Source - tech guy who's lived with finance bros in NYC for more than a year.
The hours and suffer culture are real, however. Even if you’re lucky enough to work in a space with short trading windows, you likely have to spend a significant amount of off-work time making social connections with your counterparts at other firms. That part of the job intersects with a drinking culture that is no doubt hazardous for many who participate.
The best example of this I've been given was a friend who asked an MD (someone making $1.5MM+ at BofA) whether they'd considered using outsourced tutors for their kids exam prep after spending days if not weeks complaining about quality of western exam prep / online instruction. The MD supposedly had never heard of it and brushed the idea off entirely.
I built trading platforms for a bank. I am not a banker nor was I in banking
First year analysts (excel monkeys), basically people with a business degree and a middle-school statistics education are getting paid easily $110k base with $90k bonus (this is MIDDLE of the road). I live with people who are 25, have nothing more than a finance degree from the university of Florida and have made "associate" at second-tier firms like Lazard and RBC making $220k base and easily $110k bonus.
Most people I know glorify working more productively in less than 40 hours per week.
Source - another tech guy who lived with bankers in nyc.