Total Savings/Net Worth Forum

[Sackboy]

$1.7mil net worth
$250k cash
$1.35mil equities (incl. 401k/IRA)
$100k crypto

Graduated with ~$65k debt. NYC biglaw 9/10th year.

This is kinda crazy, especially in NYC. I'm guessing it's the result of taking full advantage of the bull market or having a spouse that has contributed positively.

This doesn't seem that insane. OP is netting like $2M over the past decade if a 10th year. All it takes is some reasonable spending habits to land at $1.7M with that kind of net over a decade given that we've just experienced the best bull market in modern American history.

[Lukky]

$1.7mil net worth
$250k cash
$1.35mil equities (incl. 401k/IRA)
$100k crypto

Graduated with ~$65k debt. NYC biglaw 9/10th year.

This is kinda crazy, especially in NYC. I'm guessing it's the result of taking full advantage of the bull market or having a spouse that has contributed positively.

This doesn't seem that insane. OP is netting like $2M over the past decade if a 10th year. All it takes is some reasonable spending habits to land at $1.7M with that kind of net over a decade given that we've just experienced the best bull market in modern American history.

True. I think this is like biglaw personal finance best case scenario. Be fully invested (in a bull market), minimize spending (clearly no expense creep), and, most importantly, don't quit.

[Anonymous User]

$1.7mil net worth
$250k cash
$1.35mil equities (incl. 401k/IRA)
$100k crypto

Graduated with ~$65k debt. NYC biglaw 9/10th year.

This is kinda crazy, especially in NYC. I'm guessing it's the result of taking full advantage of the bull market or having a spouse that has contributed positively.

OP here. No spouse. Paid off my loans quickly, lived relatively cheaply for NYC, and dumped all my excess money into the market (kept a reasonable emergency fund). In my experience, lifestyle creep does most people in. I have plenty of friends who pay $4k+ for a studio in a doorman building, only stay at Rosewoods on vacation, buy a new Gucci purse every other month, spend $600+/month on wine, etc. I know first years who pay more in rent than I do.

They pay us a shitload of money. If you can control your spending and invest it, it adds up very fast. And yes, the best bull market in history was certainly very helpful.

[Anonymous User]

c/o 2013 - biglaw for 4 years, in-house for 4 years. We live in SF Bay Area.

$1.4M is my net worth from my legal career and investments
$3.1M additional from my spouse (in tech, most of this is from equity events)
$4.5M total household net worth - $800K home equity, approx $400K cash, $200K crypto (started with only $40K..), everything else invested in diversified index funds and growth stocks.

Spouse also has significant equity in his startup but it is illiquid so we don't count it.

We are early 30s DINKs. Both had no debt from school and bought appreciating property early, which helped us save more than our peers while still living a very good lifestyle.

[Anonymous User]

c/o 2013 - biglaw for 4 years, in-house for 4 years. We live in SF Bay Area.

$1.4M is my net worth from my legal career and investments
$3.1M additional from my spouse (in tech, most of this is from equity events)
$4.5M total household net worth - $800K home equity, approx $400K cash, $200K crypto (started with only $40K..), everything else invested in diversified index funds and growth stocks.

Spouse also has significant equity in his startup but it is illiquid so we don't count it.

We are early 30s DINKs. Both had no debt from school and bought appreciating property early, which helped us save more than our peers while still living a very good lifestyle.

holy f***

[Definitely Not North]

damn dude you could fatFIRE today if you wanted

[Lukky]

$1.7mil net worth
$250k cash
$1.35mil equities (incl. 401k/IRA)
$100k crypto

Graduated with ~$65k debt. NYC biglaw 9/10th year.

This is kinda crazy, especially in NYC. I'm guessing it's the result of taking full advantage of the bull market or having a spouse that has contributed positively.

OP here. No spouse. Paid off my loans quickly, lived relatively cheaply for NYC, and dumped all my excess money into the market (kept a reasonable emergency fund). In my experience, lifestyle creep does most people in. I have plenty of friends who pay $4k+ for a studio in a doorman building, only stay at Rosewoods on vacation, buy a new Gucci purse every other month, spend $600+/month on wine, etc. I know first years who pay more in rent than I do.

