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Rising Star
There’s a reason they’re called golden handcuffs. You’re “living like a college student” because YOU CHOSE a home that was a stretch to afford. You’re very fortunate for that to have even been an option.
They said it’s a 1-bedroom condo. I feel like it’s reasonable to expect to be able to afford a 1-bedroom home after dropping 4 years of your life and $200k+ on a law degree. I don’t think a condo constitutes golden handcuffs
I got out of law school and realized what the reality was with the big salary big hours law firms.
I went public accounting instead and my salary isn’t impressive compared but I make six figures in a MCOL area, my house was 400k, I work 40 hours or less billed most weeks, and my benefits are excellent.
I get shit from “real” lawyers all the time and I laugh. My living expenses are so low I have a nice retirement and no debt. Being remote helps a ton and I couldn’t do it at a law firm- I tried lol.
Don’t let the golden handcuffs ruin your life
I’ve been a lawyer for five years and I’ve made nearly as much as my mother made in her entire career raising a family of three on her own. Yeah I feel rich.
Same
Not to be that guy but $210k as a 4th year is not BigLaw.
A3 $210k is good money in general but a 4th year associate in actual BigLaw made $405k total comp last year (even more, at firms with above-market kickers - I hit $435k at K&E). It’s just a totally different financial situation. I wouldn’t have commented about it in the first place if OP was talking about how “the Big Law Salary” isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, but when he’s making literally half of “Big Law Salary” that kind of changes the discussion.
I feel really rich now. Make this year more than I did in the last 10.
Mind if we ask age and net worth?
I’m not buying-a-personal-jet rich, but I should be able to retire in a VHCOL area in a few years in my late 40s or early 50s depending on inflation and stock market performance. Helps having a dual high income household and only one kid and relying on public schools.
This is rich, my friend. I'm in the same boat and planning the same thing. Love this for you.
Chief
I get what you’re saying, but to some extent, if you’re doing it right, you shouldn’t actually feel that rich. Like, my HSA, 401k, brokerage, emergency fund, etc are all healthy, but those accounts are intentionally not easy to touch, and I don’t keep a big balance sitting in my checking acct. I don’t FEEL rich day to day, but I know I’m in a strong position and on track to build real wealth over the next ~10 years if things go according to plan.
This job made me a millionaire in my 20s and a multi-millionaire in my early 30s. It absolutely sucked but after 10 years of slaving in the salt mines I no longer have to work. That is powerful.
Graduated at 24, loans were minimal due to scholarship, summer associate money, and going to school in a LCOL area. Also didn’t work in NYC and caught a lucky bull run.
I felt rich 4th year onwards. 1 to 4 I was just living and 4 onwards I was accumulating. Working class background with a single mom. Tough job but often feel blessed to have it.
It doesn’t get better even as an EP in this particular regard. One’s circumstances improve, but it is hard for it to ever feel like it’s enough.
PC, I think a lot of it is just that there are always people with more. We usually are dealing with rich clients like founders and people with going through huge exits who have vastly more.
It doesn’t feel like I am rich at all. It’s not just, or even materially, in terms of wanting to impress someone with a huge mansion or anything like that.
It’s more just that a lot of people have a lot of money, and you’re competing with those people for scarce assets and experiences. What objectively seems like it should be “rich” doesn’t feel that rich, because the more you spend on a lifestyle commensurate with being rich, the less your actual net worth goes up to where you feel “rich” in that respect either. So one either lives below their means and doesn’t feel rich in that way or lives at or above and they aren’t seeing their net worth go up enough to catch up to others in an era of vast affluence at the top of the K in our k-shaped economy.
The trick of course is just living slightly below one’s means and keeping one’s head about all of this. The reality is that there just are a lot of really rich people, a lot of people with help from their families or getting huge inheritances, founders with exits, and so on. I am just an ordinary person with a relatively high paying job who had to pay back a bunch of loans and had zero help from my family, and the reality is I’m just not rich. But I am better off than a lot of people. I just try to keep that in mind.
