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Comment by bacongobbler | Hacker News Reader

US salaries are much higher, the tech industry is booming in the states, and it's very simple to apply for a visa or start a consulting company to work remotely from home.

If you're a student graduating out of a Canadian college/university and are looking for ways to advance your career (while making a lot more money on the side), what's not to love about moving or working remote?

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I did exactly this, and have been working remotely for a Californian company as of two months ago. All I had to do was open a sole proprietorship (a trivial errand) and a USD bank account (technically optional), and report in via email on my first day.

As a self-employed contractor, my costs are lower (working from home), I get myriad tax breaks, and my salary is not even comparable to what I could expect locally, even with having to pay for my own health and dental. I can't see myself ever going back to working locally. Hell, I have been thinking about moving into the mountains recently, just for the scenery.

I'd love to learn more about your setup. Do you know of any resources for those looking to do the same?

Are you US based? Are you sure you are paying your taxes correctly? Creating an LLC is simple but handling the accounting is the complicated bit.

I'm curious what percentage of that salary goes to pay for housing. I don't think a higher salary makes sense if the other expenses are proportionally higher.

So here's the thing, yes your percentage might be higher. But what's left over is in absolute terms huge. For example, if you have an extra $3000 a month after paying for housing, that's pretty powerful even if you are paying 40% for housing. Sure in a different place you might be at 30% but your post-pay is like $1000. So net wise you're 3x better even with a "worse" rent percentage.

If I'm spending 3.5K on rent but pocketing another 4K every month after taxes - plus getting bonuses - I'm a bit less upset about the cost of living.

I'm not spending 4K a month on food!

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