It is not uncommon for people in technology to be making $500k-$1m annually by 30, and the lifestyle is much better if you have outside commitments.
That's the point, you don't know whether there will be any. So they are definitely not "as good as cash". Just because they aren't lottery tickets doesn't mean they are equivalent to cash.
Edit: Just to clarify, $300k as a senior engineer is without any stock appreciation at all. I made $250k as one step below senior without any stock appreciation at all. My point about significant stock changes is for significant stock changes downwards, meaning if the Google stock somehow lost 50% of their value or something like that.
My point was a more holistic view. It's great that there is a 95% chance that your stock RSUs will increase. But if there is a 90% chance that within 3 years it's a 15% increase or more, you should rather use the 15% increased figure for calculation instead. And then the risk is much higher because it's not just stock not going down, but stock not going up as quickly as it did before.
Yes. I sell projects to my former classmates all the time, and if I ever find myself out of a job, I could have a half dozen interviews within a month. The network is absolutely amazing if you go to one of the top 20 or so schools and have some people skills. You can't really make use of the network if you're a PM.
> And is the hours-adjusted total income of a consulting career that much better for wealth building than an extra million bucks pre-tax at age 30?
Lifetime income for a partner at a consulting company can easily top $30 million -- with the benefit of being able to blow the escape hatch and land in a VP role in industry if you burn out on the consulting work.
Not like interest rates can get lower or search could get less competitive.