Going to inherit 8 figures: should I bother with IB

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 

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

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.

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.