Firstly very few people make it real big in finance, no offense. Secondly money as motivation will only last you a few weeks IB, after you work countless hours, money won't matter, sanity and sleep will. Never go for something your interested in, you'll be a shitty employee, and have an ever shittier life. Do something in life that your interested in, pursuing finance for the sole sake of money won't be worth it.

I think- therefore I fuck
 
Best Response

To reach the point where you've got all those things takes a looonnng time. I think after 2 as an analyst, a "good" percentage of those in it just for the $ will burn out and leave. It's not like it gets a lot better quickly. If you stay in IB, associate hours are still awful, VP gets better, and MD better still, although it's still a slog.

To make the progression and the big bucks, you need to be good at your job / out-survive others. Grinding away at mediocrity for 10 years won't get you there.

So, I think those only motivated will be more likely to hit two years and realize "this f'ing blows and is not worth it / what is a $300k car worth if you never have the time to enjoy it".

My former MD, who was the lead banker on one of the biggest deals ever and had all those trappings told me he really didn't remember anything from his 20s. He was the type that could do it, make it big and be happy with his life, but that's not for all.

On the buyside, the hours/pay are better, but there's even less room for those who aren't really passionate. You won't get huge bonuses working at a hedge fund if you aren't out hustling 90% of the street and generating great returns.

Having said all that, it'd be stupid to think if all jobs paid equally that everyone here would put in the time / effort to work in finance versus other industries.

In sum, if you really like what you do (and you work hard), the money will follow (as you create success).

 
Zargo:
I want to get sloshed at the county club with Prestigious Pete after eighteen holes.

Ok, that was pretty funny.

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 
Zargo:

I'm not gonna lie; I want money. As stupid as it sounds, I want the house in the Hamptons, I want the flat on Central Park, I want the Porsche and the Ducati. I want to get sloshed at the county club with Prestigious Pete after eighteen holes and wake up in a hotel I've never seen before with a champagne hangover.

If you want the Ducati, you want free-time, not money. The highest-end Ducs only cost about $13K used, and nobody knows whether you bought used or new after about $1000 worth of service from the mechanic.

Let me give you an alternative:

You want financial security and you want a life that's fun and exciting, and you want free time to do what you love. Someone who goes by Prestigious Pete is probably a douchebag anyways, and you don't want to wake up with a hangover because you've got something a whole lot more fun to do this morning:

Or maybe you want to take the Duc out for a trackday:

Sorry, you're a banker. You don't get weekends. You get to go to work today. On a Sunday. Like every other Sunday.

This lifestyle is only available to people working 40 hour weeks. Maybe a few lucky traders, quants, and risk managers. Most of the people who can actually do this are building contractors and tech guys.

So the Duc- that you don't even really know how to safely ride since you spend no time on two wheels- sits in the garage and rusts. You have to go party with Prestigious Pete again, trying to sell him on a transaction, as he tells you about how he was thrilled to get into MENSA and laughs about all of the banker wannabes on WSO. After dealing with this all the time, you do your best to avoid rolling your eyes and gritting your teeth. The dreams of hang gliding and trackdays float away as you continue grinding it out day after day.

There is no such thing as work-life balance. There are only work-life trade-offs.

Some money- SOME money- is nice. Once you get to six figures, other things become more important.

 

Ahh what did IP say the second time? I knew he got in on this via his first reply, but I did not read what he said for number two. The period is so elusive. Aghh.....

Like it might be a double post, but even if there was twice as much insight, OP might 'get-it' the second time around.

 
BTbanker:
WTF. You're on WSO, but you don't like finance? Second, Porsche and Ducati? What are you, a peasant?
BMW makes a more expensive bike, but Ducs do waay better on performance. (Actually the Suzuki Hayabusa has more horsepower than the Duc, but I think the Duc 1298 wins out on overall performance and finesses the Hayabusa out of the competition.)

I still find it hilarious that a $5K Honda CBR F4i with a reasonably skilled rider can beat a $500K Ferrari to any moderately safe speed (I define unsafe as above ~130 mph).

 
IlliniProgrammer:
BTbanker:
WTF. You're on WSO, but you don't like finance? Second, Porsche and Ducati? What are you, a peasant?
BMW makes a more expensive bike, but Ducs do waay better on performance. (Actually the Suzuki Hayabusa has more horsepower than the Duc, but I think the Duc 1298 wins out on overall performance and finesses the Hayabusa out of the competition.)

I still find it hilarious that a $5K Honda CBR F4i with a reasonably skilled rider can beat a $500K Ferrari to any moderately safe speed (I define unsafe as above ~130 mph).

Lol, I wasn't knocking the price of the bike relative to its speed. I was relishing the fact that OP wants to be a banker so he can afford a 10k bike.
 
Zargo:
I want to get sloshed at the county club with Prestigious Pete after eighteen holes and wake up in a hotel I've never seen before with a champagne hangover.

Muchacho, just drop me a line and lay out the skinny. Convene at the country club we shall...we'll drink cognac and talk about sweater vests.

Who am I? Read more here: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/prestigious-pete
 
Prestigious Pete:
Zargo:
I want to get sloshed at the county club with Prestigious Pete after eighteen holes and wake up in a hotel I've never seen before with a champagne hangover.

Muchacho, just drop me a line and lay out the skinny. Convene at the country club we shall...we'll drink cognac and talk about sweater vests.

Broski, how did it feel to get rejected from Harvard undergrad?

***Does a few non-target UIUC kicks in the air. Heads back to his rusty honda.

 

It's 100% relevant until you actually achieve the level of wealth to buy those things without thinking... then you realize that they are nothing to guys who can go out and buy yachts without thinking... then you realize that there are guys who can go out and buy entire companies. You see where I'm going with this. Money is the easiest of motivations in my opinion. It is easy to say that you are doing finance for the money or your starting a company to get insanely, stupid rich. Very few people I know have gotten truly rich by looking out only for the money. Money ends up blinding you to the opportunity down the road if you focus on the concept or succeeding at whatever you are doing in the company you work for.

I'll reiterate for whatever it is worth (and yes, i'm slightly hammered at this point on a Friday) that when you are actually crushing champagne at the club with prestigous pete you'll probably end up caring about something that you don't have relative to whatever money you have accumulated at that point. Short answer: Yes, money is a motivator that we all have. It is more about keeping it in check relative to everything else in your life.

 

Money is something you spend, not earn. If you need more, just arrange for another distribution from your trust fund. Isn't that how it works for everyone?

All I care about in life is accumulating bananas
 

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