My rise to riches was relatively recent. I was making 100K/year 10 years ago and 200K/year 5 years ago when I moved to the West Coast.

I haven't always had this salary... 4 years ago I was at 200K/year.

Did you get to 500K by switching the jobs/companies? I wonder how you negotiated such number, or maybe they offered it right away?

Good news on the living standard - I grew up in relative poverty, so that won't be as much of a problem. I still don't spend a lot these days...

Oh, I get you now. I grew up super poor and the thought of falling back into it keeps me up at night to this day.

That's what's making this decision hard.

>>I grew up in relative poverty

Not sure what you are trying to say here. Do you want to go back to those days?

I'm okay with that, yes.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the perspective), I'm still relatively young and will likely have to pay years of living costs. The average retiree is much older - which is an advantage in this case.

Thank you for the response. Remote work not an option even though it's FANG (trust me I tried), college fund already established and enough money in it, not mentioned in post.

I've seen the sabbatical option working out for some people, but in my case it won't because a number of reasons, including the fact I haven't been there long enough.