Oh man. I need to keep repeating to myself "I love being done at 4pm, I love being done at 4pm" when I see these numbers.
Yeah, trust me, there are many reasons I didn't try harder to stay on the PE path. You're doing the right thing!
Considering I went to the easy portfolio management side after IB, you are definitely on the right path! I miss the money but I do appreciate seeing the sun again. I will say that I miss a lot of the fun work.
I have never really known what investment bankers do, beyond the stuff in tacom's description (i.e., late nights, big money). A lot of people I knew in college took investment banking jobs right out of school, but most left after a couple years. DH's best friend from college is the only person I know who is still doing it--he's been an investment banker for 15 years now. Every time we see him (not all that often since he's in New York and we aren't), he appears to be dripping in money, and he seems very concerned about DH and I's financial picture. He keeps saying things like "it's admirable that you don't place any value on making money" (though I get the impression that "admirable" = "crazy" in his world), offering to pay for our kids' college educations, and saying things like "you know if you ever need help, you can always ask me." These comments strike me as both odd and offensive since, while not loaded to the degree that he is, DH and I both have good salaries in a MCOL area and are certainly able to provide for our children. But he has lost all perspective, so Obama rich is now tantamount to poor for him.
Sometimes I legitimately wonder how our relationship dynamics will change if FI leaves PE and I'm done with school. Despite living together since 2010, we have never had the chance to see much of each other lol. His hours are better now, and he's mostly home on weekends, but now I'm gone or busy every day.
Oh, I see. From a quick look at the site I'd say your friend's H is spot on in describing it as a financial services consulting firm. It looks like they are essentially consultants who provide companies with corporate financial advice and financial analysis services. Like all consultants, they provide advice and an opinion to the client, who can then decide whether they want to act on it. They do not run fund raising processes, deal with investors, or actually handle the mechanics of buying/selling a company. If I had to boil it down, I'd say they crunch a lot of data, run models, and walk clients through the results.
Investment bankers can run a lot of the same analyses as described above, but they also manage actual transactions coming out of those analyses. That's probably the best way I can describe it. Does that help?
Interesting. So, would this position be less impressive/competitive/pay less than a traditional "investment banker?"
My old asshole self says yes . There's an unwritten hierarchy and consultants are not a part of the investment banking world.
h, I fully admit that I had my head stuck up my ass while I was living in NYC in that world. A lot of people have a hard time keeping things in perspective since it's a comparison game. Just like the polls we have on this board, there's always someone with more money and a bigger bonus.
I have never really known what investment bankers do, beyond the stuff in tacom's description (i.e., late nights, big money). A lot of people I knew in college took investment banking jobs right out of school, but most left after a couple years. DH's best friend from college is the only person I know who is still doing it--he's been an investment banker for 15 years now. Every time we see him (not all that often since he's in New York and we aren't), he appears to be dripping in money, and he seems very concerned about DH and I's financial picture. He keeps saying things like "it's admirable that you don't place any value on making money" (though I get the impression that "admirable" = "crazy" in his world), offering to pay for our kids' college educations, and saying things like "you know if you ever need help, you can always ask me." These comments strike me as both odd and offensive since, while not loaded to the degree that he is, DH and I both have good salaries in a MCOL area and are certainly able to provide for our children. But he has lost all perspective, so Obama rich is now tantamount to poor for him.
How obnoxious! There is no shortage of materialistic assholes in this industry who overcompensate for failure and insecurity in certain areas of their lives by acting as though they are more important than they really are because they have money. It is funny to me because no matter how much your friend is making, guarantee you there are hundreds of people who make more than him, so why not just be a nice person? Luckily MH has worked with terrific people over the years and has been able to self-select away from people with attitudes like this.
I have never really known what investment bankers do, beyond the stuff in tacom's description (i.e., late nights, big money). A lot of people I knew in college took investment banking jobs right out of school, but most left after a couple years. DH's best friend from college is the only person I know who is still doing it--he's been an investment banker for 15 years now. Every time we see him (not all that often since he's in New York and we aren't), he appears to be dripping in money, and he seems very concerned about DH and I's financial picture. He keeps saying things like "it's admirable that you don't place any value on making money" (though I get the impression that "admirable" = "crazy" in his world), offering to pay for our kids' college educations, and saying things like "you know if you ever need help, you can always ask me." These comments strike me as both odd and offensive since, while not loaded to the degree that he is, DH and I both have good salaries in a MCOL area and are certainly able to provide for our children. But he has lost all perspective, so Obama rich is now tantamount to poor for him.
