Burnout in investment banking?

Hi All,

I was wondering if high stress and burnout are common in investment banking.  I've seen others tired from working 80-100 hours a week and are exhausted mentally and physically.

If you've experienced this before I'd love to hear about what you went through and where you're at now.

Thanks a ton!

10 Comments
 

Thanks a ton for the reply.  I am looking to speak to better understand what they went through.  Would you or anyone you know be willing to chat?

 
Most Helpful

This may be an odd answer, but I have seen a direct relationship between how quickly people burn out and how much of their income they spend. For me it was a lot easier to keep going when I had a decent chunk of money set aside pretty early on, was watching it grow (via returns, 401k contributions, and keeping my expenses as closely in line with my base as possible), and without any crazy assumptions could project how much it would turn into in 10 or so years, without, but especially with, another 10 years worth of bonuses added on.

If you're working 100 hours a week and after a couple years have nothing to show for it but a collection of 4-figure bottle service receipts, you're pretty likely to start wondering what you're doing with your life...

 

Working absurd hours and always having to be available for a decade at the hopes of the big "pay day" that always seems to be "next year" but never comes so you wonder why you are doing this and it gets to the point where you only perseverate on your bonus because that's all that matters.

 

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