Don't just focus on the investing side, focus on your overall financial situation. This includes your investments, but it also includes how you handle your short term savings, plan for trips, use credit cards, negotiate for raises, etc.

To that end, I highly recommend to the book "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" by Ramit Sethi. Ignore the silly title, it's not a get rich quick scheme--it is all about how to get your financial life in order so that you feel "rich" even if you are really just graduating from college and starting your first job.

His advice on investing is going to be similar to what most people here suggest: Index funds, keep adding money over time, rebalance every once and a while but don't sweat the market swings or try to play the market daily. But he's going to give you a lot more instruction on how to automate the rest of your finances and get to a place where you are comfortable.

Unlike many other general personal finance books, he's never going to tell you to be cheap or to go without buying things you really want. He'd rather help you optimize your savings and get a better job than try to fund your retirement by never buying Starbucks.

Read I Will Teach you To Be Rich next. It walks you thru starting from scratch. https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22ZIDQDRP595X&keywords=i+will+teach+you+to+be+rich&qid=1560644428&s=gateway&sprefix=i+wil+tea%2Caps%2C193&sr=8-1

Imho, I don't think you need to waste your tuition money on a semester long class to learn personal finance. There are tons of books, videos, and forums you can access that teach you all the basics and more. You just need to do a little research. My favorite book on the topic is <em>I will teach you to be rich</em>. It's straightforward, easy to understand, and doesn't bullshit. It's a good place to start.

> When someone goes super hard on a single thing someone said during a 7-8 hour stream that is part of 5 7-8 hour streams that they put on 5 days a week every week, during a week when

you say this like it was a handful of words and no big deal, but the claim was that illegal, shady things are happening, and that's dynamite. he purports to be an expert, why is it unreasonable to expect him to be able to expand on this claim? this is what people wanted to know about.

and its not just that he got so fucking mad about this, his instinct was to assert instant narrative control - "i should have known, you're doing the destiny thing, you're trying to trap me, i guess you're just being an asshole to get a clip", and on and on and on.

these are things that set off alarm bells for me when i encounter them personally, but that's just me.

>Also 95% of zoomers dont read. Its a good thing that there are other ways for them to get this info.

yeah, for just 75 cents a day you can learn why you should buy a used car instead of a new car and invest in a 401k. guys, read a fucking book. don't waste 8 hours a day on this dumb shit, one and done this and move on with your life and probably get more out of it than you're getting from a twitch streamer who apparently feeds his audience a conspiracy theory because talking about boring ass shit like implied volatility isn't getting the clicks.

I feel you.

Something that's kind of working for me now is that I worked out a rough budget so I know around how much I can spend on fun stuff while still saving. Most weeks and months I don't spend this money (or only a fraction of it), so when I do spend it it's double guilt free because I know I'm safely spending less than I can afford. I don't keep a budget, but I do track my overall savings and as long as that number is trending up, I know my current habits are working.

Another thing that helped was thinking about how I want my money to function. I want savings because they make me feel secure in the future. But I have to remember that I also want to live well now. I priorities spending on things that will enrich my life now and also give me experiences that will enhance my life going forwards. For example trying a fancy new restaurant the first time is a fun splurge, a new memorable experience, and enhances future enjoyment of watching Top Chef. Going to the same fancy restaurant a 2nd, 3rd or 4th time has comparatively little value so I don't do it.

I remember reading I Will Teach You To Be Rich helped shape some of these ideas.

You should show him how much inflation destroys the value of money that just rots in bank accounts, if he’s so concerned with keeping wealth.

If he’s serious about getting the most out of his money, he’s investing spare cash in the market or in bonds from the country in which you reside (US Treasury bills, I-bonds or TIPS if you’re in the USA).

It’s also counter-productive to penny-pinch - it isn’t an effective wealth-building strategy because it costs you more in the long run. I don’t normally recommend most financial literature, but Ramit Sethi’s I Will Teach You to Be Rich is something you and your husband could read together. I’m sure there’s a copy at your local library.

To his point--follow a savings plan and then be guilt free with the rest.

You've seen plenty of advice about compound interest and everything, I'm just reiterating it--If you start with a solid plan when you are 21, you can do well with a fairly low savings rate.

That's part of why I think this book is a fantastic graduation present for a 21-22 year old: https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=1523505745&amp;psc=1 (despite the silly name).

The author's big thing is about learning to enjoy your money (when he says he will teach you to be rich, he doesn't mean he is going to help you make a million dolalrs a year--he's going to help you live a "rich life"). Get your savings plan on lock and HAVE FUN. If you like $5 lattes at starbucks...buy them. If you want to go on that sweet beach vacation...make it happen.

One of my favorite tactics he suggests is using bank sub-accounts that are earmarked for specific things. It can work as a psychological trick to make you do more of the things you live. E.g. if you have a "travel" account that you set up to automatically put money in every paycheck, you'll see the money building up there and be like "oh crap, I've got $$$ saved, I have vacation time at work, but I've been so busy I haven't actually planned a trip in a while" and it will motivate you to start booking some flights.

