A Quora thread in which a 23-year-old claims to make $300,000 on Wall Street is being passed around
But at least one anonymous user on Quora claims to make more than three times that as a 23-year-old Wall Street programmer.
The user took to the question-answer website in 2013 to ask how much money he or she could make in Silicon Valley.
The thread has continued to attract responses, with three this year, and was being passed around earlier this week.
The user asked: "I just turned 23 and make around $300k working on Wall Street. Could I make this in Silicon Valley if I was looking to make the switch?"
That puts his or her salary more than two times the typical starting range for a first- or second-year analyst, and on a par with the total compensation of an associate.
The user said: "I'm probably an average-above average programmer (no TopCoder) with average-above average quantitative skills (no International Math Olympiad). Undergrad top 3-4 (Computer Science) School."
TopCoder and International Math Olympiad referring to competitions in coding and mathematics.
The user would also be among the many Wall Streeters turning from banking and toward Silicon Valley in search of fresh opportunities.
Responses on Quora ranged from critical - with users doubting his or her stated salary - to didactic, admonishing the user to save up.
One of the most recent responses from earlier this year said: "This is a massive blessing. Don't expect to make this much anywhere else. It's not that it can't happen, it just isn't likely, and not worth the risk."