How much money saved before you'd bounce from biglaw? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

[bruinfan10]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Way to be, that's awesome! You must be a pretty great attorney to last eight years in the meatgrinder. Sounds like you saved consistently and did everything right. Unfortunately, starry-eyed 0Ls will have no idea how crazy hard it is to last that long.

[VentureMBA]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Well done and congratulations, this is an incredible outcome.

I assume you're intending to move from your VHCOL city if you go the early retirement route? $1.7-2M doesn't seem like nearly enough to retire in CA or NYC, especially if you have kids.

[Anonymous User]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Well done and congratulations, this is an incredible outcome.

I assume you're intending to move from your VHCOL city if you go the early retirement route? $1.7-2M doesn't seem like nearly enough to retire in CA or NYC, especially if you have kids.

I'm in that NW range in my mid-30s with two kids in a MCOL city, and absolutely could not swing retirement right now unless I moved to a LCOL area and dropped all paid childcare. I love my kids very much, but taking care of them full time is more work than work (and often just as stressful).

It's nice to dream, but I think most people hit those theoretical retirement NW numbers and realize that simply bugging out and quitting the workforce because you have a certain amount of money doesn't make much sense.

[Anonymous User]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Way to be, that's awesome! You must be a pretty great attorney to last eight years in the meatgrinder. Sounds like you saved consistently and did everything right. Unfortunately, starry-eyed 0Ls will have no idea how crazy hard it is to last that long.

Thank you! It wasn't easy and there were some bumps along the way. Some things that I practiced or learned that might be of help to others:

-Figure out what you're good at. I started off in litigation, and was mediocre at best. I almost certainly would not have lasted as long in biglaw if I had stayed in litigation. My group got slow, so I had to be flexible and find other groups to work with. The type of law I got into (not entertainment work, but something along those lines) was much more conducive to my personality.

-Find good partners to work for, who provide good feedback and will go to bat for you. Working for a bad partner will make your life miserable, and will shorten the amount of time that you can last in biglaw.

-Don't keep up with the joneses. Find out what actually brings you joy, spend reasonable amounts of money on those things, and save/invest the rest.

-I bought a house early in my career. Figured, worst case scenario, I could get a couple roommates if I lost my job. Lots of people mistakenly think you need to front 20% down. That's not correct for first time homebuyers. You likely only need to put down 3-5% (and potentially even less). Run the numbers and see if homebuying might make sense, and even consider roommates/house hacking when you're young.

-If you're interested in in-house, start applying as soon as you start meeting requirement levels. Be tenacious and keep at it. It may take years (it did for me). In-house gigs are hyper competitive. Lots of attorneys want out of the billable hour environment, and it'll likely take you many applications and interviews to finally land the gig you're after.

Best of luck!

[Anonymous User]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Well done and congratulations, this is an incredible outcome.

I assume you're intending to move from your VHCOL city if you go the early retirement route? $1.7-2M doesn't seem like nearly enough to retire in CA or NYC, especially if you have kids.

Thank you! Appreciate the kind words. Not currently intending to move. Also, $1.7-$2M should be plenty, particularly since my spouse and I keep finances separate, we already own property (typically the biggest expense), and they pay for their share of the mortgage. I estimate that $1.7M in investments (assuming 90% success rate in FIREcalc, factoring in my portion of fixed mortgage and 70% of estimated social security at 62) should allow me to spend about $76,000/year, less taxes ($53,000 for non-housing expenses). I spend about $45,000/year now ($22,000 for non-house expenses), so this should be plenty.

If we have a kid, that would impact finances but not terribly so. We would do foster to adopt, which provides healthcare and a stipend (doesn't cover all costs but it helps offset some). Daycare is only for the first few years until school starts (plus I might stay at home parent for a few years if I'm early retired). Kiddo would also go to public schools, and we would pay for only a certain amount for college (think it's good for the kid to have some skin in the game). Even with a kid, I could make $1.7-$2M work.

[Anonymous User]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Well done and congratulations, this is an incredible outcome.

I assume you're intending to move from your VHCOL city if you go the early retirement route? $1.7-2M doesn't seem like nearly enough to retire in CA or NYC, especially if you have kids.