Rising Star
I’m a 32yo 7th year at around $300k, with 3 kids, a SAHW, 5br/3bath/2kitchen house in Northern NJ. I consider myself Upper Middle Class. Have house keepers, landscapers, savings, but not living large.
But in terms of quality time and WLB I am rich - I work 9-4 most days. And even then, I exercise mid day and will lift weights or run for 30-45 minutes 5 days per week. WFH 3 days a week - sometimes more. I even get to go to 12:10 Mass at the church next door to my office once a week most weeks. I don’t send emails after business hours except in absolute emergencies either. No weekend work ever. Spend so much time with my family every day.
Rising Star
First floor off of a living space, and second floor off of dining room
Yes.
HHI is 500k+ with one kid in VHCOL. Don't feel "rich" (what does this even mean?) but feel extraordinarily comfortable, even in VHCOL. Grew up on the high end of middle class, and I feel richer than that. On track to retire in early 50's. Only thing I'd do with even more money is retire even sooner (or move to a job that pays less that I'm more passionate about).
One thing that makes me feel pretty rich is that I'm in-house with incredible WLB (10-5). Can't tell you how much of a difference it makes to be able to spend time with friends, do your hobbies, etc. Work (mostly) sucks.
Chief
That’s super helpful, thanks!!
I make around $175k in a MCOL area. I definitely don’t feel rich but I feel comfortable, it’s taken me almost a decade to feel that way. I have $200k in student loans I’ll probably never pay off but will get forgiveness for eventually, and I’ve been able to build up a healthy retirement account. I was starting out with literally nothing, and unless my career really takes an unexpected turn I don’t ever expect to be “rich.” Growing up very poor, I am happy with comfortable.
Yes I consider myself incredibly rich
Big law first years make 250k though
Rich until it’s time to buy a house in VHCOL area and want kids :(
:(
I have a question that maybe some of you can answer for me. I’m almost finish with my Masters. I know that I don’t need it but I wanted it to be more competitive in the job market. I’m currently struggling with studying for the LSAT exam. look I’m not trying to be a Supreme Court justice or anything. Should I try for an Ivy League school? Or maybe just a local school here in Seattle? I thought about an all online law school. I would be limited to just the state of California and maybe two or three others if I did all online.
In law Ivy League is irrelevant, the similar term you’re looking for is T14. Employment data for all law schools is public, you should google how to read it and then look at the data (there are sites that aggregate it for all schools and make it easily sortable).
There are schools at the very top (i.e. the T14) where not only are you guaranteed a job, you’re nearly guarantee a BigLaw job making $245k starting with guaranteed annual raises up to $550k.
Then at the opposite end there are a bunch of predatory that no joke should be shut down and probably prosecuted because they put students into six figures of debt but leave huge chunks of the class unemployed, many more employed but not as lawyers, and of the ones who are lawyers they’re generally making like $70-80k max (which would be fine if not for the massive loans). These schools also do all sorts of shady stuff like stacking all the scholarship kids in the same section and setting minimum GPAs to guarantee that most lose their scholarship.
Then of course there’s a bunch of schools in between those extremes - pretty good schools, usually focused on whatever region they’re in, possible to get those highly paid BigLaw job but usually only the top 10-35% of the class gets them (depending which school we’re talking about). Worth attending, but not worth taking huge debts for. For Seattle I’d say UW is a great example of this.
So yeah get really damn serious about figuring out exactly what lawyer job you want and then spend a lot of time getting fluent with employment reports and analyzing what schools can realistically get you that job. Do some serious cold-hearted math on debt vs the pay you’re likely to get and whether it’s financially viable. Check out r/lawschooladmissions on Reddit for endless advice on these topics.
pay off your loans as quickly as possible!! Live below your means and appreciate what you have!!