Everytime family and friends ask, why Investment Banking? What is your answer to not sound like a greedy money career whore?

If you don´t have an answer to this, you should really start questioning yourself if IB is the right place for you

Just be honest, tell them money, followed by "You drove a hyundai to get here. I drove an eighty-thousand dollar BMW."

"It's interesting, and it pays well." was my answer to IB and now to corp dev.

Really not that difficult of an answer. It's a great way to start a career that teaches you transferable and relevant skills and gives you really interesting work with exposure to important, smart people.

I would hope that it's somewhat important to you what your family and close friends think about you.

Otherwise, as others have said, if you don't have a decent answer to this question already it's probably not a great career for you. If you're in it for money alone and it's going to be a very long, tough slog.

Your singular fixation with money and disregard for what people think about you makes you sound a bit socially inept and like a wannabe Parick Bateman.

Agree with others that you ultimately need something other than money to compel you to do IB, otherwise you're likely headed for an early burn out. Despite the hours and the junior slog, maybe you get fired up when a deal is successfully pitched or closes, or enjoy the process of constantly learning about new companies, or ultimately think this is perhaps a path to PE or VC (for example), where you're more involved directly with the lifespan and development of a particular business? Money is a huge motivator, of course, but it's up to you to find something other than visions of an Aston Martin Vanquish (or whatever your poison is) and private jets to motivate you.

Do that many people ask you why you decided to pursue investment banking? Seems like a weird question to ask why someone chose to go into X field.

My answer is less relatable at the junior level, but if you're really interested in pursuing a career in investment banking I think its a reasonable answer. Being a senior in product group such as M&A is no different than a sales role at any other company. Investment banking is attractive to me because:

1. I enjoy the art of negotiation and see investment banking as a perfect career where you're able to combine your interest in finance and the prior.

2. I enjoy building relationships with today's business leaders and understanding what makes them tick and wake up in the morning everyday. I see myself as a people's person, and believe that there's always something to learn from everyone you meet. If you surround yourself with successful people, chances are you'll be able to extract something positive or beneficial from many of your encounters

3. I enjoy the idea of being the "go-to-expert" when executives are looking for a way to grow their business whether its through financing or M&A. It partially boils down to my interest in corporate strategy, and I think investment banking is a great way of combining finance and consulting into one career.

While the buy-side might be more lucrative, I think the above trumps any incremental monetary incentive that may come with the job. Take my advice with a grain of salt as I'm only a student, but this is my "real answer" for why investment banking.

Why not just tell them the truth, that you're a greedy, money career whore... Throw in prestige whore for extra dose of honesty..

Cut off all communications and ties to your family / friends. This is an inevitable outcome anyway when you start your analyst program.

Also to the guy who said an 80k BMW - BMWs are for poor people.

Just shrug and say "models and bottles"

What I find amusing is that people assume this predicament is unique to investment banking. It's not. If you don't have a strong reason for doing something then you shouldn't do it. Follow your why. Always.