Omg. How do you respond to this?? Does he mean it in a kindly way (like maybe he is just vastly underestimating what people can make in a smaller city and he genuinely cares about you all) or to brag about where he is?
h -- that reminds me of my best friend's ex-husband and many, many, many of his friends. I was definitely looked down upon by them because I was a lowly poor lawyer. Some of their comments to me about their salaries and my lack thereof were priceless.
I was going to respond with a simple "Yes," so I don't think you're an asshole
(hug) (hug2)
Sometimes my instincts kick in and my response is not as nice as what I would say today. lol. I think it's quite interesting how difficult it is has been for me and some friends to leave this world completely, not just from the financial perspective but from the cultural. Does that make sense?
wanderlustfoodie and @lcap -- I think he kind of wants to brag, kind of wants to be nice, but has mostly just gotten really, really clueless? We've known him since we were all 18, he was the best man in our wedding, and my H is in his wedding this fall. We are clearly good friends and have been for ages; we've just made different choices. He is DS1's godfather, and I think he likes to play that up by doing the whole "My godson will go wherever he wants for school, and the hell he's taking out loans. You guys tell me if he ever needs anything!" kind of thing. That part doesn't really bother me so much, but the fact that he seems to genuinely think maybe we can't raise kids on the money we make just seems crazy. He used to be SO down to earth, and now he's just...not.
I also think he's feeding off us a little, because we have had to say "that just isn't in our budget" a few times when making plans with him. As in, several of us from college will plan to travel together, and he will propose renting like, the most expensive house in Aspen, and we'll say, "that's a little rich for our blood, can we get this more reasonable house instead?" And he'll respond "gosh, guys, I had no idea you were having trouble. Do you need help?" He is just so utterly out of touch now that being forced to go to a more afforable ski town is his definition of struggling (for the record, he and the other really big dog in the group ended up picking up the tab on the expensive house for everyone since they said they would rather just pay for it all then have to stay some place less luxurious). The last time we saw him he was telling us some story about how he and some work friends were drunk and saw some ridiculously ugly $10,000 figurine in a store window and bought it "because they thought it would be funny." DH and I were like "you spent $10,000 to be funny? That's real money!" And he was like "No, really, it's not. Seriously, do you guys need help or something?" Utterly clueless.
Post by wanderlustfoodie on Aug 2, 2013 10:53:04 GMT -5
I don't care how much money someone has; part of being a classy, sophisticated person/friend is by not making others feel uncomfortable or awkward. This guy sounds like a peach. It must be tough though since you all started out as such close friends; I'm sure that makes it harder to be as mean to him as you might like
h -- that reminds me of my best friend's ex-husband and many, many, many of his friends. I was definitely looked down upon by them because I was a lowly poor lawyer. Some of their comments to me about their salaries and my lack thereof were priceless.
Exactly! Most of the other people in our group from college are either biglaw attorneys or doctors, and the investment banker thinks we are all living like paupers. It's a crazy world.
h -- that reminds me of my best friend's ex-husband and many, many, many of his friends. I was definitely looked down upon by them because I was a lowly poor lawyer. Some of their comments to me about their salaries and my lack thereof were priceless.
Exactly! Most of the other people in our group from college are either biglaw attorneys or doctors, and the investment banker thinks we are all living like paupers. It's a crazy world.
This is not how my finance friends are at all! Where do you find these gems?! ~
Investment Banker is basically the term everyone and their mother uses when they have no clue about what actually happens in the Finance industry, broadly speaking.
I don't care how much money someone has; part of being a classy, sophisticated person/friend is by not making others feel uncomfortable or awkward. This guy sounds like a peach. It must be tough though since you all started out as such close friends; I'm sure that makes it harder to be as mean to him as you might like
This for sure.
h, wow, just wow. I can see why you guys stay friends with him because of the long history you have with him. And if you can take his comments lightly, the comedic value there is gold But I can also see why they might feel more like hurtful digs sometimes. Talk about socially inept!
Exactly! Most of the other people in our group from college are either biglaw attorneys or doctors, and the investment banker thinks we are all living like paupers. It's a crazy world.
This is not how my finance friends are at all! Where do you find these gems?! ~
College . It's really just the one guy; the rest of our friends are (mostly) normal. And he's more likeable IRL than I am making him sound. Aside from the weird money thing, he's a nice guy. But I admit that I can't imagine us becoming friends with him if we met him today. It's just different when you've known someone almost 20 years, you know? At this point we all just kind of treat him like a crazy rich uncle or something.