Status Symbols in IB

What are some of the most common status symbols in IB nowadays? I know that the suits, watches, and cars are some basic things, but it feels like a lot of that glam has passed. What's the new shiny thing of today? What are you Monkeys seeing out there?

OR as @Xiiixiii" cleverly pointed out in the comments, is it all about "Stealth Wealth" nowadays?

53 Comments
 

Love the use of hashtags on forums. Okay, I concede it wasn't the most original thought, but right now where I am Teslas are all the rage. That and the newest Apple product. Just made me wonder what's going on in IB, comparatively.

 
"RobberBaron123"

I once made a paperclip bracelet at work. #HighLife #YOLO #SWAG #ThisWasAFuckingDumbQuestion.

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^^^ Bernie/Hillary voter who promotes his timex and wears a book bag to work

FOH you are worse than OP

 
Best Response

7 years ago I feel like this post would've blown up. The new status symbol on Wall Street seems to be Stealth Wealth and pretending like you don't want to brag about your money. Part of me misses those old days when I was just a lurker on these forums and the wealth bravado used to amp me just reading it.

Now we brag about 2-for-one suit sales at Men's Warehouse.

 

On the West Coast, home ownership is the go-to status symbol, particularly among Associates and above. If you can own a home, you're balling, doesn't matter if you drive a rusty Honda (paging Illini Programmer). Keep in mind the minimum price for a single family home is $1 million just to get your foot in the door (1000 sqft) in a decent neighborhood.

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

Probably getting your work done accurately, in a timely matter, being reliable and accountable would be worthwhile statuses worth achieving.

Only two sources I trust, Glenn Beck and singing woodland creatures.
 
Controversial
"Ehmerica"

Probably getting your work done accurately, in a timely matter, being reliable and accountable would be worthwhile statuses worth achieving.

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^^^Gay AF

 

They have one downtown now if you haven't heard. Cliff Huxtable can be seen there often.

time is the coin of your life: be careful, lest others spend it for you - Carl Sagan
 

Shitty, worn out, battle weary Dell / HP laptops that still can only run Windows 7.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

Perhaps you're joking but I could see it happening. I think being that frugal is a deep character flaw and screams of someone constantly counting their money. Maybe they have other avenues they spend their money but I've come across many bankers previously who didn't care about any of the glamour who still own a base or mid-range imports. Driving a Corolla makes it seem like someone who's desperate to make a point and would be obnoxious.

 

I just got a job in AM but I still plan on doing my dress clothes shopping at K&G, Burlington, and the likes unless the mall anchors are having a big sale. Calvin Klein shirts for $25 and Kenneth Cole Slacks for $30

 

Bingo. This question reminds me of probably the biggest douche analyst I ever encountered. He absolutely relished being a banker and wouldn't stfu about all the idiotic toys he bought or was going to buy (even to other bankers). He was also visibly unhealthy (read: fat), bald and ugly, and women wouldn't touch him with a barge pole. I'm pretty sure it drove him nuts that guys making 1/3 of what he made got 10x the girls...

 

One of the executives of the firm I was a SA at last summer came by the analyst bullpen one Monday to tell us about his weekend - he had a private lunch with The Queen of England, dinner with Bruce Springsteen, and VIP tickets to a major sporting event in the same weekend. Not quite a status symbol in that those aren't physical objects, but those sorts of experiences/stories are definitely signs of someone being a big deal.

Also, MDs having expensive supercars and pied-a-terres in foreign cities.

 
"Ed Wuncler III"

One of the executives of the firm I was a SA at last summer came by the analyst bullpen one Monday to tell us about his weekend - he had a private lunch with The Queen of England, dinner with Bruce Springsteen, and VIP tickets to a major sporting event in the same weekend. Not quite a status symbol in that those aren't physical objects, but those sorts of experiences/stories are definitely signs of someone being a big deal.

Also, MDs having expensive supercars and pied-a-terres in foreign cities.

Executive has self-esteem issues if he is going out of his way to tell the Analysts what he does on the weekend.

 

Michael Lewis had dinner with the queen BEFORE he got a job. No biggie.

I guess nobody trumps my experience. Got shitfaced with an aristocrat buddy of mine one night, then convinced him to pee inside one of the guardboxes near the Buckingham. Then a few months later, sets me up with a VS chica and got me laid. Only to charter a flight back to work.

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

Who cares.

I can lift a fully-grown horse above my head, and I can hold my breath for ten minutes. To settle a wager, I once ate a pound of P.B. Fouke's strongest badger poison and then ran a mile in the nude. I cannot feel pain, and I can see for two miles unaided by a lens. No man can kill me. I have beaten a man of every race in formal combat, including a Turk, a Pygmy Negro Man and a rare Deepwater Jew. A medical doctor and two priests have written and signed a document confirming that I have no soul.

 
"Ed Wuncler III"

he had a private lunch with The Queen of England

That's impossible unless he time-traveled back to 1707.

 

SoCal here, I could care less about the damn perks of the work itself or the status symbol it represents.

The richest people I met in SoCal are the ones driving the old 90s cars (honda/toyota) that live in huge mansions.

Here is my take - who cares about status symbol? I want my money to last and grow as much as I can. Being poor and broke growing up completely sucked a**. If I could take the bus to work and back, it'd save me so much more money.

 

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