How do people not save a ton of money?

Yeah that's what I thought. But where I grew up in a very middle class suburb, it seemed like most peoples' big purchases was a decked out truck or car or something... nothing absurd. But maybe I'm wrong.

Yeah exactly. I tried to balance everything so far. Have traveled solo to many continents and places while still saving. Have all the stuff I need for my hobbies, etc. I just find it amazing that I'm so materially satisfied while still saving way way more than I'd need in the future.

To the other posters saying that women won't like me or that I haven't proven myself... I lived in and around the biggest, most dynamic city in the US for 5 years so it's fine.

rojo wrote:

Richer than most wrote:

My wife and I are 50. Our net worth is $3M even though we never made more than $150k in a year. We have 3 in college that have no loans. You are terrible at saving.

You then got REALLY lucky. Your combined salary for the last 20 years is only 3 million and yet you somehow have all of that saved?

Are you serious Rojo? Have you seen the stock market the last 10 years? Do you understand the concept of compounding? Not to mention housing/land appreciation in some areas.

Do you carry a needle and thread with you everywhere in case you been and over split your boxers? Just how much money do you need to horde in order to be prepared for an unexpected emergency. Look, go ahead and live your life cowering in the corner waiting for an emergency that may never come or planning for an early retirement when you won't have a clue what to do with yourself since all you've known for the last couple of decades is work and save. We do agree material possessions can't make you happy. That's not what I'd recommend anyone spend their money on.

I was worth that much at 28 making $50k a year. Learn to live like a peasant for a little while, cook your own food, don't spend money on a bunch of unnecessary stuff, don't blow money on alcohol, drugs and dining out and you will be surprised how the money adds up. Go to state school, work part time and live in the cheapest place you can find in college and the ensuing years and your student debt won't be that bad. The average student debt for people graduating from state school is $29,076. Adjusted for inflation, this is within 7% of what I graduated with from state school back in the day.

What are you talking about? This is not binary. We live in a nice suburb 10 minutes outside of Boston, traveled internationally once or twice a year (pre-pandemic) and spend a ton of time doing things that bring us a great deal of happiness. Here are the things have not done:

1) Purchased a house we could not buy outright if we wanted to

2) Purchased expensive cars

3) Financed any depreciating asset

4) Prioritized spending on depreciating assets over maxing out tax-advantaged accounts and investing a reasonable amount in taxable accounts

I think the key thing is that most people miss is you can't have it all on a marginal income. You have to choose what you want to spend money on and make sure you are paying yourself first prior to spending on elective things.

highhoppingworm wrote:

3) Financed any depreciating asset

4) Prioritized spending on depreciating assets over maxing out tax-advantaged accounts and investing a reasonable amount in taxable accounts

Sure, income taxes are large enough to induce investments that minimize tax rates.

People like yourself do well because you focus on this critical issue.

I think the OP was trying to justify his immature decisions, and received considerable flak.

Then it got interesting as many posts discussed their particular savings versus consumption strategies, as well as the tactics of investments with the savings.

However, some mistake brains for a (sustained) bull market, and I would agree with rojo (for once) that they got lucky.

If everyone saved as much as some of the people who posted, then consumption would diminish, and demand for whatever products and services they offered would also decline. Savings tend to be loaned out for capital goods purchases, but lower consumer demand results in lower demand for savings (hence the QE, the modern form of coercing banks to loan until investment equals savings). Therefore, the incomes of many who posted would have fallen, and the market would have not been so robust.

I've lived through a few collapses, and I was fortunate not to have my future collapse as well.

It is not a surprise that the best cross country teams normally are in wealthier communities. Being able to see long term results of hard work are traits of good long distance runners. They also are traits of wealthy people who can see that years of hard work to acquire advanced degrees followed by years of saving will provide great benefits in the future. The type of people who are financially successful as well as successful in running are those who are disciplined. They enjoy the journey.

Measurer of everything wrote:

It is not a surprise that the best cross country teams normally are in wealthier communities. Being able to see long term results of hard work are traits of good long distance runners. They also are traits of wealthy people who can see that years of hard work to acquire advanced degrees followed by years of saving will provide great benefits in the future. The type of people who are financially successful as well as successful in running are those who are disciplined. They enjoy the journey.

Eldoret is a wealthy community?

chillllin369 wrote:

Flagpole, what would you say is an impressive savings for age 28/29?

And Bryan evans, I’m not leaching off my parents. They like me home. And I have a GF that lives in the city I can visit. Really is great being able to live like this and save $6k/month. Don’t know why more people don’t just do this...

There is no specific amount, but you are giving up a lot (at least in my opinion) to be living with your parents at that age...too much to be bragging about the amount you have saved. I love my parents, but I was out for good by 19, and I had been desperate to be on my own by about 14.

Also, you wouldn't need to pay $6,000 a month to live elsewhere.