They pay us a shitload of money. If you can control your spending and invest it, it adds up very fast. And yes, the best bull market in history was certainly very helpful.

Dang, that's really impressive. Congratulations. Did you just dump your funds into an index fund/etf and forget about it? I pretty much want to do exactly what you did. Why are you still in it? Are you gunning for equity partner? I feel like I'd go in-house or take on a much more leisurely job once I hit the NW that you have.

[Anonymous User]

Dang, that's really impressive. Congratulations. Did you just dump your funds into an index fund/etf and forget about it? I pretty much want to do exactly what you did. Why are you still in it? Are you gunning for equity partner? I feel like I'd go in-house or take on a much more leisurely job once I hit the NW that you have.

Thanks, it's been a grind. Yes, the lions' share is in etfs, along with a couple of very lucky tech stock picks (15-20x returns) and very lucky crypto investments (20x returns). None realized, of course, so who knows what the future holds.

My attitude re: my job has generally been "I'll work hard and do good work, and if that leads to equity, cool, if it doesn't, I'll probably have a pretty soft landing." As I've gotten closer to equity (not that it is necessarily a realistic possibility, I'm just closer to the point where it could be one), it's become less appealing even if I could land it, and my search for my next move has been ramping up.

But ultimately, the people who last 10 years in biglaw generally aren't the type of people who say "I have a lot of money, I can go tutor LSAT part time, make less money, and hang out." Even if I'm not blowing all the money I'm making, I'm still used to making it and it provides me with security. That said, I'm certainly looking to take a step or two down in intensity with my next move.

[donde]

damn dude you could fatFIRE today if you wanted

fatFIRE -- or at least the ability to have much more flexibility once we have kids -- is the goal! though I think we're not quite at fatFIRE in the bay area -- aiming for $10M.

[Anonymous User]

This one will make you feel better:

8th year in Texas biglaw. Wife (not working) and kids. Total NW about 300k.

180k in cash (about to buy a house)
170k in 401k, 529s, and HSA
50k in student loans

Do you mind providing some insight on how this happened? In 8 years of biglaw and two kids you never bought a house or made any investments outside of tax deferred accounts?

Was deferred 6 months upon graduation. About half of my firm life was in a firm that does not pay full market (i.e., condensed 160k+ scale) and I didn't get bonuses. I also spent a year in the government between 2 firms, which made me miss two bonuses. Had about $250k combined debt at graduation. No financial help from family. I do own a home and have about $100k in equity there, which I forgot to mention.

[Anonymous User]

Apologies, because I know this isn't a general financial advice thread, but I'm getting pretty alarmed at all of the "you're throwing away money by not investing" advice in here. I started in biglaw this year, and have about $60k in the bank. I grew up dirt poor with zero exposure to any type of financial sophistication, so I know embarrassingly little about investing, and my auto reaction is to save everything I make because, again, former poor person. Is there a resource y'all recommend that would explain the basics of investing to me like I'm a complete idiot? I would like to be smart and invest once my emergency fund is built up, but I'm terrified of losing everything if I invest in the wrong stock etc.

[Lukky]

Apologies, because I know this isn't a general financial advice thread, but I'm getting pretty alarmed at all of the "you're throwing away money by not investing" advice in here. I started in biglaw this year, and have about $60k in the bank. I grew up dirt poor with zero exposure to any type of financial sophistication, so I know embarrassingly little about investing, and my auto reaction is to save everything I make because, again, former poor person. Is there a resource y'all recommend that would explain the basics of investing to me like I'm a complete idiot? I would like to be smart and invest once my emergency fund is built up, but I'm terrified of losing everything if I invest in the wrong stock etc.

For starters, I would look at the personal finance for young lawyers thread (stickied) on this forum. Has some really good info.

