I work in investment banking, although not a banker myself, and have been there since 1997.
Bankers in NYC, that I have been working around, surely make more than docs and they have much better perks and working conditions than doctors do. They work late but are driven home. When they work late they get $35 a night to eat. On the weekend they get $75 a day for food. First year analysts are right out of college and making the kind of money many have quoted (80k). That would be double what we make a year once we are residents. I think some residents get free food, but is it the filet mignon these guys are eating every night for free? By the third year, if you haven't been weeded out, you are an associate or going to get an MBA (two years) to get into the big money.
These guys also are often hired as executive management by the companies that they are working for. In addition, they have the inside track (sometimes of questionable legality) on how and where to invest. Just a perk of being an insider. They know all the information. Their trading is highly regulated, but don't you think they still have an upper leg? I do.
The only way to have a comparable upside in medicine as many of these guys have in business is by...going into the business of medicine!
The bottom line, in my humble opinion, is that if you want to make an outrageous amount of money, than go into IB. If you are becoming a doctor for the money, you will be miserable.
p.s. As an interesting aside, a lot of the work for the analysts is being shipped to india to be done at a lower wage. The higher ups at the banks are cutting down on the size of the analysts classes this way, saving money on salaries and rent. IB is getting more selective and fewer of the higher ups will be sharing the pie. In the long run, it might be easier to become a doctor than a banker! Also, while not impossible, it is more difficult to outsource medicine.