Fantastic question! I had the opposite issue: feeling guilty for spending more. The book at the link below helped a lot to set a plan and enjoy whatever's left over.

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=54127282257&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwmPSSBhCNARIsAH3cYgb5Qr4dk8IWQ59EDsEyKHBRU1EbTrTAPF5azRzuKRQT7KqNr2agodwaAsMaEALw_wcB&amp;hvadid=274727164205&amp;hvdev=m&amp;hvloc...

I recommend this for young people starting at square one:

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_M1XW0Y79VT7PKWRTT1BG

Go to /r/personalfinance and read The wiki top to bottom. It has good info and a list of books. I recommend this one for anyone starting from square one.

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_Z2GN442TFAZB4GRRBPK1

Come on. It seems people just want to give their money away to scammers.

Before you think you are going to make it rich off real estate. Pick up this basic finance book first.

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/

>Can we admit there's parts of it that are really fucking counterintuitive and easy to be pissed off at/think are fucking stupid?

sure i guess it's counterintuitive that lenders view you as a higher risk if you seek out lots of credit-based spending power in a short period of time.

the american education system has failed to teach financial literacy to multiple generations. that means its your responsibility to educate yourself, which you can do in a weekend with a book from amazon or your local library like this one.

its a shit deal but its that or you keep complaining like its inscrutable and insurmountable despite every dumbfuck boomer you know having already done this themselves.

My best recommendation is to read I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi. It does a fairly good job at explaining the basics of things like saving for retirement and the importance of credit in a fun, easy-to-read way. I'm in my mid 20s and was fortunate to be exposed to a lot of this stuff young thanks to my parents, but I've recommend this book (despite the gimmicky name) to most of my friends who are just beginning their adult lives and have only heard positive reviews. It's a good investment for $8.

Holding you accountable: have you set yourself 5 minutes to look into (and purchase/download) the following book?

“I Will Teach You to Be Rich” by Ramit Sethi

I agree, Ramsey has some pretty good principles, but he's too preachy for my taste. One book I highly recommend is 'I will teach you to be rich' by Ramit Sethi.

I know, I know...the title is super cheesy (even the author admits it). But it changed my whole perspective money.

The paperback is 8.79 on amazon right now https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jOmaGb4TR9WZJ

The author, Remit Sethi, has a lot of good stuff on his website and youtube you could check out for free too.

I learned more about life watching Jordan Peterson on youtube as I was about to graduate than thru my years in college. It gave me a much better attitude since I was pretty miserable in college. My professors and advisors were often happy to give live/career advice too.

While I attended university, I took a personal finance class and one of the books that was assigned reading was 'I Will Teach You To Be Rich' by Ramit Sethi.

For me, this book was a great introduction to personal finance that went over the importance of banking, saving, budgeting, and investing. Also, it's a bargain on Amazon for only like ~$9.

I highly recommend it to any young person looking to learn how to make smart, but practical financial decisions that can set them up for success.

commute was a wash. you think he lived next door to his job originally? even if he did, so what? his expenses just dropped to 60%, that's hundreds of extra dollars a month he can save or spend guilt-free, and i don't have to listen to him fucking complain about how tight his bills are. you think anyone is going to call him a dumbfuuucccck for that?

why are you married to this? why do you want to convince yourself its your lot in life to suffer? why do you want to hit pause on your life right now and never make new friends or go anywhere in your life?

why are you like this?

here's the first personal finance book i read a decade ago. your local library probably has it, why don't you spend a weekend with it?

You're getting a lot of suggestions already, but if you're into books I started reading this for the second time the other day and it really helped me understand the basics of investing and organizing my finances

Don't let the title turn you off. The author says himself if he could go back he probably wouldn't name it the same thing because of how scammy it sounds. The information is super practical though.

I'm 33 and just opened up my IRA account because the book helped me make sense of all this stuff I was taught to be afraid of when I was younger.

Ich musste Geld ausgeben erst lernen. Hatte nen Studienkollegen dessen Eltern relativ viel Geld hatten, der aber trotzdem normal war und auf dem Boden geblieben ist.

Der hat mir im Prinzip Geld ausgeben beigebracht. Hatte auch nie was. Dann war ich geizig in einem Maß, dass nicht wirklich sozialverträglich war.

Ich rede nicht davon, dass man sich übervorteilen lässt, aber das man quasi bei Dingen die für andere normal sind und die man sich auch gut leisten könnte geizig ist, zum Nachteil von menschlichen Beziehungen.

Ja keine Ahnung. Lern halt dir mal was zu gönnen ohne es zu übertreiben. Gutes Buch was mir auch viel geholfen hat war https://www.amazon.de/Will-Teach-You-Be-Rich/dp/1523505745

Da gehts zwar viel auch um amerikanischen Kram der uns nicht so betrifft, aber so die Grundeinstellung zu sparen und Geldausgeben, die ist absolut super. Kann ich empfehlen.

