Living outside of NYC as an IBD analyst
Is it advisable for IBD analysts to live in Jersey city? (Or would you have any other recommendations for housing outside of NYC?) Living outside of NYC would save about 4% of the salary (saving the NYC tax), plus the lower rent/cheaper cost of living. I'm guessing it would save about 10k a year. The only downside I see is that it may take a bit longer to get to the office in the morning (maybe about 20 minutes more?). Getting back home shouldn't be too much of a problem since there's free car service and the tunnel is fairly empty at night.
I guess the question is, is it worth it?
You suppose it saves 10k/yr. You also suppose that you lose 40 mins each day.
I would value one hour of sleep at a minimum of $80. Then in terms of sleep value, you are losing roughly $53 per day. If you gave yourself 30 days of not working in a year, then you are losing $16,695 ($53*315) of sleep value.
So in that sense, no not worth it.
It depends on your schedule. If you're working less than 15 hours a day, Jersey City or Hoboken makes sense for the first year or two. Bear in mind that if there is a recession and your firm announces layoffs, the fact that you have a lower cost of living and more money saved up (or student debt paid down) will give you back an extra 20 minutes per night of lost sleep.
I would recommend doing it until you get eight months' NYC living expenses saved up. Then you can move to Manhattan.
Remember, one of the reasons you probably got into banking was to save money for something (retirement, an MBA, a business, or something of that sort). Don't get distracted by the less intelligent first-year analysts living in UWS penthouses or dropping $1500 at the Pink Elephant in a single evening. Your goal is to save money. It will be easier to save money if you are not paying NYC resident tax and enjoy a lower cost of living.
If you are working in mid-town, downtown Hoboken may be a good compromise for the first year.
Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid.
Live where you work. Preferably within walking distance (even avoid subways)
If you were doing S&T, you could rethink things. But for IBD?? No way
if ur bank is downtown nyc, jersey city (as long as its near the path) is doable. even hoboken.
but it makes ur life much easier if ur 10-15 minutes walking distance away from ur company, much easier.
I highly recommend JC (exchange place area) if your office is downtown. 15-20 minutes door to door.
for new york how is long island city? its about 10 minutes away by subway from grand central
You're going to be upset with yourself for making the choice to live outside the city. If you're pulling 80-100 hours per week, you're already not going to be going out much, and if you live in fucking New Jersey, you're going to regret your living decision. Each way, how much time are we talking about? Door-to-door, you're (at best) doing half an hour each way. Probably closer to 40 minutes. If you live 10 minutes walking distance away from the office, you get an extra 40 minutes-1 hour of sleep per day. You might not value it that much now, since you're probably sleeping 8-10 hours per day as a senior in college, but when you're pulling 4-5 hour per night, you're going to be willing to pay 10k per year for an extra hour of sleep per night. AND you're not going to have to deal with commuting each day. It's a headache. You have to put up with the other people on the train (not always Ivy-league educated) and the general mind-fuck from living in New Jersey.
Is saving 7-10k per annum really worth it? You're still going to be paying for train fares at $200 per month, so how much are you really saving?
For me, it's a no-brainer, but if you have some massive student loans to pay off, maybe it's worth it. Just maybe, though.
Thanks for the advice... I guess 10k isn't worth it I was looking to commute from hoboken to grandcentral with the pathtrain and subway office is near grand central...
now that you have given some context, the commute (the path from hoboken to midtown, then to grand central) is DEFINITELY NOT worth it.
any thoughts on commuting from long island city?
i do have a lot of student loans so being able to save 20k over 2 years was very appealing and esp when you jump to the associate level, i'd imagine the 4% tax break becomes quite significant... from the way i see it, i should have no problems on the weekends as the firm pays for taxi both ways on weekdays, i'm thinking if the hours get long i could just sleep at the office to maximize sleep or maybe even sleep in the taxi/on the subway?
Its not worth it. The most dreadful parts of my day are the travel. (I can only speak for jersey) I will be moving in Manhattan full time before the summer. Maybe Maybe going from Hoboken to downtown/tribeca (i did that for a year), now midtown for work, NO.way I"ll save more money by getting rid of my cars and all that by being in Manhattan. Even if I didn't, the savings in time and sanity ar worth it to me. If it gets late the path only runs one train, and not from down by WTC area, you have to go up to catch the loan packed rail. the further I remove myself from a travel schedule set by a bureaucrat the better. The random sleepovers get annoying. And I'm only a busy student who works full time. The idea of sleeping on the train or taxi, you are trying to justify a shity situation. I used to do that.
I'm still a big fan of keeping your expenses under control during the first year. Having more money in the bank- and knowing that your rent is only $700-1000/month- makes it a heckuvalot easier to sleep even if the commute sucks.
