150K by 30

So medical doctors can make around that much when they finish their basic residency (family medicine and OB/GYN) around the time when they are 30 I suppose. I am not saying that doctors all set their eyes on money; it's just a reference. Other than being a doctor and a banker(I assume that only front office can accomplish this?), what career can get you that far?

Thanks!

 

150 is really not that much, by the time you're 30 if you haven't stopped for b/med/law-school, you'll have 8 years of work experience. You can and should be earning 150 by that point in your career if you're decent at your job and haven't chosen to become a civil servant. Hell, even some gov't employees could hit that if you get promoted fast

 

Drex, come back to Earth buddy :) For us on WSO 150k is not a big deal by the age of 30. I mean, some 1st year analysts made close to 150k during good years. I am not going to mention PE/HF guys.

For everyone else out there 150k is fucking HUGE. Median household income is around 52k with 1.35 earners and 2.57 members. Household income >$150k is 94th percentile with over 2 earners and over 3 members. Most of our classmates will end up making 40-50k their 1st year, while we are bitching about making 90-100k.

 

I would be very satisfied with making 150k when I'm 30. There are two reasons that I am asking this.

  1. The closer I approach college graduation, the lower chance I see myself getting in the door of banking. I don't think I can make it to the front office roles.

  2. I feel that there are many more things to do instead of working all the time. This is not try to start any flame; it's just a matter of life-styles and different priorities in life.

 

Banking, Consulting, Accounting, law, medicine, engineering ... just to name a few.

Just as a few poster above mentioned, $150k by 30 is not ridiculous. Assuming you graduate at 22, get a 2 years masters, you will have 6 years experience. Without a masters, maybe 8 years of experience.

Doctors earn good money (~180k or so is probably the median. A little less for GPs, pediatricians,etc. and probably closer to 400k for radiology, anesthesia, dermatology, and orthopedics.) However, to get into a good medical school and become a specialist is VERY VERY difficult. Also, you are looking at closer to 32-35 for those specialities.

My family is all and I mean ALL doctors. I would suggest someone becoming a doctor only if they are passionate. It is very difficult to break in and be successful. If you are willing to study for almost a decade after undergrad and do the same routine for 25 years and are comfortable with a low to mid six figure income, then being an M.D. might be a good choice.

If banking is not your thing, maybe you should try consulting or law? Pay is better than medicine and hours are less than banking.

 
TheBenevolent:
Pay in consulting is better than in medicine??

Definitely. Firstly, there are about 6-8 years when you would be making money in consulting and losing money in medicine. Secondly, once that time is up, compare the levels you'll be at; an entry level doctor, ~150k, or a midlevel consultant, possibly a VP by 32, which would put you well above 150. As you continue up, you will consistently be ahead of doctors who are the same age, and will have a higher top-out salary (very few doctors are pulling in the several million that a MBB partner is looking at), and a higher chance of getting there, as consulting is much more selective than medicine.

 

It is quite easy to rise through the ranks in public accounting because turnover is very high. If you're a top employee at a Big 4 firm, I would think you could pull in $150K by 30. But, if you're sharp enough to rise through the ranks then you'd probably get bored after a few years in such a cut and dry field.

 
MichaelHutchens:

Also, Drexel, 150,000 is "not that much"? I see you've never had a real job in the real economy.

Umm, I've definitely had jobs in the real economy, I have two jobs both >20hrs/wk while at school, I've held regular summer jobs, I've worked as a house painter, I've mowed lawns, etc. Sure, for lots of people 150k seems like a lot, but if you are reasonably intelligent and hardworking, to not hit that after 8 years is going to be difficult.

 

Drexel, you are a class-A idiot. From this thread to the other thread (where you deleted your posts and had the thread locked) you are the classic case of a person who has an inflated view of finance and banking. Since, anyone who is "intelligent" makes over $150k after 8 years and Ben Lorello's $50mm guranteed is not a lot of money, you are either aloof or are insecure as fuck about your background and need to compensate by bullshitting yourself. Your still in college, get a job paying income first before you opine on what is good and easy.

 
drexelalum11:
Sure, for lots of people 150k seems like a lot, but if you are reasonably intelligent and hardworking, to not hit that after 8 years is going to be difficult.