I liked "I Will Teach You to be Rich" by Ramit Sethi. On-the-nose titling aside, his writing style was more relatable to me as a younger person than the other finance books I tried, which were too dense or not written for my generation. I recommend previewing the first few chapters to see if the way he explains things make sense to you. Amazon Link.

> but the one thing that actually brings me the most joy/happiness/relief is that I live alone. It was basically my main goal in life.

I know you've answered elsewhere, but this stood out to me.

I strongly recommend this book. One of the lessons I got from this was to spend on things that are important to you and mercilessly cut on expenses that aren't. It sounds like your freedom in living alone is important and worthwhile. If you love where you're at, don't change it unless it becomes a necessity.

Career

When it comes to your job, you need money now. I get that. I empathize with that. And there are ways you can find a job quickly.

You have a car. Awesome. People need people who can drive. If you're in a major city or near one, you can always turn to services like Uber, Lyft, or GrubHub. These are ways to make some money relatively quickly if you're really strapped for cash.

If you have a skill like writing or graphic design, places like Upwork or Fiverr are good places you can pick up some freelance work. There's a learning curve to freelancing though. But with a little determination and work, you'll be able to find plenty of clients willing to pay money for your skills.

HOWEVER, I wouldn't rely on the above in the long term. They're just ways to help round out your income or get some cash relatively quickly. From there, you can continue searching for temporary jobs at places like Subway or PetCo. Notice how I said "temporary" job. You don't want these jobs forever.

They're not careers. For one of those, you'll have to do a bit more work. And that all starts with answer one big question: What do you want to do?

One great way I went about answering this when I was starting out was asking myself, "What do I want my job title to be?" For me it was simple: Staff writer. Luckily, there are a ton of great job boards specific to media jobs like MediaBistro. I also turned to places like Craigslist to pick up the off writing gig here or there -- but many of these job boards weren't just for writing gigs.

You say you majored in Theatre all four years of college. So did I! Contrary to popular belief, you can find awesome jobs with a theatre degree. A few job boards I suggest:

• http://offstagejobs.com/
• https://theatrejobboard.setc.org/
• http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/ (UK specific)

OR you can even turn to Craigslist (yes, seriously). You'd be surprised at how many quality organizations turn to there looking for talent.

Some more good resources I love to help you find a career you love:

• https://www.primermagazine.com/2014/earn/how-to-get-your-first-real-job-out-of-college-even-if-youre-currently-a-bartender-with-a-philosophy-degree-a-case-study
• https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/find-your-dream-job/
• https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/looking-for-a-job-take-the-initiative/

That's your career. Now let's talk about something very important -- probably the most important thing here actually ...

Mental health

Now this is something I have a lot of experience in in terms of going through it myself. Addressing your issues surrounding your mental health is absolutely vital for success of any kind. It's like working out or building good relationships: A continual process. You're not going to solve it right off the bat, but you can do things to help you understand yourself better and therefore prime yourself for success in the future.

If you're not in therapy yet, I highly suggest it. Yes, therapy can be expensive. But that doesn't mean there aren't resources out there for a destitute twentysomething to find professional help.

You can find free or low income mental health services through awesome non-profits like NAMI.

You can find sliding scale therapists who charge according to your income level in directories from Psychology Today or Good Therapy.

Or you can use a host of therapy apps out there to help. Here's a place with some links to good ones: https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/chatbots-reviews#1

For me, I've used probably all of the above in one time or another since leaving college. I've since found a good therapist who I see twice a month. It does absolute wonders for me to have someone to talk to.

Aside from that, it's helpful to remember that you are not alone in this. What you're going through is not unusual. And with the right motivation and systems, you can and will get through this. It's hard now to hear this coming from some bozo stranger online, but you can and will get through this. It's going to take time. And you're going to have low points -- maybe even lower than you are at now. But you will get through this bud.

Oh also, if you haven't yet buy this book: https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=B4X2N2Y000P4HKEF2YMT

If you can get past the scammy name, you'll find invaluable resources on how to get your life on track both financially and personally after college. It'll teach you everything from the best savings accounts for beginners, how to handle debt, to how to spend extravagantly on the things you love without losing your shirt. It's essential reading for any post grad imo.

Keep me updated. If you have any questions or just want to talk some stuff through, slip into my DMs. I'd love to help out someone who is in the same place I was all those years ago.

Bonus: Food

You mention food is an issue, but this is an area that you can handle without breaking the bank. Some good resources from Reddit:

• /r/EatCheapAndHealthy
• /r/budgetfood
• /r/Cheap_Meals

As a former vegetarian and having been raised in a Vietnamese household, I can personally attest to the fact that you can eat cheap and healthy AND keep your vegetarian diet. It helps that rice is like the cheapest food in the world -- not to mention fucking delicious if you can cook it right.

Ramit Sethi's "I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition"

r/personalfinance is also a great start, too. Their Wiki has a lot of basic information on finances.

