American Consequences - November 2017

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I spent closer to 50% of it since my bonus would be taxed. There are some people who like to save, pay down debt, and re-invest wisely. For those folks, this experience might have been a realization for the next bonus... Unfortunately, I was not one of them. For the next decade, my bonuses only increased – higher and higher. Of course, my spending intensified as well. One year, I treated myself to $10,000 on bedding at ABC Carpet – not a bed, bedding ... $25,000 on my daughter’s first birthday with a yacht cruising around Manhattan... and another $25,000 on my birthday party with Naughty by Nature performing a set. And I was always comfortable carrying some debt because, well, why not? By 2004, I sat alone on the couch in my 2,700-square-foot Tribeca apartment when I called to find out about my bonus. And voilà, I had received a $2 million bonus for the year. I immediately started to figure out ways to spend it... I produced an up-and-coming rapper, bought a race horse, and wrote and executive-produced two short films. The next year I invested a million dollars in casual- dining burger joint Fatburger, and bought both a loft in the city and a 100-year-old home on the North Shore of Long Island. As a Wall Street career progresses, so do the expenses. The spouse wants to upsize the house, the kids suddenly need a private school

I was making $24,000 a year in 1994 as a sales assistant at Morgan Stanley. I was also $10,000 in debt, courtesy of MasterCard and Visa’s generous credit lines. But I had hope because it was December... and that meant Bonus Season was upon us. Excited and nervous, I marched across the trading floor to the big conference room. It was time to find out what my worth was on Wall Street. As I took a seat across from my boss, she told me the firm was paying me a $2,000 bonus. Then she asked if I was happy. I tried to smile, but it was hard for me to catch my breath. That was a lot of money. I wagged my head back and forth trying to get the word “thanks” out. It must have looked to her like I was shrugging her off because she said, “How about three?” so quickly it took the rest of the air out of my lungs. Later that night, I took a cab instead of the subway and I treated five of my friends to dinner. We ended up celebrating at a bar called Café Wha? Round after round was followed by shots of Goldschläger. Then the check came... for just over $900. The next morning, I realized that I’d spent almost 30% of my bonus in less than 12 hours. My second realization was that actually

By Turney Duff

American Consequences | 19

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