Man, I need to find out who your weed man is cause he got that good chronic. Do you realize that in a Fortune 500 finance department, you have to make it to Director to get paid that much? It's not impossible but highly unlikely. You'd have to be lucky as hell, even if you did work your ass off.

 

If you want to get into banking enough, you will not give up. You will make it happen no matter what.

Beginning of last year I felt exactly like you, I busted my butt in school, networked, took the GRE and ended up getting a sophomore internship and have 3 middle market firms pulling for me next summer.

 

You can likely make $150K by the time you're 30 if you go into law and you've done well in law school. I know that starting salaries for first-year associates for large law firms in larger cities is $160K. Starting salaries for large firms in smaller cities is in the $100K - $125K area so you could likely reach that $150K threshold within a few years.

 

Midlaw associates work just as hard as biglaw. Do biglaw for a few years and jump inhouse. You'll be making about $125k plus bonus depending on the company and working 50 hours a week.

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

I know that most of the posters on this board are just finishing college and 150 seems like a lot, but it is pretty easy if you work smart.

I worked for JPM straight out of college for peanuts, but left to become a subprime mortgage broker. I made just shy of 500k at 22 in SoCal. I worked hard--but not IBanker hard--and rode the train. Granted that was about the easiest way to make money at the time, but I shunned prestige and a decided to play my part in causing a financial meltdown by working alongside a bunch of high school dropouts who couldn't add. Easy competition = easy money.

after one year I went back to school and did a PhD, afterwards...

I decided not to take an IBanking job and work as a sales manager in another industry profiting off the poor economy. The base isn't huge (90 + bonus (200-400 depending on how the year finishes)), but after 1 year I've landed enough sales to guarantee myself a 280k residual for 10-15 years.

For the vast majority of people on this board, 150 will be a breeze. But if you want to make it huge or make it easy, there are plenty of options besides banking that don't involve competing against the brighest people you know. A guy down my street just paid 1.5 million for his house with cash because he started opening up dry cleaners at 18 and now has 6. He can't even read and he's 29! My wealthiest friend started a beauty store in the ghetto. Pick the easiest competition.

I spent 3 years out of school in non-prestigious environments and make more (and am worth far more) than my IBanker friends who pissed away all their money, still have student loans, and pretty bad relationships.

Good luck!

I rich, smarts, and totally in debt.
 
MrDouche:
I know that most of the posters on this board are just finishing college and 150 seems like a lot, but it is pretty easy if you work smart.

I worked for JPM straight out of college for peanuts, but left to become a subprime mortgage broker. I made just shy of 500k at 22 in SoCal. I worked hard--but not IBanker hard--and rode the train. Granted that was about the easiest way to make money at the time, but I shunned prestige and a decided to play my part in causing a financial meltdown by working alongside a bunch of high school dropouts who couldn't add. Easy competition = easy money.

after one year I went back to school and did a PhD, afterwards...

I decided not to take an IBanking job and work as a sales manager in another industry profiting off the poor economy. The base isn't huge (90 + bonus (200-400 depending on how the year finishes)), but after 1 year I've landed enough sales to guarantee myself a 280k residual for 10-15 years.

For the vast majority of people on this board, 150 will be a breeze. But if you want to make it huge or make it easy, there are plenty of options besides banking that don't involve competing against the brighest people you know. A guy down my street just paid 1.5 million for his house with cash because he started opening up dry cleaners at 18 and now has 6. He can't even read and he's 29! My wealthiest friend started a beauty store in the ghetto. Pick the easiest competition.

I spent 3 years out of school in non-prestigious environments and make more (and am worth far more) than my IBanker friends who pissed away all their money, still have student loans, and pretty bad relationships.

Good luck!

Exactly how I am doing it. My line of work may not be prestigious(internet retail), but ive made/saved far more than any banker friends have.
 