Agree with the other comments about order of priorities and Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab. Also suggest this book by Ramit Sethi: https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745

He updated it in 2019.

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second-dp-1523505745/dp/1523505745/

I was in the same boat, grew up poor with a single mom living pay cheque to pay cheque.

Honestly this book helped me a lot, lame title but the advice is great.

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=teach+you+to+be+rich&amp;qid=1626852419&amp;sr=8-1

I managed to save about $100 negotiating my monthly bills.

https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/special/lower-your-monthly-bills/

Per his advice I gave myself a guilt free spending budget that helped me limit my spending and even incentive saving up for big things.

I've been on his program for two years and saved enough capital to put into a little side business to generate a second income doing something I love.

You are doing great! What I mean is that you have initiated your first step towards financial independence, by recognizing that you need to do something about it! Also, thank you for your service. The military has a lot to offer you. Also, your security clearance is kind of a golden ticket for employment whenever you decide to leave the military. I'm not military and one extra cost I have to really consider when taking the step into early retirement is medical insurance. That's a hefty price. If you do your full 20 in the military, you will earn that free medical and pension. So, it's something to keep in the back of your mind. At the same time, if you skill up while in the military, you might find a lucrative position where you can utilize what you learned in the military and maintain your clearance, making extra money.

To put your future pension into context, if you do stay for the full 20, I like to look at the 4% rule as a general guideline. For example, the pension for a retired E7 is $27,827 per year (tax free). 27,827 / 0.04 == $695,675. So, if you or I managed to build up $695,675 in investment, you/I could pull out 4% of that investment, totaling $27,827 for a year. The market grows at 8% on average. The concept here is that you could, generally, expect to pull out 4% of your total investment annually and have it be replaced by the coming years growth, allowing you to pull 4% indefinitely. So, the pension for an E7 is equivalent to having $695,675 in investment and pulling 4% of that investment annually, totally $27,827 every year. It's even better for your situation, because it's tax free. For me, I'd have to pay taxes for the profits made when I sold 4% of the investment.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO. It has some heady math to back up the information it presents, but don't let the math deter you. It's super solid advice.

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

The TL;DR on investing for the laymen (me and probably you) is index funds. Two in particular (Total Stock Market Index Fund, Total Bond Market Index Fund). These two funds will cover you across the entire stock market and the entire bond market (maximum diversification). They also have the lowest fees in town. Both Fidelity and Vanguard have funds like these. I'm not sure about the other places, but I'm sure they do. I'm a fan of Fidelity and Vanguard.

Index funds are 'unmanaged mutual funds.' The market is a big animal with many aspects (real estate, physical resource companies, technology, finance, etc..). If someone asked themself "How is the market doing today?", it would be tough to answer. So, financial people created what are called "indexes." An index is like a thermometer for the stock market. There are a lot of them (NASDAQ, DOW, S&P500, RUSSEL 2000, and more and more). Each index has a criteria for deciding if a company 'belongs' to it. Since the index already exists, if you invest in an index fund, you don't need a "fund manager" deciding what gets invested in. The index fund tracks the index that it is named after. Since there is no fund manager, there is no extra costs to have some asshole make the choices on what you invest in.

Managed funds are a losing bet. Paying some asshat to choose what you invest in is only going to line their pockets. Nobody can beat the market over an extended period of time (i.e. a decade). See Warren Buffet's Million Dollar Bet as proof of that. So, even if some managed fund has a hot couple years, it means nothing. You are in it for the long haul. Index funds are the winner for the long haul. They also remove the stress.

Sorry for the firehose and my comment might've left you with some questions, but I wanted to give you a quick snapshot of some things you'll encounter. Those books are money. Good luck!

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO.

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

The TL;DR on investing for the laymen is "Index Funds"

I see, in your other comment in this thread, that you may not be a US citizen. I'm not sure what your investment options are from where you live, but those books a good start.

The key is to keep educating yourself on the subject.

Do you have access to a 457b? Some teachers and government employees do. If you do, I’d prioritize that over other options for investing since they typically have no age minimum to begin distributions, as long as you leave employer (I.e. retire or take a different job in a different district).

Definitely get the details on the disability insurance. I’ve used short and long term disability insurance via my employer twice for surgeries and it was very helpful. After a 7 day elimination period, it covered 60% of my salary, and because the benefit is taxed, the income from it was not. So that was 60% untaxed, checks every two weeks until I was working full time again (I phased back into work both times per surgeon’s recommendation to build up strength).

Two books I recommend for personal finance and investing are here:

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745

https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Path-Wealth-financial-independence/dp/1533667926

Also if you’re on Facebook, the group Women’s Personal Finance (Women on FIRE) is a great one.

You can roll your 401K over to somewhere like Fidelity or Vanguard. (into an IRA or ROTH IRA). If your 401K is a traditional 401k (i.e. not a ROTH 401K), and you wanted to put it into a ROTH, you will have to "realize" the profits and pay taxes on your traditional 401K come next tax season.

