If you ever come into some money, whether it be a raise, bonus, or gift, don't let it sit in your checking account. Move it to somewhere that is able to earn money.
Just save your money as much as you can, dont suffer but live in the studio until you're ready to buy a house. The car and the two bedroom and all that shit just keeps you perpetually a decade away from buying a home.
That's funny because I live in a shared house which has 8 bedrooms but only 1 kitchen. Even if I worked 40 hours a week I couldn't afford a studio in my city. New Zealand rentals are unaffordable, here I'd need to have a professional job and be married just to rent a 1 bedroom apartment with almost no space.
im in the US but yeah i moved halfway across the country to go to a lower cost of living because I just couldn't make it work in a HCOL area like you're describing. I mean, im just way happier now but i understand that NZ is a smallish country where you can't just find a lower cost of living area further away.
True. I've looked for rentals further south of me but it's the end of the world at the bottom of New Zealand. Every time a "cheaper area" pops up in the news, everybody from Auckland floods the new "cheaper area" and it ends up like everywhere else after 1-2 years (more pressure on house prices).
Don't listen to anyone born before 1980. They don't live in the same world as you.
Learn to cook & meal-prep. Invest time into your health and fitness. Self-host as many techy services as you can (bonus points for Arr stack - streaming services are expensive). Try to "BIFL" where possible - Terry Pratchett said it best:
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. ... But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
There is no hope without a revolution.
But also whenever you get a raise or pay off a loan take the majority of that money you would have added to your regular paycheck and put it in your superannuation (or your country's equivalent retirement fund) as an automatic deduction. That way you're saving without feeling the pinch of giving something up.
Also once you reach an age you start dealing with funerals you'll realise how nightmarish and expensive that whole process is, so get a proper legal will made up.
Cheap used EVs are great, but if you are still in college, you don’t need that much range, so a beater leaf is even cheaper.
Your refusal to go into credit card debt in your 20s was great. Continue not fucking doing that.
Denying every indulgence makes you explode in spending desperation once you eventually get a windfall. Instead, ration indulgences, don’t forbid them. Get familiar with “this was expensive. I shouldn’t do that often.” It will make resisting temptation much easier with the new shiney XL+909T comes out when you’re older.
Don't worry about money, worry about your health. Form the habits now, and stick with them.
Everyone will tell you that, and you'll just ignore them, we all know it. But, we feel like we should say it anyway.
It's really fucking important. Far more important than money.
Without money health suffers. It's a balance.
Your teeth and feet are hopefully with you for life. Take care of them.
Don't smoke, don't drink, learn composting, grow a garden and learn foraging.
Fuuuuck, I do both, though I've been... Trying... With the smoking. I have been working on my tomatoes though!
You can grow your own tobacco. Once you do, never buy someone else's (big tobaccos) crops.
It's cheaper, you'll probably smoke a lot less of it (you have to make each harvest last until the next crop is ready!), and you'll have more fun with it when you do (pipe or rolling your own smokes, bragging rights, etc).
Lose fat and build muscle. You will be more financially stable when you’re healthy.
money (you need enough) so keep dollar cost averaging into ETF, don't forget the world is a big place, so international as well and consider the debasement trade.
Switch to income investing when you "retire", don't try and time markets.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuNKV0CMgcVUiJNdA-JNlJA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxU4PhPfJEBgaeYT1rMhvCg
and physical health ; no smoking, no drinking, moderate cardio (running cycling etc) and lift weights to help prevent muscle loss and osteo.
and mental health: hike, enjoy the woods, spend time with friends and family you care for
Am 61, retired at 40 , gf is 57.
money (you need enough)
sounds like legitimate financial advice
Get out of the U.S.
And go where? Do you realize how hard it is to immigrate? Even if you're successful, find a cowpany who will sponsor a visa, everywhere I look seems to be taking sharp right turns. AfD in Germany, crazy grandchildren of literal Nazi collaborators in France, the grand daughter of Mussolini is prime minister of Italy. UK is doing whatever the hell it is that they do.
I’d still rather be in Canada or the EU.
And I totally realize how hard it is. I’m fucking stuck here. The U.S. has turned into a gigantic prison. It’s just my advice m. If I could expatriate I would. But realistically I’m just going to stay here and vote and then the maga Nazis will probably kill me at some point when they start their own final solution. I’m just sayin’.
I'm not really up to date on Canadian affairs, but I would absolutely not be surprised if they have anti-american sentiment and actively try to discourage or prevent people from immigrating to canada, specifically US citizens.
