<prompt> Human: Hey guys! I mean this will a sense of genuine curiosity. Every few weeks, we will get one of these posts: A very young person, working in very vague sounding financial industry making 6 figures plus. What do they actually do for a job? What job in the financial industry pays someone so young so much money? What kind of degree do they have? What did they learn in school? I dont ask this out of jealousy or spite...I really dont know the answer to this and Im glad they are making so much at such a young age! If they are smart, they can be set for life relatively young and thats a wonderful thing. I come from a family of teachers with absolutely no business savy, and Im a computer animator so this entire financial industry as job world is a complete mystery to be. Most jobs, starting out I would think would have a much lower salary. What is a 24 year old doing to earn this kind of salary? I know the short answer is earn money for their clients, but Im looking for more detail. Does the company basically own them with a salary like that? Do they work 100 hour weeks? Is this type of job extremely difficult to get? Do you have to be brilliant or otherwise demonstrate superior skill set for the job, or is it mostly connections from school? BTW: They may be worth every penny, I do not know. It just seems most lines of work take years to get to that salary if ever and I am wondering these very young folks actually do as a job to get these high salaries in that particular industry. Doctors salaries I can understand a bit more because I am more familiar with their schooling structure and what they do day in and day out, but doctors also take something like 10 years to earn a salary...they dont start doing it at 24, so I am just a bit confused as to how the financial industry works, and what it really means when people say they work there. Any insight would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!  <response>: You should read the following books:1. Liars Poker2. Bonfire of the Vanities3. The Big ShortAnd maybe watch the movie Margin Call as well.Youll come away with a nice and cynical view of what actually goes on in those downtown Manhattan skyscrapers and why there are 20-somethings working 80-hour weeks who are clawing over each other to stay in the game before they burn out. 