Your 401K is already a tax sheltered account (401Ks are really just IRAs that have special rules regarding being employed and have higher contribution amounts than IRAs and ROTH IRAs). So, if you roll it over to a ROTH or traditional IRA, it won't impact your ability to contribute more money to your ROTH IRA. Essentially, you aren't "adding new money" to IRA. You are really just transferring money that is already tax sheltered (your 401K)

It's called a 401K because that was the number on the bill when it was passed, or something like that. It's an IRA at its core.

The advantage to doing this is that places like Fidelity and Vanguard offer more investment options than most company 401Ks. I highly recommend index funds with ultra low fees. Vanguard and Fidelity both have a "Total Market Index Fund" which will invest you into the entire stock market (i.e. large, mid, and small cap ("sized") companies). They also have ultra low fees and fees are the killers you want to avoid in your long term investing. If you invest into a Total Stock Market index, you are essentially "betting on America" and as diversified as could be.

There is also a Total Bond Market Index fund that you can invest in. If you invested into both the total stock market index and the total bond market index, you will be as diversified as possible. Some people might say "well, there is international investing as well", but the truth is that companies like Samsung are included in the Total Stock Market index. So, you have international representation in there. Those two funds (total stock market index & total bond market index) will cover all your bases.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

The "Common Sense Investing" book recommends having 25% investment in both the total stock market index and the total bond market index. Then, invest the remaining 50% based on how aggressive you want to be. For example:

• 75% of your money into the Total Stock Market Index, 25% Total Bond Market Index is "most aggressive"
• 25% of your money into the Total Stock Market Index, 75% Total Bond Market Index is "most conservative"

Even though I strongly recommend the book, it's hard for me to get down with putting 25% of my investment into bonds. I'm about 15% into bonds and 85% into stocks. Read those books and fully immerse yourself in this stuff. It's worth it.

Aproveche e invierta. Le recomiendo este libro. Excelentes bases: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Ramit-Sethi-enseñaré-rico-edición/dp/1523505745

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

• Family of four - parents both 42yo and children 7 & 5.
• No debt other than mortgage ($39K remaining)... plan to pay it off in 2023.
  
• Around 1.9m net worth (900k in house and 1m in investments - RRSPs, TFSAs & non-registered accounts)

As u/colem5000 reccommended - I second their suggestion of using the YNAB app ("You Need A Budget"). With the language you use "get decent pay" ... "it all just seems to go away so fast" - I suspect you need a closer eye on what is coming in, going out (& on what) so you can ultimately build a spending plan.

Reducing and then eliminating debt is crucial. I'd reccommend reading some financial books to help you with tactics on this:

• I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Remit Sethi
  • It has some American specifics, but overall the message around reducing debts and investing can be applied here in Canada. Check out his podcast (also by the same name) and listen in on those conversations he has with couples and their finances.
• The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins
  • Also written by an American - but frames debt well in terms of it owning your life, and is a good primer on simple straight forward investing.
• Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin & Joe Domingeuz
  • Lofty and philosophical in its message - but makes good points for getting out of debt ASAP.
    

My wife and I started in the workforce during the .com bubble burst (2000) which was a terrible time for investing and no raises for years in my case. We've gone through the 2008 'great reccession/world financial crisis', the more localized 2015 energy downturn and now Covid in 2020-2022. Some kind of meltdown every 7 years or so. Our employment and income has been affected during all these years with my wife being laid off after returning from her 1st mat leave, no paid mat leave for 2nd kid, and now her employment ending due to Covid in early 2020 and again with her latest gig being on the wrong side of an acquisition (bad luck). Any one of these events could have spelled disaster for us if we carried too much debt, or lived beyond our means.

The bottom line is, we've managed to do well and increase our net worth during all these downturns due to a high savings rate. Saving more than we make, paying down debts and investing so our savings grow and make us money while we sleep. Continuing education and making job moves have also been important investments against these downturns.

Buy this book https://www.amazon.ca/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745

Lots of great examples posted - do those! In terms of medical help, look into a dietitian or nutritionist as well since it sounds like you might be flirting with malnourishment, and our food and mental state can be easily intertwined. Remember that even medical intervention requires you to take action and responsibility, but it can be hard when you don't feel like you have a baseline to work off of.

First step is understanding that there are a lot of things you can do. One is gaining awareness. I went through a few weeks of obsessive tracking. What time did I go to bed, wake up, how much sleep, what did I work on during the day in 30 min increments, calorie tracking, TV tracking, Youtube / Reddit time, etc... What I found for me was some factors that can predict when I'm headed in a healthy or unhealthy direction. For example, if I watch 2+ hours of TV a night, my attention and productivity drops the following day. If I get less than 7 hours of sleep, I gain weight. If I have weed a few nights in a row, my productivity drops and my sex performance is altered. Smoking when stressed increases my anxiety - though some strains can be used to turn that anxiety into productivity for certain tasks (not for daily use though, then it drops). I found that gluten amped my hunger for a few days, and going gluten free forced a healthier diet with more produce that was less reliant on fillers. An information deprivation week gave me superhuman drive, productivity, and made me believe in myself in more ways than I ever thought I could.

