Bonus season is upon us! It really makes this the most wonderful time of the years. But as you know from my golden handcuffs post, you may be feeling some pressure to spend that bonus on something big for yourself or on holiday gifts, because hey, you deserve it! WRONG - Well, half wrong. You DO deserve to be rewarded...

So I'm sure you've seen my math behind financial independence in biglaw article, so you know that after everything, under the current salary and bonus pay scales, a first year associate should be able to stash away $106,895.25 after their first year (this figure includes 401k savings and the end-of-year bonus that likely won't hit the account until...

For those that are unfamiliar with the phrase, "golden handcuffs" it refers to the idea that those who earn high incomes are "cuffed" to higher and higher spending as their income increases. By nature of "keeping up with the Jones's", and the Jones's are spending more and more as your career and salary take off.

Okay, so you might be thinking: All this inspiration and tips on improving my mindset are great -but how much do I need to save and for how long before I can leave this job?! Well this post is my response.