Compensation is the primary FatFIRE input, and at the top of the market most of it is not salary. Equity grants, bonuses, and carried interest dominate total pay in technology, finance, medicine, and law, and the gap between a negotiated and un-negotiated offer compounds for decades through savings rate. Managing a career for total compensation is a different discipline than managing it for title.
This hub covers the earning side of the equation: compensation data by role and industry, the mechanics of RSUs, options, and ESPPs, negotiation strategy, investment banking and finance career paths, and professional development that actually changes pay. It is written for high earners who treat income as the engine of financial independence and want to know when to push, when to switch, and when the marginal year stops being worth it.
Compensation & Roles
Compensation benchmarks, role analysis, and the data that matters for high earners evaluating their market position.
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Investment Banking & Finance Careers
Investment banking firms, career paths, and the roles that drive the finance industry — from analyst to managing director.
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Professional Development
Career development, industry analysis, professional education, and the technology reshaping financial services.
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Career & Compensation: common questions
What careers realistically lead to FatFIRE?
Paths with equity or ownership dominate: technology roles with stock compensation, investment banking and private equity, entrepreneurship, medicine's high-paying specialties, and partnership-track law. The pattern across all of them is compensation that scales beyond hours worked, paired with a savings rate that converts high income into invested capital rather than lifestyle.
How should I value RSUs compared to salary?
RSUs are compensation with market risk: value a grant at the current share price with a haircut for volatility and vesting, never at the recruiter's growth projection. Selling on vest is the sound default, since holding vested RSUs is economically identical to buying employer stock with a cash bonus. Hold only what you would buy deliberately.
When does it stop making sense to keep working?
When the marginal year buys money you will not spend at the cost of time you cannot recover. The practical test compares your portfolio at a sustainable withdrawal rate of 3.5 to 5 percent against actual annual spending; once withdrawals cover the life you want with margin, additional working years are a choice about purpose, not funding.