[nahumya]

Apologies, because I know this isn't a general financial advice thread, but I'm getting pretty alarmed at all of the "you're throwing away money by not investing" advice in here. I started in biglaw this year, and have about $60k in the bank. I grew up dirt poor with zero exposure to any type of financial sophistication, so I know embarrassingly little about investing, and my auto reaction is to save everything I make because, again, former poor person. Is there a resource y'all recommend that would explain the basics of investing to me like I'm a complete idiot? I would like to be smart and invest once my emergency fund is built up, but I'm terrified of losing everything if I invest in the wrong stock etc.

https://www.biglawinvestor.com/ is a very accessible resource.

[Anonymous User]

Junior partner in non-NY biglaw, married to senior associate at a biglaw firm. No kids, no law school debt. We have roughly 850k net worth - roughly 250k in cash, 350k in 401k, 200k in home equity, and then 50k in other stuff (mostly whole life insurance). We do not have a baller lifestyle but we do enjoy nice food/wine, try to go on at least one significant vacation a year, etc.

Another junior partner in biglaw. Super-expensive market. Mid-30s. Single - never had a parental or spousal assist at any point. No kids. Was not continuously in biglaw as an associate (spent years in lower paying work). LS debt is paid off. The truth is that I do live like a baller - I'm a big believer in work hard play hard - and this thread has made me feel guilty re how much I spend. These numbers are perfectly fine for my age, but would be way higher if I was a saver rather than spender personality even though I didn't have a full 8-10 year associate runup at biglaw income.

Total NW is over 1.4M (if we don't subtract mortgage debt owed, which most people seem not to be doing). 200K home equity, north of 400K in retirement accounts, 400K in partner capital account (firm pays significant annual interest), 500K in ETFs, and the balance is miscellaneous (like HSA investment). Minus a little for the balance of my capital contribution loan. Again, perfectly respectable for my age, but I honestly could've gotten well north of 2M by now if I didn't appreciate the finer things in life so much. Guess the silver lining of partnership is you can spend hard while still saving some.

[Anonymous User]

Senior associate here.

Approx 1M in net worth. About 800k in stocks/etfs. About 200k in cash. Considering making a down payment for a house soon. About 200k of my net worth was inherited after graduating from law school.

I have been saving and investing since high school.

[Anonymous User]

4th year biglaw associate (but clerked for a year, which dinged my income), consolidated both UG and LS student loan debt into an extremely low interest rate.

70k in debt outstanding. 150k across cash and equities (a substantial emergency fund and the rest in broad ETFs). 45k in 401k and on track to max it out in 2021. Monthly expenses around $6k (not including debt service); leaves me $5k or so per month to make a loan payment/invest the rest.

At this pace I’ll have my debt down close to 50k with my cash + equities around 250k at year end, post bonus. I’ll probably kill the debt at that point for peace of mind and decide whether it’s time for me to jump out of biglaw with 200k. In hindsight, that would be less than I would have hoped to be able to leave with after grinding out three years in this job, but it’s still objectively a ton of money (with no debt) for a 29-year-old who paid for much of his own JD.

[Anonymous User]

6 yr, c/o 2015, NY biglaw, single. NW $470K: $36K e-fund (in money market = 12 months of bare bones expenses); $434K equities (90% VTSAX/VFIAX and 10% VTIAX).

Started at ~ negative $200K (law school / undergrad debt, credit cards).

Lowest spending year $45K. Highest spending year $65K. Goal is $55K or less all-in expenses going forward.

[Anonymous User]

Class of 2010 (biglaw->in-house).

Started at $75k in the hole with great recession. Spouse had another $60k of student loans. Now at ~$1.8MM total net worth. About $300k home equity, $100k cash, the rest mostly index funds in various taxable and tax advantaged accounts. Never got involved in crypto or hot tech stocks.

Financial situation is far better than I would have ever imagined back in 2008 when we were staring down the barrel of the great recession. We've benefitted from a generally good stock market over the last decade and steady employment allowing us to keep contributing.

