I legit have zero savings after working on IB for 3 months, feeling scared
So the title says it all, I was wondering if any of you are in the same boat.
As at right now I have USD130 in my account to last till the next payment cycle and while I do spend some money on going out its mainly because my sign on bonus and first 3ish salaries payments went to my siblings who I am/was supporting since they do not work and I do not come from a rich home.
I managed to save about 3k from my signing bonus after I paid the broker fee and security deposit for my apartment but my siblings and a few old friends slowly gobbled up the rest and now I've stopped supporting them because living paycheck to paycheck is horrible.
I can't wait for the stub bonus to hit my account so I can start saving again.
Did any of you live paycheck to paycheck during the early parts of your careers? I feel like a fool and kinda ashamed (had a hard time looking in the mirror after seeing my account) for blowing my savings on my family not because they are bad people but because they feel like I did not sacrifice anything since I technically have a stable job so no one feels like I am under any pressure even though I am, and now I have to turn down happy hour for the next couple months till I get back on my feet again.
I grew up poor and promised if I get a job I would never want to feel broke again but here I am in MM IB feeling just that way, I think thats why I feel ashamed of myself.
New York / SF is pretty hard to maintain a great savings % especially your early years, so we usually save 100% of the bonuses but minimal base.
Btw you should keep a healthy boundary in terms of your finances. Don't burn yourself to keep other people warm. Take care of yourself first and then if you have some money left around, help the closest to you.
You need to set boundaries and stop sending money to your family immediately. You are an independent individual and you have complete discretion over how to spend your own money. If your family has problems with you not financially supporting them anymore, it’s time to go no contact or low contact.
Sorry, but there is no reason to live paycheck to paycheck on a 6 figure salary. You have a cashflow issue.
If you support your siblings now, they will never have a reason to become independent. Stop sending them money and focus on building a stable financial foundation for your own life. Once you give people handouts they will always have their hands out. Don’t set yourself up for a lifetime of being asked for money.
Absolutely stop sending money to your siblings or friends, or parents, or anyone, right now. $100 when you go home for Christmas, absolutely. But any portion of your regular paycheck is ludicrous. And yes, I know there are cultures where you are expected to support your family, but you are literally bankrupting yourself to do so - especially siblings. If they shame you about it, tell them New York is expensive and you need money to put food on your table. Take a week or two off of talking to them if they don't get it.
That said, it's okay to not be saving a TON of money, especially right now with inflation, high rent costs, etc. Depends on what your rent payment is, but $500 a month, maybe $1000 if you're frugal is all most first years can afford, and then save most of your bonus of course. Don't let the guys on here saying they've got $100k saved after their first year keep you from saving what you can. Good news is you're close to the stub bonus and have learned this lesson before all of that disappears. Put the money somewhere safe (in your Fidelity account, so it's a compliance hassle to take out, tell your family it's not accessible) and do not let them have any more of it.
Again, I get some families expect their kids to support them. And you will likely be able to in a few years, perhaps not bankrolling them entirely but helping out a bit if you choose. But you are 23 or 24, just moved to NYC, and are spending it on siblings and friends. That is not okay.
I definitely relate to you.
Out of my first 4 years of working, i prolly only saved around 2% of my total net income during those 4 years. There's a point where i already amassed 1 year worth of income as my emergency funds. But that got wiped out during 2021 when i needed to support the whole extended family with their hospital bills. You might see this as necessary, but the law of unintended consequences always reigns supreme.
"No good deed shall go unpunished" they said, and they are true. Now that I clearly established within the family as a major earner, I am expected to fund not only my parents retirement (they don't have any money), but my older sister's daily expenditures (transportation and sometimes venmo) because she made almost half of my income and also another family's unexpected needs (eg. loaning money when their business had lower profits, paying for some brother of another mother through college, etc etc.).
All of that happening in record high inflations, massive lay-offs within the industry, and bone dry dealflow.
All i can say to you is be tough on others, no matter the relationship. We earned the privilege of earning 6 figures--unless you got accepted through nepotism--and nobody has the right to tell you that "your income is our money".