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At 26, after 4 years of working, I had about 10,000 and a letter of admission to grad school. I deferred admission and spent the money living in South America and having the time of my life. Five years later I had Masters in statistics and a solid job as a biostatistician, but lost absolutely all of my money playing blackjack poorly.
Five years after that I was finishing my Ph.D., working two jobs, winning money at blackjack and investing in Google, and I had about $500,000 saved. And 10 years after that I have about three times that.
If there's a moral to my story, it's that life is for the living. When you are 25, enjoy it and build skills for the future. Have a mindset of abundance.
130k in the bank, 1.2 million in hard assets.
Not much, but I was just getting out of grad school at 25. Even by 30 my savings weren't hugely impressive, but between 30 and 40 probably went from about $100K to $700K.
$72.534.16 to my name + some inheritance on the way. I don't need a different car but I want one soon.
1m 25 now and I'm completely broke.
I was 25 in 1990, and had basically zero, a job paying 21k, 15k in student loans, and 6k in a car loan.
I set my PRs at 25, though, which mattered more, and still does.
-$175,000 in debt
At 25 I was three years out of my first stint of grad school and working in a warehouse for what would be the equivalent of ~$25k nowadays.
I had no student debt (had been lucky with scholarships and fellowships), had a car I'd bought used (for what would be ~$5k now), and rented a room in a house I shared with several other guys.
Just about half my take-home pay funded the team I'd started; the rest went to basics like room, food, and gas. I had zero in savings and lived from paycheck to paycheck.
Some decades later, I still live basically from paycheck to paycheck.
At 25, I had no debt, owned my home and had one years income in the bank, but didn't have a plan. Wish I'd started saving back then. Now at 34, I owe 104,000 on my home, (not bad I've got a 30 yr fixed at 4%) payments are 518, easily affordable, I have 3 kids, and am the sole provider. I have 60K in the bank for emergencies and only 55K in an account toward retirement. At this rate I won't be able to retire for a long time. (If Ever)
At 25 if I'd started anyting, even just a life insurance policy I'd be way ahead. Permanent insurance gets a bad rap, but 6% growth that's liquid and tax free has a place in my portfolio. It makes sense to me to have a liquid asset that's grows tax deferred and I can access it before I'm 59.5.
If you save 10K in your 20's and stop saving, the money will be worth more than if you started saving in your 30's and saved 10K in your 30's, 40's, and 50's. Good time to start something.
O.K. Dave Ramsey kool-aid drinkers time for you to ring in.
At 25, I had no debt, owned my home and had one years income in the bank, but didn't have a plan. Wish I'd started saving back then. Now at 34, I owe 104,000 on my home, (not bad I've got a 30 yr fixed at 4%) payments are 518, easily affordable, I have 3 kids, and am the sole provider. I have 60K in the bank for emergencies and only 55K in an account toward retirement. At this rate I won't be able to retire for a long time. (If Ever)
At 25 if I'd started anyting, even just a life insurance policy I'd be way ahead. Permanent insurance gets a bad rap, but 6% growth that's liquid and tax free has a place in my portfolio. It makes sense to me to have a liquid asset that's grows tax deferred and I can access it before I'm 59.5.
If you save 10K in your 20's and stop saving, the money will be worth more than if you started saving in your 30's and saved 10K in your 30's, 40's, and 50's. Good time to start something.
O.K. Dave Ramsey kool-aid drinkers time for you to ring in.
At 25 I had $22,832 (i keep excel records every paycheck).
I just turned 31 and now have $254,231 (includes 401k/roth) plus $104k in equity in my house.
Don't worry about what you have saved at 25! Not trying to sound cliche, but live life to the fullest. Eventually you'll make more money and in turn save more money. The difference between $20k and $25k in your bank account won't matter in the slightest 5 years from now. So if you have the option to do something really exciting in life, DO IT!
Never hurts to save, but I wish I would have done a nice Australian vacation at 25 instead of banking that money. The difference would be that I would only have $251k saved now...who cares!
I’m 28, never married, and have no children. I attended a Tier 1 school on scholarship and graduated at 23 with zero debt and zero assets. I got a job right after graduating starting at $49K and was making $70K by the time I was 25. I also received bonuses each year worth a few grand. At 25 I didn’t really have a savings plan but I lived responsibly… although not necessarily frugally. I traveled a good bit had spent more money at the bar then I care to admit. At 25 I had $30K in savings, no debt, no major assets, and owned my car outright.
Now, at 28, I have started to get ‘serious’ about my savings. I’m making about $85K a year and I had a really good year in bonuses last year which put my savings at $110K. I keep $30K in a money market for a ‘rainy day fund’ because my job doesn’t have much security. I can sell the pope a condom but if I miss quota twice I’m out on my ass. I put $70K of that into a portfolio with a well-respected investment manager. It’s medium risk because I plan to use some of that as a down payment on a house in the near future. I keep about $10K in savings. I also started a Roth 401K a few months ago and should be able to max contributions next year.
I am not a finance wizard but my plan works for me. I won’t offer any advice other than this- The best time for you to start a savings plan was the day you graduated college, if not earlier. The second best time to start is today. Don’t listen to any of these self-proclaimed millionaires on a running forum- talk to a professional financial planner ASPA and start a plan. Don’t get caught up on how much everyone else is making and saving. Just find something that fits your income, cost of living, and long range plan.
