the real deal wrote:
Sales! wrote:how is everyone not just collectively on the brink about being a few paychecks away from poverty?
There are a lot of Americans that are one paycheck away from poverty.
Yuuuge numbers. Also a yuuuge number of Americans with a majority of their retirement wrapped up in the house in which they live.
Not that the OP has a huge nest egg, but I'm shocked that this is a constant worry. At no pont in my life have I worried about money not because I've always been rich, but because I have a strong sense of my own worth in the market.
I'm in my mid-twenties. I save 15% of my income and max out my employer-matched contributions to my IRA. I pay a small amount of student loan debt that I will finish off soon. I have a small investment account (10,000) that is growing. Of course things could go wrong, but what the hell is freaking out out going to do about that?
Same. Always freaked out. If i got sick, lost a limb, etc. Id be so screwed financially. 40k would evaporate quickly.
Sales! wrote:
I have 50k in savings and 40k in retirement and no debt and it's basically all I ever think about and I'm pretty sure I'm doing much better than most Americans - how is everyone not just collectively on the brink about being a few paychecks away from poverty?
One consideration is that since most of us are runners, that means we are also goal setters and goals setters who continually adjust those goals based on current performance (and that adjustment is almost always upward based on good performances, and not downward because of bad performances).
So while someone may start out with a goal of $500k in retirement account and $100k in savings by age 40, once you start closing in on those goals, they shift. The result is constantly having some difficult to achieve goal that is off in the semi-distant future.
First I wanted to have a certain amount in my retirement account. At this point, I now have a higher total number in my mind that will not only be tough to meet, but I also have a goal of having my mortgage paid off before my oldest graduates from high school in 9 years. Of course, setting aggressive goals is what makes us good runners and is what has created the degree of financial security that any of us currently enjoy, so this isn't an inherently unhealthy things, but it is a very easy way for us to constantly induce stress, even if we know in our hearts that we will not end up homeless or asking for handouts should things go a little sideways.
This. Best post of thread.
Skips Arm Day wrote:
How do you even live that way? Being completely freaked out about money all the time is my idea of hell. Honestly I'd be happier poor than I would be if I had money but constant anxiety about it. It's not worth it being a slave to money.
The things that keep me anxiety-free are:
1. I have a tight knit family and friends who I know would be there for me if I ever fell on hard times. Likewise I will always be there for them. Not likely I'd ever need their help, but just knowing they're there gives me peace of mind.
2. Living simply, keeping expenses low, and finances simple. I'm very content renting a small house and driving an old ugly (but well maintained) car. I know I don't need lots of money to be happy.
3. I have confidence in my talents and intelligence and in a worst case scenario if all my career ambitions were to fail I know I'd be great at a low paying blue collar job enough to make ends meet. Might even enjoy it too.
+2
Skips Arm Day wrote:
How do you even live that way? Being completely freaked out about money all the time is my idea of hell. Honestly I'd be happier poor than I would be if I had money but constant anxiety about it. It's not worth it being a slave to money.
The things that keep me anxiety-free are:
1. I have a tight knit family and friends who I know would be there for me if I ever fell on hard times. Likewise I will always be there for them. Not likely I'd ever need their help, but just knowing they're there gives me peace of mind.
2. Living simply, keeping expenses low, and finances simple. I'm very content renting a small house and driving an old ugly (but well maintained) car. I know I don't need lots of money to be happy.
3. I have confidence in my talents and intelligence and in a worst case scenario if all my career ambitions were to fail I know I'd be great at a low paying blue collar job enough to make ends meet. Might even enjoy it too.
qfe
Sales! wrote:
Late 20s
nothing to worry about yet, you can work for another 50-60 years..
10-20% of salary into savings and that's all you can do.
Immigrated here in my early 30s with no money at all, twenty-five years later my financial advisor tells me retirement is possible, as long as the politicians don't kill SS and Medicare.
I would be fine living under a bridge, so what's there to worry about?