Going to inherit 8 figures: should I bother with IB

kind of depends on your past. 

IB could be a nick kick in the ass to get you started on the right foot in life, but it could also be very unnecessary if you've already accomplished a lot and have always been very driven. 

IB doesn’t build marketable skills lmao

With that, I would definitely consider a better WLB-friendly role like MBB consulting, finance roles at BigTech firms, GE/VC firms, etc...why waste your youth in IB?

The timing of when you get access is also imperative (i.e., if you get access to the money upon graduation from college vs. getting access when you turn 40)

Depends on what drives you in life. 

What drives me is the competition, the long hours, doing something not everyone wants to do / can do. If it was only cash that drove me I'd pick something else. 

Hard times make hard men

Hard men make good times

Good times make soft men

Soft men make hard times 

I’m in the same position, doing IB then PE because I want to run my own LMM fund with my own money some day. Look at the average search fund return, and imagine washing your own cash through that three or four times over your lifetime

Do IB for the branding and then get yourself a cushy, decent-paying exit with decent WLB. If you don't want to do PE that's fine, but think it will be hard for you to get into finance if you do something "fun" for a few years - grind now for 2 years and then coast in an easy corporate job.

You might not get that money until you're 50, so unless your family is willing to support you forever IB is a nice path in the mean time. Plus, even if you have money it's hard to make friends/girlfriends if you literally don't work.

Jesus dude. There are a lot of things here. I’m just going to bullet the things that stuck out to me. For context, I also come from significant means and wouldn’t have to work if I didn’t want to.

1. If you are on the fence about working hard or doing IB, don’t do it. You sacrifice too much in the job to be half in. You either or in or out with the role.
2. You don’t “sacrifice your 20’s” you blow up 2 years where you can’t really make time for personal connections. If you did the peace corps or worked overseas for 2 years and came back you basically would also be doing this. Point being, 2 years isn’t that long a time.
3. ”Not gaining marketable skills” That might be one of the dumbest things written on this website. I don’t know what you think IB teaches you, but let me explain the main things you learn:

• How to work quickly in excel, ppt, and outlook. This applies to basically every corporate job. If you aren’t a doctor/ programmer, any high paying job will value speed and proficiency in the office suite.
• How to work under pressure 
• How to be professionally polished 
• Finance understanding/ how to raise capital or create projections for a company—literally every single business on the planet needs someone to do this job. The beauty of finance and an IB education is that no matter the company, your skill set is useful and marketable. You could not be more wrong by asserting your skillset isn’t marketable coming from IB. In fact, I would argue it is potentially the most marketable role an undergrad can get—I know many places that will hire only bankers very few that would hire only consultants. 

Finally, maybe you can just piss away the money your parents earned, but I think I would feel like a piece of shit. Does 0 part of you want to feel like you contribute or earn your keep? Instead, consider what you could do with the inheritance and learning how business works—you could buy a business and make more money while also having control of your life, you could raise a fund, the opportunities are endless. Your parents raised you poorly if this is even a question.

If i had 8 figures lined up and I was going to inherit it no later than my 30s, I would honestly do something like go to medical school and do doctors without borders or even go into cancer research or something.  You can live an extremely nice life making 4% a year on $10mm, all while feeling good about yourself since you're helping humanity.

You motherfuckers really be like I’m going to do banking for the “connections / networking” and end up spending all day in excel / ppt

nah, go enjoy life, but still be smart with money. you can spend the whole inheritance within a couple of years if you buy Lambo+Rolls Royce, luxury house in LA, and go party every night and get bottles.

No, do MBB...

AM/PWM is probably much better if you want to manage the money down the line 

REPE, good pay and learn where/how u can invest ur families wealth with top tier in house research team and make stacks of cash passively overtime. Using leverage could grow a fat portfolio 

Similar situation, got 8 figures in college and will prob get a true inheritance of 9 figures. Still doing IB at a top BB. Kinda sucks at times but arguably more valuable because I don't do this job at all for the money so can learn to appreciate and take away all the other stuff you can get from it (discipline, basic business acumen, ablity to work hard when you dont want to etc). Want to do my own thing one day so feel like this is a good starting point while I try to figure out what I really want to do and feel like I can solve for jobs and experience that help get me there vs just going to PE for the money (which lets face it, most people do)

First of all, you're asking this on a forum that's filled with IB people, and invariably some of those people will be "passionate" about the job and thus biased. It really comes down to whether you truly enjoy the job - and being an engineer and biased against IB myself - I felt compelled to chime in....and I just have to say you would be out of your mind to still want to pursue IB with an 8 figure inheritance. The work is pretty boring for the monkey tier workers and why in the hell would you want to work so many hours for some rich dude in a suit (probably some guy that isn't even as rich as you) if you don't have to?? Moreover, you say you have "simple tastes", so the 8 figure inheritance is more than enough to last you your entire lifetime.

