West coast = higher pay?

My SA gig (top BB) this summer is $60k prorated over 10 weeks and $1k relocation.

NYCbandar:

I know nobody asked about this, but please for the love of god and all that is holy don't pick an internship based on the pay differential between east and west coast. Do yourself a favor and pick the better internship. The money is just so you can survive. The real compensation is the experience and the opportunity to convert to a full time offer.

Finance is like a poker tournament. The real money is at the final table. The trick is to get there. If you deep six your career over $10k at an internship... you've fucked up.

This is not necessarily the best advice. The pay differential between the West/East coast can approach $30k over the summer, a substantial amount of money for any aspiring young banker. This should be taken into consideration when deciding on offers in addition to group placement.

i work at a west coast branch and so do several of my friends (both LA and SF). CSFB and UBS LA are known for being crazy sweatshops so I doubt they get a haircut on their bonus.

In my experience (and my friends'), there can be a "west coast" discount if there is the feeling among new york that you work less hours. At the same time, any great analyst can work hard, prove themselves, and they will be rewarded with a top bonus. So there doesn't necessarily have to be a difference in bonuses.

I just want to reiterate, in the end, it's all about the bank you work at and you.

I would award bonuses based on production. Quality over quantity has no role in junior level banking?

any exact numbers for particular banks?

Why is it all about hours?

Welcome to analyst and associate level banking.

Unless your bank is pulling no deals, then quantity of analyst work matters quite a bit. The 100+ hour work week doesn't come from nowhere.

....opps

bump

http://us.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php

Take home is roughly 4k in CA. I went into a bit more detail than was necessary below (factoring in cost of living), but it's likely helpful for your reference.

It depends which city we're talking about - the cost of living is actually quite different.

I've been an analyst in both cities so I have some perspective. I managed to save much more in Los Angeles for a number of reasons. Rents seem to be significantly lower than in San Francisco (although not as crazy as New York, the rental market here in SF is similar from a cost perspective). If you have a car, parking is much more abundant in LA than SF, so you're likely going to have to pay several hundred dollars for a parking spot if it doesn't come with the apartment (however, in SF you don't necessarily need a car, so this could be moot).

To answer your question, on a good month I managed to save between 25%-50% ($1k-$2k) of my base salary in LA (this is before discretionary items, such as bottle service at Drai's, for example). In SF, I've been in the 25% ballpark or less. Been considering getting rid of my car though which would help to improve my bottom line. Hope this helps.

islandbanker:

Take home is roughly 4k in CA. I went into a bit more detail than was necessary below (factoring in cost of living), but it's likely helpful for your reference.

It depends which city we're talking about - the cost of living is actually quite different.

I've been an analyst in both cities so I have some perspective. I managed to save much more in Los Angeles for a number of reasons. Rents seem to be significantly lower than in San Francisco (although not as crazy as New York, the rental market here in SF is similar from a cost perspective). If you have a car, parking is much more abundant in LA than SF, so you're likely going to have to pay several hundred dollars for a parking spot if it doesn't come with the apartment (however, in SF you don't necessarily need a car, so this could be moot).

To answer your question, on a good month I managed to save between 25%-50% ($1k-$2k) of my base salary in LA (this is before discretionary items, such as bottle service at Drai's, for example). In SF, I've been in the 25% ballpark or less. Been considering getting rid of my car though which would help to improve my bottom line. Hope this helps.

Thanks, islandbanker. I'll be in SF if this helps anyone else. Didn't know if there is much variation on the west coast, but I guess there is between SF and LA. So I'm guessing about 1k or less per month for SF? Did your savings include what went to 401k/IRA?

/bump

4300/mo before 401k los angeles save ~50% base salary here