Start with small wins, set strong boundaries for simple things like sleep. Once you get that under control, look at your diet. With those under control, you mind will have more energy to draw on to tackle harder topics. If you use weed to sleep, it may take 4-5 days until you can fall asleep more naturally - try to use exercise to compensate and tire your body out more naturally.

There's some great sub reddits to help with learning "adulting" skills, and no question is too basic. For cooking, r/cookingforbeginners/ Pick a meal, make it a few times, then expand from there. Then, go towards r/MealPrepSunday or /r/mealprep/ so you can cook and have food for a few days. For personal finance.... check out I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi. Spammy title, but dead simple mindset altering read with highly actionable steps including ones to break patterns. Money and depression can go hand in hand because we think money is worth - having a goal in mind will make it easier to get up in the morning and kick ass at work, with techniques on goal setting and how to work promotions. If you enjoy games, there are some tracking apps that gamify the process, or create some nifty Google Sheets that can run some calculations. I loved when I had enough data that I could see patterns, it made keeping it up easier.

You won't solve everything in one day, but every day you can pick away and feel more in control. You also don't have to do it all on your own - look for accountability buddies to have someone to help you on track (and visa versa).

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_SG3BSGZ00QXM1D313J8P.

I'm kinda with the person who said you can't go to major extremes. You were at a 10. you can't realistically dial back to a 1 without failing. Can you truly go an entire year telling your friends you can't catch a happy hour, movie, or going to a birthday dinner?

FWIW, this is a fantastic book for learning to to control your spending, not just cut back:

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second-dp-1523505745/dp/1523505745/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

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You won't be able to follow every step immediately, of course, but it'll help you switch your mindset from extremes.

Hella friend! 24M uni student here. Took 3 years off before going to school now I like helping ppl you are in the same spot I was in since my first Gap Year was AWEFUL.

Gap year sounds like the right call. If you're not solid on what major you want why spend thousands of dollars and years of your life on it? No need to rush.

As for how to spend your gap year. I've boiled gap years down to 3 steps. Pretty much guarantees a good time + meaningful growth.

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Step One: Move Out

When at home it can be tough to build your own identity. Getting outside will help you become the "real you" if that makes sense. Home is too comfortable, can be difficult to push yourself. Sure - travelling is cool. If you can do it then why not. That said - I just moved 40 mins away from my parents and still had fun. Living on your own is a novel enough experience, you'll have plenty of stories to tell friends/famliy WWOOF.org and workaway.info will be assets. In exchange for working 4~ hr/day your host they give you food + a place to sleep. Spend the rest of your day however you want. I stayed at an urban farm in a nearby city using WWOOF. Was a great way to start roots in another city.

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Step Two: Get a "Real" Job

It sounds like you have a lot of interests if you're changing majors so much. A great way to figure out what you actually like and want to learn more about is by meeting industry professionals.

I knew I was going to get into marketing one way or another so what I did was message EVERY SINGLE marketing agency in the city I moved to in an attempt to meet the founders and learn more about marketing. Ended up getting an actual marketing job out of it selling mortgages using Facebook Ads lol.

Whatever you're curious about put in effort to meet people who do it everyday. It's a fast way to figure out what you can actaully see yourself doing in the future. You don't need a degree to grab a coffee with professionals. They'd be overjoyed to sit and chat with you. Most pros have never been approached by a young person looking for direction. It gives them a chance to help their "younger self". These people are excited to meet you so: pick up the phone or send them an email and make something happen.

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Step Three: Build Your Foundation

Your mental health. Your physical health. Your financial health.

Pick one that is lacking a fix it.

Mental health: start meditating everyday.

Physical Health: Pick one exercise and do it everyday. Keep things very very very simple.

Financial Health: Read: I Will Teach You to be Rich and implement its teachings. Your money life will level up very quickly.

Life is long. You don't have to do everything at once. Just pick one thing to better yourself and stick with it.

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If you actually follow through with the above you will not recognize yourself by the end of the year. You'll be more certain in who you are and where you're going. Makes picking a major and committing to university much easier.

Lemme know what you think about this! I'm very passionate about gap years - in the process of starting a company helping amazing people like yourself take the leap.

Wishing you the best :-)

Read some books. The wiki has a list, but I like this one for young people in your shoes:

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_1926XZYX0XS1YR4NAPG6

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_E2HQ4S7J8AQES9P8PVRZ

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_5PC9B4ACGPES4RX42EG0

Just to throw out a finance concept, for the uninitiated, one of your longterm goals should be to accumulate so much money in investment that you can live off the smallest percentage possible.

First, you need to figure out how much cash you need to live every month. This is critical. If you don't know this number, you can't know how much money you need in investment to retire. Let's call this MPM (money per month). You figure out your MPM by writing down everything you spend cash on each month (rent, food, electricity, avocado toast, etc..)

