Hey guys. I'm new here and looking for some help. I'm writing a story for fun and I could use some help with the details. One of my main characters is a 26 year old. I'm trying to decide his career and I want to make this realistic. It must have to do with banking or business and be something that he could have made a good deal of money in a few years time (an amount he could properly invest and live off of). I'm thinking he could work for some kind of investment firm (it seems to fit the bill) Could he have conceivably started at 22 (after 4 years of college earning a bachelor's degree)? There is no "ladder-climbing" time to consider because the owner of the company hires him to a higher ranking position at the start (can you smell the ulterior motives? ). Is a bachelor's in business adequate for the type of job I'm describing? From what research I've done so far, it seems feasible enough, but I'm hoping to hear from someone with some insight in this area. I have questions about other things, but I figured I'd start with this. Thanks guys!
how about an investment banker? Financial analyst? Can't help much more as I'm not from that field so I know no basic facts, but investment banker was the first thing that sprang to mind. The truth is, if your character has inside contacts, you could give him something altogether different. For example my friend went straight from graduating from an English and Philosophy degree to becoming the director of a chain of retail stores, because her parents own it. She then participated in business meetings in New York and was in charge of what stock to buy, how much, what should be displayed etc. No idea how much she earned but it must've been quite a chunk. Now I know that's fashion and not banking, but it gives you some idea of what giving your characters the right contacts could do for you
If you need him to be that young, but to have made a significant amount of money, how about something in the technology arena -- developing some sort of app or search engine or online mechanism bringing together buyers and sellers that was purchased by one of the bigger players. That seems to be where most of the twenty-something multi-millionaires come from these days. With the economy the way it's been, in conjunction with the real estate and financial scandals, it would be more difficult to legitimately make this kind of money in the financial industry in the recent past.
While Bill Gates dropped out of college to start Microsoft, and Zuckerman started FaceBook in college, the more typical route would ba an MBA at a minimum. My son's BS in applied math wasn't enough so he's currently in grad school getting his MS in applied math. He plans on using the degree in a corporate job, not teaching as everyone who hears "math degree" immediately thinks. But you can turn a BS into an MS with only one more year. More than a few people have become young millionaires either by key investments or designing software.
An investment banker who got away with insider dealing.... or any banker come to that; there'll all gangsters!
Something really ugly like selling cars or property or defence or teaching little fat kids for a billionaire. The rich guy, probably Swiss arab, chokes poolside on a cherry and hero slave performs Heimlich - gets the payoff, maybe a kid to look after as well, just part-time. Also cutesy little scene where hero serves reviving cocktail to the billionaire - with cherry - some dialogue here 'trying to kill me again huh?' - next scene he's dead and cherry morphs into huge red exercise balloon in hero's penthouse and he's whipping secretary with his braces, 1000th floor of the block. ....too many cherries, maybe a second draft
Wow! Thanks for the responses guys! @Mckk: Thanks for sharing that story about your friend. At present, it's part of the story and his character that he started out with his own goals that get side-tracked without him realizing it (that wouldn't be as easy to do if he wanted to do something completely different than investment banking ) It's nice to know that I have the option that he major in something completely different, though. This is great info! @chicagoliz: I hadn't thought about that idea. I'll have to read up on it, but part of the story is that this character is sort of under the company owners thumb. I can't see that scenario working with him being self-made like an app or software developer (I could be wrong though - which is why I want to research it more.) @GingerCoffee: Key investments: very good points. That will probably factor into this characters' wealth if he couldn't make it simply by working those 4 years. @erebh: Are you psychic? Or is the investment business just THAT prone to dirty dealings? Insider trading factors into the story, but is not how this character made his money. We're talking legitimate methods only here. @matwoolf: This character doesn't have to be a multi-millionaire. He only works for this company for four years (ages 22-26 - he's quit the job before the story starts), so investing what he made those four years and increasing his wealth that way sounds like the more realistic route. We're not talking filthy stinking rich here, just well off (if the money is managed right).
maybe he bought a few shares in apple or facebook or maybe even writingforums.org so he doesnt need a fantastic job at such a young age that he's hardly qualified to do....
That's always an option (and could be another contributor to his wealth). The hardly qualified part is kind of the point. The character knows he wouldn't have that job without the company owner giving it to him on a silver platter. I just want to make sure a scenario like that could actually be possible (which, from the sound of Mckk's story, it is).
I know this guy who works as an actuary. He graduated at 22 with a degree in statistics and took a year off to study for and take a few required actuary tests. By the time he was 23, he was making slightly less than six figures (it's probably more now). He lives in New York, so you have to factor in the cost of living as well. But making that kind of money is certainly possible. If you want, I can ask him for more details. He's a close friend of mine.
That would be great, thirdwind. Thank you! I'd like to understand his working environment: how closely he works with his coworkers, how often he is around the company owner (in any capacity). Is this more an office job or is he out meeting other business owners? I'm going to try to do some research myself, but I'm excited about some first hand (or I guess second hand?) knowledge!
No problem. I'll send him an email tonight. I should get back to you by tomorrow. It depends on his schedule and how busy he is.
Hi, My thoughts would be that unless he has some serious family connections to get him those plum jobs at a very early age - daddy owns the bank, in a mere four years he won't have that sort of cash from a job. He could of course have been lucky and won lotto etc. But my thought would be stretch out his income earning years without making him any older. I have a friend who invested all his pocket money and cash from student jobs from a very early age in stocks and shares, and even before he left college (NZ college not university) he had amassed fifty grand from his investments. Then came the crash! But assume that your guy did the same, then, when he started working he did the same with all his extra income, it would not be unreasonable that he could have made a lot of money. And if his work happens to involve the markets, say he invests for his bank and for himself at the same time he could get an additional leg up (insider trading?). Also as everyone knows there are stocks that can make people a lot of money very quickly. In the old days it used to be oil companies, where the likely return on your shares was nothing - but if they struck oil you could see them hit fifty times their former value overnight. These days the equivalent would be tech stocks. Inventions for the most part where your company could get a patent or suddenly rip a whole in the market a la Microsoft, and do much the same. Also internet stocks where people have been being bought out for enormous profits - Facebook and Google seem to be acquiring lots of them. Cheers, Greg.
I think that it can be done. The main character should do something impressive, or stand out in some contest or competition, or share some insight that no other 'experienced professional' had seen and the wealthy guy notices. This wealthy guy takes a liking to him, acts as his father figure, gets him 'into the business' and you feel proud of the MC that he made it so well in so short a time. This will justify the MC getting a job that pays well because you just portrayed him as being endowed with a natural gift admired by the wealthy big guys. Hope this helps, Foxe