Pursue what you are truly passionate about, or a job that can actually be "fun". I saw someone else suggest this, and I also agree; consulting can be a good gig. Or painting or writing a book or real estate, or teaching a gym class, idek. The world is your oyster dude. Don't limit yourself to god-forsaken IB lmao. My IB internship was one of the most boring, tiring experiences of my life and the reason I switched out to math/cs. If you have financial security, that means you have options - don't waste it.

why tf would you go into IB, you already have a shit ton of money?????

Unless you have secured the bag, keep furthering your career.

Why don’t you get into WM/AM rather than IB ?

In a similar position(Not from a target school), I currently have a job with good WLB where you get great experience. I am hoping to get my MBA. I picked up Computer Science as a second major and I hope to eventually be able to create a fin tech start up or something.

I want to an exciting life where I do not feel constrained by people above me. I also want to work hard and have marketable skills. My current path will (fingers crossed) accomplish that.

That's not a lot of money. Break into PE/HF a few years down the road and you could be making your entire inheritance post-tax every year.

It’s definitely worth working for the first few years of your young adult life. You’ll build the network and develop maturity that is hard to re-create anywhere else. Many trust fun kids take Wall Street jobs before returning to the family business. Nobody says you have to put in more than 80 hours a week. After at least 18 months you’ll understand yourself better, likes and dislikes. Then and only then will you be suited to start your own business or have good perspective on how much wealth you’re actually managing. You can’t live a great life without a network of great people, which requires shared sufffering/experiences.

I know of a similar situation. When I was in cap intro (introducing hedge funds to LPs) I interacted often with a colleague who was in hedge fund due diligence and research for our private bank. He would deep-dive into each fund. I came to know that he was from a high net worth family, with a sizeable family office. I asked him why he was still working. He said he would always work - but he chose the roles that would help provide him with insight, access, and knowledge to further his goal of growing his own family office. His salary paled in comparison with his at-home fortune, but through his work at the private bank he got to know how to better deploy capital and got to know which products to invest in (not just which products your private banker wants to push on your for commission). He later retired from the bank and took a job as a b-school lecturer to the EMBA program, so that he could keep close to business leaders and find direct investment opportunities.  Now, you're asking if you should bother with IB specifically. It depends. I think if your goal is similar to the guy I speak of, you could look at any of a number of areas that can help you preserve and grow your family fortune. IB would be a great training ground, but so would any of a number of other roles.  One thing for sure - you can't just stay at home and do nothing. So find business things to do that make you happy.  

In fact, because of my work, I encountered a fair few HNW second-generation wealthy people.  They often worked for a living, and many started off in finance at a bank. It gave them credibility to their family and society at large, and gave them skills to later be active in the family business.

I will give you two other case studies to help you. 

1) I know another CEO that took two tech companies public and after running the second one for more than a dozen years, engineered a sale of the company to a bigger tech company.  He was in his late 50s/early 60s, and thought he could golf all day. After 2 months he was climbing the walls. He started making small activist investments into distressed private companies and turning them around. About 6 years ago he bought one tech company from the verge of bankruptcy, brought in VC, and turned it around. He's been running it as chairman/CEO since then. And because it's in renewable energy, he feels he's making a difference.

2) My younger and infinitely smarter younger brother built a unicorn tech company.  It got acquired, somewhat against his wishes (it's complicated). He is in the fortunate position of being incredibly wealthy and liquid. So he took his family on a 1 year celebratory world trip. Now he is building another tech company, is involved in politics. 

So my advice to you is this:  you have the luxury of being able to do whatever work you want. Good for you. I'm jealous. I suggest you thank your gods, but then pick something that keeps you engaged and interested. Do not simply think you can do nothing, because without mental stimulation you will go nuts. Go make something of yourself, and find a career that stimulates and inspires you. Also get smart about preserving and growing your wealth. Be super careful, learn to see the code in the matrix, and don't get bamboozled.  

You have only one life. Do what you want. I think IB is not that stressful if you don’t care about money.

Having said that, 8 figure could be just $10m, which is not a lot for passive income. Or could be $20-30m which puts you at a whole different level.

