Say goodbye to the dream

[Jason Strasser (strassa2)]

Because of my income this year, it is a very good time for me to give money because I expect to make much less next year. (tax reasons obv)

[Jonathan]

Lapoker, in general I agree with your post...the numbers
bantied about have been optimistic. Two points though
concerning your bright friend.

1. Making MD or Partner is extremely difficult and depends
more on political skills than anything else.

2. Salary+bonus does not tell the whole story. When Goldman Sachs went public a few years back the average
partner pocketed in the neighborhood of 300 million.
Just ask someone like Jon Corzine, NewJersey's current
governor, about the upside potential!

Jonathan

[hedgeyerbets]

ibankers can make upwards of 150k first year (60k or so base, 100k+ bonus). what jason is quoting for traders sounds correct.

[Jonathan]

[ QUOTE ]
la,

"these guys are simply lucky."

I don't disagree. However, the guys that get lucky in this field make orders of magnitude more than the guys that get lucky in poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

[lapoker17]

[ QUOTE ]
1. Making MD or Partner is extremely difficult and depends
more on political skills than anything else.

2. Salary+bonus does not tell the whole story. When Goldman Sachs went public a few years back the average
partner pocketed in the neighborhood of 300 million.
Just ask someone like Jon Corzine, NewJersey's current
governor, about the upside potential!


[/ QUOTE ]

i mentioned both timing and politics in my post.

[Daliman]

While Jason may posess many of the skills required to make a LOT of $$$ as a great trader, they don't all make 7 figures. Some people in this thread act like 7 figures in under 5 years is a foregone conclusion.

[Pudge714]

[ QUOTE ]
From what iv heard, 100k a year is about tops to start out, and that is if you are coming form a decent school with great grades. Jason definitely isnt getting shafted on salary.

Cero: Fora; awesome. for some reason I always say forums which is of course wrong.

edit: maybe you should speak to david about the sp error on the top of every page?

[/ QUOTE ]
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Forums
Both are acceptable.

[SlowHabit]

I just want to once again show my love for Diablo.

Simply too good.

[citanul]

jason,

best of luck, sounds like a good decision, that you've clearly put a lot of thought in to. i look forward to buying you a beer at some point.

people who don't get it,

you're all stupid.

people who don't know what hours or how much money are made by other various types of financial people,

perhaps if you got out of your desk chair and met people out in the real world every once in a while you would know things like this.

people who think that they are huge ballers because they're going to get a large inheritance,

wtf, i thought you weren't a retard?

but mostly,

good luck jason, sounds like you've thought this through and are genuinely interested in the work. it can be pretty interesting, and i think that the way you think about poker means you will think in a good way about trading, and be successful.

citanul

[BvlyHls90210]

I don't know Jason, but here are some of my thoughts after reading this thread.

Some background: I graduated undergrad in 2001, entered a similar program as Jason at Goldman Sachs, got promoted after a few years, left Goldman for hedge fund glory in 2004. End of 2005 I decided happiness was more important than money and due to a lack of better ideas started playing poker professionally.

Some random thoughts:

--From a strict dollar EV standpoint, the wall street route is much much better. It isn't even close, even for someone like Jason, an elite poker player. Those that think this is debatable do not understand what they are talking about. Read an interview with Alan Goehring, where he always makes clear that he doesn't play poker for money, if money was his interest he would go back to Wall Street.

--In the EV comparison it is important to note that only maybe a few dozen humans are capable of earning 7 figures playing poker year after year. In the financial world, there are thousands and thousands. Also consider anyone running a successful multi-billion hedge fund is making over 100 MILLION a year, and will for many years. This seems like it can't be true but it is.

--Now a lot of people make good money, but it isn't as if Jason is on the path to easy street with this job. Many, many will fail. Those that don't fail will likely hate it anyway.

--If Jason does not take these jobs now, they will simply never be available to him (although they could if he went back to bschool).

--Like ED said, if you are into finance and want to make money, this is an absolute dream job. You simply cannot be in a better position (well I guess you can invent something). But for all intents, this is as good as it gets.

--These positions are very tough to get. Just don't want people to see what Jason is doing and think it is easy. It takes a particular pedigree/connections to get in the door.

--So what is the downside? The lifestyle sucks, and the people suck. At some point you will hate life, and will be forced to choose between money and happiness.