Is 100K salary the new normal?
Everyone is raising the base to 100K so do we start describing our salary by base+signon+bonus+stocks?
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Depends on location, honestly someone please come in and add to this but I've been told the standard $125-150k starting IB salary in NYC isn't as sexy as it sounds after you account for taxes and COL
$125K-$150K being “enough” in NYC is really dependent on the person. If you have someone who only wants to live in Greenwich/Chelsea/Soho and likes to live the fast and luxurious life then no the IB starting salary isn’t enough. But you can live pretty well off of $125K if say you chose to live in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, DUMBO, and watch your expenses. Mind you GP, WB, and DO are the best neighborhoods in BK - which you would be doing on a starting IB salary. To affirm, it’s really dependent on the person. I bet some people on this forum would say $250K is too little to live a good life.
commute from greenpoint to any investment bank must take at least 30 minutes?
I wouldn't say it's the "norm", but it certainly doesn't go really far nowadays and isn't anything special for those who are reasonably educated. Even in cities besides the super expensive ones out west or in the Northeast, six figures doesn't quite buy as much as it used to. I'd say $200K+ is probably more equivalent in purchasing to what people used to consider "six figures" back in the day in cities like NYC/SF, and in medium-high areas, like Chicago, etc., I'd estimate $150K+ gets you closer to the old "six figures" lifestyle.
What do you consider the "six figures lifestyle?"
That's a good question and hard to answer because it's personal to everyone. To me, a "six figure lifestyle" is reasonable comfort with some luxuries. So basically being able to:
1. Buy a nicer than average single family home in a good neighborhood. Not a mansion or huge house, but a touch above what you'd expect the average person to own in a given city
2. Able to save/invest for retirement and not living paycheck to paycheck
3. Being able to provide your kids a good life (i.e. pay for most activities they want to do) and ideally help fund their college substantially and in full
4. Able to travel internationally as a family at least 1x a year, or take somewhat luxurious domestic vacations without worrying about bills
5. Maybe able to afford entry level luxury cars (if applicable to your city)
That's pretty much it. Basically, you aren't concerned about money and can afford some nicer things most can't, but not so wealthy that you can casually shop at salvatore ferragamo or fly first without thinking about costs.
First class is so fucking expensive. Stuff like Air France and Cathay Pacific regularly hit like $20k per person round trip. I can't imagine what salary someone would need to drop that on a family of 4-6 a couple times a year without it being a huge deal. That's like $200k a year in air travel alone. Probably have to make like $2.5m+ to justify that, but even then it's not just a throwaway number.
$100K is and always has been a lot of money for someone fresh out of school.
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