Leave IB and take more risk? Sitting on $800k at 24

2nd year in NYC

I have ~$850k in equities across my brokerage, 401k, and roth

$20k in cash but pay $3k a month in rent a maybe $1k in misc stuff every month.

My bonus last year was $65k so expecting minimum that in a couple months.

Candidly want to take bigger shots with more creative people (hate finance culture) and am considering entrepreneurship and startups. Plan would be to keep entire bonus as cash in case I can’t find a startup or my own idea.

If you were 24 would you do this too? Would love any advice.

24 Comments
 

You're in a great position with that $850k, but I understand the itch for something more creative. I recently moved away from the standard grind because of an inner-circle AI bot I was introduced to. The returns allowed me to walk away from my job and focus on my own projects. People gatekeep these tools because they disrupt the 'slow and steady' model finance bros love. If you're looking for an alternative to the traditional brokerage route, it's worth seeing what's happening in the private AI space

 

Good point I guess I’ve really never made that decision myself. Definitely not finance unfortunately.

 

I'm also sitting at around 600K at 24. On one hand, I'm not taking any huge risks like how you're planning. I'm just receiving rent from my small real estate and only investing in indexes and bonds with very small portion of in fun crypto. Still working 9-6 to still do DCA and live frugally but ultimately I'm very happy.

Anyone saying that 850K ain't enough, illiquid, or that you're stupid don't understand how big of a head start you have. Sure someone in IB could bypass 850K net worth when they reach VP, but that costs them hairlines, sanity, and personal relationships. IB is 'prestigious' but the reason so is because of the comp. You are already at a stage and age where that comp isn't that meaningful.

But again, my premise was based on the beauty of compound interest. I think there is a huge difference between working at a startup and creating your startup. The latter I cannot speak of. 

 

Lowkey just compound interest... and luck most of all. My friend was a gaming geek that somehow led to crypto and stocks at an age less than 10. My family is relatively upper class (not crazy tho, still drives Honda Civic and only own one house that is not above 1m) that I regularly asked my parents to just put some of my allowances in companies called Apple and Microsoft and this thing called Ethereum.

 

was in BB IB for 3y and then left for strat fin with a stint in VC - to be honest if i were you i d go to a start up / scale up first before starting your own start up if that is what you re going for - this will give you a great lens into how start ups operate and you can learn a lot before actually starting yours. Your finance background would definitely be valuable there. 

Alternatively, early stage VC - but very hard to break into to - but would be super invaluable in terms of VC connections you ll make to potentially fund your start up in the future and again would give you an amazing perspective on how investors think about operating models and growth. 

 

I have an almost identical profile (all liquid brokerage) with additional eventual inheritance that covers retirement. Also confused and don’t know what I’ll do. Hope u figure it out

 

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