Can an Investment Banker get rich?
A lot of people get into investment banking to get rich. But if you're aiming to join America's top 1%, you might not be in the right career.
Sure, anybody can make a good living being a doctor or a lawyer or an investment banker where you can make ~$200-500K per year a few years after you finish with your studies, but you hit a ceiling very quickly unless you start your own practice (aka start your own business).
Total compensation is often in the $150K – $250K range (as of 2022). Investment Banking Analyst Hours: You'll be in the office for 70-85 hours per week, but you won't be working for that entire time. Investment banking hours are long, but there's also significant “downtime.”
| Company Name | Avg Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. Investment Banker Salary 0 - 8 yrs exp. | ₹28.2 Lakhs ₹12.1 L/yr - ₹33.4 L/yr |
| Goldman Sachs Investment Banker Salary 0 - 3 yrs exp. | ₹45.4 Lakhs ₹20.2 L/yr - ₹74 L/yr |
In the high-stakes and fast-paced world of finance, the work-life balance of Investment Bankers often teeters on a fine line. Known for their grueling hours and the high-pressure environment of financial markets, Investment Bankers are frequently at the mercy of market fluctuations and client demands.
You are roughly earning $70k per month which is well above the average annual income of a family in USA. Even after tax its around 50k a month.
Investment banks impose a high fee based on the amount of the offering (usually 2-8% of the total deal). They earn millions of dollars in commissions as a result. They are also paid for setting an appropriate price and assembling a solid network of enthusiastic investors about the company's long-term prospects.
The lucrative and fast-paced career of an investment banker is a highly competitive one. For instance, in a recent year, 236,000 applicants competed for roughly 3,500 internships at Goldman Sachs. This is common across the industry where acceptance rates for programs are typically less than 2%.
Investment bankers meet with clients, prepare offers, run financial projections, and work on pitchbooks, that help generate new clients. The work is lucrative but the days are long and stressful. Superior social skills are required for success in the field.
- Data Scientist.
- Investment Banker.
- Corporate Lawyer.
- Project Manager.
- Senior Software Engineer.
- Chief Executive Officer.
- Financial Analyst.
- Chartered Accountant.
Do investment bankers make a million?
It is possible to become a millionaire as an investment banker, but it is not easy. Investment bankers typically earn salaries in the $200,000 to $700,000 range, with bonuses that can bring their total income up to several million dollars per year.
More experienced managing directors and partners can earn several million dollars per year. Bonuses make up the majority of an investment banker's total compensation and are largely influenced by individual performance and bank profits.
It is fairly common for front-office investment bankers to be earning over US$1m after 8 years in the industry. But it caps out at around US$20m, which is how much a top-performing investment banking CEO gets.
Most former bankers have reported that it is quite uncommon for an analyst to hit the 100-hour mark. Apparently, this only happens occasionally (once a month) when an analyst is working on multiple live deals or poorly aligned international projects.
Age plays a huge factor in the decision-making process. Wall Street is an up-and-out industry. Unless the goal is senior management, most people in finance are out of there by age 50. That's not at just the biggest investment banks, either.
In 2020, according to Pew Research Center analysis, the median for upper income households was around $220,000 and the median for middle income households was slightly above $90,000.
Entering the top 1% of earners requires an average annual income of $819,324. In the highest echelon — the top 0.1% — the average income is $3.3 million.
If you had an income of $200,000, that would put you in the top 12% of household incomes or the top 5% of individual incomes in 2022. Though I prefer household income over individual income, no matter how you cut it, $200k a year puts you on the higher end of the income spectrum.
Do investment bankers find their jobs meaningful? On average, investment bankers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.4/5. The majority of investment bankers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
Even with education, experience, and enthusiasm, investment banking might not be for you. Investment bankers work long hours and often earn a high income. Lack of work-life balance is one reason to avoid becoming an investment banker. Investment bankers must also be able to manage high-pressure situations.
Is being an investment banker prestigious?
That said, investment banking is a highly competitive field. Because the pay is so high and the job is so prestigious, particularly in cities such as New York, applicants far outnumber job openings every year.
Investment banking is a quantitative field, and having a strong foundation in mathematics is essential. If you're considering a career in investment banking, it's important to have a deep understanding of mathematical concepts such as calculus, probability, and statistics.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that securities, commodities and financial services sales careers—which include investment bankers—will grow by 7% from 2022 to 2032. This projected growth is faster than the 3% growth projected for all occupations nationwide.
You will make more than any other career path
If you stay on as a banker for life, you can go from making $150K per year as an Analyst, to $300K per year as an Associate, to $450K per year as a VP and then much more if you can continue to get promoted.
How Many Hours Do Investment Bankers Actually Work? Investment banking is not a normal 9-to-5 job — investment bankers can work anywhere from 60 to over 100 hours per week, depending on the company and the deals at hand.