Thank you! Appreciate the kind words. Not currently intending to move. Also, $1.7-$2M should be plenty, particularly since my spouse and I keep finances separate, we already own property (typically the biggest expense), and they pay for their share of the mortgage. I estimate that $1.7M in investments (assuming 90% success rate in FIREcalc, factoring in my portion of fixed mortgage and 70% of estimated social security at 62) should allow me to spend about $76,000/year, less taxes ($53,000 for non-housing expenses). I spend about $45,000/year now ($22,000 for non-house expenses), so this should be plenty.

If we have a kid, that would impact finances but not terribly so. We would do foster to adopt, which provides healthcare and a stipend (doesn't cover all costs but it helps offset some). Daycare is only for the first few years until school starts (plus I might stay at home parent for a few years if I'm early retired). Kiddo would also go to public schools, and we would pay for only a certain amount for college (think it's good for the kid to have some skin in the game). Even with a kid, I could make $1.7-$2M work.

Congrats! If I may ask, could you provide some guidelines on how you chipped away at your debt and was able to amass so much savings so quickly? I'm now starting to pay off my debt and I couldn't fathom saving up as much as you have in that time span.

[Anonymous User]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Well done and congratulations, this is an incredible outcome.

I assume you're intending to move from your VHCOL city if you go the early retirement route? $1.7-2M doesn't seem like nearly enough to retire in CA or NYC, especially if you have kids.

Thank you! Appreciate the kind words. Not currently intending to move. Also, $1.7-$2M should be plenty, particularly since my spouse and I keep finances separate, we already own property (typically the biggest expense), and they pay for their share of the mortgage. I estimate that $1.7M in investments (assuming 90% success rate in FIREcalc, factoring in my portion of fixed mortgage and 70% of estimated social security at 62) should allow me to spend about $76,000/year, less taxes ($53,000 for non-housing expenses). I spend about $45,000/year now ($22,000 for non-house expenses), so this should be plenty.

If we have a kid, that would impact finances but not terribly so. We would do foster to adopt, which provides healthcare and a stipend (doesn't cover all costs but it helps offset some). Daycare is only for the first few years until school starts (plus I might stay at home parent for a few years if I'm early retired). Kiddo would also go to public schools, and we would pay for only a certain amount for college (think it's good for the kid to have some skin in the game). Even with a kid, I could make $1.7-$2M work.

Congrats! If I may ask, could you provide some guidelines on how you chipped away at your debt and was able to amass so much savings so quickly? I'm now starting to pay off my debt and I couldn't fathom saving up as much as you have in that time span.

No trick to it. Just prioritized increasing salary as much as possible, kept expenses low, refi'd and paid off student loans, and invested everything else (whether in the markets or in property for my first house). It gets progressively easier. It felt like it took forever to pay off all the student loans and save up the first $100K. But once you get there, it gets easier every year due to compound interest and (hopefully) decent market returns (which, in the long run, should be about 7-10% on average if you invest in simple index funds).

[Anonymous User]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Well done and congratulations, this is an incredible outcome.

I assume you're intending to move from your VHCOL city if you go the early retirement route? $1.7-2M doesn't seem like nearly enough to retire in CA or NYC, especially if you have kids.

Thank you! Appreciate the kind words. Not currently intending to move. Also, $1.7-$2M should be plenty, particularly since my spouse and I keep finances separate, we already own property (typically the biggest expense), and they pay for their share of the mortgage. I estimate that $1.7M in investments (assuming 90% success rate in FIREcalc, factoring in my portion of fixed mortgage and 70% of estimated social security at 62) should allow me to spend about $76,000/year, less taxes ($53,000 for non-housing expenses). I spend about $45,000/year now ($22,000 for non-house expenses), so this should be plenty.

If we have a kid, that would impact finances but not terribly so. We would do foster to adopt, which provides healthcare and a stipend (doesn't cover all costs but it helps offset some). Daycare is only for the first few years until school starts (plus I might stay at home parent for a few years if I'm early retired). Kiddo would also go to public schools, and we would pay for only a certain amount for college (think it's good for the kid to have some skin in the game). Even with a kid, I could make $1.7-$2M work.

Congrats! If I may ask, could you provide some guidelines on how you chipped away at your debt and was able to amass so much savings so quickly? I'm now starting to pay off my debt and I couldn't fathom saving up as much as you have in that time span.