Guest1655:
Exactly how I am doing it. My line of work may not be prestigious(internet retail), but ive made/saved far more than any banker friends have.

Congrats to both of you, you've clearly found good alternate paths that are going to make you successful and wealthy and better off than if you'd stayed in banking, etc. But it does beg the question, what the fuck are you doing on an ibanking message board?

self-esteem issues?

 

two points:

Drexel- how many PhD level chemists, chemical engineers and mechanical engineers at our leading companies (GE, JNJ, MRK, PFE, DD, SI, DOW, GM, F, etc) make 150,000 eight years into their professional careers? 150,000 is at the 90th percentile for chemical engineers, and say what you will, few of us on here would be able to complete a PhD in chemical engineering.

MrDouche- what kind of PhD did you do? I'm also a bit confused about the time frame; I thought SoCal subprime real estate grew rapidly from mid 2004-mid 2007, weren't you in grad school at this time?

 
somedude:
Why has no one mentioned dentist? 2003 average income was 187.5k working 35 hr weeks, while specialists made an average of 330k.

+1 Dentistry is the best kept secret. Everyone talks about how being a doctor is the way to go. I would be a dentist before a doctor any day, especially family physician. I don't know a single dentist that works on Friday. Also with Health care issues, doctors have to get paid through medicare rates that the government sets. Dentists don't have to deal with this.

 
h.e.pennypacker:
Pharmacy is also not mentioned often. CVS/Walgreens/etc. pharmacists typically break 6-figures right away (though this won't really grow much). They count pills, memorize a few mixtures & measurements, and hang out with a hot assistant all day. Not bad at all if you ask me.

I can agree that there is a nice initial salary and hot assistants. But, after that there is no real opportunity for growth. Also, by giving one wrong pill to one customer and you can not only cause injury/death but you're career can be done. Seems like an easy mistake to make if you ask me.

 

Most consultants will make 150k by 30 even at lower level firms.

Dentists will.

Orthodonists (sp?) get paid more than dentists and have cushier hours.

Pharmacy breaks 6 digits but i think typically its a little shy of 150. My friends start at 110.

Opthamologists (sp?) will be close. Mine said ~125.

Lawyers will depending on school.

Longshoremen will be close

Big 4 auditing will be close

Mafia soldiers will

Computer Engineers that work in silicon valley will be really close. Adobe / Nvidia etc.

Podiatrists will

I dunno, there has to be more.

150k in America was 93 percentile in 2004.

 

Most consultants will make 150k by 30 even at lower level firms.

Dentists will.

Orthodonists (sp?) get paid more than dentists and have cushier hours.

Pharmacy breaks 6 digits but i think typically its a little shy of 150. My friends start at 110.

Opthamologists (sp?) will be close. Mine said ~125.

Lawyers will depending on school.

Longshoremen will be close

Big 4 auditing will be close

Mafia soldiers will

Computer Engineers that work in silicon valley will be really close. Adobe / Nvidia etc.

Podiatrists will

I dunno, there has to be more.

150k in America was 93 percentile in 2004 - that's household too.

 
Consultant4life:
Most consultants will make 150k by 30 even at lower level firms.

Dentists will.

Orthodonists (sp?) get paid more than dentists and have cushier hours.

Pharmacy breaks 6 digits but i think typically its a little shy of 150. My friends start at 110.

Opthamologists (sp?) will be close. Mine said ~125.

Lawyers will depending on school.

Longshoremen will be close

Big 4 auditing will be close

Mafia soldiers will

Computer Engineers that work in silicon valley will be really close. Adobe / Nvidia etc.

Podiatrists will

I dunno, there has to be more.

150k in America was 93 percentile in 2004 - that's household too.

Ophthalmology starts at 150 for general and 250 for retina/cornea. By 50 it isn't hard to hit 7 figures. Orthodontists who are a dental subspecialty average out at 400k.