Take your MPM and multiply it by 12 --> that's your money per year (MPY). MPY is how much cash you need, after taxes, each year.

Once you start budgeting, you'll see how much excess money you may have and you should invest as much as possible. If you invested in a Total Stock Market Index Fund (such as FSKAX with Fidelity or VTSAX with Vanguard), you'll have the minimum amount of fees being applied to your investment and your investment will grow with the US economy. According to Investopedia the average return since 1957 on the S&P 500 (the index that tracks the 500 largest companies in USA) has been 10.57% (I think the lifetime average, including the great depression, is something like 7 or 8 percent)

Index funds are where it's at.

The concept at play is that you want your investment to be so large that you MPY (money per year) is a smaller percentage than the average return of your investment. The particular percentage that gets thrown around (and is debated) is 4%. If your MPY is equal to or less than 4% of your total investment, then you can live indefinitely off your investment and never need to work again. The reason is that, based on the average return of the market, your account will gain more than 4% each year which will replenish what you just took out.

Example

Let's look at 1 million dollars:

0.04 * 1,000,000 == 40,000 40,000/12 == 3,333.33 per month (pre-tax)

Now, your account has 960,000 in it. Let's say that year provides an 8% growth 960,000 * 1.08 == 1,036,800

Two very important things that haven't been discussed here are inflation and taxes. They really muddy the waters on things. It's hard to give a general rule on taxes. In the USA, you cannot be taxed twice on the same money. So, if someone gave you 1 million, post-tax somehow, then that is your 1 million dollars. If you invested it for a year and it became, let say, 1.1 million dollars, well you could pull the full original 1 million out of investment and wouldn't owe a single penny on the taxes.

In America, you only pay taxes on your profit (new money). All that to say that, if you invest money and manage to get to this point where you can live off 4% or less of your total investment, when you take money out of your investment each year some of it will be original money (principal) and some of it will be new money (profit). You'll owe tax on the profit. If you aren't working anymore, you will have to sell a little more of your investment to pay the taxes on what you took out the year before. That amount of your investment you sold to pay taxes will have taxes applied to it for the next years tax assessment. It's not so bad, but it's something that you should try to factor into your math on what you'll be pulling out of investment

Resources

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend. This link has has a graph with a link to networthify where you can run some calculations yourself.

I generally recommend this to young people:

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_3QTYSEWQTPTN983R8F7N

Open a Roth IRA. I’d use Fidelity or M1 because they’re friendly for small accounts.

You need to read a few books.

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_X6C1XYPV5BQBX81MKMYD

The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life https://www.amazon.com/dp/1533667926/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_AD7FPJHF233WPDCC0F5J.

Spend $7.41 and read I Will Teach You ToBe Rich. The title sounds like click bait, but it’s really good.

You sound like you might be interested this book: https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745

This book has a really stupid title but I swear is probably the most straightforward and quickest read on getting started

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745

I like all the recommendations from this top comment. The other recommendation is to fully educate yourself on money from this point forward. Knowing about debt avoidance and thinking about your retirement will help motivate you to stave off debt going forward.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

This one is excellent for personal finance: https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745

I totally get how you feel! I used to be very proud about maxing out my 401K. Then, someone told me "That's cool... if you want to retire when you're 60."

Man, that hurt my feelings lol, but changed how I viewed things too. It's a tough call. I would definitely contribute what your company matches, but totally get how you feel about maxing it out.

There's a couple concepts at play here. For example, 401Ks are often limited on their investment selections. So, you potentially could have better investment choices in your brokerage account (i.e. a total stock market index fund versus some fund through your 401K that is over 1% on the fees). Also, as you get older, you will make even more money. So, maxing it out AND contributing more to your brokerage account will get easier over time.

It's a tough call and a personal choice. I would be in favor of trying to retire earlier than 60 though. It won't kill you to pay some taxes if you could stop working a decade, or two, earlier.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend and sounds right up your alley.

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Good on you for getting your credit moving. You need to treat it in a special way.

The "minimum payment" is not the answer. You will want to pay it off, in full, every month. If you do this, you will never have to pay interest on your use of the card. This is the healthy way to have a credit card.

The way it works out is that you just got your card. On a particular date, they are going to "close the statement" for the month (maybe not the official term) and you will start the "next months" charges. Essentially, your bill for the credit card is always 1 month behind your card activity.

Once they "close" that month (again, maybe not the official term), you will be informed of an amount that is owed for that statement that they issued to you. You can pay the minimum (you don't want to do this) or you can pay some other amount above the minimum, all the way up to paying the statement in full. You want to pay if off, in full, each month. There's no requirement for you to actually wait a full month to pay off the card either. You can actually pay if off as you go.

Call your credit card company. Get your online account setup. Setup 2 factor authentication if you can. ALSO, when you call your credit card company, ask them if you can setup an "over the phone" password too. This is a password you have to say to them when you call them in the future. This is a good step to protect your identity and prevent a thief from fucking your shit up.

