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Companies offer 10-25% pay cuts on relocation, but break-even on a typical SF→Austin move is closer to 35-40%. The gap between 'company offer' and 'true break-even' is your savings rate boost. Math, scenarios, and the negotiation lever most engineers miss.

Most indie founders pick salary by feel. The result is usually wrong in one of two directions: too high (no runway buffer when growth stalls) or too low (defeats the point of building). The static math gives you the floor and ceiling — picking inside the range is the actual decision.

We ran the cost-of-living math for the typical SF tech worker considering Austin. The savings rate jumps from 25% to 38%. The 10-year wealth gap is $510K. The honesty correction: real moves usually capture 70-80% of theoretical savings, not 100%.

Marcus exercised 12,000 ISOs at $7 strike when FMV was $42. The 2022 IPO peaked, then crashed 80% by tax day. He owed $80K of AMT on a position now worth less than the strike. Here's the exercise math, the exit options, and what the calculator should have shown before he wired.

Recruiters quote total comp as if year 1 looks like year 4. It doesn't. The 12-month equity cliff at the new job means a +35% offer becomes +12% in year 1 cash terms — and the 5-year EV depends on whether you survive the gap.

LTV/CAC ≥ 3 is the hype number. CAC payback is the one that decides if you can grow without funding. We modeled $5K MRR through six unit-economic profiles — three are sustainable, three quietly burn cash even on healthy LTV/CAC.

Sarah's condo: Airbnb at 62% occupancy nets $15.5K. Long-term tenant nets $18.3K. Airbnb wins decisively only at 70%+ occupancy plus $200+ nightly rate plus self-management. The 'Airbnb prints money' framing assumes conditions most owners can't sustain.

AWS Solutions Architect: $300 fee + 80 study hours, ~$7K/year salary lift, 3-month payback. PMP: $4,500 + 200 hours, $9K/year lift, 7-month payback. Generic 'leadership' cert: $1,200 + 40 hours, $0 measurable lift. The cert matters more than the badge.

USDA inflation-adjusted: $310K from birth to 18. Add $80K of childcare (heaviest in years 0-5). Add $100-300K for college. Realistic US total: $400K-$700K per child. Child #2 typically runs 60-70% of #1.

Egress at $0.09/GB is the line that destroys hobbyist AWS bills. 5 TB of viral traffic is $450. We modeled the typical SaaS stack from solo project to growth, and the egress line is what surprises every founder.

Same $265K target tuition (in-state public, 18 years out, 5% inflation): $430/month from birth, $660 from age 5, $1,250 from age 8. The cost of waiting compounds against you fast.

Carlos's 45-minute commute breaks down to $5,400 direct + $10,080 time = $15,480/year. Moving 1.5 miles from work for $400 more rent saves him $10,200/year. The 'expensive' apartment is the cheap one.

The FIRE number depends on what you spend, not what you earn. We ran two real-world profiles through the calculator: a $85K saver who spends $50K, and a $150K earner who spends $120K. The lower earner retires first.

Marcus's $280K-buy / $375K-sell flip looked like a 17% gross margin. After loan interest, holding costs, agent commission, and short-term capital gains tax, real profit was $6,400. 11.4% annualized, beat by an index fund with no effort.

The same $8K/year, two different paths. Whole life delivers $95K cash value at year 20; term + index fund delivers $500K death benefit + $383K portfolio. The unbundling premium is real.