Highest paying Careers in Finance

Cutting through all of the nonsense about challenging and rewarding work, there's only one driving reason why people work in the financial industry - because of the above-average pay. As a recent The New York Times graph highlighted, workers in the securities industry in New York City make more than five times the average of the private sector, and that's a substantial incentive to say the least.
So what are the highest-paying careers in finance?

First, Let's Get the Definitions Straight
It's not hard to create a very broad definition of a "career in finance." After all, you could argue that working as a CFO or in the finance department of a major Fortune 500 corporation is a career in finance. Likewise, teaching financial theory or economy theory at a university could also be consided a career in finance.

I am not referring to those positions in this article. It is indeed true that being the CFO of a large corporation can be quite lucrative - what with multimillion-dollar pay packages, options and often a direct line to a CEO position later on. Likewise, academia pays better than many people realize, with professors at top schools earning six-figure salaries and reaping the benefits of consulting or part-time work that they get due, in part, to the name value of the university at which they teach.

Banking – Not as Demanding, but not as Lucrative
There's a reason that soon-to-be-minted MBAs largely crowd around the tables of Wall Street firms at job fairs and not those of commercial banks. While the CEOs, CFOs and executive vice presidents of major banks like U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) are indeed handsomely compensated, it takes a long time to work one's way into those positions and there are not many of them.

Instead, a large number of the available jobs in commercial/retail banking run along the lines of branch manager or loan officer. Bank branch managers pull an average salary (including bonuses, profit sharing and the like) of about $51, 000 a year, according to PayScale, with the range stretching as high as $77, 000. By comparison, loan officers can make more ($80, 000 or more), but the bottom of the scale is lower as many loan officers start off with more modest pay packages.

While these pay packages don't sound great compared to the six- and seven-figure paychecks of Wall Street workers, a little perspective is in order. By and large, becoming a bank branch manager or loan officer does not require an MBA (though a four-year degree is commonly a prerequisite). Likewise, the hours are regular, the travel is minimal and the day-to-day pressure is much less intense. In terms of attainability, these jobs score well.