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Career Resources
Bump
Is that attending fake Fyre festivals?
Not sure if this is a joke but no, that’s not what I’m referring to.
Financially
Independent
Retire
Early
It was a joke based on Fyre Festival. Google it.
I've been in the process of doing so the last ~5 years once I found out about the FIRE concept and realized it was very realistic in this career path. I started in IB straight out of undergrad and was living pretty inexpensively at first (roommates, not much time to do anything during the week, no expensive hobbies, cheap travel, etc.) so I ended up saving a good chunk during my Analyst years. I then realized it would be very feasible to get a nice nest egg by my early 30s if I continued to save, allowing me to FIRE eventually. To your question on comp, it has been pretty much "street" every year. While I have started spending more in my VP years, particularly on travel and some hobbies, I've continued to prioritize investing a decent amount each month and the vast majority of my bonus each year. At 30 now, I was closing in on $2M before the recent swings brought that down a bit. Vast majority of investments have been boring SP500-type index funds - no crazy crypto, NVIDIA, etc. gains.
To your other question on age to do so, at the moment, I have no exact plan or specific $ amount, but it does feel pretty nice that I could hypothetically leave right now without needing to stress much about financial security. Realistically, I think I should hit ~$5M in the next 5-7 years, at which point I might consider finding a cushier, slower paced job and essentially just let the nest egg sit and continue to grow while not worrying about spending essentially all my comp if wanted. However, that would also be the beginning of MD years, which could get lucrative...
Long way of saying, if you are into the concept of FIRE, IB is one of the "easiest" careers to successfully do so. You are compensated very highly right out of college, it continues to scale quickly and it's (usually) all cash with minimal deferrals (at least in the first handful of years). Good luck!
Very motivating. Thank you so much for this response, I plan to do exactly what you said. Best of luck in your journey.
This is good advice. I was at $2M in liquid savings at just over 30 and spent much of it starting a company. It's starting to come back so that's great. The broader thought is great. It's also harder once you get married and have kids. I'd say my number is $8M. I'm certain I can consistently make 10% annually. That's $800k/year. I'd budget to $400k and save the rest for down markets. My wife also makes a lot so that isn't factored in here.
My goal is $1M by 30, as I doubt I’ll be able to ride the same bull market you guys did. When did you both hit $1M?
Curious how you are certain you can achieve 10% return annually? Seems like that type of return would require a big risk tradeoff... especially in retirement?
Thanks for sharing. How many years did it take to get to $2M? I'm assuming you started at 22?
I never hit $2M, but I got to ~$1.9M earlier this year before the market turned.
It took ~8 years. I came out of college with no student loans (thank you, parents), which was a huge help, and I had about $10K saved from my signing bonus and the internship when I started. If I stayed as frugal through my Associate and VP years as I did during my Analyst years, I could have easily been over $2M, but I also think I would have been extremely burnt out doing so. I think I've found a good balance now of still being aggressive on savings side while not feeling guilty about splurging on some things.
I was a pro cyclist starting around 14. I got paid very well during college with no debt. That helped. I also live off my salary and saved every bonus while I was an analyst, albeit through some great comp years.
Hey man—
Curious if you have a directional sense of how much you saved annually from 22- now ? Would imagine roughly 80-100k or a bit lower?
Also curious how tempted you are to just pull the trigger now … I get your point about MD years etc, but $2M seems like more than enough to do a lot of damage with if you pulled the trigger now ???
I maxed my 401(k) each year and maxed backdoor roth IRA each year after the first couple years out of college (did not know that was an option at first). Plus employer 401(k) match. So ~$30-35K annually into retirement accounts at the time.
Outside of retirement accounts, I'd dump basically my entire bonus into savings and some other contributions throughout the year. As an analyst, I didn't have much leftover of my salary after 401(k) contributions and my expenses. As an associate, I basically maintained the same lifestyle, so had a lot more leftover from each paycheck (plus larger bonus). So into non-retirement accounts, it was likely in the $50-80K range annually as an analyst, $90-$130K range annually as an associate and $150-200K+ as VP.
And yes, tempted but riding it out for now. I've found a good spot with being able to balance work and life more. I could be grinding it out harder, doing way more networking/marketing and trying to push for MD quicker, but I like the balance I have at the moment. The nice thing about having the nest egg built up a bit is that if things get really bad, or my mind changes once I have kids soon, I think I'll have an easier time pulling the trigger vs. feeling like I need to stay to keep building more and more.
Still early on in my career, but have a very specific life plan with a spreadsheet dedicated to FatFIRE ahah - my number is low to mid seven figs. Helps that I'm from an LCOL country where I plan to retire and don't want children
Nice, best of luck with everything!