Remember that if you work late, you're generally entitled to take the car service home. Hence, no 1/2 hour wait for the PATH train.
Believe me, I understand what you're saying. I live further out, have a yard, zero crime, have saved a bajillion dollars and just cant do it anymore. I could but don't want to any more.
I have heard some banks explicitly discourage outside living for analyst at least. Im not sure how far the cars will go either. Id check with a superior first.
That's not true - if you work downtown - and live in brooklyn
Then N R train to white hall and walk etc
This site is becoming a joke.
Live in Manhattan. Get a roommate (or 2) in an apartment near your office. You can find something for $1000-1200 per month. Anyone worrying about taxes should not be doing banking in NYC.
It's not that hard to figure out folks.
It does seem INCREDIBLY silly to work ~100 hours a week and then have to commute. The reason you are working this many hours is to have a more comfortable life in other aspects, and so you CAN afford to live in Manhattan. So live in Manhattan.
Actually you'd be saving about $5k on income tax (NJ income tax is lower by a percent or two). Manhattan is overrated. If you want to live in Manhattan, save $200k for a down payment on a condo in Manhattan and buy your own place before you move there. It's ridiculous to throw $2,500 a month down the drain every month. That's exactly where your rent is going-down the drain.
Manhattan is 27% more expensive than Jersey City. Take your estimated COL in NY and chop off 20% and that's about what it will cost to live there. So would you pay $15k more to sleep an hour more each day? Plus nobody said you can't sleep on the train. http://www.bestplaces.net/col/?salary=100000&city1=53436000&city2=53651…
Oh, and I've seen rents in JC for $600 a month-I don't know how crappy they are, but you only need it to be safe and have working heat if you work 17 hours a day.
If you work 100 hours a week, that's one thing. Fine; live within a 1/2 mile of work.
Most people that I know at the firm I work for don't do that. It's more like 50-80 hours a week. If you are in that situation, it makes a lot of sense to live in Jersey City or Hoboken during your first year or two.
50-80 hours a week in nyc IBD? That's the norm?
Try checking out www.apartacus.com for housing
Outside NYC Analysts - How close to the office do you live? (Originally Posted: 12/31/2014)
Hey all,
Just curious, for analysts outside of New York - How close to the office do you live? There is a huge difference in apartment prices in 5-10 min drive locations and 15 min drive locations.
Speaking to the a few people, everyone is in that 5-10 min range, but I was just curious if it actually made a difference. In my head, it doesn't.
Thanks!
cant tell if u r serious
If you can manage the 15 minute drive I would say go for it
Living Outside of NYC (Originally Posted: 03/31/2007)
I will be starting as a full-time analyst at a BB in July in NY, and was not planning on renting an apartment in the city. My family lives in New Jersey, and it takes me an hour door-to-door to commute in the morning. I know a 2nd year analyst at the same bank whose been commuting, and he seems to be doing fine.
I have friends who'll be living in the city as well, who are willing to let me stay over if necessary. For the really late nights at work, I figure that I could just take a nap in the office.
I know I'll lose sleep, and I know it won't be easy, but according to my 2nd year commuter friend, its definitely worth it. What are your thoughts?
where in jersey?
Teaneck
Good luck living with mommy and daddy.
That sounds like a good idea. People will diss you on this board left and right for it, but the bottom line is that most of your check would have gone to rent so you'll be saving a huge amount of money. Which means you'll have more money for drinking/partying/eating/whatever.
That's true, you'll be saving at least $1,500/month, that's a lot of money to spend on other things. Although the downside is you'll be told to go to your room if you misbehave.
haha, true...I guess it depends how well you get along with your parents and how much space they're willing to give you.
What about places like Hoboken or Jersey City instead of living in the city?
Working at JPM IB which is in Midtown, I think, will the commute-work be possible?
Are you going to be in banking at the BB? I've honestly never heard of anyone in banking (at the analyst level) living outside of Manhattan.
Just remember that you're going to effectively be a high school student again. I know when I'm at home for summer vacation, my parents still yell at me not to drive out late at night or in bad weather, make me call them if I'm not coming home, etc. Can you take living like that?
Also, you will have no sex life. Girls in NYC (or at least the type of girls you'd actually want to be with) are fairly stuck up. First, there's no way they'll jump on the train with you to NJ after a night out (also, I'm sure trains to NJ stops running after like 12am). And there's no way they'll keep talking to you if they learn you live in NJ (what more, with your parents). Actually, even living in Jersey City, Queens, etc. is looked down upon. Just something to note.
Also, I thought trains to NJ stopped running by like 11pm/12am? I'd venture to say 3-5 nights of the week you won't even be able to make the train home! So where are you going to sleep for those nights?
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