Assuming you like your colleagues and work reasonable hours (40-50 hours/week). What is the minimum “golden handcuff” that will keep you from jumping ship and pursuing whatever else you dream of doing? Would be curious of your age and where you live as well.
Ill start. 33 years old, HCOL northeast city and 300k / year.
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I might be a little confused by the question but I was under the assumption "golden handcuff" meant the work was not ideal but the money was too much to pass up / let go. If I'm working with good / normal colleagues and I'm working ~45 avg hours a week making good coin, then this just seems like a great job and not a "golden handcuff" scenario.
Good point. I meant handcuffing you from pursuing a dream that you may have (take risk and start a business, retire with family money, etc…). If there isn’t something you want to pursue outside of the well paying, good hour and solid colleagues job you currently have, then you are in a great spot.
34 years old, HCOL west coast city and 375k / year.
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Good thought exercise. If it's 40-50 hours per week, I generally like everyone I work with, and it's stable - the # would probably be relatively low.. $300k-350k. However if it's a deal based role, where you're hustling 70 hours a week, always thinking about the job, taking on principal risk, navigating politics etc - I'd need $700k + substantial carry (which is why PE pays the way it does at the principal+ levels).
Edit: Not sure why I am getting so much MS lol.. would love to hear other's thoughts on this.
Golden handcuffs are usually when you work a very stressful job or don't like your colleagues and most of your pay is deferred or if you are so indebted you cannot afford to take a lower paying job.
Golden handcuffs to me is having equity in a growing company and being lucky enough to get in early. That's how generational wealth gets created. There's a reason why many successful famiy business owners eventually have their children come work for the family.
26 - HCOL 200 or so, but if i want to have kids in the city maybe double that
The salary isn't the handcuff. The carry/vested incentives that haven't been realized are. My salary could be $150k-200k for all I care but if I have $10m+ in carry I'm waiting for to materialize in another 3-4 years I'm staying put.
100,000,0000 dollars
i'm basically there now having left finance, should prob do something more but also meh
34 vhcol $300k+ 20-30 hours week outside of rare occasions when it flexes to 40-50
I make just under $200 but my hours are so chill I’d never leave.
If you don't have kids your answers don't count. Would need 750k to never leave.
I mean sure you have a comfortable lifestyle but you're hardly handcuffed at $300k. Could easily downgrade to a smaller market and live much more comfortably. To me golden handcuffed in NYC is enough money to pay the mortgage in Westchester and send the kids to private school + 2-3 exotic vacations per year (ski trip + international trip). That's gotta be $750k+ in my book. If you take less money you have to sacrifice 1 or more of the above 3. You could be far less stressed and have a comfortable life outside NYC but at a massive downgrade in "lifestyle" ie public schools, okayish suburb, vacation in Florida.
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