I am not sure what planet you are living on!!
I was worth 100 grand at a late age thirty and I believe that that is still well above average.
I am not sure what planet you are living on!!
I was worth 100 grand at a late age thirty and I believe that that is still well above average.
Christopher Nowak wrote:
I am not sure what planet you are living on!!
I was worth 100 grand at a late age thirty and I believe that that is still well above average.
EIGHT YEARS LATER you bump this, just to pat yourself on the back with a humble brag????
We're ya doing some gooooogling and stumbled in here?
C'MON!
I think that having your debt paid off is important. I think the goal should be to put 10% into retirement. Then Save around 10K a year. That would put you around 100K in savings and probaly around 100K in retirement. Obviously things like buying a house and such may change that, but having the net worth be around 200K and have positive prospects throughout your 30s is where you want to be.
I like everything FW said. Although I'd use a more conservative rate of return that is closer to 7% than 9%. That is nitpicking on my part, of course.
Develop good financial habits early. It's always fun to begin an automatic investment program that socks away a few hundred extra dollars each month. You forget it's even there, then a year later you check it out and see a few grand in the account. Make it automatic.
Also, some people actually avoid looking at their credit card balance online because they don't want to see how much they owe. This is a huge mistake - attack it like you would your running program. You'll feel great when it's $0. Good luck.
MAYEROFF wrote:
The best situation to be in at 30 is
(1) Debt Free
(2) Fit and healthy
(3) A few good friends around the world.
(4) A degree from a good university.
That is all you need.
No. This is terrible advice. Money in the bank trumps 5k times.
Debt free is a good start and a huge accomplishment for many. Start saving as much and as early as possible.
You want the freedom/choices that comes with even a little wealth and the only way to do it is either gifted by your parents or old-fashioned saving.
My parents have a current net worth of about $4M. This is throwing off sufficient passive income that they should not have to use any of the principal for the remainder of their lives. I estimate that I have a 95% probability of inheriting 50% of the principal in about 25 years. Should I include this in my net worth calculation? If so, should I apply a further discount factor to it?
Zero. That way you won't lose anything in the divorce.
in today's dollars I was worth about $100k with about half in 401(k) and half in home equity. 20 years later my worth has grown to 1.5 million. A few more years and I'll be saying so long to the rat race.
Who necroed this crap?
In this day and age, being debt-free, except for a house payment, is a good start. My generation is drowning in debt.
Flagpole Willy wrote:
....
I would advise doing things in the following order (basic idea from Dave Ramsey):
1) $1000 emergency fund.
2) 15% of your income to retirement accounts (401k and IRAs).
3) Build that emergency fund up to 3-6 months of expenses.
4) Start throwing extra money at the house to get it paid for.
5) Invest further than the retirement account will allow (separate mutual funds, individual stocks if you're a big risk taker, real estate, etc.).
No reason in the world why a 30 year old today with a college degree can't retire by age 62 a multi millionaire.
Hey - this is the first time I've ever seen Flagpole give proper credit to Dave Ramsey!
When did this stop? Flagpole - you should stop plagarizing the idea and continue to insert that small, but important citation giving Dave credit.
SVC wrote:
I know most young guys also probably don't want to hear this, but the younger you get married, the more wealth you build.
Please explain how getting married builds wealth. My fiance and I are each currently in the 28% tax bracket and can individually max out our Roth IRAs. When we get married, we will get hit with the marriage penalty and both be in the 33% tax bracket whether we file jointly or separately. If that wasn't enough, we will not qualify at all for Roth IRAs anymore because the max combined income is 181k for married vs 120k for single. Getting married will cost us MORE in taxes and retirement benefits.
I guess if you make close to minimum wage and your spouse makes 6 figures, you will increase your wealth. However for two middle class workers with similar income, we get screwed.
vivalarepublica wrote:
Who necroed this crap?
In this day and age, being debt-free, except for a house payment, is a good start. My generation is drowning in debt.
This is close to the norm.
Don't count on the bank of mom and dad. Work on your own savings.
Check out the time value of money. That nest egg gets discounted heavily by the time your parents are dead. It's not a reflection on them. It's just the most pragmatic approach.
This is more like it!!! wrote:
Flagpole Willy wrote:....
I would advise doing things in the following order (basic idea from Dave Ramsey):
1) $1000 emergency fund.
2) 15% of your income to retirement accounts (401k and IRAs).
3) Build that emergency fund up to 3-6 months of expenses.
4) Start throwing extra money at the house to get it paid for.
5) Invest further than the retirement account will allow (separate mutual funds, individual stocks if you're a big risk taker, real estate, etc.).
No reason in the world why a 30 year old today with a college degree can't retire by age 62 a multi millionaire.
Hey - this is the first time I've ever seen Flagpole give proper credit to Dave Ramsey!
When did this stop? Flagpole - you should stop plagarizing the idea and continue to insert that small, but important citation giving Dave credit.
Not sure why someone resurrected a thread from 2007, but I have long given Dave Ramsey credit for the basis of my financial planning. I don't ALWAYS mention him though because I don't agree with him on all things.
For example, I'm ok with a person investing even if they still have some student loan debt. Ramsey would say ONLY mortgage debt is allowable. I recognize that some doctors, etc. have some pretty big student loans.
I also think it's ok for a person (unless they have shown they can't properly handle one) to have and use a credit card. Sorry Dave, but credit cards are just too convenient. Enough places require a credit card (not a debit card) to make it a hassle not to have one, and they ARE safer. Just pay the thing off each month. Ramsey says you feel the pain of a purchase more if you use cash, but that is simply not true with me, and I think it's not necessarily true for people younger than he is...we are moving further and further away from cash, so younger people have more experience with paying for things with a card.
Also, Ramsey is 100% against bonds. I'm not. I can see (and am planning) a situation where I don't invest in bonds in retirement (I have 13% bonds now in my retirement portfolio), but I don't think it's bad to have them. He says the benefit of stocks greatly outweighs the relative safety of bonds. Meh. I think some safety in there in retirement is ok. In my case, I'm planning to have 3 YEARS of expenses saved liquid (in retirement) so that my investments can all be stocks within mutual funds. Then, if the market crashes, I will live on my liquid and/or social security, giving time for the stocks to rebound. Once they do rebound (and they will), I will build up the liquid again to 3 years of expenses level (unless I'm 90 or something by then).
I'm interested in how these "voices of 2007" turned out. I'd hate to have been the high-paid, zero experience but-with-graduate degree debt months before the collapse of Lehman and the beginning of the government sponsored Great Recession. Thankful during this time I was in the well-paid, with experience, minimal debt category.
contingent assets wrote:
My parents have a current net worth of about $4M. This is throwing off sufficient passive income that they should not have to use any of the principal for the remainder of their lives. I estimate that I have a 95% probability of inheriting 50% of the principal in about 25 years. Should I include this in my net worth calculation? If so, should I apply a further discount factor to it?
I'm in a similar situation. I don't look at inheritance as being imminently mine. Parents are 24 & 27 years older than me and could live well into their 90's. I look at that wealth more as being assurance that I won't be broke at the end of my life. Most of the inheritance will probably just be passed on down the line to my children.