The amount you have saved is a good start, but, even though you exaggerate quite a bit, you obviously live in a high cost of living area, and that $165,000 outside of your retirement account is peanuts if you want to stay there.

I suggest you find another part of the country to live in.

Eldoret is not in the US. Other countries have a different culture than the US. Kids in poor communities in the US do not pursue running to escape poverty. Eldoret is at elevation which has been shown to have positive impacts on long distance running. And lastly, I did not say that even in the US all great teams are in wealthy communities. I merely stated the fact that most are. You should be endorsing hard work and providing examples to young people of adults who worked hard to be successful in life and running.

Measurer of everything wrote:

Eldoret is not in the US. Other countries have a different culture than the US. Kids in poor communities in the US do not pursue running to escape poverty. Eldoret is at elevation which has been shown to have positive impacts on long distance running. And lastly, I did not say that even in the US all great teams are in wealthy communities. I merely stated the fact that most are. You should be endorsing hard work and providing examples to young people of adults who worked hard to be successful in life and running.

Sorry, I was joking.

Also I agree with your points as a coach in a city that produces poor cross country and distance results. In fact in NYC the only decent schools are either Catholic schools, a rich private school or the specialized academic schools. Staten Island has had success but compared to the rest of NYC it is like a suburb.

Bad Wigins wrote:

cash talks wrote:

They'll marry you to get their hands on that kind of cash.

only if you agree to move out of your parent's house, and then that money starts draining away

A few years later they realize you have no ambition, dump you and keep half of whatever's left, and tax your remaining half for child support. Not good!

Clown alert!

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The above user is too stupid to understand how stupid they are. Best not to interact!

Keep digging for that election fraud, moron!

highhoppingworm wrote:

You know what else might make you better able to “enjoy it”? Early retirement. For example, my wife and I have worked and saved hard in order to have the flexibility to retire in our early to mid 40s. Whether we pull the trigger then or wait until our kids go to college is undecided but I can damn well promise you that we won’t be working when the little worms are out of the house.

Or you can get paid for doing what you enjoy so that you don't have to look forward to early retirement. In my 20s, I invested in myself to build a career I wanted. My net worth was negative until I was in mid-30s, because I was paying off my student loan. I have saved up enough since so that I can comfortably retire at 65. And I would not mind working a few extra years if that's necessary.

You might think working until 65 is dreadful. But not if you enjoy your job.

That is certainly the ideal. I congratulate you for finding something that most are not able to find. . I have always found that I generally like my job but I am not truly and deeply passionate about it. Part of our goal for early retirement would be to find work that would electively do and not have to worry about income. For my wife that would likely be teaching science and for myself that would likely be coaching high school track and field (if possible).

Correct, if everyone did save as much as what people are posting here, economy may collapse. But what’s the point of stating this? In the real world, in the US, people like to consume and spend. So, if you’re a net saver and invest, you can take advantage of other people consuming and your investment will continue to compound. Sure, there will be more and more downturns coming up in the future. But as long as population continues to increase and people consume, market will continue to rise in the long run.

chillin369 wrote:

No car and moved back home with my parents at age 28. Have 165k and then another 45k in 401k/HSA.

How do people not save a ton? Do they really spend that much?

Why is this thread still a thing? You answered your own question since you have no car and aren't paying rent.

Most people live paycheck to paycheck in this country. Rent and utilities go up faster than wages. People have student loan debt. Medical debt. Credit card debt.

Easy to just blame people for their choices but there's enough wealth in this country that things don't have to be unequal.

My wife and I have an average age of 50, household income 225k in a "fly over state." We save very little in the way of cash, instead choosing to max each of our 401k. That's 39k a year plus another 10k to 15k in employer match between the two of us. If 54k a year in 401k isn't going to be enough once we are retired, then I guess I'll be in a tiny house in some wilderness area.

The plan is about another 15 years working, and in the meantime, to have purchased and paid off some land in an area we like, and building our "final" home with cash as we have it.

Unless something dreadful happens with the market, we should easily have 2 to 3 million in 401k, and we both have pensions on top of that. We should be able to live off of that on paid of land quite easily.

In the meantime, we have very nice cars (and payments), and a nice downtown condo with a view, and formally lots of travel. COVID stuck a nail in that one for the time being.

rojo wrote:

Richer than most wrote:

My wife and I are 50. Our net worth is $3M even though we never made more than $150k in a year. We have 3 in college that have no loans. You are terrible at saving.

You then got REALLY lucky. Your combined salary for the last 20 years is only 3 million and yet you somehow have all of that saved?

This is not unusual -- my savings increases each year by roughly the amount of my salary, even though I only take home a fraction of my salary after taxes, and I spend some of what I take home on my living expenses. The explanation? I have money in the bank that is growing!

Save early, save often.

chillin369 wrote:

How do people not save a ton? Do they really spend that much?

They are married