How much do you save each month? (401k/Personal Investment account)

I’m trying to figure out a way to hit the ground running in terms of saving when I begin full time (planning on ER) and was interested to know how much everyone saves each month. It’d be especially helpful if you also listed how much you put towards your 401k (if there’s any employer match include that too), and how much you put into your own savings/investment accounts. I’d really appreciate it so I could try to be sure I’m saving enough as I start my career!

Feel free to use this outline below:

  • Job Title and Year/ Industry (ER/IB/AM/PE/HF etc)
  • 401k contribution per month (indicate if this includes employer match)
  • Personal investment portfolio contribution (per month or per year)
 

Max out 401(k) 8% match Put another 70% of base into savings and vanguard taxable account Other 30% goes towards rent, vacations, meals, family, etc

Money can purchase freedom, if you have the guts to buy it
 

Same with 401k. I do about 80% and 20% respectively for the other things.

Reason why I'm so conservative, is because I drunkenly yolo-ed away all $45,000 of savings I had from my four college internships (two SAs) and high school jobs on super risky options during spring break my senior year of college.

Came out of that with $500. I learned a hard lesson that week.

 
  • 1st year IB analyst
  • $500 backdoor roth contribution per month
  • 3% 401k match thru employer
  • also invest $100-200 extra I have per month in a taxable brokerage account

Side note: I only do index investing in my portfolio and allocate accordingly: SP 500 25%, Midcap 25%, Smallcap 25%, Healthcare 10%, International 10%, Corp bonds 5%

I'm saving up for a new car, so it would be a lot more, but I think that's a good starting point for just starting out

 

The very first thing you should do is set aside 6 months of expenses in a high yield savings account as your emergency stash

This is what I've been doing: * Max out 401k (8% employer match) * Max out Roth IRA * $1k per month into aftertax brokerage account * $1k per month into high yield savings account (I like having liquidity)

 

Who is matching 8%? That's essentially an A1->A2 raise lol, probably more if you're a third year

 
thexfactor336:

This is what I've been doing: * Max out 401k (8% employer match) * Max out Roth IRA * $1k per month into aftertax brokerage account * $1k per month into high yield savings account (I like having liquidity)

WTF am I doing with my life, I should have gone CF, holy crap. I'd be overly content just with 2/4 of those.

 

Associate in IB:

401k maxed with bonus (+ employer match)

$1-2k per month in SPY (I'm 80% equities and 70% of that is in SPY)

Have about 1.5 years of rent + living expenses in savings in case of any layoffs

 

VP in IB Was saving $4.5-5K/month in base + all of bonus pre COVID. 401K maxed out. With no eating out, drinking, vacation / trips - savings went to more like $7K-8K/month just on base. It’s kind of absurd.

SO makes enough $ so can share what I would say fairly low cost apt in Manhattan + trips, etc. Don’t have kids or other expensive things. MBA loan, which was fully financed paid off a while back.

Think right now I’m 70% stock / 401K (mostly vanilla index) and 30% cash. Didn’t go in at dip and also held back some before that knowing we are in 11 year bull run

 
Most Helpful

Manager in AM (I manage products and problems, not people)

Just enough to max the 401k match, which I think is 5%. The company can put in up to an extra 5% at their discretion at year end, but fat chance of that happening this year. The stock's down 50% YTD. The reason for this is the investments suck, and they're actually in the middle of being sued for it. (funny for an AM firm)

My primary personal card, which I put almost everything except rent on kicks me 2% back into an IRA each year. Given that I'd guess that I put about $30k on it, that's another $600. I sweep it into my Roth each December. (I'm not eligible for direct contributions)

My main goal recently has been to get my emergency fund up to $100k, not counting the $10-15k I keep in checking for liquidity. Under normal situations that would be closer to 24 months than 12, and if I buckle down, I'm sure that I could stretch it a good deal past 24. AM is scary right now, and despite being in the hottest part of it, I want to be safe.

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 
anabananaboat:
Which card is this?

Fidelity Retirement Rewards Visa. (used to be an AmEx) I really hate stumping for a card that is offered by a company that is in some ways our competitor, but I like it, and it doesn't have an annual fee. You don't get lounge access, but the lounges for my infrequent flights are crappy anyway.

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

More senior in my career now, so the numbers are very different (but still max out my 401k and get a very good employer match).

When I started my career:

1) max out employer match and try to max out contributions. I think my first year I got close and was at $12k for the year and then ~$6k company match

2) $1k a month to a personal investment account. Used vanguard and just used some diversified funds.

In a high COL area it’ll be tough if you don’t have roommates. I had a roommate so spent $1,500 a month on rent, and didn’t spend a whole lot on entertainment until the weekends (and light travel, usually cheaper).

 

I put 7% into my 401k (my employer matches up to 6% so a total of 13% savings there). I don't hit the contribution limit, but I am building up savings to make real estate purchase in the next 1-2 years.

~15% of post-tax base salary into savings/investment account

~13% of post-tax base salary into student loan payment (technically not savings, but will be once the student loan is paid off)

Aim to save ~65% of my post-tax bonus/stock award

Reading some of your replies, I feel like I'm def not saving enough. I do live in NYC so COL is high for me especially since I no longer live with room mates

 

First year analyst in ER going to second year next month.

Roth 401k: $1k per month get $3k match + historically ~4.5% contribution in profit share (not expecting that much this year)

Throw another 3-5ish hundred bucks a month into savings account and will be banking 100% of whatever bonus I hopefully get this year.

Saved a lot more when I was in IB with higher pay and lower living expenses but I digress

 

you all sound like FIRE advocates. do your peers save at this rate? Is your savings rate propelled by the # of hours youre working every week i.e. no time to spend money?

i'm genuinely amazed that you all save this much in tier 1/2 cities. i've never been a models and bottles guy and i've always had a roommate or partner splitting rent. I never came close to saving this amount pre-bonus

 

Expedita adipisci tempora sequi facere totam dicta. Ipsam delectus facilis voluptatem fuga praesentium. Culpa est et eos voluptas.

Similique excepturi perferendis ipsum non. Voluptatem voluptas sint atque numquam adipisci temporibus. Mollitia nulla placeat id sed eum. Explicabo facilis est qui id ut exercitationem soluta non.

Sit voluptatem iste necessitatibus est quas debitis sint. Est veniam dolores voluptatem sunt. Doloremque illum quam odit qui autem nostrum beatae at. Dolor cupiditate accusantium atque magni in voluptate deleniti temporibus. Enim similique provident aperiam omnis omnis et rerum nostrum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”