PEintern

19 - 8k net worth (mostly scholarships and grants)

negative 8 net worth? sounds about right - could be worse 

"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
 

Wow! Awesome stuff man. Assuming you got a 100% of your base as bonus every year that's less than 300K pre-tax in bonuses so just how did you save that much of your post-tax salary and how did you grow your money?

 

Could you breakdown how that’s possible please when factoring in taxes, rent, monthly payments on food, travel etc? Not saying incorrect but unless i’m extremely terrible with my money I am completely off this

 

Those aren’t the “norm” numbers, those are pretty high. The one thing to keep in mind is that if you stay in finance and are a top performer at a top fund, you’ll start getting some large checks in your late 20’s. That can make a huge difference in these numbers, but again, these aren’t your “average” performers. 

 
Controversial

Not sure why $500K at 27 is crazy. I’m including 401k to be clear. Taking rough comp estimates and 40% tax:
Year 1 - $150K gross or $90K net 

Year 2 - $170K gross or $100K net

Year 3 - $200K gross or $120K net 

year 4 - $275K gross or $165K net

year 5 - $325K gross or $195K net

thats $670K of net earnings before you turn 28. You could reasonably spend less than $60K per year so that’s $300K. So we’re at $370K. That $370K invested as it was received over the 5 years could have grown to $500K. 
not crazy at all. I didn’t say “by 26” - I said age 26-27. 

 
Most Helpful

I didn’t downvote but couple of things:

1) I doubt IB analysts who start today will see $130k of investment gains. That is pretty fat. We have been in an unbelievable bull run.

2) This implies you are 100% on “the path” and don’t deviate whatsoever. Know tons of smart people who leave for a great opportunity early and forfeit half a bonus. People who lateral from Blair to MS to get better PE ops. People who move markets and have 5 months left on their lease. People with student debt. Etc etc.
 

3) Spending only 60k is doable as an analyst, but it’s quite tough in NY (I spent $60k in a much lower COL city as an IB analyst). I also started spending more as I got older. $60k per year at 26-27 is maybe a bit stingy given the income levels.

So yeah, all I’m saying is that your plan works if you 1) come from money and don’t have any debt 2) graduate with the perfect job / city that puts you on the right path without the need to lateral or move cities 3) are very financially responsible and frugal out of the gate and continue to be despite having hundreds of thousands of dollars saved at 25 years old 4) you benefit from a major bull run that gives you $100k+ in investment gains

A lot of things have to go right to get you to those numbers. It’s definitely not “the norm”

For reference. I’m 4 years out of school. Lateraled after a year into IB (negative). Left half a bonus on a table to move cities for a great opportunity (negative). Invested most of my money at the bottom of covid (positive). Lived at home for an extended period of time to save money (positive). Had my parents pay for school and invested all $20k of my internship money (positive). Sitting at $290k now.

Despite all those positives / negatives i’d still say I’m an outlier. So many people I work with have jumped around jobs, moved, made good / bad investments. Life is just so much more random than graduating debt free, spending $60k per year, making 30% on your investments and getting full bonuses every year

 

I didn’t downvote you, but guessing you are getting these because: 1) living off $60k is relative “cheap” in NYC, 2) you are assuming some large investment gains (or not doing the math correctly…or maybe I didn’t) and 3) doubt this is it, but taxes get closer to 42-45% when you crack $300k. Some people may also say the comp numbers are closer to above average, but I think they are mostly fine.

So for point #1: annual: $24k in rent and another $5k in utilities, $12k in food, $10k vacations/trips, and $10k in entertainment/clothing/random spend throughout the year (which is actually not that much). That is $61k without factoring in any big spends (I.e. “bonus gift”) throughout the year (or other expenses like student loans, etc). Might be fine as an analyst, but as you get 3-4 yrs in, splitting an apt is no longer fun, you take more trips, etc. 

