Would you work in banking if you could only access your riches when you retired?

Ari hits the nail on the head. Why would one work so hard in this field if one only sees the fruits of their labour after retirement? Rather work in the NHS! The DB pension would ensure my retirement is relatively comfortable anyway....

You would have thought Blankfein had studied some basic lifecycle micro and macro theories and understood most people have a very high discount rate on future vs. current consumption so as to attribute only limited value to even a large amount 30 years out. I.e. the promise of large bonuses to be paid that far out even if substantial would likely only have limited behavioural effects. Bonuses with limited or no incentive effects defy the purpose. Completely pointless.

It's a novel ideal and one that would inspire prudent risk taking if your personal wealth was truly tied to the long-term prosperity of the company. In reality though, I doubt many people would want to want their bonus to become a pension, no matter how happy a retirement you might have.

Are you joking? I'd become a zookeeper.