It's very much not silly to count on the bonuses. 20% extra? Try 100-300% or more in most of the positions on the trading floor. As you rise in the ranks, it's much, much more. The bonus at every level above Analyst is easily larger than the base, which, as Antonio says, is generally not that impressive. This is true at every big bank on Wall St.

Among my friends, we represented every large investment bank in NYC and many of the smaller hedge funds, so I'm sure it's representative.

Not sure how compensation is in the IT depts. at those banks, though, if that's what you're talking about. IT is probably not representative of why people go to work on Wall St, though, since it's viewed as a cost center in most banks, and it's not what Antonio is talking about in the post.

I worked in IT at GS for a couple years. 15-20% was about right for bonuses there, on average. In 2006, I got almost a 50% bonus, but that was an exceptionally good year.

You can have the attitude of "just a job" and still be a valuable asset to a company. To some people, work is "just work" and sometimes the "just a job" mentality is an extension of that.

If you ask me, its called life balance. It's just a job. It's just school. It's just money. That's just life.