u/Ok_Quarter_6469

I’ve recently got a new job that significantly increased my earnings power, but most of that comes in the form of bonuses as opposed to base salary.

Last year, I took home $75k (VLCOL), of which $30k was in base salary (post tax). I believed in the rule of 1/3 when it comes to paying for rent eg never spend more than 1/3 of your take home base pay on rent, and with the roughly $2400 a month I take home a month (again, before the year end bonus) we spend $650 a month paying for rent.

I’ve gotten the new job which raises my base to $35k and guarantees the total take home for this year to be $120k (inclusive of my take home base), which is a significant increase overall but the bump in monthly take home is relatively small, up only from $2400 to $2900 or so, but I will be receiving the guaranteed bonus at the end of the year (to make up for the total take home in 2026 to be $120k).

My question is, should I still be limited by the base salary 1/3 rule, as I’ve been eyeing to increase our rent budget a bit and have considered some of the nicer places in the area, but those would cost closer to $1300-1400 a month, significant more than 1/3 of my “base take home pay” a month. Knowing the guaranteed cash flow coming in at the end of the year I don’t think it’s a big deal but bonuses can be discretionary…I would however expect my earning level to be solidly above $100k total (while base remaining $35k-ish). For the huge quality of life uplift from a $650/mo apartment to $1000+, what do you think - could I afford it?

For more context, we have $30k in brokerage and $15k in cash for emergency purposes.

Keep seeing these posts from recent graduates complaining about how hard it is to find a good paying job, have you considered searching overseas? I get it if you’ve got family and kids and moving abroad is logistically difficult, but if you’re in your early to mid 20s with no obligations and having one of the strongest passports in the world (Canada is top 10 for sure if not top 5), with world class education (UofT, McGill, UWaterloo, UBC, etc etc are all very well ranked), what do you have to lose? Our forefathers landed in North America from Europe with that adventurous spirit looking to make a better life than they could have back home, you’re now in a similar position to go out there and conquer the world in your own way. What’s stopping you? Places like Dubai, HK, Singapore, etc…heck, even London and New York have way more opportunities and growth compared to Canada…

As the title says, I’ve spent more than 10 years in S&T as a sales person (so executive director level) covering institutional accounts, and while I worked only for American banks, I’ve always been based in Asia. My product focus was mostly on equity derivatives (e.g. flow vol, exo vol, structured notes) but also the more vanilla delta one swap (indices and baskets). I’ve also worked closely with cash equities function so I do know a bit about that side too.

Reading through this sub, it seems like S&T is often overlooked as a career path within “high finance”, so as some one who has always wanted to do this (I’ve never considered IBD or PE path) since high school, I want to do my part to give back to the community and answer any questions you may have about this career path to the best of my ability.

So, ask away!

will be visiting Hangzhou next weekend with a few lads, wondering if theres much to do in terms of bars and pubs to shoot the shit and have some pints, and if there are any clubs as well. not sure if Hangzhou is big on that? we will be staying near Wulin Night Market.

Have been seeing a lot of moves like that lately, the big market makers (JS / CitSec / Optiver) have been aggressively hiring from “traditional” sell side roster, first from the trading ranks but lately also the financing / sales people as well.

Is this a fad or are these nimble tech savvy MMs here to stay…