That's not generally how it seems to work. For junior bankers under 30 (analysts and associates) you're making good money, but not such great money that you're putting away hundreds of thousands of dollars a year after your expenses and taxes. I can't recall ever hearing of someone saying, "I've worked 5 years, I've saved $500K, but instead of making $500K next year, I'm going to retire."
Also, the lifestyle (and partner, and kids) that you end up with while making banker money means that $1M is not remotely "quitting money", because it won't last long enough. I'd guess most folks would talk about $25M or $50M min for that in the industry, and you're not saving that anywhere below MD. Bankers have banker wives, banker mortgages, and their kids have banker tuitions. (One of my bosses had an $8M mortgage on a $12M home. That's ~$30K in mortgage payments a month... no way he could quit) I'm not saying anyone should feel bad for them, just the whole idea of "save up $1M and quit" doesn't make any sense in reality.
Finally, there's a lot of pride/ego/image folks have in their job and their job title, for better or worse. Even if it ruins their life. I didn't love being a banker, but I can't deny it's not fun telling folks you're an investment banker.
(Also, it's worth pointing out that people don't go work 100 hour weeks for years on end just so they can quit with $1M. They're doing it to have $10M or $100M.)
I absolutely understand that $1M doesn't seem like much while on wall street, as I said in my original comment it's not early retirement / "F You" money. For the purely money-driven clearly they keep working and living the lifestyle.
But for the people who do leave, as you did, and the blog author, and presumably the others considering which foul acts are better than going to work each day, I have to think their lives are still on a much easier trajectory. If you have $500k and hate your life, you can easily take a year off to figure out a new plan, go to grad school without worrying about cost or lost wages, start a company, etc. If you hate your job as a dishwasher you probably don't have a lot of options, but as a wall streeter, it seems like you should be able to walk away at any point and still be better off than 95% of Americans.
I guess I just wonder how many people do take that opportunity. $500k makes you a BSD in most of the US, but if you've only ever known prep school, ivy league then wall street, I suspect the idea of living and working elsewhere sounds repugnant.
Yes, but you're forgetting that this is a business where pretty much the only reason you're there and successful is because you're either enormously ego or money driven. Otherwise you just wouldn't last. Lots of people don't last very long regardless.
Someone who will work 100+ hours a week -- despite being able to make $200K at a regular 40 hour a week job -- is not the kind of person who "takes a break" because they have a little cushion in the bank. These are incredibly hard core people who spend every minute of their day figuring out how to be just a little bit more successful than they are right now. Their goals are to make millions per year.
I've worked with people who were worth more than $2B and up and would pretty much cut your heart out with a spoon if it meant an extra $100 in their pocket. As another banker pointed out, that's part of why they're worth $2B, and we're not.
I worked for two years in Canary Wharf and didn't change my lifestyle so I was able to save some money. I just announced I was quitting this week and I am currently trying to think about what to do next. Which can be pretty much anything. It's hard to decide what to do next when there's no limit.
Most of my friends did change their lifestyles while working in Canary Wharf and when they decided to leave they had no money at all. I'm glad I avoided that.
The fact of the matter is that banks are up or out. Most people won't make MD, either because they can't stand it anymore or they're asked to leave. So most "take that opportunity." As for what they do--they take a few hundred K and a prestigious job title to a cushy corp finance position or similar. The superstars go to a hedge fund and make even more money.
Also, the lifestyle (and partner, and kids) that you end up with while making banker money means that $1M is not remotely "quitting money", because it won't last long enough. I'd guess most folks would talk about $25M or $50M min for that in the industry, and you're not saving that anywhere below MD. Bankers have banker wives, banker mortgages, and their kids have banker tuitions. (One of my bosses had an $8M mortgage on a $12M home. That's ~$30K in mortgage payments a month... no way he could quit) I'm not saying anyone should feel bad for them, just the whole idea of "save up $1M and quit" doesn't make any sense in reality.
Finally, there's a lot of pride/ego/image folks have in their job and their job title, for better or worse. Even if it ruins their life. I didn't love being a banker, but I can't deny it's not fun telling folks you're an investment banker.
(Also, it's worth pointing out that people don't go work 100 hour weeks for years on end just so they can quit with $1M. They're doing it to have $10M or $100M.)