Spending is down & Salaries
are up so let’s talk $avings
Happy Monday! I know just the exact thing you guys want to talk about on a busy Monday is money… whether it be your savings account, whether it be your credit card bills, or those expenses that rack up that you haven’t sent over to your admin yet, whatever it is — no-one likes to talk about money. Unless it’s about how much we’re making, am I right?
$120,000 is only $80,040 in Manhattan was the headline for a prior post… so thought I would expand on that a bit.
^^Was interesting to get a perspective from our folks on LinkedIn and then I started doing the math myself… (excuse my excel formatting, it’s been a minute clearly)
Now whether you’re making $120k base or $100k base with a signing bonus… IDEA IS YOU SHOULD BE SAVING!
The above are some assumptions I took from various ‘Cost of Living NYC’ websites. Maybe you’re saving on rent but spending more on Tao tables, idk — you get the point.
And I put this together because in all honesty, in my first finance gig — I didn’t save at all (I mean back then [5-6 years ago lol] I was making like 1/3 of what bankers are making today… for me it didn’t happen until later (start-up equity) which brings me to the point here…. (scroll down)
Whether you’re saving $75k or $100k or whether you’re spending $200 on an Equinox membership or $9.99 at Planet Fitness (staying fit is important) or whether you’re spending $2k on those YSL clutches or $1200 on multiple pairs of Ferragamos… (looking and feeling good is important as well & you should splurge since you work hard)…
My real point is: if you navigate finance correctly these first few years — you will make a lot.
Maybe don’t ball out on EVERYTHING just yet, but understand that if you plan on sticking around in finance, do the whole banking A2A or potentially move to the buyside gig — either way, you will have plenty of cash coming your way. Now I’m a big believer that real money comes in the form of equity, carry, co-invest, etc… BUT you have to think realistically here, most grads don’t even make what you’re going to have in savings this year… just think about that.
So when people ask me “should I try to lateral to a bulge?” or “should I try and aim for this top-tier PE?”
YES! TAKE THE RISK, after all — you’re taking a risk on the person in the mirror.
if you spend $5-10k locking in your future dream gig, locking in a $250-$350k job which will only appreciate in value, it’s not going to hurt as much as you think it is.