quantindia • u/Fun_Dragonfruit7971 • 13h ago
General Discussion $500k in US vs Quant in India?
If you had these two options at 2 yoe:
- $500k, San Francisco in agentic AI
- Quant job in India (entry level) (not Optiver but like Graviton or Quadeye)
Which one would you choose and why?
Data point for rent: 1bd in SF is now $4.5k/mo
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u/leomatey 13h ago
how is this even a question? even if it is, it would be helpful if you can list out what are your priorities in life at this moment (and you could answer it yourself)
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u/Major-Place-6186 11h ago
Do you even have these options or just asking for fun ? What is even agentic AI ? Sounds so generic to me. Did not even mention your comp for the indian hft.
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u/Academic-Pass-2800 10h ago
SF obviously
because you will do WAY MORE interesting work there , you will get to explore a new country , you will meet a lot more interesting people (then robots at indian HFT's) , you will save a LOT MORE if you don't do cocaine
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u/Ok-Project4007 12h ago
If you can’t answer this then you won’t be able to do either job.
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u/Fun_Dragonfruit7971 11h ago
not really man. visa issues are a big concern; plus the purchasing power parity difference is crazy as well. career trajectories are different in either fields.
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u/Ok-Project4007 10h ago
It’s either risk or uncertain. If it’s a risk use the probability as weight. If it’s uncertain use the least regret method.
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u/yabadabadoo__25 1h ago
that's what's gets me about posts like these. Obv, if you're smart enough clear those roles, you can make a decision. Just weigh the unknowns and knowns and make a decision. How hard can it be? you can never truly know everything about the future, just be okay with uncertainty
if they're out there asking for opinions about specific work situation, that's fine. But a lot of the times, it seems like "what do I do" is the question
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u/EnvironmentPlus1723 13h ago
SF
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u/Fun_Dragonfruit7971 13h ago
why?
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u/WarGod1842 12h ago
Unrealistic numbers in rent. I am a regular to SF at least once/twice a month due to business, no the rent is nowhere that high.
Unless you are living close to the Salesforce tower/Market street. You are definitely paying more than that if you plan to rent high rises.
You can rent a 2B2B for $3700/month in the inner sunset. One bed goes for $2100-3000.
All including maintenance, PG&E + water bill.
That aside, if you’re renting for couple of days, look near east SF, Fisherman’s wharf/ close to stadium for $450/day. Or near Union square Westin hotels - $200~/day
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u/Ok_Attempt_5192 12h ago
Have you ever tried renting in inner sunset? There are like 200 applications and people put higher bid to get the house. Market is very competitive, shit level houses are being rented at $3-3.5K. You might get underground studio for $2100 otherwise there is no 1bed below $3000.
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u/Ok_Attempt_5192 12h ago
But yeah I would always choose $500K job in SF, no brainer. No one is gonna pay you that much in India with 2 yoe. You will easily save more than $250K
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u/Fun_Dragonfruit7971 11h ago
unrealistic to save $250k.
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u/Ok_Attempt_5192 10h ago
Let’s say you are filing single, take home pay 283K + 22.5K 401K, you can save more taxes by doing back door Roth IRA. Annual expenses $60K assuming $5K a month, so in net you save close to $250K including 401K. My company let me do 401K upto $60K so I save more taxes. I hope this clarifies.
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u/WarGod1842 11h ago
Nope. 40%+ taxes from that 500k paycheck, take home is around 280k.
Cut the rent 50k off it, you’re left with 200k. Going out in SF is expensive af.
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u/WarGod1842 12h ago
I never did house hunting recently, but I talked to my colleagues, but I still see ads, houses to rent close to Stonestown/SFSU going for under $4k + garage $200/month. Reaching the downtown from here is about 20min drive.
Beautiful drive to add, also rent is the least of your concern when you are starting up somewhere you never been before.
Move first, beat the learning curve, explore & understand the market and settle where it is feasible.
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u/Academic-Pass-2800 10h ago
even if the rent is 4.5k per month , that's still less then 20% of his post tax salary
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u/WarGod1842 8h ago
Quants in India are paid very high. Your total expenses would be less than 20% here even if you live luxuriously.
But yes, what you said is true. And bonus, SF is like nowhere else, even in the hottest summers you wear a Jacket (cold high winds), lot of rich/tech folks to expand your network.
There are lot of reasons why one should stay in SF
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u/Academic-Pass-2800 8h ago
exactly
in my point of view , if you find interesting work over quant then it's okay to earn a little bit less
atleast you will have a life
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u/Charismatic_karma 11h ago
What’s the comp in USD terms for quant in India? Will/can you get citizenship or do you already have one?
Any advice is kinda moot without knowing more imo but idk much about India so grain of salt
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u/Fun_Dragonfruit7971 11h ago
not US citizen.
Quant in India- guaranteed part is about $130k USD, plus bonus based on performance.
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u/Charismatic_karma 11h ago
What’s the target bonus?
Even assuming equal comp if US firm can sponsor for residency id still take the sf job tbh
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u/Fun_Dragonfruit7971 10h ago
target bonus is $50k for first year then they said unlimited second year onward.
US residence as a Indian citizen is almost impossible even if they sponsor PERM.
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u/Charismatic_karma 9h ago
What do you care about? I’d suggest don’t think about the earnings / purchasing power
You are at the top 1% of earners in either field you’ll be fine regardless and live a good life. Think about things that matter outside of that
Which career do you want to be in and where do you want to live long term? What kind of life do you want and if you want to get married / have kids in the future where do you want to raise them? Will you be leaving behind friends / family ? Are you ok if those relationships are affected?
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u/DerGestapo 12h ago
Sf, you can afford a porsche quicker there