No trick to it. Just prioritized increasing salary as much as possible, kept expenses low, refi'd and paid off student loans, and invested everything else (whether in the markets or in property for my first house). It gets progressively easier. It felt like it took forever to pay off all the student loans and save up the first $100K. But once you get there, it gets easier every year due to compound interest and (hopefully) decent market returns (which, in the long run, should be about 7-10% on average if you invest in simple index funds).

Got it; makes sense. Much appreciated!

[M458]

Returns the last 5-10 years have also outpaced historical stock returns, so a lot of the numbers you see for folks on here who have recently left big law are uniquely high due to abnormally high returns.

[JusticeChuckleNutz]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Well done and congratulations, this is an incredible outcome.

I assume you're intending to move from your VHCOL city if you go the early retirement route? $1.7-2M doesn't seem like nearly enough to retire in CA or NYC, especially if you have kids.

Thank you! Appreciate the kind words. Not currently intending to move. Also, $1.7-$2M should be plenty, particularly since my spouse and I keep finances separate, we already own property (typically the biggest expense), and they pay for their share of the mortgage. I estimate that $1.7M in investments (assuming 90% success rate in FIREcalc, factoring in my portion of fixed mortgage and 70% of estimated social security at 62) should allow me to spend about $76,000/year, less taxes ($53,000 for non-housing expenses). I spend about $45,000/year now ($22,000 for non-house expenses), so this should be plenty.

If we have a kid, that would impact finances but not terribly so. We would do foster to adopt, which provides healthcare and a stipend (doesn't cover all costs but it helps offset some). Daycare is only for the first few years until school starts (plus I might stay at home parent for a few years if I'm early retired). Kiddo would also go to public schools, and we would pay for only a certain amount for college (think it's good for the kid to have some skin in the game). Even with a kid, I could make $1.7-$2M work.

Congrats! If I may ask, could you provide some guidelines on how you chipped away at your debt and was able to amass so much savings so quickly? I'm now starting to pay off my debt and I couldn't fathom saving up as much as you have in that time span.

No trick to it. Just prioritized increasing salary as much as possible, kept expenses low, refi'd and paid off student loans, and invested everything else (whether in the markets or in property for my first house). It gets progressively easier. It felt like it took forever to pay off all the student loans and save up the first $100K. But once you get there, it gets easier every year due to compound interest and (hopefully) decent market returns (which, in the long run, should be about 7-10% on average if you invest in simple index funds).

I had one quick question RE your strategy for getting rid of your student loan debt and starting to amass savings. Did you focus solely on paying off your loans, and then once gone, start investing in property/markets? Or did you pay off your loans while simultaneously investing in property/markets?

Currently, I have been throwing all my extra $$ at my loans instead of investing. Just curious how you approached it since you ended up in a great place financially.

[attorney589753]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Well done and congratulations, this is an incredible outcome.

I assume you're intending to move from your VHCOL city if you go the early retirement route? $1.7-2M doesn't seem like nearly enough to retire in CA or NYC, especially if you have kids.

Thank you! Appreciate the kind words. Not currently intending to move. Also, $1.7-$2M should be plenty, particularly since my spouse and I keep finances separate, we already own property (typically the biggest expense), and they pay for their share of the mortgage. I estimate that $1.7M in investments (assuming 90% success rate in FIREcalc, factoring in my portion of fixed mortgage and 70% of estimated social security at 62) should allow me to spend about $76,000/year, less taxes ($53,000 for non-housing expenses). I spend about $45,000/year now ($22,000 for non-house expenses), so this should be plenty.

If we have a kid, that would impact finances but not terribly so. We would do foster to adopt, which provides healthcare and a stipend (doesn't cover all costs but it helps offset some). Daycare is only for the first few years until school starts (plus I might stay at home parent for a few years if I'm early retired). Kiddo would also go to public schools, and we would pay for only a certain amount for college (think it's good for the kid to have some skin in the game). Even with a kid, I could make $1.7-$2M work.

Congrats! If I may ask, could you provide some guidelines on how you chipped away at your debt and was able to amass so much savings so quickly? I'm now starting to pay off my debt and I couldn't fathom saving up as much as you have in that time span.

No trick to it. Just prioritized increasing salary as much as possible, kept expenses low, refi'd and paid off student loans, and invested everything else (whether in the markets or in property for my first house). It gets progressively easier. It felt like it took forever to pay off all the student loans and save up the first $100K. But once you get there, it gets easier every year due to compound interest and (hopefully) decent market returns (which, in the long run, should be about 7-10% on average if you invest in simple index funds).