 

btw, just to add to the points already made by above posters: these percentile numbers that are being quoted are household gross income, not personal. i believe for individual, around $100k is already 95th percentile the last time i saw the stats. and we're not even mentioning the rest of the world. trust me, there are plenty of people much smarter and work much harder than we who will never realistically have any chance at making what we make first year out of college, all because they're in a country / economic system that simply do not provide the foundation for this level of wealth creation.

hate to say this, but for people like us, a lot of the wealth we accumulate can be attributed to luck and accomplishments of others.

 

I have a friend that runs his own seafood wholesale company and was able to generate $600k per year of net profits last year, he has no college education and simply joined the marine and built up his own capital from there. He's only 29 this year. 150k by 30 is definitely achievable

 
slim_ibd_shady:
I have a friend that runs his own seafood wholesale company and was able to generate $600k per year of net profits last year, he has no college education and simply joined the marine and built up his own capital from there.

Scenario: What if someone with exceptional technical / business skills decided to compete in the small business world against people with minimal educational back ground. For example: If a banker decided to go seafood wholesale industry and expand from there.

Would the banker completely dominate? Or are successful small business owners just lucky and the banker would need more luck on his side than smarts to succeed?

Opinions?

 
Snookie4President:
slim_ibd_shady:
I have a friend that runs his own seafood wholesale company and was able to generate $600k per year of net profits last year, he has no college education and simply joined the marine and built up his own capital from there.

Scenario: What if someone with exceptional technical / business skills decided to compete in the small business world against people with minimal educational back ground. For example: If a banker decided to go seafood wholesale industry and expand from there.

Would the banker completely dominate? Or are successful small business owners just lucky and the banker would need more luck on his side than smarts to succeed?

Opinions?

What kind of seafood?

 

Whoa whoa whoa

All this hate on Drexel is completely unfounded. This is an Ibanking forum. Yes, if you are a garbage man making 150K after 8-10 years is a lot, but it is not that hard to make around that much money. If you work for the same company for 10 years plodding away you probably will not make that much money. If you are aggressive and move around, pushing and fighting for promotions you will pull down well over 100K. I don't want to hear any bullshit either considering I have worked for a long time and this is absolutely not a ton of money for someone who went to a good school with tangible skills. Additionally, lets say 150 is NYC money so if you manage to make say 100K in middle America we can inflate it to 150K so everything is even.

Drexel knows what he is talking about and so do I.

 

A lot of partners at Big 4 accounting firms I have talked to said you can typically make partner within 12-15 years. A study ( http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2004/404/essentials/p54.htm ) found the average to be ~13 years.

As a partner during "normal" times, you can expect to make about $500k a year, but that will fluctuate based on how well your firm does, how much business you bring in, how long you have been with the firm, what office you work in, etc. Check out this link: http://bigfouralumni.blogspot.com/2007/03/pricewaterhousecoopers-lets-o… . Average PwC partner compensation was calculated to be between $500-750k per year (granted that was 2007). Nonetheless, a partner's comp will be far in excess of $150k per year.

So back to the original question...if you graduate by the age of 22 and enter a Big 4 accounting firm in a decent office, you can expect to make partner around age 35. The salary jump to that of a partner is quite significant from the previous job title, but I would think by the age of 30 (about 5 years short of partner) you could crack $150k.

As has been discussed thus far and with which I agree, so long as you work hard and pursue promotions and that next step of the ladder, you are entirely capable of reaching $150k by 30...either in accounting or what have you.

 

How profitable are Verizon Premium Retailers? Would I be better off using my MBA savings for opening 2-3 verizon stores or getting a Columbia MBA and going into banking? I see it this way: People need phones.

 

It was a different thread.

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/banker-careerlifestylenot-all-tha…

hellonyc:
....And if you put prestige aside, then you can earn a great salary running a small business, for example- my 26 year old cousin owns two verizon franchise stores (running a cell phone store isn't rocket science) and makes 350K a year, hired store managers and now is working only 20-30 hours a week, real estate investing on the side just for fun because he doesn't know what else to do with all his extra cash, while his job is not dealmaking, he is happy and living the life, he has time to go out at night, and go out to dinner, have friends, hamptons in the summer, miami breaks in winter, int'l vacations, and when he goes to work everyday he is the boss. nobody to answer to.

