Do Bankers and Analysts on Wall Street...?

Question

Do bankers and analysts on Wall Street receive any free/personal time or do work their whole lives?

Answer 1

Very competitive. Must work. Some personal time on weekends. Work hard most of the time. Play hard the rest.

The goal is to make as much money as you can in a decade or two, then retire with it and enjoy life then.

Answer 2

Yes, some free time. But the most successful ones work 12+ hrs a day, 6 days a week, and 2-4 hrs on Sunday. This is the expectation to work for Goldman Sachs.

If you do well, you could become very wealthy in a few years time, then retire or move to a semi-normal 10 hr day schedule M-F, and sometimes weekends.

A friend of mind worked for a hedge fund and said he was working about 80+ hrs a week.

It is also better if you are not married (or have a co-dependent gf/bf) in the first 5-7 years of your career, or wait until you have "made it."

And don't even think of having kids in an early investment banking-related career. You'll never see them.

Your spouse must be extremely understanding that this job is like being married to a business. It is prob better to date/ meet people who are in the same business. They understand the commitments, and demands of the job. Both of you will realize that you will not have a normal relationship for many years, and will not care, cause the job will be #1 in your life.

If you lose or slow that focus the job (and money pot) suffers.



The job is extremely demanding. If one does not commit 1000% to the job, you'll get taken out. There are too many hungry people who will do whatever it takes to make it.

You work to the point where you are happy with what you made, and have saved and invested so you can have a easy life LATER.

:)