... unless of course you're working in an upscale Manhattan club !!!
(snip)"Combined, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Merrill, Lehman and Bear Stearns earned $21.3billion in the first nine months of 2006, surpassing 2005's full-year record of $20.4 billion.
Year-end rewards at top-5 firms
The following table shows the calculations for total and average bonuses for each of the five biggest U.S. securities firms, based on estimated revenue, compensation and benefits, and number of employees.
Firm Total Total Bonus Average Average
revenue* compen pool* Employees Compensation Bonus
sation*
Goldman $35.7 $16.9 $10.2 25,647 $658,946 $397,707
Morgan $33.6 $14.0 $8.4 54,349 $257,594 $154,556
Merrill $32.5 $16.1 $9.7 55,300 $291,139 $174,683
Lehman $17.4 $8.7 $5.2 24,775 $351,160 $210,696
Bear $9.0 $4.4 $2.6 13,000 $338,462 $203,077
*(in billions)
How the figures were calculated:Total revenue: Average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Total compensation: Estimated revenue multiplied by the average ratio of compensation to revenue.
Bonus pool: 60 percent of estimated total compensation.
Employees: Total number of full-time employees reported at the end of the third quarter.
Average compensation: Estimated compensation divided by total number of employees.
Average bonus: Estimated bonus pool divided by total employees.
SOURCE: BLOOMBERG NEWS (snip)"
Consider what this really means. The lowest average year end BONUS to be paid by a 'big five' NY financial house is likely to be $154,500. And that average counts in all full-time employees from the CEO to the stockbrokers to the secretaries to the janitors, meaning that the more highly paid financial guys are actually going to receive a significantly HIGHER year end bonus this year !
I come away from financial data like this with two conclusions - A. the personal finances / cost of living in places like Manhattan is totally out of touch with what's happening in 'flyover country', and B. I should have kept dancing one more year, because the earnings potential in upscale Manhattan clubs this December is likely to be STAGGERING !



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