How much to live in NYC as an MD

I've been wondering this for a while, how much does it take to make it in NYC as an MD living a good life, meaning:

  1. Nice apartment on UES, UWS (guessing 3-4M, right?)
  2. Kids in private school, 30K/year, say two kids, so 60K/year
  3. Taxes, say 40-50%
  4. Car with parking for when you leave the city
  5. Vacation home (no idea on price)
  6. Everything else I'm missing

I imagine some of the Associates, most of the VPs and all of the few MDs will be able to answer this question. Really the overlying question is, can you afford to live a good life with a family as an MD? What about a VP?

Thanks!

 
manbearpig:
Forbes did a piece on this a few years back. They said that you can afford to live well in Manhattan with a gross income of 500K per year. So certainly an MD can afford it.

Is this the article you're referencing?

www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/fashion/08halfmill.html?_r=2&em

They conclude you can't on 500K, h/w the lifestyle is very comfortable – they come up with 1.6M and that is spending everything you've got, which is ghetto as shit. What does everyone think, gehghis khan, any opinion? What's the average MD all in comp and can it support a comfortable lifestyle in the city?

 

PRIVATE school: $32,000 a year per student. Mortgage: $96,000 a year. Co-op maintenance fee: $96,000 a year. Nanny: $45,000

I'm sorry but these #s are ridiculous. They apply to very few people.

Nanny for 45k? Ever heard of daycare? Is mom dead or something? I really don't see many moms working if there husbands are making that money, or in reverse I could see a dad playing the mom role if his wife was really making that much money.

 
Best Response
GoIllini:
PRIVATE school: $32,000 a year per student. Mortgage: $96,000 a year. Co-op maintenance fee: $96,000 a year. Nanny: $45,000

I'm sorry but these #s are ridiculous. They apply to very few people.

Nanny for 45k? Ever heard of daycare? Is mom dead or something? I really don't see many moms working if there husbands are making that money, or in reverse I could see a dad playing the mom role if his wife was really making that much money.

Maybe some of the expenses are ridiculous, but the numbers are near accurate – private school in NYC is 30K, I'll take their word that a 1.5M apartment has a mortgage of 8K a month with an 8K maintenance fee (no idea about this). That is the point of the question, it takes a lot to live in New York at the top of the market, so my question is, can the average MD do it and if so, at what cost. The NYT article is neat the top of the social strata in NYC, but even if you subtract some of the cost, it is still a lot.

 
GoIllini:
PRIVATE school: $32,000 a year per student. Mortgage: $96,000 a year. Co-op maintenance fee: $96,000 a year. Nanny: $45,000

I'm sorry but these #s are ridiculous. They apply to very few people.

Nanny for 45k? Ever heard of daycare? Is mom dead or something? I really don't see many moms working if there husbands are making that money, or in reverse I could see a dad playing the mom role if his wife was really making that much money.

They are more accurate than you think. Many families have nannies in the city. Only thing that looks dubious is the maintenance fee, that is way over-inflated.

 

That's not the one. I don't think the forbes article had the same definition of "living well". Their criteria was to have a nice 3 bedroom apartment, send two kids to private school, and the rest of the usual living expenses. Nothing about galas and 40K on dresses, or houses in the hamptons.

In any case, 8K on co-op fees for the appartment???? WTF???? Who the hell would want to buy anything on those terms. I would much rather rent forever. Rent must certainly be less than the condo fees + mortgage interest + property taxes.

-MBP
 
Michael Scarn:
I went to an "elite" private school (top 25 on that list WSJ did a couple years ago), and tuition was $18,000 a year, not $30,000+. Maybe a couple of them are but most are in the $16,000-24,000 range.

What?

Allen Stevens: 39 Brearley: 37 Dalton: 35

 

I also went to a prep school in the city, can confirm that some are 30K+, massive tuition hikes are some of these places... the place I went to was barely over 20K when I enrolled and was near 30K by the time I left...

 

I've always imagined it was over 1M, just by how much? And I realize it's a function of lifestyle, but living very well, with room for savings. What does the average MD make? That might be a good starting place. As a side note: are the MM players making what the BB guys are? Say like an RBC, BMO for full service MM or even a Houlihan for advisory.

 
TheKid1:
Sending my kids 2 public school. My brother always says to me two type of ppl live in Manhattan the rich upper west side, upper east tribeca and the poor, harlem washigton heights, Lower east side...

Lower east side is pretty pricey these days. The only relatively poor areas of manhattan are spanish harlem and the far nothern tip (most people don't even know this area exists).

 

You can live on $500K a year. If you can't, you're fucked up in the head.

NYC is so expensive because a lot of people with money like to buy a place in NYC because they either a) go there for work occasionally and/or b) like to visit a lot. For example, I live in Philly, love Philly, and want to stay here. That being said, first thing I'm going to do when I start making serious money will be to buy a 2 bedroom apt in NYC for the occasional weekend or workday there. One of my LPs has a couple of gorgeous apartments in NYC, and he probably only goes there 4 or so times a year (for like a week or so). Rich people like to own Manhattan real estate, it's a calling card and great for business, especially those in the finance industry. I'm sure lots of Londoners have small pads in NYC, as another example.

 
alexpasch:
You can live on $500K a year. If you can't, you're fucked up in the head.

NYC is so expensive because a lot of people with money like to buy a place in NYC because they either a) go there for work occasionally and/or b) like to visit a lot. For example, I live in Philly, love Philly, and want to stay here. That being said, first thing I'm going to do when I start making serious money will be to buy a 2 bedroom apt in NYC for the occasional weekend or workday there. One of my LPs has a couple of gorgeous apartments in NYC, and he probably only goes there 4 or so times a year (for like a week or so). Rich people like to own Manhattan real estate, it's a calling card and great for business, especially those in the finance industry. I'm sure lots of Londoners have small pads in NYC, as another example.

Correct, London and NYC are the base for finance in the two regions so finance people often have places in both cities. The high end real estate market in both NYC and London is full of foreign investors, and many of the apartments are empty most of the time. I know there are neighborhoods in London (Belgravia) that are so expensive that something like 50%+ of the properties are bought by arabs/russians as investments and have never stepped foot in them.

 

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