Ask HN: How do you make $100K+/year outside of the US?

[amrrs]

Most US companies when they go to developing nations aren't ready to pay a decent amount. Are you someone who makes more than $100K per year, Please share your strategy. Would be very helpful!

[muffa]

In Sweden it's pretty easy as an developer:

1. Start a business

2. Start contracting anything north of 80$ will give you a really solid income

3. Through your business give yourself a ~45k SEK a month salary

4. Pay yourself dividends from the business profit. You pay very low taxes on dividends

This is a model many many SW engineers in Sweden follow, also running your own business it super simple and for finding clients you can use bigger contracting firms(AFRY) which will take a % of your hourly salary.

[iExploder]

does sweden charge social deductions or health insurance on those dividends? this is pretty much the case in austria and germany if you are managing director of 1 person llc as far as I was told...

[rozenmd]

So that's 8333/mo.

If you can convince around 170 businesses, or business-minded folks to pay $49 each month for a service you provide, or info-product (but then you need to keep finding new customers), you're there.

Easier said than done, and requires building a reputation and all that, but that's what I'm working on, anyway.

[i_have_an_idea]

Or if you can convince around 3 businesses that you're their go-to person for all tech needs, you're there.

You decide what's easier -- acquiring 170 customers or 3.

[m348e912]

One way: Land a 100k remote job while living the US. Then convince them to allow you to move overseas while keeping your salary and dealing with the tax and legal hassles of employing a foreign worker.

Another way: Work in a country that routinely pays over 100k. Switzerland, Dubai, Hong Kong, Australia etc.

I suspect you live or would like to live in a country with a lower cost of living while making a higher salary. If you don't have US residency, what you're trying to do might be a challenge because you have the tremendous amount of competition of a global foreign work force.

[082349872349872]

I was going to say that I do so largely by working for valley-based (or at least valley-competitive) companies, but seeing the "another way" list, I guess I am in a country that also routinely pays well.

[fbrncci]

I'm in Asia, as a independent contractor and I work with and consult businesses in Europe. Currently that is pushing me towards €110k for the past 12 months. It's helping that I don't compete as outsourced "foreign talent", but rather am competing as a national living in a foreign country, while charging 30-50% less than other contractors & consultants back home.

[giantg2]

I haven't even figured out how to make $100k+ in the US.

[Jtsummers]

Get a government job. If you're an established professional (read: not straight out of college) you'd be starting as a GS-12 or GS-13 in most places. GS-14 if you're an expert in some field and they need your expertise (these aren't very common, though) or in some higher cost of living locations. GS-13 is increasingly becoming the "working level" (roughly: the baseline for individual contributors) for government programmers (career field is "1550", computer scientist, on paper). GS-13 pay starts at $98k if you're in "Rest of US" which is the lowest paid part of the US. That means that in the worst case of being in a Rest of US location and starting at GS-13 Step 1 you'd be making more than $100k after a year.

And that's working for one of the worst paying (for professionals) organizations in the US. Worst case, use this as a bargaining position with your present or future employers: I don't want to be paid worse than a government employee, with worse leave options (federal employees get 13/20/26 days of annual leave a year depending on length of service and 13 days of sick leave that never expires and 11 federal holidays), and worse health care.

[simonblack]

The same way you make $100K+ in the US.

The US is actually a low-wage country in comparison to several other countries. Every time I go there I see that working conditions for US wage-earners are not particularly great. It's just a matter of what's the 'norm for you/me', I guess. (Most people will get used to anything. The 'period of adjustment' is pretty constant at about 3 months.)

If you can't find a high-wage job, there is the usual range of ways. Real estate, landlording, professions. Speaking of professions, many US professional qualifications will not necessarily be recognised outside the US, just as many foreign professional qualifications are not necessarily recognised within the US.

[bhu1st]

I am from South Asia and I am web developer. Making even $50K/year would be a dream come true.

[admissionsguy]

Via Toptal, easily, as a full stack web developer or react native developer.

[tsingy]

What are the requirements to get into Toptal? Anyone from anywhere can apply?

[quickthrower2]

In Australia ... so maybe not so interesting but US$100k/year is certainly doable. But US$150k/year seems a challenge outside of CTO / VPEng / HFT{C++,Multithreading} or some contract roles.

[kshv_hft_abans]

Working as a HFT developer making good money in Mumbai, India :)

[iExploder]

in europe:

switzerland - 100K+ possible as full time employee, germany - possible as a contractor

if you are US citizen, whats stopping you from creating llc in the US and look for remote contracts.

[aprdm]

In Canada is pretty easy for tech workers..

[ano88888]

start a busisness