Seems like only yesterday that I did an entry looking at the Ferraris, charter jets, multi-million dollar apartments and vacation homes that were being picked up last Christmas by Wall Street bankers.

Now we learn the money isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Believe it or not, all those billions in bonuses are not making those bankers happier. Advisers are stealing their lunch, squeezing them out of deals, leaving them on the sidelines so it's harder for them to make a difference, reports The Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal.com.

The WSJ's Dennis K. Berman writes: " 'Smart people in this industry are trapped,' between those diverging lines, says one young banker. Much of the time, he says, his clients have their own staffs of in-house advisers, who don't need much outside guidance.'Do we add a lot of value? I struggle with that personally.'

"It's easy to stereotype bankers as craven salesmen, who conveniently position themselves near vast flows of money to siphon off their tidy take. Of course that's part of the game. But you also find some exceptionally bright people, who for reasons of vanity and otherwise, find purpose in providing strategic counsel, conveying experience and delivering that small but crucial observation to a CEO in need.

"This is the part that's not about the money. 'It's such a pleasure to be wanted,' the young banker confides.

My heart bleeds. But then, if you suffer, you might as well suffer in comfort.