I would caution for the purposes of this thread that there is probably quite a bit of selection bias going on. People who feel they have done poorly are probably less likely to self report net worth.

[Anonymous User]

Class of 2010 (biglaw->in-house).

Started at $75k in the hole with great recession. Spouse had another $60k of student loans. Now at ~$1.8MM total net worth. About $300k home equity, $100k cash, the rest mostly index funds in various taxable and tax advantaged accounts. Never got involved in crypto or hot tech stocks.

Financial situation is far better than I would have ever imagined back in 2008 when we were staring down the barrel of the great recession. We've benefitted from a generally good stock market over the last decade and steady employment allowing us to keep contributing.

I would caution for the purposes of this thread that there is probably quite a bit of selection bias going on. People who feel they have done poorly are probably less likely to self report net worth.

This is an important point for folks to keep in mind since I feel like this thread is painting a fairly unrepresentative picture. Also, keep in mind that a huge chunk of the results are simply the results of catching the tailwinds of a roaring stock market. So even if the reporting is somehow accurate and representative, you can't necessarily expect the same result over the next decade (though its possible).

[Anonymous User]

Class of 2015 law school grad (biglaw for 1 year, clerkship for 1 year, boutique litigation firm making biglaw salary but minimal bonus for the rest). I graduated owing around $195k in student loans, mostly for law school, and my loan repayment was slowed down a bit because of clerking. I had no investments or real savings from before law school.

Net worth:+$270k
Cash: $138k
401(k): $95k
Backdoor Roth IRA: $44k
Other investments: $31k
Debt: around $37k remaining on my student loans, I should be done with it by September or so this year.

[Anonymous User]

Class of 17 grad here. Spending has not been the best. I went in house early and the gap in what I make to peers is steadily growing.

- 45k in cash equity in house
- 60k stock (100k nonvested)
- 80k 401k
- 25k cash
- 10k drawndown to private equity fund
- 5k watch

- 200k AMEX points if we are counting those

Around 225k in net worth. First year clearing 200k was in 2020.

I paid off around 20k in student loans my first few months of working.

[Anonymous User]

Class of 2016 here, in VVHCOL city, have been in big law since I graduated.

Cash: 140k (saving for a downpayment + emergency fund + whatever else comes up that's unexpected)
Investments: 480k total, of which 230k is in a 401k, 70k in a Roth IRA (I do a backdoor Roth every year) and 180k in a post-tax brokerage account (all in index funds).

Total net worth of 620k. I started out with -120k in net worth as a first year. I worked for a couple of years before law school and was able to save about 100k (70k cash + 30k in a 401k, which I then converted into a Roth when I left my job for school), which I used to pay for school. I also worked part time in my 2L and 3L years doing freelance consulting gigs to help offset the cost of law school. Was able to pay off my student loan debt by Dec. 2018 while maxing out my 401k/investing some to my brokerage through a combination of very frugal living and investing 1-2k a month.

[Anonymous User]

c/o 2016
Corporate; now in SF
Left biglaw at the end of my 2nd year for a secondment in Bay Area Tech
Stayed at first tech company 14 mos as sole attorney (left because CEO was insane/abusive/didn't want Legal to be well-resourced)
Now at 2nd tech company

1st tech company went public and my stock is worth $1.4MM (still locked up till spring)
So--net worth about 1.8MM (about 70K school loans, 35K car loan, 250K 401K and ~200K (vested) of new equity in 2nd tech company).

I lucked out, but also I got seconded because of prior work experience, and went to law school later, so...I'm not like 30 or anything--older.

[Anonymous User]

Class of 2016 - Big law associate

Assets:
~250k in investments (index funds, 401(k))
50k in cash
~100k in other owned physical assets.

debts:
~450k mortgage on a ~900k house
~30k in student loans left (started with 150k in 2016).
~40k loan on my truck.

[Anonymous User]

Net worth ~$2M.
- ~90% assets in real estate. The rest 10% in stocks. Total assets ~$6M
- Mortgage ~$4M
- Total comps (salary+bonus) ~450K/year. Biglaw