Good luck.
When I was 25, I made about 70k/yr at a consulting firm and had 50k in the bank (25k saved from earnings, 25k inherited from distant relative, seriously) + another 10k in a 401k. No student debt from college due to really good fin. aid. Lived in NYC and spent good chunk of my take-home on a sweet apartment near CP that I shared with a college teammate (very expensive, but totally worth it -- especially the private roof deck). Didn't go crazy, but went out a fair amount and generally enjoyed life. Did some cool trips in those years too (skiing in Switzerland was prob the highlight). Those were some good years.
By the time I turned 26, I had got married, left my consulting firm, moved cities, and started law school. Spent pretty much all of the 50k I had saved on tuition, etc., and took on another 50k in student loan debt. Now 32, and have paid off the law school debt and have (combined with wife) about 75k in cash, another 80k in taxable investment accounts, and 275k in retirement accounts and tax favored college savings accounts for the kids (we have 2). Also own a home, with a pretty big mortgage but about 200k in equity. Both my wife and I worked in biglaw for several years, which pays really well (but otherwise sucks). Now both in more "lifestyle-friendly" jobs that pay significantly less, but afford us some real time with the kids. These are good years too, but very different than being young and single in NYC.
So, I think it's good to do at least some moderate saving when you're in your 20s (particularly in tax favored retirement accounts like 401ks or IRAs), and I think saving to invest in yourself and your future earning potential though education (i.e., law school, b-school, masters) can be a good idea (worked for me -- though not necessary or desirable for everyone). On the other hand, when you're young and living in a big city and don't have many responsibilities beyond yourself, it's also an awesome time to invest in experiences (going out, good restaurants, travel, etc.) that may be less accessible when you have a family and kids. If you're not a total idiot about it, you've got plenty of years to earn and save for retirement, but maybe not so many to be young and pretty much carefree. Might as well enjoy it. Good luck!
I am a 25 year old, second year medical student: $2,000 saved up and $4,000 in checking account
Level of indebtedness: $67,000
Projected debt after 4 years of medical school: $180,000
Not going into primary care because of the debt, middle-level encroachment, and compounding interest during training. Also mid-level encroachment into anesthesiology, so probably won't look there either. With the time commitment for training, indebtedness, and sacrifice of earnings throughout 20s and early 30s you have to be crazy to become a doctor these days. Thankfully it works for me since distance running messed me up years ago :)
At 25 I had a wife and two kids under 10. Nothing saved, no college. 25 years later still have the same good wife and our kids are doing well.As long as you keep working and have a plan things work out eventually.
Why not primary care? Even if you do have 180k in debt, even family medicine docs can earn~200k-250k. Plus with IBR, and PSFL, paying off debt is nothing really.
Runner Future Doc wrote:
I am a 25 year old, second year medical student: $2,000 saved up and $4,000 in checking account
Level of indebtedness: $67,000
Projected debt after 4 years of medical school: $180,000
Not going into primary care because of the debt, middle-level encroachment, and compounding interest during training. Also mid-level encroachment into anesthesiology, so probably won't look there either. With the time commitment for training, indebtedness, and sacrifice of earnings throughout 20s and early 30s you have to be crazy to become a doctor these days. Thankfully it works for me since distance running messed me up years ago :)
I probably had some negative amount in my banking account. I was an IV cocaine and heroin addict then.
25 was about the time I became a 'ten thousandaire'
Had paid off 17k in student debt and lived in a crappy apartment. 10 years later I have (with my wife) about $250k saved (owe 175 on house) plus 150ish in 401k, 50ish in Roth IRA, 2yrs in GET for kid#1, a start in GET for #2, two fairly new paid cars, and likely inheritance near .5mil in a few decades. So about half work, half luck.
I hate reading threads, only to find out that some "asshat" resurrected an old thread. You got me -- again.
But this seems like a worthy subject. To answer the original question, at around 25, I think I was right around $0 -- no money, but also no debt -- college loans paid off, car loan paid off, family loan paid off, and no credit card debt.
I get the feeling today that that would put me in the top 10%.
I think being absolutely debt free is about one of the best feelings of relief I've ever had. In the meantime, I had bought a car, and a house, putting me temporarily back in the red, but I'm once again in a position where everything is paid off, and some accumulated retirement savings (which have seen significant hits with Internet and Housing bubble bursting). I'm still worried about getting my kids through college, and still having enough for retirement.
Taking a quick look here for me is quite depressing:
Besides the "US national debt" figure which has seen a lot of political finger pointing, other more troubling figures are:
- Total Personal Debt ($52,000 per citizen): Mortgage Debt, Student Loan Debt, and Credit Card debt
- US Unfunded liabilities (almost $1 million/taxpayer): particularly Medicare liability (which dwarfs the more publicly aware Social Security issue)
As a nation, our mortgage, credit card, and student loan debt is roughly equivalent to the US National Debt
(I didn't mention the additional burden of State Debts or Local Debts).
Medical liabilities seem to be several factors higher (and some sources say these estimations are optimistic).