Despite instances of layoff in recent months, tech majors Google and Meta still remain the highest-paying employers in the world and this is evident from the story of a 22-year-old techie who is planning to retire at 35 with savings of nearly USD 5 million (Rs 41 crore).
Ethan Nguonly, who is currently working with Google, is surely following the FIRE movement which means he is focused on attaining financial independence and retiring early.
He credited his parents for teaching him the art of investing in stocks and growing money
″[My parents] really explained it to me well,” Nguonly told CNBC.
“They said, ‘If you leave your money here [in a savings account], over time, it’s going to become worthless,’ and they said that you should really learn to invest it into something," the young techie said.
In his financial journey so far, Nguonly has invested $135,000 across his retirement and other investment accounts.
He also owns homes in Florida and California and wants to expand it further.
Living in Orange County, California, Nguonly aims to spend intentionally in order to put as much money as he can toward his investments. He earns around $194,000 (Rs 1.60 crore approx) a year working for Google, which includes a base salary of $134,000, 15% annual bonus, on-call compensation of around $10,000 a year and $30,000 in restricted stock units, a CNBC report stated.
Nguonly's income might have helped him in living a comfortable life but he said he does not spend excessively.
“I try to live as frugally as possible without compromising the quality of my life,” he said.
Speaking on his investment plans, he told CNBC: “When I was younger, the main thing I was thinking about was, ‘All this money keeps getting bigger, keeps growing, and I’m not doing any work for this,’” Nguonly says. “This really exposed me to the idea that my investments could make me money instead of me actually having to actively work for it.”