But even if you do that, and you factor in 8% gains (assuming lump sum investments at the end of the year) you are below $500k, I don’t have the numbers in front of me but I think you have to factor in 11-12% returns over that time for it to make sense (wouldn’t suggest that as your assumptions). 

 

Facts. Tons of people saying they have outsized savings but not really saying how they got there lol.. or just saying totally unrealistic things such as realizing incredibly huge returns on investments which I don't believe most people have realized.

 

For a data point away from the tail (or at least the right tail), I'm sitting at negative $110k. $70k in assets, $180k in student debt from my MBA. I don't regret it at all, it made total sense for me, I needed the MBA or some master's degree to get to the field I'm in and even after debt service I make more than I did before my MBA, and finally it put me on track for much higher lifetime earning. But for right now I have this monkey on my back.

 

How dare you come onto a WSO thread about net worth with an air of actually being a real human being having to make decisions with actual consequences!

Jokes aside, accepting sometimes there has to be a price for bigger gains to build a better life. This is how it's done friends.

The poster formerly known as theAudiophile. Just turned up to 11, like the stereo.
 

Just turned 28 - $800k

Bit of a long story but have been working full time since 18, got a full time back office job with a BB at age 19 while going to undergrad, and basically leveraged that into a role in a product group at said bank by age 25.

I was very intentional on my approach towards college (worked full time, lived at home, got the best education I could for lowest cost) because I have an older brother who got smoked by student loans. I also started reading on investing when I was like 16 and wanted to start investing ASAP. Opened first brokerage account at 18 and have been investing monthly in mutual funds ever since.

Should hit $1mm soon and hope to hit $2mm by 30 or 31.

 

Awesome story, would you mind sharing how you balanced full-time back office with school? How you were able to attend classes during the working hours? How you were able to achieve full-time status since I'm assuming you were in class during some hours of the day and back office probably doesn't work too many hours past 40. Very curious about the specifics of the logistics of this.

 

Long story short, since the work was “back office” in nature and not client facing, I was able to build my work schedule around my school schedule each semester.

So, if I had classes from 9-12 M W F I would just work 1-9 those days, then a normal 9-5 on Tu and Th. This is obviously not a super common arrangement, but the guy I worked for was super supportive.

All in, between work, school, commute to school, homework/studying on my own time, I was probably putting in 80-90 hours a week.

Obviously not was at all, but was well worth it. My grades suffered (3.4 gpa at a state school) but the work experience and the story was much more valuable.

Graduated with $100k net worth at 22 with 3 years of full time experience.

 

I’m an Assoc in a LCOL area and am also engaged. My fiancé is a teacher ($50k income)

Back of the envelope we are able to save $250k/year.

Existing net worth + new capital + returns gets me to about 2mm in 3 years (assuming 10% p.a.). Could be accelerated (or decelerated) by returns, which no one can control.

Just rough numbers

 

26 - $400k. Chicago, non finance. I just automate a lot of my investments in Wealthfront, and have benefitted a lot from this bull run. Saved pretty well in college from internships that helped me get a good head start.

While there are stocks that I have really liked like Nvidia after going to a big data conference in 2016 when it was $10 a share, I probably would have picked other stocks that would have been losers. Still, look up any net worth percentile for age calculator, and I’m doing just fine.

 

Just turned 27, at $650K excluding outstanding carried interest and co-invest.

Seeing as people want to hear trajectory, I left banking at 23 after receiving 2 bonuses with ~$100K in liquid savings plus $30K in retirement from maxing 401K. I banked 100% of both bonuses and saw a bit of appreciation in that time period (~$10-20K). Probably left banking at a net worth of ~$140K at 23.

Joined PE and have received 3 bonuses to date (soon will get my fourth), totaling ~$400K gross or $200-220K net of taxes which I have entirely saved aside from $10-20K. I also contribute $2K per month from my regular paychecks toward savings as well, totaling another ~$60K over the years (there were a few months I took an expensive trip, etc. where I cancelled my monthly deposit). From a liquid perspective, I had $100K when I joined PE, added another $240K over the last 3.5 years and seeing as I have ~$470K liquid right now, I’ve probably seen appreciation of $130-150K over the last 3 years - not an unreasonable rate of return across equities, crypto, etc. in a bull market.