I personally would invest 2-4 years in a professional job that teaches you something related to what your passion is. You’d learn something and enjoy the young professional experience, the happy hours, etc. Doesn’t have to be IB.

. Honestly just do what you’d actually want to do if money wasn’t an issue. If it’s still banking great, go ahead to IB. You have to realize though if you don’t love it you’re not going to make it through 100hrs weeks  when you know you can just quit and fuck off to vail  for a month 

Moelis only. Strong exits. Pay. Culture.

I should have added - I’m a computer science major. For me I’m weighing the benefits of going deeper into a technical specialization within computer science, versus going into a more business-focused direction with IB.

To me, it seems like when you get to the very top of the wealth tables, most of your time is spent evaluating, investing and trading various assets to grow your wealth. IB would help in thus direction.

On the other hand, if I gained a deeper understanding of computer science, I might be able to spot opportunities in technically-complex companies that others might miss. Plus, tech generally has a better WLB so I could still have fun while developing myself at the same time

If you have 10M then diversify. 1M stocks, 2M savings, 2M real estate, 2M in your checking, 2M in a PE fund or multiple, 1M in whatever other asset. All of these will produce income in one way or another. In the mean time you should work still to keep up with yearly expenses and let your inheritance do the rest of the work in terms of income / wealth.

lucky_22

Hi, not a troll, sincerely want to hear people's thoughts on this.

I'm from a wealthy family with an 8-figure inheritance waiting for me. It's not a billion dollars, but I have simple tastes and I can easily not work for the rest of my life. Currently at an US Ivy League school. I'm wondering if I should bother trying for an IB job or just do something else entirely.

Pros: learning about how to analyze companies financially. Learning how deals are done. Could come in useful when managing my family's money next time. Networking with other ambitious people who will probably go on to be highly successful in the future.

Cons: sacrificing several years of youth that could be spent on fun. "Wasting" my Ivy League degree by not using it to get a good job. Not building any marketable skills.

I know I'm incredibly fortunate and really did nothing to deserve this, but I would love to hear about what others would do in my shoes.

(Ignore the title in my profile - I'm old)

As someone who is also from a wealthy (but under-the-radar) family, I would recommend you spend some time thinking about what kind of life you want. Presumably you are considering pursuing IB because you want to preserve optionality, but this can be a trap as Professor Desai at HBS wrote in a piece for a past Harvard commencement.

Or perhaps it's not so much about optionality as you simply want to be "successful" and IB is the most logical choice since it is the most accessible lucrative career path for someone of your abilities/background (e.g. doesn't require writing code, highly advanced math, etc.) Again, I would tread carefully, because many times the most obvious path to "success" can lead to failure because you get going down that path and you end up somewhere you never wanted to be in.

There are also different kinds of success, and the satisfaction gained from each can be different. Sometimes you are rewarded for things that you are not necessarily proud of, while other times you can be proud of things that you are not rewarded for.

Here the desert flowers into a Garden of Eden, science goes hand in hand with ... Weizmann insisted also that there should be a club where the workers might ...

Go run an art gallery, many hot chicks and models in that space, why work at a bank with all the other sweaty dudes 

.

Why not shoot for a hedge fund or go straight to the buyside? You can have good wlb / do interesting stuff at long only or family office.

For added prestige, donate the 8 figure inheritance in full and then start from scratch in IB and make your own 8 fig.

In my opinion, absolutely not.

IB will not teach you how to actually analyze companies in a way that generates longterm profit. Companies are analyzed in a way that justifies higher valuations because higher valuations = higher fees for the IB. You go tell me whether or not you think Rivian was appropriately valued when it IPOd... and look who ran that (MS and GS). Wall Street exists to dump onto bag holding retail.

You are going to inherit a tremendous sum of money and have an Ivy League degree. What have you always wanted to learn about? Pursue that further. Do that casually which is something you enjoy, while building hobbies, and spend your own time obsessively learning how to value companies. 

Perhaps your niche is real estate, maybe it's stocks, maybe you use your ivy connections to invest it in PE as your friends get jobs in that sector. Regardless, you can teach yourself how to value companies well enough. In the meantime, you can stick it in a low-fee index fund or some nice dividend stocks and live off that comfortably for the time being. As you grow more and more confident managing your own money you can invest a bigger and bigger portion of it.

Assuming at a minimum you're inheriting $10Mn, you can always leave $5Mn in an index fund/dividend stocks which would generate anywhere between $250K-$500K a year for you depending on how much you want to take out. That's assuming you decide to manage $5Mn on your own.

