I-Banking = Min. Hourly Wage

A few years back, an email circulated a lot of the BB firms.  The email demonstrated that i-bankers make, after various adjustments, the same damn minimum hourly wage as a McDonalds employee.

Has anyone seen this? Could you provide a link?  It would be an interesting discussion topic.

 

ok...well to prove just how ridiculously inaccurate that is, lets look at these ridiculous numbers:

taxes    60K gross * 70% = 42K

hours     100 hours * 52 weeks= 5200 hours

42,000 / 5200 hours= $8.08 per hour

even in this extremes scenario we are banking more than at mickie D's.  so its all good :)

 

I've heard big IB firms like Gold man Sacks really look hard for the McDonalds-type employee: both are customer-oriented and fast paced.

Exit opps for a McDonalds employee...also a very interesting topic.  Burger King.  Garbage man.  Mail carrier.  Homeless.  Death.

I don't know what the adjustments were.  A JPM analyst was telling me about it. In the original post, I confused two things: minimum wage and the hourly wage for a McDonalds employee.  National min wage is $5.15, but what does a McDonald's employee make in NYC?   At least $8.08 / hr?

In a sense, we all are earning $60k (give/take) until bonuses come.

 
Best Response

Everyone (including myself) likes to joke about this, but there's no way it could actually be true.

Let's assume the absolute worst case scenario and say that you work 140 hours a week every single week of the year. Those of you in banking already know this is impossible and would never actually happen, but let's keep going anyway.

Let's also assume that the economy is in a massive recession and you in fact get NO BONUS at all.

$60,000 / (140 * 52) = $8.24/hour, still higher than McDonald's employees. And that's the worst case. In a more likely scenario, let's say the economy is bad like 2001-2003 era, and your bonus is only $20K. You work 100 hours a week on average.

$80,000 / (100 * 52) = $15.38/hour, not great but still much higher than McDonald's. And in a really good year, e.g. this past year when bonuses were $90K?

$150,000 / (100 * 52) = $28.85/hour. By no means is this a stellar hourly wage - it's about on par with other professions at our age.

As others have said, the real advantage from finance comes not from what you make now, but your earnings potential in the future and the connections you make.

 

some factors are not being considered here:

1. IB analysts get to work downtown in a decent respectable work environment -> MCD employees work on their feet the entire time in a sweaty greasy disgusting environment

2. IB analysts don't actually work the entire 16 hours of the day - I highly doubt that from 8 to 12 you are working on excel/pp -> MCD employees have to actually work the entire time

3. even if you assume the hourly rate analysis is correct, in order for MCD employee to make the same amount they would have to get A LOT of shifts (which they will not get due to overtime pay) and maybe also work at burger king on the side

I can sit here and write on and on, but I think its stupid to find a fault with the IB analyst position... compared to ANYTHING else availible out there, it is literally a dream job. anyone who has landed it should be happy that they have it... there are lots of smart and hard working kids out there who have no chance in hell of getting these jobs...

 
niles:

some factors are not being considered here:

1. IB analysts get to work downtown in a decent respectable work environment -> MCD employees work on their feet the entire time in a sweaty greasy disgusting environment

2. IB analysts don't actually work the entire 16 hours of the day - I highly doubt that from 8 to 12 you are working on excel/pp -> MCD employees have to actually work the entire time

3. even if you assume the hourly rate analysis is correct, in order for MCD employee to make the same amount they would have to get A LOT of shifts (which they will not get due to overtime pay) and maybe also work at burger king on the side

I can sit here and write on and on, but I think its stupid to find a fault with the IB analyst position... compared to ANYTHING else availible out there, it is literally a dream job. anyone who has landed it should be happy that they have it... there are lots of smart and hard working kids out there who have no chance in hell of getting these jobs...

If it's such a dream job, then why do people always leave? calling it "stepping stone" or "boot camp" is more appropriate. There are lots of better jobs out there my friend.

 

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