I thought the standard bonus was around 15-20 does anyone know this conclusively.
It varies all over the place depending on the firm, from 0% up to 100% of base salary. Assuming lower bonuses, you could just take no retirement deductions and come out more or less the same. Or you might have to extend to four or five years.
Then again, Big Law salaries may be higher three years from now, which is the time period people are talking about. And your salary goes up each year as well. As a ballpark estimate, three years is probably about the least anyone can think of paying off $150 - 200k of debt in, and most people could probably do it within four or five years, given the discipline to write those checks every single month.
Whether you or any other given person actually
will do this is a whole other matter. As noted above, money has a way of getting away from you when spending is your only outlet from a hellish job. And things do happen. Throw in a few little "splurges" and $4,300 per month disappears real quick ... mortgage on a house or condo in a major urban market ... lease payments on that $80,000 pimpmobile ... wardrobe upgrades, bottle service ... and so it goes.