Feel Guilty Walking Away from 7 figure seat at 29
Hi guys. I am having a midlife crisis at age 29, and am seriously thinking of walking away from EVERYTHING. Maybe will just travel a bit, and figure out something else in a little. I just need to get the fuck out.
Growing up, all I did my entire life was grind. I remember literally being 5 years old, and I would be forced by my parents to do 3 hours of piano lessons then 3 hours of math. SAT prep started when I was in 6th grade.
Long story short, my entire life has been nothing but work. I did the standard "high finance route" and have an offer to join a fund that is performing really well and is paying absurdly high. I was offered to leave my current role and join the fund, and the PM said my all in compensation first year would be 7 figures, and he specifically said "not low 7 figures".
Point of the post is not to flex, I am beyond depressed. I am just I guess rationalizing if others in my spot would say no to the offer and ultimately quit everything and walk away, a life of no stress. But at the same time I could be making a very generous amount. Curious to what others would do.
Ignore account title, won't let me update for some reason.
what is ur backround?
Target UG > Top IB > Top PE > M7 > P72/Lone Pine/Pershing/Viking/Bridgewater > New Offer now but I want to leave.
I'd blur most of the details you gave here bc they are too specific (I was able to get a result with some sleuthing and I'd imagine you do not want to get doxxed)
Congrats on P72
Lol the classic IB > PE > Harvard.
Seriously man you should do what you want because we have only one life. if you feel like a call for something(that is not immoral/illegal), go for it.
Why would you loose yourself for some pieces of paper?.. you'll have many opportunities in the future. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34)
I cant relate since i don't live the same thing as you, I got lucky to travel from France to Argentina for 3 years, then to Israel where I am living right now. my parents wasn't really there for me, I didnt came from a "drawn path" such as you did. I've drawn it myself and will continue to walk straight, if God want
Congrats on making perhaps the lower quality bait on this site in a decade
Ask them if you can take a month vacation before you start your new role.
If you don't feel recharged when you come back, it might be time to walk away from the industry my friend.
I'll paraphrase what I wrote in a different post about leaving it all behind and travelling. After spending years in finance, I took the leap to leave it all behind and pursue a simpler life on a tropical island somewhere in South East Asia. I wasn't depressed, but I was tired of working at the bank where I was at, and wanted to do something completely different with my life. Or so I thought. However, the reality of that decision hit me quite hard, and I quickly realized that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I was spending a lot of my time in between Australian and European chicks that were on yoga retreats and guys working as personal trainers. I met some locals and became good friends, but ultimately I was an outsider. They know that you will most likely leave "their" world behind a few months in. Despite being free from the corporate world, nothing has really changed, and the money will run out more quickly than you think. I didn't run out of money, but I realized that my way of living wasn't sustainable, and returned to the corporate world about 6 months after I left.
What I would do in your situation is push for as much garden leave as possible. In this period you should try speaking to a therapist to aid your depression. You'd also be surprised how much you're able to recharge and get off your shoulders when you are in between jobs, as you can be certain that people don't want to reach you for work-related stuff. I think just not having that constant pressure of performing for a few months will do you a lot of good.
Ultimately, it's up to you to determine what brings you happiness and fulfilment in life. If you decide that a simple life is what you truly want, then it's important to make a plan that will enable you to achieve that goal in a sustainable way. However, giving up a 7 figure seat for the sake of giving it up, seems self-destructive and will potentially be one of those decisions that you beat yourself up with every time you struggle to fall asleep. It's never too late to make a change and pursue your dreams, but it's important to do so with intention and purpose.
Self reflection is a powerful trait that can cut both ways but you already know that. We’re the same age and some overlap in professional experience.
It’s not a perfect 1:1 comparison but I had an opportunity pop up very recently that forced me to grapple with some big questions / go down similar lines of thoughts. I imagine you are going through similar scenarios in your head.
Life isn’t about flexing and neither is my response. I’m willing to bat around thoughts. You’re trained to think objectively so when you strip out the mental health portion and run your scenarios, you recognize how fortunate / deviations right you are to be in this position from economics standpoint. But that’s just one way to look at it and a snapshot in time. There are many other factors and you’re looking for most balanced way to set yourself up for … well, the life you want.
I also get how daunting it can be outline your thoughts to even very close friends because the numbers involved but they are a legitimate piece of the puzzle. I’m very lucky to still have all of my childhood friends who don’t give a shit about who makes what.
My situation is a little different and your professional achievements are relatively more impressive. Your dollars are bigger and more immediate vs. mine where the ramp in income really accelerates the longer you stay (institutional PE) but I’m not exactly on the JV team either.
Your post clearly struck a chord and humbly think likelihood of finding many other peers to engage with on topic is low for number of reasons. Some people in this industry never pull up like you have and even less at 29. It’s a weird age for these kinds of things.
If you want to bat around ideas, can you make a burner so I can PM you? I’d rather not get into it all publicly . Either way best of luck.
