Does anyone feel that they are too competitive and proud of their accomplishments to have kids?

I've devoted a large portion of my life to finance and am incredibly proud of my accomplishments, even though I never got close to making it into a Bulge Bracket bank. If I had a kid who took up finance, I don't think I could stand seeing him beat my college GPA and spreading comps faster than I can. I no longer practice finance seriously, but I still have that desire to win and be the best. It's like a conflict of interest to train my kid to be better than me (even for non-finance things), akin to training the rival college's seniors trying to get into banking. It would also fill me with doubt. What if I trained harder or smarter? Should I have pushed through that minor injury and continued to practice levering the beta? Why didn't I interview better? If I did all that, would I have gotten a job at the same bank as my kid? All of that time and effort to get my bonuses, promotions, and peer recognition would feel at least partially wasted.

The same thing goes for all the other non-finance things in life, even those that will almost certainly become meaningless well before you hit middle age (such as SAT scores). What if I studied more or prepared better for that midterm/talent show/other school event? Would my life have been much better?

Now I know that life is not all about competition, but kids don't make the non-competitive things better either. I don't want to be tied down or interrupted when I want to relax and rip hella dabs or do something more adventurous like hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.

Is it just me, or does anyone else here feel the same way?

1 Comments
 

Consequatur maiores ratione ipsa quisquam recusandae recusandae. Quo ea quia atque consequatur nesciunt. Quam iste expedita voluptatum cum quam. In voluptatem vitae voluptas laboriosam tempore maiores aut.

Quam ut alias et. Dolorem rem dolorem nisi voluptates facere aliquam quos. Odit ab molestiae ab aliquid. Placeat eos omnis dolore voluptatem vitae. Ut perspiciatis quia est. Saepe placeat nam non occaecati voluptas tempore similique.

Sed molestias ipsum eius aut minima. Quae sunt quidem reiciendis.

Eveniet natus autem consequatur corrupti nisi similique vitae sit. Exercitationem voluptate consectetur perferendis ullam. Sunt dolorem fugiat nisi similique qui deleniti velit. Id quasi commodi repellendus consequuntur molestiae. Consectetur id qui illo. Quis ut ut laudantium quod et distinctio commodi pariatur. Tempora quam pariatur dolorem a ut.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”