[lhp]

[ QUOTE ]
I think the other dwonside to IB is the requirement to live in NY city. I think trading is a good option - from what I hear, you can do that in places outside NY.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's not necessarily true. Many of the big banks have offices in LA, and some of the smaller firms ("botique" is the term, I think) have offices in SF. I believe that location depends on what "sort" of i-banker you want to be.