Welp I want to avoid writing a novel here because I have seen my story a bunch of times from my friends IRL, and even more so on this forum, and think you are familiar with it.
A little backstory - I just turned 26. I am on my third job (previous jobs was mid-office at BB, to rating agency) went to a non-target but through networking got into a BB in Equity Research where I am an Analyst and have been there less than a year. Pay is ... standard, base just around 100.
Thing is, I just feel like I dont have as much money saved as I would like.
Living in NYC - paying ~1.8k / month in rent, utlities, etc. I am pretty much having a quarter-life crisis and am thinking where am I going to be in 4 years when I am 30? Im single but how can I afford having a relationship none the less a family one day? How am I supposed to buy a house?!?! a car??
So I wanted to start this thread, as I am sure there have been other before, but think it would be helpful both in any advice but also for my mental stability (and I am sure others) to give your take on where you should be in your career by age 25? Or age 30 even.
And to avoid the cliche responses of 'everyone goes at their own pace' and 'as long as you are happy' (which I understand are very important, but for the sake of this exercise, not what I am intending) I think it would be interesting to answer the below for what you think you SHOULD have by age 25 and age 30 which I assume the majority of active users on this forum are below those ages.
Please note this is what you think you SHOULD have, or I guess a baseline - this is not a pissing contest to brag about your accomplishments. I realize some of the fields, if not all depend on your profession - ie banking has a higher comp but again - this is what you think an average 25 or 30 year old in Finance should have.
Age: 25
Compensation (base + bonus): give a range, ie. 95-125
Savings (ie. liquid savings, excluding retirement):
Retirement Funds:
Savings/Month (minus rent + fixed costs of living):
Age: 30
Compensation (base + bonus):
Savings (ie. liquid savings, excluding retirement):
Retirement Funds:
Savings/Month (minus rent + fixed costs of living):
Lets be nice here guys - no insults or anything, just I think its good to set financial goals and am interested to see how I stack up.
It depends where you start off in life. Someone who has to overcome adversity right off the bat is much more impressive than your typical yuppie.
IE sub $1M net worth by 25 is pretty bad if you didn't even have to pay for your school etc and daddy bribed you into Yale.
Personally this is why I think it's more important to look at journey versus destination when hiring. The kid that put himself through school with shithead parents but went to a non-ivy league school is more impressive to me and likely a better/more flexible learner than someone who did what their parents told them to do and followed an obvious path put in front of them.
What this guy said, mostly. The fact is, there is such a huge range in starting points that there will never be a single answer to this question.
It’s not even enough though to just compare economic tiers in a single country, e.g. the well off rich kid to an average joe. Even the poorest of kids in the US/UK will have been dealt a better starting hand than 99% of the developing world. If you can even afford to live in NYC, let alone what your savings are, you are in the 99% globally.
The only measuring stick that matters (arguably) is the tool that measures your own progress from yesterday to today.
This is definitely the answer.
I worked incredibly hard and from nothing and a non-target to get to somewhat IB (PubFin) at age 24 at a mid-tier bank. I get countless amounts of praise from friends, family, and colleagues because of the adversity I went through. Yet I know someone who I met through mutual friends in college who went to Harvard, interned twice at a FAANG in Uni, and now works as a software engineer for a top tier trading firm. He doesn't get all that much praise (he's Asian with demanding/well-off parents) and his family has a history of success. For me to compare myself to him is pointless because from an early age we started at different spectrums.
If you go through life trying to "tier" yourself to other people then you'll be unhappy. I have about 10k saved (didn't get a stipend, horrendous numbers for 2018) and been in IB for 6 months or so to answer the other part of your question.
Bump. Don’t start my first job for a couple more months but would love to hear some other people’s stats so I can formulate a goal.
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