6 months into IB and trying to get a sense of where people are savings-wise.
I’m at a lower-paying BB and sitting at ~$32k saved total, half of which from the first 6 months (brokerage + retirement + 401k). From a lower-income background so I’m trying to build a cushion early, does this seem roughly on pace?
Would appreciate:
Thanks, trying to benchmark and improve.
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was at a low paying MM bank my first year. saved about ~80k (401k + match, HSA contributions, brokerage, roth) not including gains. definitely doable to save especially when you’re not in your apartment most of the time lol. Lateraled to an EB that pays significantly more as an A2 and in the 5 months i’ve been here i’ve saved about 40k. When in an HCOL city, possible to save if u don’t blow thousands of dollars on tables, shopping and expensive restaurants (though yu should treat yourself just don’t make it the norm). the lifestyle creep is hard to i’m trying to learn ways to avoid it haha. you’re on the right track tho keep it up
Thanks super helpful! How much are you saving a month, and how are you thinking about putting money into retirement vs. buliding a nest-egg for liquidity when starting out? I maxed out the Roth, but didn't max the 401k because wanted to bulid some cushion, at what point should I think about maxing the 401k?
Honestly i’m aiming to put in 2k a month into QQQ/SPY and most of my bonus when I get that. my whole reasoning behind maxxing the 401k was because my company had a great contribution policy and they funded my HSA in full. i keep ~20k in a HYSA for liquidity needs but most of my investments are in robinhood so if I do need liquidity it’s not bad. my rent isn’t too bad and keeping expenses low makes it easy to invest monthly
Sadly my bank A1 is 100k, sad days. I save about ~1.2k a month for retirement, ~$750 a month for emergency fund/travel. I have some debt I’m paying off but besides that live comfortably. Rent is ~2k for me.
Will say my groups bonus swings wildly, so I solely budget based on base salary.
Any numbers now people have gotten their bonus numbers? Will be at ~95k post bonus number (and ~55k pre bonus) assuming bonus is taxed at 47%. Would love to know where people are.
Because of high COL, only managed to get ~$15k in 401k even with match and saved $10K of base across first year + $5k from signing bonus.
Brings net worth to ~$30k which seems extremely low pre-bonus. Paying $3400 for rent and occasionally eat out/go out which has eat into the paycheck. Mentality is that might as well spend more and enjoy the early/mid 20-s. Should I be more frugal next year?
Assuming a 65-70k pre-tax bonus, brings post-bonus net worth to $65k but want to drop $5-10k on a watch. Is $60 net worth after first year good? What should I aim for after my second year?
You guys are saving money?
I thought we were all buying Rollies and Hermes ties (like that WSJ article told me I had to have to look cool)
NYC
Just finished AN1 @ BB: 110k base, 45k mid bucket bonus
~75k net worth:
~30k pre AN1 savings
+ base savings: ~24k 401k (incl. match to date)
+ bonus post-tax: ~20k savings (brokerage, emergency fund, etc) / ~5k for gifts & splurges
Beast
You're on the right path. Live off base, bank the bonus, that's the prudent finanical move in HCOL cities. The only thing is I would make sure you hit your 401k maximum and contribute to a Roth (either through backdoor Roth or regularly). Most IB people blow their entire base and don't even save all the bonus. I know VPs with way less in savings than you. Sure, some people save more, but they're either miserable or penny-pincher types who can't actually enjoy themselves. This job already sucks and income raises exponentially anyway, so there's no need to grind and save everything now. If you were in Houston or a regional hub, you'd stack even more. But what you're doing now is way ahead of the curve.
All your base savings are in 401k or also some cash ones?
Mind sharing how much you pay for rent and what you usually spend on?
And $30k pre AN1 savings is a lot - from internships or parental support?
All base savings in 401k (probably not ideal). I did save some in cash but ended up spending that for vacation / higher spend months so not counting that. Planning to put majority of bonus savings in HYSA to balance this out
I pay $2200 for rent (1 roommate, walk up in Manhattan). My expenses are $20 for lunch / coffee every day, food + going out on the weekends (~$100-200 each weekend), and a lot of miscellaneous (new clothes, ocasional Ubers, etc)
Prior savings were all from internships / part-time jobs in school / compounding. I was very lucky with parents paying for school, so could save / spend most of what I earned in college
How are u saving 32k 6 months in? Does that include bonus? That means saving 5k a month post rent right? Are u in a LCOL city?
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