<p>Their salaries are disgustingly high, with bonuses, your salary the first year is about $200k-300k. And three years in you can be making $650,000. Is it worth it, because I am a freshman in high school and its something I'm interested in. I love business and finance, i watch the stock market everyday and invest with fake money, and my dad and I talk and the stock market and etc... at dinner. When he was a teen he thought about being one, he went to school for business. My moms brother worked on wall street and made millions of dollars a year. But it sucked the life out of him. Is it worth it working 70-100 hrs a week and dealing with all the stress? When I'm older I honestly don't want to be married and have a job like that where I work a lot and hard, and analyze the market. That kind of stuff intrigues me. But is it worth that lifestyle and all the stress. I love big cities also.</p>
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… /thread.</p>
<p>“with bonuses, your salary the first year is about $200k-300k. And three years in you can be making $650,000”
That’s exactly what investment bankers make. Great future money wise, especially for the upcoming couple of years.</p>
<p>“i watch the stock market everyday and invest with fake money, and my dad and I talk and the stock market and etc… at dinner”
Precisely what investment bankers do. Make sure that you tell your interviewers that during your interviews for investment banking analyst positions a few years down the road.</p>
<p>“When I’m older I honestly don’t want to be married and have a job like that where I work a lot and hard, and analyze the market”
Investment bankers analyze the market for a living. Make sure you can handle what it involves.</p>
<p>Try 120-130k max for first year (analyst) and 250-280k max after 3 years (associate)</p>
<p>The most you’ll ever see a 1st year make is $160k…but those days are LONG gone with all this regulation and the economy. Nowadays, first years top out at 135k. After 3 years in banking, you’ll be an associate making between 200k-500k. It’s worth it in my opinion. With banking on your resume, ALOT more doors will open for you, the experience you’ll get as an analyst is invaluable, the contacts you’ll get in banking are great and the pay isn’t too bad…where else can a 23 year old make 6 figures out of college?</p>
<p>Best way to land a good job as an investment banker? i’m a senior in high school and will be applying to business schools, not ivies, but top 15-25s. What do you think would set me up the best for landing a job as an analyst making good money, with a great opportunity for moving up in a company? </p>
<p>I watch the stock market every day and try to follow trends, and i’m very interested in finance. I was thinking of getting a major in finance, but what would I need to get after that to set me up for what I previously mentioned? Double major with banking or accounting, minoring?</p>
<p>Lastly, how important is it to get an MBA? I would very much like to get one, but when is the best time? can you get one while you’re with the company, or do you need to get one before you even get a job as an analyst?</p>
<p>I know i’m still a bit young, but I hope to get some questions answered from people with experience, or at least knowledge of common paths that work out for people who are successful. Thanks, and I hope this answers the questions of the many other people that are patrolling CC :)</p>
<p>btw i’m a hard worker, and I’m not deterred by 70+ hours a week while i’m young since it would allow me to enjoy life more as an adult with a family.</p>
<p>I hope my ironic tone wasn’t lost in my message. Now, you wouldn’t make 135k unless you are a top performer, your group is a top performing group, and/or your bank is a top performing bank among the bulge bracket (GS, MS, JPM). Most first year analysts get paid between 80k-100k all in now.</p>
<p>SoCalStudent3
Tough years are ahead. If you go to UCB, then major in finance and stay in the top 5% of your class. If you don’t attend Haas or Ross, then try to transfer to an Ivy, Stanford, Duke, MIT, Northwestern or UChicago. There’s no need to follow the stock market or to trade stock if you want to go into investment banking (as opposed to sales & trading and capital markets), but do keep up with deals (Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobile, etc.).</p>
<p>I second what Polo was getting at. If you’re a freshman in high school, you should be thinking about girls and hanging out with your friends while you still can.</p>
<p>Further support to the “it’s too early” comments. It’s great that you’re thinking ahead and setting some goals, but don’t lose sight of the here and now.</p>
<p>A few comments to tack on to what was mentioned above:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Banking is a very cyclical industry. Yes when times are good there’s a lot of money to be made, but when times are bad banks throw their lower level folks overboard like there’s no tomorrow. Getting into, or staying in, these positions has as much to do with luck as it does with skill. Who knows what the market will look like 8 years from now.</p></li>
<li><p>Even during good times banking is very much a pyramid structure. The quotes above are talking about what one will see 3 years in… keep in mind that many people never get that far. The market is flooded at the moment with folks that were bright eyed eager bankers who could just never make it off the bottom rung–some because the individual didn’t have what it takes and some because the firm they worked for didn’t have what it takes. Often they bounce around between a firm or two in low level positions and before long they have a stigma over their head because of that.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>try projecting growth of economy and stock market over the next 10-20 years (cf Japan since 1990) and you will have a clear picture of how desirable it is to be in this business.</p>