34 with a 92k a year job after most of my 20s earning less than 40k a year and I still have 50k in my RRSP/TFSA and a house with about 300k equity in it. In super HCOL area.
People are fucking stupid and live well beyond their means.
Put 10% of your paycheque into retirement/down payment, no matter what. Your car needs to get you from a to b, that's it. Get a $5k 20 year old Honda.
Don't ever/overuse bullshit like restaurants, uber eats, lyft, Instacart, Netflix etc. Don't pay mega premiums for convenience when you can barely afford to exist, and can get the same experience for a fraction of the price if you spend 10 minutes of work.
Buy unprocessed, raw foods and do the work yourself. Fix your own shit. Learn how to sew. Learn basic repairs.
Don't be useless and throw your expendable income away.
And NEVER NEVER NEVER let your credit card accumulate a cent of interest you fucking doorknobs.
They are dead ass right. People who make 50k/year get incredibly defensive and mad when they see someone making near double what they make say this, because it nukes any argument they have for blowing their budget on luxury services they think they deserve.
I've said before that if you're using Uber Eats or doordash for convenience, you're just making an outright bad decision. It can be great for people in very specific situations as a temporary option, but those services are just a stupid choice otherwise. People often don't like when I point that out.
I'm currently having a discussion with someone who is saying chipotle is ridiculously expensive in my city. I get it for $10 and they're saying it's $20 for the same order in the same city and they aren't backing down from their statement. So either the burrito maker is scamming this person or they are getting it delivered and seriously think a mid chain burrito costs $20. You can't talk sense to people like that. They will say everything is expensive even though they know they are doing the most expensive option.
Oh and you don't need 300$ subscriptions every month to survive. How much TV are folks watching these days anyway? Everyone I ever see is doomscrolling on their phones.
Boomers were very lucky with money and lived in one of best times for their investments to grow. But that is in hindsight. They also experienced extreme inflation and unrest in the 60s and 70s and experiencd the cold warr. We don't know yet if our generation might have simillat. There had been a lot of crap happened in the world from 2000 to present but this belief that things are uniquely awful for us and we have more excuses than others for failure is just pathetic at a point. Things might get better, they might get worse. Take control of what you can and don't write off your life
This was me at 34, but with a 1 yo and no pets (bc they are so dang expensive in my hcol city). Keep going. When you start getting raises remember this, don't life style creep (it gets tempting until you see the price tag), and save even more when you can. Look into FIRE if you want out of the rat race sooner. Your mind is already there. Retired at 45. Some stuff gets more expensive (kid/teen sports, braces, pretty soon a kid who will be driving so very expensive insurance, the never ending 529) but if you plan right and have a healthy savings you will be more than fine. Realize you are not like others and most folks won't listen no matter how much you scream this to the void. While some simply made different choices and just can't ever be where you are. You are privileged and lucky. Don't take it for granted. Good luck.
Buddy I’m the same age and financially doing better than you are and have a family to support ad the sole income but I still understand that I got here through a lot of luck and timing things right. Not everyone has that luxury. I imagine you had the same too and possibly a fall back like parents or a support system to catch you if you fail, which a lot of people also don’t have
But your advice is predicated on a life without emergencies eating at your savings as well as timing the housing market for a low interest rate and price(assumption here but makes sense with 300k equity on a 92k income in hcol). My colleagues make way more than I do and still can’t afford a home in our vhcol area in Southern California . I was fortunate enough to get in while I could but I’m not gonna blame my colleagues spending on a shit housing market and insane inflation in the last decade.
We've had a few emergencies, being frugal has allowed us to weather them.
Housing has very little relevance tbh. The core message rings true no matter what.
Live within your means. Don't overconsume. Do shit yourself instead of paying for convenience.
None of that is inapplicable or inaccessible to a single person on this planet,and people who say it isn't are looking for excuses to justify their poor financial decisions. Yeah it's not all sunshine and daisies, but it's better than financially crippling yourself.
There’s a better way to give that advice than shitting on people whose spending you don’t agree with or calling them stupid because of how they spend their money is my point. We get it, you’re probably the life of the party but even with strict financial discipline, it’s not a guarantee you’re going to have a savings.
And housing has a ton to do with it when the cost of rent and mortgages are at all time highs and eat at your income. I think you wouldn’t be talking so high and mighty had you not purchased your home when you did
My only pushback is the car. $5k doesnt get you much in terms of working. That's borderline marketplace "runs and drives, no brakes" territory. So I'd say 10k car, but shop real smart and buy for reliability over all else. Otherwise, harsh, but true words
The alternative seems to be completely defeatist and whine about everything, overconsume ever enshittified products, and just be a poor and miserable feudal slave to corporations forever...
Did you know that if you are on either regular SS or SSDI that you are not allowed to have more than 2K in your accounts? Doesn't matter if you were some hotshot exec who had the top of the world. Once you end up on social security. You are basically screwed. Especially if you have a physical disability.
You are misinformed. Millionaires and billionaires can and do collect Social Security benefits if they worked the necessary amount.
Do billionaires qualify for Social Security benefits? The short answer is yes. Under the current law, an individual's wealth or current income level has no impact on their eligibility to receive a Social Security retirement benefit. In other words, even if you have $10 billion in assets, you could qualify for Social Security as long as you meet the requirements.
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u/MattySiegs 4h ago edited 2h ago
34 with a 92k a year job after most of my 20s earning less than 40k a year and I still have 50k in my RRSP/TFSA and a house with about 300k equity in it. In super HCOL area.
People are fucking stupid and live well beyond their means.
Put 10% of your paycheque into retirement/down payment, no matter what. Your car needs to get you from a to b, that's it. Get a $5k 20 year old Honda.
Don't ever/overuse bullshit like restaurants, uber eats, lyft, Instacart, Netflix etc. Don't pay mega premiums for convenience when you can barely afford to exist, and can get the same experience for a fraction of the price if you spend 10 minutes of work.
Buy unprocessed, raw foods and do the work yourself. Fix your own shit. Learn how to sew. Learn basic repairs.
Don't be useless and throw your expendable income away.
And NEVER NEVER NEVER let your credit card accumulate a cent of interest you fucking doorknobs.