Budgeting $90k in NYC
Hey everyone, I will be joining a MM investment bank full-time starting this summer. Base salary is $90k with typical variable bonus come June/July next year.
My family does not have much financially and I am really worried how I will be able to support myself and them on $90k in such a HCOL city.
With ~$4.3k of take home pay monthly (after taxes and retirement contributions) I am struggling to find rent below $2,500 and I expect to pay $700-$1000 in payments monthly for student loans starting in November.
How would you all go about budgeting given the above? Really curious and would love any advice you all may have. Thank you in advance.
Assuming this is Oppenheimer, given the shitty base, aim to live in Jersey City - specifically Journal Square or even Harrison/Newark.
Unless you are supporting your wife or child, you should absolutely not be sending any money to any family members, especially at your base rate.
Go to the office Sunday - Friday and budget your meal stipend so that you can purchase dinner and lunch for the following day. Store the lunch in the company fridge.
Always uber home on the company’s dollar and don’t go out on weekends.
Save 100% of your bonus. Don’t buy anything stupid like a watch.
Make sure to contribute to your 401k throughout the year (vs maxing it out during bonus time or in the beginning/end of the year) so you don’t miss out on company matches.
Not a great lifestyle, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Completely disagree with Jersey City, see my below comment for context. It hurts his potential and yours too if you're in a similar boat.
Ok, lets work through this.
The most important thing is income expansion as quick as possible, which you'll get from lateraling upper market (GS, EBs, etc). You shouldn't play the long game and wait 2-3 years to get promoted at your smaller bank.
Rent. Would highly advise against outside of Manhattan.
You'll "spend" more implicitily with the commute (waking up slightly earlier, always having to call off social events early to go back home, etc), which will degrade your energy and career opportunties in the future.
I would rather increase my surface area of luck to meet as many random people in the industry in a social setting -> helps you with lateraling. Hence the important of living in the city
So find a shitty shared apartment for $2500 per person (just making sure we're on the same page re location and you're not going for something nicer but outside of Manhattan at $2500).
Food. You'll be skipping breakfasts (they're not real / you won't notice the time passing). Lunch is $20 = $600/month, plus dinners = $1000/month (discounted to include meal prep / office dinners / socials).
Pro tip, make your own slop bowls at home instead of Cava/Naya/etc.
And that's all you need to live, you got food and a roof over your head for $3,500, plus your student loan range keeps you ~$4.3k.
The reality of this stage in your life is you cannot be helping your parents. And I say this as someone from an immigrant background, I understand that's the expectation, but you need to help yourself before you can help them. They survived 21+ years without your help and they can survive 4 more (I wouldn't start until VP so you can invest/grow your savings yourself first).
Just curious, is the income difference between MM and BB/EB that significant? Thought pay would be similar but prestige being completely different
Are you joking? TC for a firm like EVR is like 200-240K, double what this guy makes at the latter range. So yes income being twice as much and scaling even faster is that significant.
My buddy found a place in Hells Kitchen for like $1,700/person. Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist.
given this is fidi, don’t listen to the advice that you have to be in Manhattan - Fidi is literally the best place to have cheap rent with a short commute.
you can find a basic room (and have roommates) for $1300-1500 in Jersey city or deeper in Brooklyn. Maybe it’s small, maybe you need to sleep in a twin bed, but you can definitely find it. You could probably even get a tiny flexed room in fidi for $2k. You can find roommates on Facebook or this app called spare room, do your diligence on the people obviously. If your rent is $2k, you are chilling.
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