I have also received $15-20K in retirement match from my employer each year of my second job, and that account now totals $100K or so.

All in all, sitting at $470K liquid investments, $160K retirement, $20K working cap, and then co-invest of ~$60K on leverage and ~$500K of carry dollars at work at the moment (these two should go up as we raise a new fund, but will require additional capital commit on my end as well).

Also will say that I have not felt like I live a frugal life by any means, I’ve taken a trip each year and typically spend $3-10K on my trips (balled out this year to go to Europe), I bought a relatively nice car earlier this year, and I buy myself or my loved ones anything that I want to, within reason. One of my biggest enjoyments is fine dining, and have enjoyed a number of quality meals within that time. My budgeting is much more at a macro level - I target saving a certain general amount each year, and then spend whatever I want as long as I’m generally tracking toward that saving target.

I recognize that I’ve been incredibly fortunate - my parents valued education as paramount, and always told me growing up that they would put me and my siblings through college. I was able to graduate debt free and immediately dive into a high paying job with a foundation of financial discipline. I’ve caught (potentially) the back end of a bull market and benefitted from it meaningfully. I’m thankful for where I’m at, whether it is an outlier or the norm. My current goal is working toward buying an apartment in my HCOL area - I’m at or near the financial ability to do so, but also want to take the time to purchase something I’m comfortable with.

 

28, net worth translated to USD approximately $95k. No debt, about $70k in ETFs, approximately $12k in pensions, remainder in cash. 

I started working fairly late (25, travelled for a couple of years after college) and spent the last few years at a ratings agency so haven't been making anything like banker money.

Just moved over to AM, not exactly making the big bucks I hear US analysts talk about on this forum, but hopefully the money starts flowing in over the next few years. 

 

I'll go. Mid 30s. Household net worth probably somewhere in the low hundreds (of thousands, not millions...).

Wife had expensive undergrad student loans, plus we both did bschool and that took a good chunk of change outta the net worth too. But hey, bschool also allowed us to jack up our incomes and projected income growth, so it's probably still going to be worth it in the end.

If you're an IB analyst being paid anywhere remotely close to street, you're on a path to being worth multiple millions by the time you retire. Appreciate it.

 

Not sure, either low 8 figures or $0. My NW is heavily allocated into early stage companies ATM. If equity markets blow up, then I'll basically be a serf for the foreseeable future. Don't have a decent liquidity event until maybe Q1 or Q2 at the earliest. Feel good though and I don't have any dependents, so no real risk. I have some "guaranteed" income but I wouldn't collect on it unless we delivered excellent performance as I believe it's immoral to charge fees if your work underperforms. 

Got here by bootstrapping some niche companies in my early 20s, then doing some early stage + turnarounds. Now mostly turnaround.

Right now running one of our portfolio companies that I'll raise a Series A for in Q1. Probably take a couple million out via secondaries but not sure. I am definitely someone who needs massive performance pressure to actually work, otherwise I get really lazy. Big reason I don't pay myself a salary if I am being honest.

 
ConfusedGuru

22 years old, ~300k NW. Source: Parents. Paid off my education fully. Have a couple million in the bank for me (not including this in NW) and paid for a house in CA for me that's worth over a million.

Please stop these threads btw, it never ends well. Everyone starts off with a different hand, and life isn't fair.

Or... just don't respond?

 

29. Currently IBD Sr. Associate at BB infra. Before that hedgefund and two start-up exits as side hustles (full time for two years).