I had one quick question RE your strategy for getting rid of your student loan debt and starting to amass savings. Did you focus solely on paying off your loans, and then once gone, start investing in property/markets? Or did you pay off your loans while simultaneously investing in property/markets?

Currently, I have been throwing all my extra $$ at my loans instead of investing. Just curious how you approached it since you ended up in a great place financially.

Not this person, but as someone who threw initial biglaw money at loans instead of investing (I was risk adverse), I wish I had been slower on paying back loans. I think depends on interest rate but if you are below 4% I would strongly consider at least a hybrid approach rather than all $ at loans.

[Anonymous User]

This. Interest rate is critical here as mine were all 6.3% and higher, but if it were 4% or lower, I would have been comfortable slowing down.

You can also split it up, pay off high interest loans quick then slow down with the lower interest ones and invest more.

[Anonymous User]

Graduated with $250K in debt. Live in a VHCOL city, and in my mid-30s. Left biglaw after 8 years to go in-house (killer gig - half the hours and low stress for similar pay close to $300k/yr all in with RSUs). Left with about $1M net worth ($850K investments, $150K house equity). Now at $1.2M net worth ($1M investments, $200K house equity). Will consider early retiring in the next 2-3 years if I can hit $1.7-$2M.

Well done and congratulations, this is an incredible outcome.

I assume you're intending to move from your VHCOL city if you go the early retirement route? $1.7-2M doesn't seem like nearly enough to retire in CA or NYC, especially if you have kids.

Thank you! Appreciate the kind words. Not currently intending to move. Also, $1.7-$2M should be plenty, particularly since my spouse and I keep finances separate, we already own property (typically the biggest expense), and they pay for their share of the mortgage. I estimate that $1.7M in investments (assuming 90% success rate in FIREcalc, factoring in my portion of fixed mortgage and 70% of estimated social security at 62) should allow me to spend about $76,000/year, less taxes ($53,000 for non-housing expenses). I spend about $45,000/year now ($22,000 for non-house expenses), so this should be plenty.

If we have a kid, that would impact finances but not terribly so. We would do foster to adopt, which provides healthcare and a stipend (doesn't cover all costs but it helps offset some). Daycare is only for the first few years until school starts (plus I might stay at home parent for a few years if I'm early retired). Kiddo would also go to public schools, and we would pay for only a certain amount for college (think it's good for the kid to have some skin in the game). Even with a kid, I could make $1.7-$2M work.

Congrats! If I may ask, could you provide some guidelines on how you chipped away at your debt and was able to amass so much savings so quickly? I'm now starting to pay off my debt and I couldn't fathom saving up as much as you have in that time span.

No trick to it. Just prioritized increasing salary as much as possible, kept expenses low, refi'd and paid off student loans, and invested everything else (whether in the markets or in property for my first house). It gets progressively easier. It felt like it took forever to pay off all the student loans and save up the first $100K. But once you get there, it gets easier every year due to compound interest and (hopefully) decent market returns (which, in the long run, should be about 7-10% on average if you invest in simple index funds).

I had one quick question RE your strategy for getting rid of your student loan debt and starting to amass savings. Did you focus solely on paying off your loans, and then once gone, start investing in property/markets? Or did you pay off your loans while simultaneously investing in property/markets?

Currently, I have been throwing all my extra $$ at my loans instead of investing. Just curious how you approached it since you ended up in a great place financially.

In my first 2-3 years, I focused on paying down loans and also bought a house. School loan interest rates were initially really high (most were 6.8% I believe), but then companies starting coming out with more aggressive refi options which I utilized. From memory, I refi'd the school debt as soon as that became an option (like 3.5% over 5 year repayment period), I paid down school debt from $250K to to under six figures, and then I used a home equity loan to pay off the remaining balance (benefits included getting a mortgage deduction for the interest, somewhat similar low interest rate but over a much longer payoff period, and having the debt qualify for bankruptcy unlike student loans).

If I were you, I would probably refi student loans (if you haven't already) into a low interest 15 year loan (or whatever the max is) from First Republic (or another bank if they have better terms for a similarly long loan). If rates are, say 3.5-4.5%, I would likely pay the minimum on the loans and put all my additional funds into the markets or a downpayment for a house with the expectation/hope that you should perform better than 3.5-4.5% on average in the long run with those investments. Best of luck!