Lower Class Upbringing Into Finance?
I know many people say doing finance/banking/etc for the money is not worth it or that you will hate it and burn out quickly. I do enjoy the field but of course working 80 hours isn't my preference. Money is a big motivator for me to pursue banking over something more chill and to set myself up early on. That motivation for me comes from growing up in a pretty rural area on a pretty low family household income. I don't care about money to be rich, but want to work towards financial independence early on as well as be able to help my parents retire, help pay for my sibling's college a few years later, etc since I've had the opportunity to go to a target for a very minimal cost. We had financial instability at home and parents having to work less than ideal and sometimes dangerous jobs because there was no other choice. I know finance is typically filled with people from wealthier or at least "upper middle class" backgrounds who may have different backgrounds and mindsets with money. Plenty of times at my wealthy target school, I've had classmates go on about how money doesn't matter while having multi-millionaire parents with vacation homes, so of course perspectives matter a lot. Just wondering if there are others here who were either lower/lower middle class growing up and how you feel about your decision to do banking and the "grind" if money was a big motivator. Are you satisfied with your decision?
I'm one, grew up kind of poor. I wanted to do banking orginally but changed my mind and realzied RE dev is what I want to do long term, no regrets so far. I pretty much have the same goals you do, want financial independence (being rich would be nice though lol), help my parents out, etc... I have had classes with some rich asians who drove around in astons and lambos and who didn't give a shit about dropping huge amounts of money on frivilous shit. it was kinda funny to be honest. I can defenatly relate to what you're saying even though I'm not going the 120 hr a week banking route.
Bump. In the same boat
I’m not in IB, but do ok for myself and save some money here and there (considering west coast COL). I grew up dirt poor without ever realizing how poor I was, until I went to college and my friends were living in homes paid for their parents and driving flashy cars to campus.
There is absolutely no way I can be doing a normal 50k/salary job like the average Joe. I never ever want to be poor again. But at the same time, I’m not about to be working 100 hours a week formatting pitchbooks. Fuck that.
I hate the thought of ending up in a 50k/year job. Not because I'm a "high finance hardo" or anything, but I feel it is not a good enough result for what my family sacrficed (still sacrfices) and what I can do for myself.
Grew up extremely poor. While money was a factor in my decision it wasn’t the main factor. Don’t just go around chasing money if you think you would be miserable.
And by poor I mean actual poor. Single parent house hold, food stamps, housing, and other government assistance.
Everyone likes to say they grew up “poor” even though they had two parents who could afford to properly provide for them but weren’t able to spoil them with luxuries.
Do IB. If you're talking business out of school jobs, IB at a reputable shop where you're actually seeing how the sausage is made is invaluable. Nobody realizes it as a juniro stuck in the 80 hr work week grind. I left the industry to a totally different one and I'm still seeing it pay dividends in the most obvious places (ie, when I throw in a bid for a roll-up, I've been on the other side managing a sell-side auction etc) to the most random (i'll respond to client emails within 5 minutes as I have my phone on me at all times and check my email more than i check my texts --> this skill is VERY impressive outside of IB. It's expected in IB but not so much outside so you look frickin like Drew rosenhaus lmfaooo)
Grew up in section 8 housing. Did IB because i liked business and other jobs sounded boring. Do it. I had a job where i worked 40 hours a week and my free time was spent reading WSJ/WSO/other shit just because i was actually genuinely interested. If you hate it, after a year you can leave and get a chill job and be in a better position. Go for it dude. Once you’re in, nobody cares about your background. First bonus will be a dope feeling. Second one you won’t really care. Just go for it and figure things out later, i think anyone can survive a year in IB and the experience you’ll get will set you up much better than some “chill” job. Chill later. Try to get the most out of your education immediately and look to chill once you have some skills.
Get into banking. The great thing is, you dont need to stay there pulling all-nighters forever. After a couple of years, banking opens you the doors to other options (private equity, hedge fund etc) where you can make even more money and work much less hours.
I grew up in the favelas of rio de janiero. I taught myself English by sneaking to leblon and ipanema beach And finding hot chicks to bang whose houses I would subsequently steal English Portuguese dictionaries and books from. I then wrote countless letters to schools in São Paulo and the rest is history
Investment banking generally doesn’t attract really rich kids. Work is too hard, hours too long and money isn’t enough to make meaningful difference in their lives.
Investment banking is more an upper middle class thing. People with some brains, good social skills, who dress properly and are willing to work hard. If you have these four qualities, you’ll do just fine.
Define upper middle class... every person i know in IB comes from a family making at least $1m/year and in law/pe/banking/old money. I would consider that more than upper middle class
It's worth it
I grew up in North Africa and worked 50 hours a week + school (throughout middle school and high school). And by work I mean physical labor (went from doing some agriculture to construction sites to plumbing). Anything that would help my family out. Thanks to God I managed to get into a good school in US (full scholarship) and got an internship at a BB last summer and will join FT next year. Obviously this past summer for me was virtual and the workload was lighter than usual but I’m ready to go in and kill my FT job. In a year I will make as much as my Uncle makes in 10 years. I dont know your upbringing but I think growing up in these environments makes people hungrier + more driven/disciplined. I am ready to work my ass off because I know what it feels like to work in the burning sun in a corrupt regime and make close to nothing. For people like me finance/IB/investing is one of the quickest ways out of this poverty cycle and I am so grateful for it
Morocco? Tunisia?
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