$14mn total. Breakdown is-

$.3mn saved from base comp

$7mn (and about to double in next round) in private shares from most recent startup

$1mn from first start up

$3mn in investment gains and bonuses from HF investing days

About $2mn from consulting/board seats (mostly private shares but also cash)

 

All sweat equity - came up with them myself or reached out to growing companies I believed in, built trust with c-suite, added value, then took a board seat etc. My value add to founding start-up teams, even 2nd time founders, is help on fundraising strategy, strategy, corporate governance, and IR. I also help make connections in my network etc.

As for the main start-up, company is on a rocket ship. I am still on the board and am very close with the CEO. I expect a few more rounds of fundraising between now and 2024 when I expect an IPO. Company isn't really market dependent as it's product is awesome

 

35

Cash around 300k. Nothing in taxable accounts.

Retirement accounts now around 900k.

Mortgages on two nyc apartments.

I know it seems low for 10 years in finance, but I blew almost 500k cash over the years gambling, I had to help pay for high six figure wedding and I also paid for b-school.

 

Yea, I’m not really worried about retirement. Instead I’m wondering how I could retire early. Doesn’t seem possible since I live in a high cost tier 1 city and have serious lifestyle creep since getting married. But my silver bullet is possible 7 figure inheritance from my in-laws and parents. I could just invest that wisely when I get it and not take any material risks.

One word of advice, do not buy apartments in tier 1 cities. Massive headache and no real price appreciation given how high the prices already are.

 

Honestly, total lack of inertia.

I emptied my taxable account during my gambling degeneracy a few years ago. And then I needed cash for engagement ring, wedding and apartment down payment.

I keep waiting for the market to crash so I can hop in again, but the damn thing just keeps going up.

 

19 - 16.6k in retirement account and 4k in crypto = 20.6k total net worth

Hoping to reach 40k when I graduate at 22. I am a full time student, work part time, exercise everyday, diet when I can, and spend 1 day a week with my girlfriend. Parents pay for college, which I am extremely grateful for, and I will leverage it to the best of my ability. I am currently getting an associates in BA with a Finance concentration at community college and I plan to transfer to NYU, Northeastern, Baruch or Columbia to finish it off. I am aiming to work in IB with an end goal in PE.

 

Mid-20s and a few million. Got it all stowed away in one company. 

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

Shhhhhhhh it's a secret 

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

30: ~$1.5mm (VP at an EB)

Nothing exotic about how I got there, just blocking and tackling: ~8 years of banking out of school which has equated to a bit over $2mm in salary/bonus. I'd estimate I've saved/invested ~$1mm of that and the other ~$500k is investment gains. I started with ~$50k in student loans and I lost ~1 associate-level bonus due to lateral timing

I didn't really start investing till the pandemic and held a lot in cash prior to the March 2020 crash, which I went all in on near the trough in mostly S&P ETFs (and a few blue-chip single names). I've calculated that I would be at a similar net worth if I had just invested in the S&P throughout the years as I earned it rather than waiting for a dip so my new plan is to just dollar-cost average going forward.

I bought one bitcoin earlier this year when it was at $30k but other than that all my investing is vanilla ETFs and FMAANG stocks

 

Dont be discouraged. This sample is literally the top of the top of the population. You have

- top tier finance professionals, who work very highly compensated jobs out of college without the debt of a law school/medical school

who are also

- extremely knowledgeable about investing/finance. Many people can make a lot of money via engineering, medicine, business ownership, etc. but are clueless when it comes to investing. So now the people in this thread not only make a lot of money - they know what to do with it

and lastly

- self selected sampling bias. These threads are good, but also lead to the best to come out of the woodwork and self report. Someone who is behind in the savings game or isn't as impressed with their numbers will feel discouraged to report, while those who know they are good will mention it.

So combine those things and you will get some really impressive numbers here. 

 

Doing surprisingly well thanks to having limited tech exposure and a few good individual stocks such as Aflac and P&G.  It's still been a bloodbath, but not nearly as bad as some friend's. A good buddy of mine is heavily invested in tech and lost just shy of $1M in the market last week alone. That said, he can afford it.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

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