Best work/life balance
I'm a rising sophmore and I personally would rather make 100k/year working 50 hours a week rather than 500k working 100 hours.
My question is, what position at, let's say a f500, would allow for the hours I desire, and have a decent salary? What would be the starting salary at said job?
Thanks!
I get what you're saying and all, but temper the expectations on the 50 hours for 100k, 100 hours for 500k projection by a factor of about... a lot. I guess if you're happy with like 50 hour weeks making 60-70k with marginal bonus, then moving up to like 80k, 100k, etc. and maybe topping out at like 300k, then the F500 corp. dev. thing works for that I think.
But if you wanna earn big you usually have to start off somewhere that's intense, otherwise everyone would be doing it, no?
Most F500 corp dev requires IB experience.
I completely agree. I was being a little dramatic about the salary/hours lol. Also, how long until that 80-100k mark? Thanks for your response.
I think you're looking for www.averageassjoeoasis.com.
[quote=Flake]I think you're looking for www.averageassjoeoasis.com.[/quote] LOL
[quote=Flake]I think you're looking for www.averageassjoeoasis.com.[/quote] Not to be that guy but 100k in your mid twenties is only average on WSO.
Well that's just cuz Heister fucks up the average
How long before you want the 100k 50 hr gig ? Because those types of jobs you will be starting much lower than most finance jobs...unless you move out of the field and do something else entirely
Average because I'd rather go corporate than IB?
You can make some pretty good mula in PWM too. I know a few 20 somethings making 200-300k/year, but they are very personable with good clienteles of course.
Compliance starts at 70k with a small (5-10k?) bonus. They work ~50 hours per week. You could hit 100k 3 years in. Easy to do.
Within the F500 world, let's say you do GE FMP. Granted, the hours are more than 40/week. I think they start at 60k. Corporate audit (2 years in?) is ~90k. Another year or two and you should be at 100k.
Or forget finance all together. Work in IT for a large bank. Work as an engineer. You can clear 90k with a few years of experience as an radiology-technician. You can do even better as a nurse.
The 100k barrier is not that high...if you study something practical and navigate recruiting competently, you should be fine.
Oh, there's no doubt about that. Any FO provides vastly more career growth. And considering how that first job can alter your career trajectory...it's no wonder that people are not fighting to work in compliance. However, if you just want to earn 100k, and not much more, compliance is a straight path.
Thank you for all of yall's help. It certainly gave me some things to research!
hey flake whats up man.
I don't understand how people are able to settle like this. I guess it's a good thing because it takes away from the competition, but I fail to see how people are not motivated to always have more.
Agree. I'm the same way. I am not sure I will ever be content...I have a number (500k, coincidentally) beyond which more more money is pointless, but I think I would be miserable if I didn't keep trying. I used to think I hated the stress...now I realize I need to be working at some concrete goal to keep going.
So mediocrity is a synonym for well-adjusted? That seems more like socialism than capitalism.
No way in hell would I settle in NYC/SF etc for 100k, but in low cost of living states you can live like a king off 100k
I'd personally be cool with 100k as long as there's no compliance rules for trading my own account
I would always look at people more successful than me and be unable to cope with the fact that I never even tried to get there.
I'm confident I can get 40%+ return in the market YOY
I wouldn't be cool with 100k capped out total return
Your overconfidence will be your downfall. Nobody, literally nobody, who has actually invested in the market thinks that is a remotely realistic return target to achieve consistently. I guess you think you will be the best in the world by a large margin......that seems like a safe bet, right? Everybody else in the market must be a dummy.
I don't understand how people are able to settle with having little or no free weekends during the prime years of their life. I don't see how people aren't motivated to always have more free time to do whatever the hell they please. Personally, I like trekking up in the mountains/national parks most weekends, staying overnight on a bunk bed in a little hut, playing cards by the fire with tourists/trekkers from all over the world, walking through the crisp 0 degree mountain air. I'm happier staying in a cold mountain shack than I am in a Fifth Avenue hotel. My advice: don't confuse having "more" with having "more money". And planning to grind it out in your 20's so from then on your wealthy is a foolish idea. There isn't an old, rich person in the world who wouldn't give every penny away to be young again.
Just like there isn't an old, poor person in the world who wouldn't give all he has to be young again and work through his early life to support himself and his children later on.
Wall Street 1 ('87): "The most valuable commodity I know of is information." -GG Wall Street 2 ('10): "The one thing I learned in jail is that money is not the prime asset in life. Time is." -GG
OccupyMy goal in life is to be happy. Unique / interesting experiences make me happy. Money is a tool that can be used to help achieve these ends; however, it is important for me to make sure that money does not become an end itself. If I feel like working in finance changes me to this effect, I'll quit.
