How much saved up at age 21?

I owe money but thats just because I spend all mine on alcohol...and epo

You should maybe....... wrote:

How'd you get out of it?

Man was I dumb back then! I opened up 3 or 4 credit cards and put the 16k on the cards and then slowly paid them off. Wasn't like I didn't have a good paying job. Still, dumb. Should have went and got a bank loan for a reasonable interest rate. The reason I owed capital gains on the sale of my house is that the replacement house cost a good bit less than the one I sold (moved from California Bay Area to Austin, TX). I put all the money from my California house down on my new house in TX. Then I found out that I owed a bunch of money to the Feds. Not the end of the world but it was tough for a few years. Fun times.

19 and 2k in the bank.

I anticipate having 5-7k by age 21

7,345 in the Bank.

The key is the paid, full-time, summer internships.

If you are a Engineering, Accounting, Finance, or an IT/CompSci major, you should, with good luck, be able to get an internship between $15-20/hr 40hrs per week.

$15K

Agree with this guy. 40 hour week * 18$/hr - little to no spending on social activities = 1,500 -> 9,000 in savings this summer. At graduation I hope to still have equal to this amount by using a minimum wage part time job during the year for my spending money.

25,000 debt (including living expenses) after college through scholarship help. almost 1/10th the price of many private colleges.

how obtuse are you?

Save 10,000 dollars right now and see how much it's worth due to inflation 20 years later. Active investing is the only way to remain rich in America.

obviouslee. wrote:

That house in 1895 might have only cost $4000, and in 1996 costs $200,000, but the change in price is due to inflation, or the decline in the value of the US Dollar.

4,000 to 200,000 (50X) as a function of inflation in 11 years? Might want to check your numbers on that.

This is one of the dorkiest threads I've ever read. Go out and have fun.

How's the running in Austin vs the Bay area? Grew up running in Chicagoland, and I really appreciate the weather and terrain out here. Lots of respect for those with money saved at 21.

Sorry, but 21 is too young to give a rat's ass about savings in the "retirement/housing/investing" sense. Now is the time to have adventures, travel and sow wild oats. If you focus too much on net worth now, trust me, you will regret it when you are 35, married, have kids and are supposed to be doing those things. The opportunity to save is so limited at 21, the incremental savings versus the opportunity to live life is negligible. Just try not to go into debt. I was an accounting major, probably had $500 to my name at 21...after my first internship at a firm I boosted that to around $2,500 and used about $1k of that to travel for 2 months by myself before starting work...it was totally worth it. While I agree that saving money is important and I value financial security, the ages of 21-25 have an intangible value that exceeds monetary value. You will have plenty of time to save big money once you are in the CPA/finance field for a few years.

Bay Area Runner wrote:

How's the running in Austin vs the Bay area? Grew up running in Chicagoland, and I really appreciate the weather and terrain out here. Lots of respect for those with money saved at 21.

I frickkin LOVE Austin (went to and graduated from UT) BUT ...

Austin running can't hold a candle to Bay Area running. Austin has some good routes but the bay area has 10X the number of good routes to run on every kind of terrain not to mention the weather is 10X better. Lots more quality, certified races.

You do, in fact, get used to the brutal heat/humidity combo in Austin but you know what? You don't HAVE to get used to anything in the bay area - it's all good from the get-go.

I'd move back to Austin if necessary but I'd miss the bay area running scene.

CrowWithKnife wrote:

Bay Area Runner wrote:

How's the running in Austin vs the Bay area? Grew up running in Chicagoland, and I really appreciate the weather and terrain out here. Lots of respect for those with money saved at 21.

I frickkin LOVE Austin (went to and graduated from UT) BUT ...

Austin running can't hold a candle to Bay Area running. Austin has some good routes but the bay area has 10X the number of good routes to run on every kind of terrain not to mention the weather is 10X better. Lots more quality, certified races.

You do, in fact, get used to the brutal heat/humidity combo in Austin but you know what? You don't HAVE to get used to anything in the bay area - it's all good from the get-go.

I'd move back to Austin if necessary but I'd miss the bay area running scene.

Forgot to add that if you move to Austin you get to drink Shiner Bock and eat Blue Bell ice cream. That might be enough for the win right there.

Keep in mind most people at 21 that have big money saved are those with wealthy parents who paid for the child's car, education, investments, etc or those who skipped college to join the workforce after high school.

I had about $13,000 saved up from working and getting school paid for mostly on athletic scholarships. Was lucky enough to live at home with minimal expenses for a year or two after school and bought my house at 23.

To: An Engineer, you should follow your own advice and you'll realize that I was comparing inflation over 111 years (which was a specific reply to another guy's question about the graph). 1895 dude. Not 1995.

An Engineer wrote:

obviouslee. wrote:

That house in 1895 might have only cost $4000, and in 1996 costs $200,000, but the change in price is due to inflation, or the decline in the value of the US Dollar.

4,000 to 200,000 (50X) as a function of inflation in 11 years? Might want to check your numbers on that.

You don't seem to get my point. I'm saying one of the most likely scenarios right now is DEflation. Inflation only happens IF the central banks decide to go all-in continuing to fight it, and IF they are successful. Neither are guaranteed.And, I never said 20 years later. I said 5-8 years. During which time, I do believe that you will be able to buy more house for the same dollar. After that time (2018-2022'ish) I do expect inflation to return with a vengence... just not yet. Just look at the past 5 years and tell me how much more or less house you can buy for that 10,000 dollars. That's my point.

Rec Runner x wrote:

how obtuse are you?

Save 10,000 dollars right now and see how much it's worth due to inflation 20 years later. Active investing is the only way to remain rich in America.

21 right now. I have about $10K saved up. I was fortunate that my parents are paying for my undergrad. I'm saving for grad school (masters) and will probably have a negative net wealth when I finish my masters.