Pay for a therapist? You can afford at least ten sessions before you quit
Go to therapy and bank roll a few million before figuring out what to do with the rest of your life, if possible. Ultimately your decision and mental health is so important.
Ok….what you need is a vacation and some good weed.
You made it this far - might as well stick around and cash out.
How many "not low" 7 figure opportunities realistically come around in a lifetime?
You turning this down would be like fumbling at the 1 yard line, missing a wide open shot, or walking the 27th batter to blow a perfect game. Push through for a little longer and enjoy the rest of your life in the top 0.00001% of people.
such a pete carroll move
Don’t know why this is getting hate, op is real he quite clearly doxxed himself. Question for you OP. From what I understand, the path you took takes dedication, and many on here say you need to truly love the grind/money/finance to get to top SM seats.How do you find motivation if you were continuously depressed? What drove you? Do you think it’s possible to succeed in finance even if you hate the work/can’t tolerate the grind?Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about this. Because you took the risk adjusted path for highest salary growth out of school.
.
Don’t know why this is getting hate, op is real he quite clearly doxxed himself. Question for you OP. From what I understand, the path you took takes dedication, and many on here say you need to truly love the grind/money/finance to get to top SM seats. How do you find motivation if you were continuously depressed? What drove you? Do you think it’s possible to succeed in finance even if you hate the work/can’t tolerate the grind? Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about this. Because you took the risk adjusted path for highest salary growth out of school. Obviously there are hundreds of ways to make enough money in finance. How would you do it again if you could choose.
Well, just cause he listed out a profile it doesn’t mean he’s for real. If he’s a troll, he could have very easily just pick someone else’s profile and describe it to us, and then people just assumed the matching LinkedIn is them. Or I guess another possibility is it’s a real scenario, and he picked someone else with a similar profile and described them (which wow, that’d be kinda messed up).
To me it feels off because you’d be more vague about the specificities of your background to maintain anonymity - as you wouldn’t want this going back to your current firm or new prospective firm. A more typical (vague enough) response to the background question would be: “IB > PE > MBA > HF” without names, as they don’t serve the purpose of the question posed (the dollar figures and jumping to a great fund, should be sufficient).
So this is sus (unless OP is real naive). But, if it isn’t, there are plenty of earnest responses from other users here.
Yes you make more sense than I do. It’s also just puzzling to me that someone can grind to a Viking/Pershing type shop and not breathe public markets.
Take some time off if you can, then push thru with this opportunity OP! Even if you need to work for a few years there so what?
If you think of a career lifecycle as the same as a company life cycle, where you are on the S curve is where it just finished steepening and it would be obviously economically incorrect to say no. So only don’t do it if you might kill yourself.
Bros about to wake up to an extra thousand LinkedIn views lmao.
Take my advice with a grain of salt: see if you can get a month or so off between gigs to recharge, and hit the desk at your new shop and give it a go. Maybe you’ll be re-energized in a new team and culture. Spend more time on yourself, take regular vacations, and stick it out for a little while. If you really find you hate it, congrats, you should now have enough in the bank to retire somewhere low/med-COL and do whatever tf you want.
How can you be so smart but so dumb
I STRONGLY suggest you delete his thread now
Join but give yourself a two month break, go relax refresh and drink orange juice. Eat healthy , workout, treat yourself, travel, and find yourself again.
After one year you can rethink everything.
Rerum fuga et quae voluptatibus odio cumque. Similique occaecati est perspiciatis rerum officia fugit. At ut numquam maiores eligendi in totam. Eos molestiae sequi omnis quasi in aperiam omnis.
Voluptatem aut pariatur laudantium animi rerum. Excepturi molestiae omnis ea dolorem. Fugit et et maiores aspernatur necessitatibus. Qui temporibus et amet consequatur sint.
Rerum aut enim et sint fugiat est. Neque cum accusamus et est. Necessitatibus molestias voluptatem ab quibusdam ut libero qui. Id totam et esse occaecati earum molestiae maxime. Voluptatem voluptatem officia illo neque est tenetur.
Sit dolorem optio ea voluptatem. Sed eveniet amet iste exercitationem. Fugiat saepe voluptatem temporibus vel qui.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Quod sunt iusto assumenda est velit dignissimos. Blanditiis error qui est nesciunt sit at. In unde et dolorum modi dolorum eum. Labore veritatis reiciendis qui aut sint possimus porro.
Voluptatem cumque possimus et fugit. Fuga eos beatae ut eaque voluptas ea dolorum. Totam minima vel id nihil asperiores deserunt.
Et et quaerat aspernatur numquam ut. Voluptatem autem voluptatem vitae ratione. Quis et aut enim ut dicta illum ad qui. Id dolorum fugiat nobis. Et mollitia consequatur autem temporibus iste est officia. Blanditiis harum quo ad perferendis. Atque aut voluptatem debitis mollitia qui ut voluptas.
Harum quo est amet ipsa nemo. Sed quia ea dolorem quidem qui quo rerum. Ut architecto voluptas nesciunt amet.