Work life balance

There are many jobs pay well and a handful that also have very reasonable work life balance. Things to consider when comparing to IB are (there are many this is just a short list): 1) optionality/future opportunities, 2) interest 3) requirements/ability to do job 4) risk

So if you want something similar to IB you can look at Corp dev, finance at a F500 company, etc (stable employment, less upside on comp, but can get to solid comp over time)

If you enjoy computer science/math/engineering you can look at tech (software dev or product side), quant/systematic investing (tech will be relatively stable, good work life balance, but if you don’t love tech you’ll be capped on comp around $500k or less, the quant side can be much more risk, hit or miss on work/life but generally better, and high comp)

If you want PE or similar then you really should go the IB route, as getting into PE without that will be pretty hard

Consulting is another path of interesting work and solid comp, but can be a lot of travel so work life balance can also be poor (but usually more like 60 hr work weeks) - consulting will also keep many doors open for future career paths, but the comp is definitely lower for the first few years (and mostly beyond)