Hoping to FIRE/chubbyFIRE by age 40-45. I don't need multiple vacation homes or insane vacations, just a primary residence and ideally enough to send 1 kid to private school. Currently 30 with $1mm invested and a $1mm co-op (with a mortgage on it). I don't save as much as I did as an analyst because i want to enjoy my money. Goal is ~$5mm
Absolutely not. Very cucked behavior.
Saving your way to wealth is the lamest thing possible. Very good idea if you have an IQ of 80, but I don’t think anyone posting here has room temp IQ.
This comment would’ve gone over great in the old days lol
While this is not helping you in terms of numbers etc. keep in mind that most people just go crazy on lifestyle. But even if you follow an inexpensive lifestyle, you start creating some habits which are more expensive and which you need to control if you want to continue with the FIRE lifestyle. Also think about family and opportunities you want to offer to your kids eventually.
Otherwise, if not too focused on it, I would rather save some money to be independent but find a way to maximize life quality with some or limited work, works way better for the majority of people.
MBA here, EB Director. Initial goal was $2m by 32, now I’m at $3m at 34. Mix of index funds and cash-flowing rental properties.
Thinking of taking my foot off the IB pedal soon though. Not sure if I either try for something entrepreneurial, or just chill.
what was your career path and yearly comp?
This is really high for post-MBA IB. What was your comp progression?
I’d say roughly at street. Covid years were great, last couple of years not so much.
I’ll also say that my rental property income, dividends, and interest, have increasingly played a large role in increasing my net worth.
Not in IB but I figured you would appreciate another data point, especially from someone who makes substantially less than a typical banker. I am 31, have about ~$300k liquid saved between the wife and I, with an additional ~$250k illiquid (think 401k, Roth, depreciating assets but still worth something in any market like cars).
My wife and I do not make banking money, but each of us are in the top 5% for our age range, so I think my detail is worth sharing as a banker could save far more. Similar to the VP in M&A, we lived very frugally (roommates every single year while single, cheap nights out, never superfluous expenses like LV bags or bottle service, modest vacations, even our honeymoon was cost effective). My father in law would often make remarks that he expected to see me retire at 40 (he retired at 50, despite 5 kids... an insane thought in this environment, but he sold his business to big tech so he was in a different spot).
If I were to continue to rent and my wife and I didn't plan on having kids, I think retiring by 45-50 would be extremely manageable. However, once you factor in the cost of a home and having kids, it all goes out the window. I think the cost of having kids will be substantial, and if my wife doesn't stop working, we could retire by 55ish, but otherwise if its just me, I might be an old man working at 65. Suddenly all of the saving we did seems like it positioned us just well enough to buy a house and somewhat comfortably afford children....
This doesn't relate at all to your original post, but I feel obligated to mention it anyways. I am not a smart guy, at least relative to the PE Partners and HF quants on this site, but I do have one piece of wisdom I would like to share. The most important decision I made in my life, hands down, was selecting my wife. Finding someone who is both frugal AND a high earner (and all of the REALLY important things like has values and morals that align with mine) was more a blessing and a biproduct of sheer luck than anything I could state was skill or strategic decision making, but it is the only reason I think I will be able to build my dream home, raise a family, and if it all goes well, own a pretty nice vacation home, all while saving significantly toward retirement.
I’m mid 30s and current net worth of $6.3mm. Worked 5 years pre MBA in a LCOL city and saved a good nest egg ahead of MBA. Undergrad and MBA was paid by parents / scholarships and parents also put down a significant down payment on primary home, but rest of the net worth was saved by myself and my wife.
Made several million during COVID with S&P 500 put options 6 months to expiry ahead of the Feb and March drop (turned $100-120k into $3.5mm) and later bought single family rentals - now own 20 single family properties. Got lucky and parlayed the gains into more gains. Also was a relatively early crypto adopter in 2016+ and probably have $1mm or so lifetime crypto gains.
Just left banking after almost a decade for a corporate role. Happy to answer any questions but basically got lucky, so not sure how replicable my path is.
Really feel for new grads these days as the path to true wealth is really bleak. Even at $6mm NW having a high end residence is going to be $2-2.5mm plus which seems so far out of reach
congrats on your success, this is the goal. i'm guessing you're only working now to stay busy?
Yes, mainly for social status to be a good role model to the kids. Also for health insurance.
It is good to have a slightly higher threshold for corporate bullshit (seems counter intuitive but when you also don’t really give a fk and can leave at any time it’s easier to roll with it). I was a lot more compensation sensitive earlier in my career and now I am trying to be a lot more long term oriented in career decisionmaking
Alright so what was your net worth before Covid? Six figures in SPY puts is absolutely crazy. Guessing you were already a millionaire and had house paid off.. or just balls of steel
Around $500k pre COVID. Just a YOLO bet
Ignore my level. I’m a junior director. Have about $2.3mm. Should have had invested a lot more but I’ve been too risk averse. Still feels like a decent spot.
Age? That seems pretty good.
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