You are going to be making money that people going into IB/any other career aren't going to be making until they're like 30+ (and those are the superstars). Why would you waste precious years of your youth to give you access to things you really don't need? Be the investor into private equity funds and profit from people working in it. You are that guy. You are fortunate enough you don't have to do the rigmarole others have to to make money. Capitalize on that.

Just my two cents. Time is so incredibly valuable. Your prestige is in your ivy, your home in LA you can already afford, and your ability to dedicate your time to doing whatever the fuck you want, whenever the fuck you want. You have incredible connections and could fund your own startup. You're in the best position in the world. Do you want to trade that for 80+ hrs/wk for money that is crumbs compared to what you'll have shortly?

Best of luck.

quick edit: I'm not sure when you're receiving this money. I read it as if its imminent. If you are going to inherit it in 5-20 years, some unknown range, then yes, you need to do something to make you money and tide you over. I'd almost pitch it to them that money now is more valuable and them entrusting it to you will allow you to learn how to properly manage it as you get older/give you the opportunity to do what you want with your life now to build the life of your 30s/40s. If I was set to inherit >$10Mn, I'd certainly ask for a chunk now and spin it in a way that demonstrates maturity and I'll use it for good.

000000000000000000000000000000

If I were to inherit 7 figures, I would continue to work in investment banking, but with a company that really prioritizes work life balance and I would want 100% remote work.  I would also focus on helping others and making positive contributions to things outside of just myself and my family. 

Spending a few years going through an investment banking program would give you a really solid base of how financial markets and transactions work. I'd suggest trying to obtain a job at some of the universal banks (e.g. bulge brackets) who are involved in financings, sell-side, and buy-side, rather than working for a place where you almost exclusively do sell-side M&A. The former is more applicable to understanding the operating and growing of a business. 

If I had a college age son with an 8-figure inheritance, I would them him to forget IB and go for ETA (Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition)

Google "Search Funds" and read about it (first few search hits should be from Stanford et al)

It's a path that is usually pursued by freshly minted MBAs from top schools, but I don't think it's totally unreasonable for a kid in his early 20s to have a go at it.

You will miss out on the College 2.0 / having a network of peers of a similar age in IB, but the upside is you will be doing much more interesting work and will learn much more about actually running and growing a business.

Have you considered going into the military? Airforce, Navy, etc. somewhere you can learn technical skills and see other parts of the world etc. while building friendships. 

I was never in the service myself but a good friend of mine has been in the Coast Guard since he graduated college and he loves 60-80% of it (whenever he's not rescuing someone in a shit storm with 25 ft waves)

Go real estate and call it a day.

Join the army👍

Literally buy some businesses, and enjoy life. Have a private bank manage your funds. Gltyou

I think you’ll still need an MBA, think of it as a safety net. You can pursue a career with it or you get to build up a circle of your own. To sum it up, you can skip some steps but 8 figures isn’t enough to satisfy your ego when you’re at your 30s 40s. I’m gonna quote hetty green here "Whether rich or poor, a young woman should know how a bank account works, understand the composition of mortgages and bonds, and know the value of interest and how it accumulates." But then she’s the witch of Wall Street afterall.

I mean, if something happens and you lose it all, that could be a tough situation your in with no work experience. Also, as you get older everyone else will began working and you’ll have all this free time. I would recommend a few years work and then use the money to buy a business where you get make a couple million in EBITDA and work about 20 hours a week on the company.

Not worth it imo. Look at other Finance/Consulting roles and chill once you get that inheritance.

I'm going to answer this assuming you are truly not a troll:

If it were me, and I had $10MM - $99.99MM coming my way, I would not go anywhere near banking. Seriously, go be an artist or a writer or teacher or something that contributes to society in a meaningful way.

I think if you're going to inherit that much money, you can have a lot of fun with it by investing in companies and growing your net worth. And I think M&A, PE and Consulting are excellent ways to learn how to best do that. So if I were you, I'd try to find the IB/consulting firm/PE fund that offers the steepest learning curve while not completely burning you out and work there for a couple of years before investing in your own company/companies and growing them.

Also, it's always good to be able to make a decent living in case something goes wrong. I heard of this guy in Switzerland whose grandfather is super rich and so he grew up in luxury and with the safety of never having to have to work if he didn't want to. Then the grandfather was involved in the CumEx scandal in Europe and is now behind bars with his assets being seized. Or, I don't know, one of your parents dies first and the other decides at an old age to give all their money to a charity. I think inheritances are never something that you should plan with. Always assume the worst case.