I'd say it depends on how smart you are. If you think you'll do well and hit 7 figures in comp w/ an MBA, it's probably better to go that route. If you see yourself maxing out around or below 500k in comp, the VZ stores could be better.

However, franchising is not something I'd get in to lightly - you're at the mercy of a F500 company and their fortunes, not to mention, cell phones will likely become increasingly commoditized, driving down margins.

 

$150k by 30 is not a big stretch working in the corporate offices of many Fortune 500 companies. People who work in sourcing or merchandising at Target and Best Buy HQ, for example, can certainly make that by 30 and live in Minneapolis/St. Paul, where $150k goes a LOT further than on either coast.

There have been many great comebacks throughout history. Jesus was dead but then came back as an all-powerful God-Zombie.
 

Lots of them. FoFs, some LP jobs come to mind.

I used to do Asia-Pacific PE (kind of like FoF). Now I do something else but happy to try and answer questions on that stuff.
 

This may come as a shock to you but if you don't mind teaching you could make that. I know professors at universities who teach finance/CS/math classes 1 day a week and spend the rest of it consulting. They pull in over 300k a year.

"The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets." -John D. Rockefeller
 
Best Response

If you want to stay in finance you could try long-only Asset Management (mutual fund or their advisors, institutional AM within a big bank-I'm thinking of a good friend who's a PM at JPM in fixed income and he does well and has a pretty decent work/life balance). As someone else stated above, working at an LP, so at the pension fund or endowment or their advisors and eventually working your way up to CIO, a good way into that could be FoF. I know a few guys in FoF and balance seems to be highly dependent on the firm: I know some people who make great money and don't work insane hours but others who work at what would seem to be a similar firm in AUM and strategies and seem to work the same hours as direct investment PE firms. I don't truly know how well IB would lead into the above positions other than FoF, which is a somewhat more natural exit from IB. AM could be different. But if you know you don't want to be in IB for the long term or make the transition to PE, you may want to think about getting right into AM, if that's something you'd like. You could also look into MO/BO opportunities. There are a few good threads on here that tackle those options in depth.

Corporate strategy/development or finance is a natural exit as well. Comp and balance will be highly dependent on the company you join though. I'd imagine the Google or Apple strategy guys are flying all over God's creation and working pretty intensely but they also are compensated well. We sold a portfolio company to a non F500 NYSE traded company a few years ago and I became somewhat friendly with their internal M&A guy and he had a pretty sweet lifestyle (late hours when a deal was closing but otherwise 8-5/6, no weekends and light travel) and made somewhere around $500k all in, but he was mid-late 40's with an MBA & JD so I think he added something extra because he could do a decent amount of the legal work without ringing up billable hours with outside counsel.

Also realize that $150k may seem like a decent amount of money but after taxes, and this isn't even in a high tax state, that's only ~$8600/month. Get married, have kids, and buy an average house in any area that's anywhere near a major city or near either coast and that money will be gone very quickly.

 

Sequi assumenda ut doloremque at consequuntur alias ad. Molestiae aut voluptate neque ea. Beatae labore ut eos architecto dicta.

Ratione eveniet atque sint id. Aliquid debitis rerum autem ut sit distinctio quae. Eligendi est est tempore ut. Velit in optio qui porro ratione provident autem.

 

Architecto odio rerum ducimus blanditiis quaerat ab. Voluptatibus nulla necessitatibus animi omnis et voluptatum architecto. Earum consequatur quos iste eaque ut velit commodi. Illum accusantium quod nam consequuntur unde ex ipsam excepturi.

Nesciunt necessitatibus illo maxime ea enim voluptatem accusamus. Laudantium iusto minus et qui sequi ea provident libero. Temporibus ut adipisci atque consequatur neque eaque. Consequatur quo porro vel voluptas ullam aut quaerat. Error non sunt saepe autem impedit.

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”