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Yo. This has been asked before. I can't find it. Sorry.

NYC Big Law Associates. What does 160k look like after tax? I know it's about 113k after federal, but that's not including NY/NYC taxes.

I'd prefer just your monthly take-home or net annual.

CounselorNebby wrote:Yo. This has been asked before. I can't find it. Sorry.

NYC Big Law Associates. What does 160k look like after tax? I know it's about 113k after federal, but that's not including NY/NYC taxes.

I'd prefer just your monthly take-home or net annual.

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I believe it's 96k if living in NY give or take 2k.

Hey neebly are you planning on NYC biglaw because you got into Columbia? That's real neat.

El Pollito wrote:Hey neebly are you planning on NYC biglaw because you got into Columbia? That's real neat.

BRB changing name to Neebly

As a data point, my paycheck was $5,800 / month for a long time first year, which was after salary advance repayment and large-ish 401(k) contributions, and after various benefits (gym, health, dental, commuting, etc.) were deducted.

As a second year and while not making any 401(k) contributions, my pay check is closer to $8,000 / month.

I expect I'll wind up with a 4-figure tax refund.

I'm curious about this as well. How many / which firms offer an actual stipend for the bar as opposed to just a salary advance? And also, your firm made you take the money for gym, etc. out of your paycheck? I thought those were "benefits"?

You have to pay for benefits. Health insurance is expensive. Mine works out to about $537 a month but I have the most expensive plan. You may be able to pay less.

I think only a handful of firms offer a stipend instead of an advance for the bar. I wouldn't count on getting a stipend.

NYC firms are more often advances and pay for bar expenses directly, other markets are sometimes/often stipends. A big factor is whether the firm will pay for a bar course/expenses, or if they will expect you to pay for them out of a stipend.

Benefits basically always costs, some of which are picked up by the firm and others of which you pay for but on a tax advantaged basis.

My firm pays for half of your gym membership (and has a lower corporate rate), as one example. Some things are "costless" though - I can get a discount on my personal phone, because I don't know exactly why (I also have a work blackberry)

hellojd wrote:I'm curious about this as well. How many / which firms offer an actual stipend for the bar as opposed to just a salary advance? And also, your firm made you take the money for gym, etc. out of your paycheck? I thought those were "benefits"?

http://abovethelaw.com/careers/law-firm ... rst-years/

Sgt Pepper wrote:

hellojd wrote:I'm curious about this as well. How many / which firms offer an actual stipend for the bar as opposed to just a salary advance? And also, your firm made you take the money for gym, etc. out of your paycheck? I thought those were "benefits"?

http://abovethelaw.com/careers/law-firm ... rst-years/

Super helpful, thanks!!

Sgt Pepper wrote:

hellojd wrote:I'm curious about this as well. How many / which firms offer an actual stipend for the bar as opposed to just a salary advance? And also, your firm made you take the money for gym, etc. out of your paycheck? I thought those were "benefits"?

http://abovethelaw.com/careers/law-firm ... rst-years/

So most firms pay for the review course but the stipend or advance is for COL while studying?

I make ~$4,600 after tax every 2 wks as a summer & single person, so about $110,000 yearly before bonus. But my tax liability would be a little higher since I requested a few more allowances than I would FT. I will still get several thousand dollars back in my tax refund since I didn't request as many allowances as I could have.

One first year associate confided his check was ~$4,300 every two weeks with the normal allowances and some 401(k) withdrawn, so $103,000. He's married though, but no kids. Married people with kids get crazy tax deductions.

I would expect in the $100,000 vicinity after tax, before bonus, for a single person ($96,000 is thrown around on TLS a lot). Of course, there's some weird float because your first fall after sitting for the bar, you'll be taxed at a much lower rate so your take home will be pretty good and then go down in January, I guess.

Also, don't count your chickens before they hatch.

Very helpful, thanks guys. I guess what I was afraid of was if there were firms that don't offer you a stipend and expect YOU to pay for the bar out of the salary advance, but it seems like that isn't the case.

advance firms associates get fuck'd pretty raw. Used to be they'd make it back up with the stub bonus. But that's like a starbucks giftcard ITE.

I think I would take home about $4500/check without any deductions -- which will vary by firm/your insurance plan choices/retirement contributions etc.

What kind of other expenses do NYC associates occur, in general, aside from the obvious expenses that occur anywhere (rent, food, drugs)? I mean things associated with living/working in NYC or working in biglaw. Transportation? Professional organization dues? Mandatory-ish social costs?

Taxes and rent, mainly.

smallfirmassociate wrote:What kind of other expenses do NYC associates occur, in general, aside from the obvious expenses that occur anywhere (rent, food, drugs)? I mean things associated with living/working in NYC or working in biglaw. Transportation? Professional organization dues? Mandatory-ish social costs?

Student loans.

Anonymous User wrote: Married people with kids get crazy tax deductions.

unless I'm missing something, the additional exemption of $3,950 per kid is not crazy deductions. At an effective tax rate of say 30% that's a little over $1K in tax savings.

Also, don't forget about the marriage penalty which screws couples who earn relatively similar income. Somewhat helpful if there is great disparity in income however.

About how much of a refund on your stub year did you guys get? That stub year should be almost tax free since you're in a very low tax bracket right?

1) Ha ha, New York. LOL.

2) The whole "kids equal great tax deductions" is wildly overblown.

This is a stupid question since I live in New York, but how much do people normally pay for an apartment as a first year associate in NYC? Do people normally go with a studio, or one bedroom (assuming not married/no SO and not living with roommates)?

moonman157 wrote:This is a stupid question since I live in New York, but how much do people normally pay for an apartment as a first year associate in NYC? Do people normally go with a studio, or one bedroom (assuming not married/no SO and not living with roommates)?

Varies wildly. People live in luxury high rises or studios in Queens. More toward the former but often in large part because they just moved to the city and it's way easier to rent from Avalon or whatever.