[the_watcher]

The people who stick around Wall Street are the people who fit the stereotype. The others are people like my brother, who went to Stanford, wanted to learn something, and had a passing interest in finance. They paid him well enough to set him up to be able to take a pay cut (on a total comp basis, not hourly) for a better lifestyle, and gave him a ton of really valuable training. After 2 years, he moved on to private wealth management, and loves it. He may not be a stereotypical example, but he didn't go to Wall Street in a risk averse move. He went because it let him learn while being paid well.