I’m pretty sure they are and from what I’ve seen the polls say they are not happy with us. Go figure.
"Don't believe sermons, fairy tales, or stories about money."
Marry someone rich.
Get lucky
Don't have health problems
Don't have children (even if you find someone rich)
Win the lottery (backup for if you can't marry someone rich)
Get out of the usa
Don't eat anything approved for eating in the usa
Exercise
Damn gonna have to give up Bananas
Get in the habit of wearing a backbrace. When you move something heavy, when you work in the yard, whenever you need to bend or twist a lot. Backbrace.
Good boots, gloves, kneelers etc. Good quality tools. Your tools (your body especially) are an investment. Buy quality. Buy to last. Take good care of them. Per the literals. I swear by Kobalt and Dewalt.
Save your back. Don’t bend over to pick stuff up off the floor unless there are at least 2-3 things down there to get.
401k now.
Don't assume the future will be better than the past
Nobody under 40 thinks the future will be better
Just do all the crazy shit. You live only once and soon your back will ache every day.
Drinking water and mountain home meals. I'm afraid their value will skyrocket sooner than later.
No matter what the situation, you're not financially behind yet, but if nothing changes in 10 years, you will be.
Save and invest. If you don't have at least $200k net worth by the time you're 40, you're probably never going to retire.
lol don't ask us. we're just as fucked as you. :\
Daily intermittent fasting is a great way to save on your food and toilet paper expenditure.
If you can afford a house, try as hard as you can not to buy a house that you can barely afford with a 30yr mortgage. Limit yourself to a house where you can afford it with a 15yr mortgage. I did that in my 30s and now in my 40s I don't have a mortgage anymore. Obviously with the current housing market this advice won't help many.
To those people, I'd say: stop using a basic savings account. Get a High Yield Savings Account. They pay 3.5-4% interest at the moment. Zero risk, and you can even havd a card attached to it for spending. They're liquid. Got 1k sitting in savings? That's $35/yr free money you're missing out on. 10k? $350/yr. Best part? When inflation starts going crazy and the fed increases interest rates to control it, your money starts making even more money. Not enough to fix everything, but it does help a little.
If you can, max out your 401k. Put money in a Roth IRA too.
If you want to play with stocks safely use index funds. Something like SPY for the S&P500. 98% of day traders lose money. Every trade someone makes is measured against the market. The trade you made increased 2% in the last week? Well, the market was up 2.8%. It's like gambling and the market is the house. The market eventually always wins and everyone else loses.
HSA > 401k > Roth or backdoor your Ira. High yield savings changes every time you can get an extra half point of interest.
Do not, I repeat do not touch your fucking hsa unless you absolutely must and are dead dying on the ground. Take out a small loan before you touch your hsa. A little interest will be cheap as fuck compared to a years loss of hsa funds.
Look at how much fees cost. They are sneaky. Vanguard is the standard with low cost target date and index funds.
do not fuck with day trading unless you feel like gambling
WTF is an HSA or 401k? We're not all US Americans...
They're both tax advantaged accounts - meaning you don't have to pay taxes on them in most situations.
HSA is supposed to be a Health Savings Account, but has turned into more of a retirement account. 401k is Americas sad replacement for pensions as workers need to contribute to it and so it largely only helps wealthier people.
The more general advice would be - make sure to save and invest money (preferably in ways that avoid taxes if possible).
30-50 are most people's highest sarnings years, so if you aren't happy with your career, nows the time to fix it and get on a better path. Career changes get more difficult at 40 and 50.
Save even more than you think you can afford.
If you have IRA offered by your employer as a work benefit, try to contribute the amount that maxes out the employers contribution. This amount will vary by plan structure and also IRS limits. But basically you want to max out the amount your employer compensates you and even moreso for savings that compounds over time.
Consolidate and eliminate consumer debts.
If you need a car, buy used and let the first buyer take the depreciation hit.
Buy a house if you can afford to insure and fix everything that goes wrong with it also. Furnaces and AC and roofs are expensive.
If you plan to have a kid, start a 529 for their education now. Even if the contributions are small, time and compound interest is your ally here.
Don't get on TikTok or Instagram as it becomes an envy/peer pressure/consumption trap. I don't have the Amazon app on my phone either. I have to manually log in at a PC if I really need something from them. This reduces impulse purchases. Limit the Ubereats and Doordash expenditures also.
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