Anyone not really "making" any money? Bank account stays pretty stagnant

Not sure if I have a massive issue - but while getting sweated on the weekdays I usually spend $400-$600 on food and drinks from Thurs-Sat a week. And then pretty expensive rent. After that, not really making much / saving much. Analyst 2 here.

Any others in similiar boat? This is NYC by the way. 

54 Comments
 

This comment could be many MD's with multiple kids in private school/college, divorced, running multiple properties and with an expensive hooker habit :-)

 

On the same boat. Between rent, dates, groceries, etc. I am not making much money. IB pay is not great anymore.

Am honestly thinking about leaving and starting my own thing.

 
Kevin25

well dates don't get cheaper just because you're an Analyst. going out with a girl for dinner and drinks in NYC will be $100-200. you are doing it twice a week, he's doing it 2-3 times a week. are you suggesting him to not go out and just jerk off until he's a VP?

Don't take a girl out for dinner as a first date unless you're actually into them or are willing to try really hard to get in their pants...plus in most cases you'll regret dropping that much $$ afterwards since you were thinking with the wrong head. You must realize there are many women in NYC who are finnessing guys for free meals like it's a sport

 

If I were you, figure out a way to save something. I'd say in a 401k up to the company match, but even if its $100 a month now, that will grow over time. You're in banking you get that. 

Lot of ways or tricks to save you can read about online, if I had to give one tip, set up a direct deposit to save (get company match as I said), and then forget about it. Don't look at it, just let it build. If you pay yourself off top in savings first, that's money you won't spend later. 

 

My hot take is that IB is a middle class job In Manhattan. I thought coming out of school I would ball on my $85k base as an analyst. How wrong I was lol. As you progress it gets better, but you definitely don’t feel free. I can’t say I stress out a ton about money, but I am definitely not financially independent either. Really makes you think if the hours are worth it for somewhat of an upper mediocre life in the tri state area

 

I'd say more and more, Manhattan is becoming/is the city of the already rich*. So while it sounds great to be making 6 figures or close to 6 figures out of school, it's still expensive. Just basic math, $100K out of college, is ~$60 after taxes, if rent is $2K a month, you're already down to $36K to live. Factor in spending $2K a month for weekends, that puts you down to $12K left.  

*Side note: Read the book "The New King of New York", gives a great history on how parts of NYC use to be affordable so teacher/police/firefighters who work in the city could actually live there, but these were all replaced by ultra luxury buildings. 

 

My advice would to start splitting your paychecks into multiple accounts.  This is easy to do in ADP or whatever your equivalent is.  Open a HY account (Marcus is 4.10% rn) and set a % or dollar amount that automatically deposits each pay period, then forget about it.

You can still run your checking account flat if you want but at least your putting some money away.  

 

well, a tiny drink 80% filled with ice costs $20-25 with tax and tip in Manhattan. you need like 3-4 of those to feel any buzz. and you're probably going out with a girl. so double that (cause girls only like equality when it's benefits equality, not responsibility equality). and you come out to $120-200 for just drinks for one date. if you also wanna eat something and want to go out more than once a week, then $400-600 on food and drinks for a week is nothing crazy.

 

Brother, save and invest more than you spend. This is a finance forum, right? 

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
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Just to take a different tack, I wouldn't worry about blowing all your base at this age at all. You're in IB and I'm assuming you're in your early 20s, as long as you really dont f*** things up you're going to find it hard to not end up solidly upper middle class. And just speaking as someone who's a bit but not that much older than you, I can tell you that I have never looked back and regretted burning money on nights out/holidays etc, but I regularly kick myself for times I was too cheap to splurge on something/someone. 

 

Yeah I’m in the same boat. My base is quite solid but I really don’t see my checking / savings grow they just stay flat as I pay bills and rent. I do my Roth backdoor every year so I’m saving at least that amount, plus I save half my bonus. But still interesting to not really be making much progress on building wealth even while bringing in a lot of money each year for a solo household. It’s an expensive city and I have really expensive taste & too lazy to cook, so it’s definitely self inflicted… I’m banking on carry making up the difference later on.

 

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