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I am fairly certain Wachovia DOES pay the same bonuses, regardless of location. Around 140k (give or take 10k) your first year out of school is ridiculous - for Charlotte.

For instance, CNNMoney.com has this cost of living calculator [http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html]. Direct from the site:

Salary in Charlotte NC: $140,000 Comparable salary in New York (Manhattan) NY: $336,762.72

If you move from Charlotte NC to New York (Manhattan) NY...

Groceries will cost: 47.553% more Housing will cost: 407.246% more Utilities will cost: 87.756% more Transportation will cost: 40.508% more Healthcare will cost: 22.729% more

 
MetalJack:
Salary in Charlotte NC: $140,000 Comparable salary in New York (Manhattan) NY: $336,762.72

If you move from Charlotte NC to New York (Manhattan) NY...

Groceries will cost: 47.553% more Housing will cost: 407.246% more Utilities will cost: 87.756% more Transportation will cost: 40.508% more Healthcare will cost: 22.729% more

Spending your glory years in NYC instead of bumblefuck NC ..... priceless.

 

True, True....I could care less how much I make...tell me how much I can save! Even if Wachovia was below street you still save more than your NY counterparts. Other things play in (reputation, deal flow, exit ops etc.) but strictly on a $$ basis you can't get much better, except for maybe a GS/MS/JPM in Houston or Dallas since they are fairly large financial centers with arguably lower cost of living.

 

The only thing with Charlotte is that...it's in North Carolina. But then again, Charlotte probably also has cheaper hookers along with the cheaper groceries - tough call

 

calling 100 hour work weeks your glory year... what a horrible life that must be.

Charlotte is a cool town and I will bet that the idiots that say otherwise have never been there. Is it really that important to live in a "cooler" town when you will not have any time whatsoever to enjoy it? doesn't make sense to me especially when you are paying 3 times more to live there.

 

Who says you aren't going to have any time to enjoy it ? 100 hour weeks or no (and MOST weeks are not going to be 100 hours - medians are probably around 80, but vary based on firm, group and time of year), you still have time to enjoy the city and go out.

 

You do have time to go out in NYC. There are people in my group that routinely work 65-80 hours per week and they plan these extravagant outings for after work fun.

 

You do have time to go out in NYC. There are people in my group that routinely work 65-80 hours per week and they plan these extravagant outings for after work fun.

 

I guess if you live in Charlotte you can probably buy a decent condo there with your first year bonus....when $140k in Charlotte is worth $336k in New York, (what's that, a factor of like 2.5?) don't tell me you can't live solely off your base, because if you can't you're an idiot. By the way by that ratio, $60k base in Charlotte would be worth about $150k in NY.

"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
 

One nice thing about the major cities in the SE is the housing cost - I've been in Atlanta about 12 years now, it was originally supposed to be a six month deal and I suspect I'll never leave.

The going price for an "amazing apartment" (ie - nice part of town, 1-2 bedrooms, nice amenities) for a single person is about $1000/month. Married folks can get a big house in a swim/tennis neighborhood with good schools for ~400,000.

If you can swing $200,000 a year as a family down here you can live like a rockstar and put money in the bank....

 

Nothing wrong with working/living in Charlotte. I've spent time there myself and I like the city myself and I have friends at Wachovia who love it. That being said, if you are young and have the chance to go to a good firm in NYC (any BB) PLEASE TAKE IT. Working at Wachovia will limit your career, and if you are shortsighted enough to take the extra income due to cost of living your first two years, you are stupid - the big payoffs in this business come ten years down the road, a road that will be much more difficult to navigate for an ex-Wachovia banker than an ex-BB banker.

 
PoolSideBanker:
Nothing wrong with working/living in Charlotte. I've spent time there myself and I like the city myself and I have friends at Wachovia who love it. That being said, if you are young and have the chance to go to a good firm in NYC (any BB) PLEASE TAKE IT. Working at Wachovia will limit your career, and if you are shortsighted enough to take the extra income due to cost of living your first two years, you are stupid - the big payoffs in this business come ten years down the road, a road that will be much more difficult to navigate for an ex-Wachovia banker than an ex-BB banker.

This is exactly correct.

 
PoolSideBanker:
Nothing wrong with working/living in Charlotte. I've spent time there myself and I like the city myself and I have friends at Wachovia who love it. That being said, if you are young and have the chance to go to a good firm in NYC (any BB) PLEASE TAKE IT. Working at Wachovia will limit your career, and if you are shortsighted enough to take the extra income due to cost of living your first two years, you are stupid - the big payoffs in this business come ten years down the road, a road that will be much more difficult to navigate for an ex-Wachovia banker than an ex-BB banker.

100% correct. Networking, job hunting, etc. is much easier in NYC. I would say that if you plan on being a lifer in finance (banking / buy-side), do BB NYC. If you plan on just doing two years and go to B-school / anything outside the industry, take the quality of life in Charlotte.

 

know a few people that passed up offers from top BB firms in NYC to go to Wachovia or BofA out of b-school. Much much cheaper cost of living, and you don't live in a 10 foot by 10 foot box and convince yourself that you're living the high life......

 
atc7:
know a few people that passed up offers from top BB firms in NYC to go to Wachovia or BofA out of b-school. Much much cheaper cost of living, and you don't live in a 10 foot by 10 foot box and convince yourself that you're living the high life......

Your friends made horrible decisions (refer above, ANY BB NYC offer over Wachovia etc.). Who convinced you that you'd be living in a 10x10 "box" in NYC anyways ? 60K a year is decent money even in the city, made all the better by the fact that you really don't need to save ANY of it (that's what your bonus is for). Think of the advertising/marketing/govt/NGO kids who are working on 30K a year before tax - now that's shitty.

I just got a sweet apartment in Midtown, rent is definitely affordable on a 60k base, and I'll still have about $1800 in cash to spend on useless shit every month. The key is to share (there's 4 of us sharing this 4 bedroom).

 
atc7:
know a few people that passed up offers from top BB firms in NYC to go to Wachovia or BofA out of b-school. Much much cheaper cost of living, and you don't live in a 10 foot by 10 foot box and convince yourself that you're living the high life......

god damn what morons.

 

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