What's the most sure type of job to be a millionaire at 30?

Was arguing with a friend about this. Disregard jobs like Professional athlete, actor, musician, business owner. 

Job paths that are realistic or obtainable. Nothing risky.

Say you graduate college at 22 from a top school, what job career path most ensures this goal.

Investment banker, software engineer, hedge fund, private equity, Sales manager? What would you say?

 

I read somewhere that the average take in a bank robbery is much, much lower than what most people think. I think the number the article published was something like less than $3k average

 

Banking at CVP probably gets you there easily and potentially sets you up with a 7 figure all in comp by that time too.

If I’m not mistaken, according to Litquidity’s comp table, 3rd year associates (so 6 years out of college/age of 28) make an average comp of 770k. Would expect principals to be breaking 1 mil

 

Taxes and expenses make it hard to achieve this before 30 since by millionaire I assume you mean $2M+. As others have said banking seems like your best bet if you can climb the ladder quickly. If you went top tech as a SE at 22 you could get there by 30, although with so much of comp tied to RSUs it might be market dependent. And with both of these careers you’re probably looking at some student loans to pay back. I don’t really think there’s a sure fire career that will make you a millionaire by 30. It’s gonna take a lot of luck

 

If you want $1 million in the bank by age 30 then IB or IB/PE seems most straightforward path with minimal vol (if you can succeed in those roles - no easy task). if you want to make $1 million/yr when you are 30y/o then hedge funds or tech are prob best bet but there will be a lot out of your control (good luck with respect to HF performance / value of equity in a tech role) needed to reach that point

 
rugbyladdy

If you want $1 million in the bank by age 30 then IB or IB/PE seems most straightforward path with minimal vol (if you can succeed in those roles - no easy task). if you want to make $1 million/yr when you are 30y/o then hedge funds or tech are prob best bet but there will be a lot out of your control (good luck with respect to HF performance / value of equity in a tech role) needed to reach that point

Yeah HF performance is definitely a factor. My friend was at Harbinger under Phil Falcone when they shorted ABX and Phil made over a billion and my friend in his mid 20s got a bonus for $1M. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I work in VC/PE and several of our portfolio companies have employees who are millionaires before the age of 30.
Some are wealthy on paper only (based on the valuation of the company), but ESOP in a successful startup can lead to a fortune.

Luck does play a part in this too, but if you know what you are doing and join the right early stage venture... you should be good to go.
Most companies are indeed tech companies, but there are also other successful startups outside of tech.

 

If you manage to land a FAANG job straight out of college, graduating at 23, with a TC at $200k - $250k/year, and then climb up to around $500k/year after 7 years - that puts your sum of earnings to around $2.5 - $3 million before taxes. 

But you need to find the right company, ace the interviews, and be prepared to do some strategic job-hopping. Most of your increases will come from landing new jobs / positions. 

But then again, if you really just want to coast it - take the first and best FAANG job offer you can get, and stay there - even that will make you well over a million after 7 years, as long as you don't manage to get fired. 

EDIT: As others have pointed out, probably 50% - 75% of your total comp will be in form of stocks. More so as you get more senior. Check levels.fyi for a decent overview of what the various positions pay, and how the TC is made up. 

 

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