You've obviously never worked. Getting a front-office SA position where you spend 80+ hours a week performing menial tasks might change your outlook. If you have friends/a girlfriend or boyfriend/family/enjoy having fun/getting a healthy amount of sleep and exercise you may find that spending your 20s playing with powerpoint and excel isn't necessarily having "more".
I don't understand how you can preach this despite so obviously not following it in your own life choices. You can't even put in the modest effort required to get into a first or second tier school yet you say you don't understand how people aren't willing to devote their entire life to work.
Do you realize how hypocritical you sound? Do you also realize that the jobs you classify as mediocre far exceed the jobs even the top northeastern graduates typically get?
I don't even know why I'm responding to this, but anyway... it's interesting how you think that spending $200k on an ivy league education is simply a "choice" one can make. I'm not going to go into details because I simply don't have to nor want to, but sure, why doesn't every good student just hop on the ivy league train?
The only way I would settle for 100k/year is if the year was 1947 where 100k/year is equal to 1 million/year today.
It'd be interesting to see the posters here separated by clueless kids in college and people actually working. Assuming happiness in life is of any value, there's defnitely marginal utility of making more and more money. I'm no baller but my wife and I don't worry about money all that much, which is nice. Would I be willing to work twice as much to make twice as much money? Absolutely not. All I would end up with is a bigger house that I'd have to hire more maids to clean and maybe a nicer car.
It's pretty ignorant and close minded to assume that I'm clueless simply because of my age. You have no clue who I am or what my circumstances are, and I have no intentions of sharing any of that information with you. I don't even know why I'm responding to you, not even worth my time.
Chill out there sport. The point is that the world looks much different at 18 than it does at 30, and priorities tend to shift as you get older and enter the real world.
I realize that all of you in IB/PE/HF would not understand. I'm in TX; very low cost of living in most places. 100k in NY probably wouldn't get you much, but here you're doing fairly well (unless you just want to live in a over-priced neighborhood..) I agree with above posters, where I enjoy being outdoors; so if i was cooped up in a little cube for 100+ hours, I'd probably get depressed.
This is why I asked what has the best work/life balance. Not how "average" I'm trying to be. Kudos to you making 'more'. But, you value money more than free time, whereas I do not. Each to their own.
Again, thank all of you that were actually helping me out with my questions.
By the way, the original post was by a college kid, so I believe I am fully qualified to participate in the conversation concerning his topic.
fucking college kids.
Why is WSO so full of delusional 16 year olds?
some people just aren't obsessed with a specific figure... when you get to a certain age, you start to realize that the extra money might not be worth the hassle
Business Careers With Work/Life Balance and Upper Middle Class Lifestyle? (Originally Posted: 11/16/2010)
Just curious, what are some careers in finance that will offer a good, upper-middle class lifestyle while still providing a decent work-life balance at the same time? I'm obviously not expecting to make 150k+ and only work 9-5, but are there career paths out there that will allow you to eventually top off at around 150-200k and only work 50-60 hour weeks instead of making 500k+ and 80-100 hour weeks? I want to make enough money to live an upper-middle class lifestyle, but I don't want my job to consume my life either, so what are the best careers in finance for this type of thing?
Thanks
private wealth management, though its ceiling is over 200K and you need to be very outgoing, etc.
operations 40-60 hrs and if you make it to vp/director/md you can do that well financially
Any idea how much these guys up the ladder earn?
corporate finance/F500 is always an option, especially if you can get into a rotational program and stick with the company after the fact...
actuary
PWM is even better than that cause you can make 300k and you don't need to work long hours. It takes personality though.
Come on man, how can you go into life thinking like this...
Gee maybe some people value life outside of work and work to live rather than live to work? Just a thought. I don't understand what's so wrong about taking a pay cut for having time outside of working. Plus, making "only" 150-200k isn't as easy as a lot of you think it is. Sure bankers make that in 1-2 years, but most people will never see 100k much less 200k...
paul what is ur avatar
from american psycho. the biz cards. DUH
Bumping because I am just like the OP...
I was strongly considering actuary/underwriter type jobs in insurance/reinsurance. My dad is an underwriter for a reinsurance company and is now making 500k (not in NYC). He definitely made over 200k by the time he was 35 or so and he has always averaged a classic 9-5 workday with many golf outings and client lunches. He also says he would never choose a different job. The only reason I haven't strongly considered this career is because I feel like he simply just got lucky with his job and nothing else to make that amount.
Move to a socialist country in Europe. I work 35-50 hours a week and get 30 days of vacation to spend around Italy, etc. You'll earn enough money after a few promotions in a multi-national.
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