Don't treat the credit card like it's free money, because it's not. Treat it like a chance to build your credit. The secret is to never spend more than what you can afford to pay in cash that month. The only difference should be that, instead of using cash, you are using the card and immediately paying if off before interest kicks in. Doing this will build your credit.

If you decided to pay less than the full amount owed for a statement, then you will be in actual debt. There will be an interest rate applied to your debt. In that situation, you will owe not only the amount that you hadn't paid, but also the amount of interest they charged you. Don't do that. I hope this info helps.

Get your online account setup, link your bank to the credit card so you can pay off your credit card debt, get that over the phone password setup, and be smart about your money.

Oh yea, if you want to change the day that the statement closes, I think you can do that with a credit card. I haven't done it, but I think you can.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

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Good stuff on getting involved with investing! I can't offer usability advice on Fidelity, but I do have investing advice:

My recommendation is for you to invest in their Total Stock Market Index Fund (FSKAX)

The reasoning: - This single index fund will diversify you across the entire stock market. - This fund has one of the lowest fees out there (0.015%)

You can't get a better "set it and forget it" deal. Index funds are where it's at. There is so much documentation at this point that proves "no single investor can consistently beat the market over an extended period of time." This concept, that "no one can consistently beat the market", was the premise of Warren Buffet's 1 million dollar bet, which he won.

Indexes are what's used to "measure the market." The market is a large animal and "indexes" were created/established to help people determine how the market is performing (S&P 500, NASDAQ, Dow Jones, Russel 2K, and the list goes on). Funds have been created that just invest in accordance with these indexes. Because there is no person that "manages the fund" (nobody choosing which specific companies to invest in), the index fund has significantly smaller fees.

If you buy into index funds and hold your money in there for an extended period of time, you are going to perform with the market and beat out almost everyone who picks and chooses what they'll invest in. The math is on this side. Index funds are where it's at.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

That Bogle book ("The Little Book of Common Sense Investing") makes a strong argument for 2 funds (total stock market index fund & total bond market index fund). If you're gonna start somewhere, the total stock market index fund is where it should be. Over time, you can start adding investment to the total bond market index fund too.

I strongly recommend those books and that blog.

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The ROTH is a good idea for money when you want to retire when you turn 60. There's a yearly limit on how much you can contribute to the ROTH (6K this year).

If you have extra money after that 6K, it's totally worth it to invest the money instead of letting it sit inside your bank account. In your bank account, that money isn't making enough interest to keep up with inflation. You're effectively losing money over time.

Instead of letting it sit in the bank account, invest it so that your saved money goes to work on your behalf. Don't be afraid of an investment account being taxable. Only your profits are taxed. If you hold an investment for over a year, you only pay longterm gains instead of short term gains. Another upside to having the money in an investment account versus retirement account is that you have immediate access to all that money if/when you need it.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

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I don't have a mentor. So, take my advice here with a grain of salt.

My take is that you can fully educate yourself on finance and, for us laymen, it's not as complicated as it might seem.

I think my advice equally applies to finding a mentor. If you don't know much about finances and are seeking a mentor, you will have to trust that they won't pull the wool over your eyes. Instead, if you are educating yourself relentlessly about finance and you bump into someone that could be a mentor, they will see the fire in you and also will have something to work with as opposed to building you from the ground up.

If you study finances, you will know them. If you know them, when you are around someone who is financially astute, you'll be equipped with the right questions to ask to further your knowledge. My advice is to just study finances like your life depends on it (because it does if you ever want to stop working).

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

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Good stuff. Check with your company about the ability to take a home loan from your pension. I don't know if it's a thing, but it's worth looking into. For 401Ks, you take a loan from your own retirement account and the interest on the loan goes back to you. It's pretty snazzy.

> My only personally issue with renting is I feel like it’s wasting money

That's the social programming. I fought the same concept. Everyone tells you you "you're wasting your money and that a home is an investment."

A home is also a liability. What I told myself is that "I'm paying for freedom."

You aren't responsible for repairs and you can move around the country/world if you need to. Also, that calculator hits it on the head. Sometimes it's cheaper to rent. Especially if you can rent very close to where you work (when it would be expensive to own next to where you work).

All the extra money you are saving on not doing repairs and paying property tax, etc, you should invest into an index fund. The average return of the market is roughly 8%.

By the rule of 72 (google: "how long to double your money"), you will double your money by investing it in at/under 10 years.

Your house will not double in value in at/under 10 years. Another thing to think about is that you aren't going to pay cash for your house. You will be taking a loan. So, the true cost of that house is much higher than the sticker price you agree to.

I'm pretty anti-homeownership. There are situations where it can definitely make sense, but it's not the straightforward choice that it's made out to be. There's a lot at play.

Also, these are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

I'm with others on the wiki, I just wanted to share these as well:

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

yea, the downside to keeping large money in your checking is the interest rate. You're effectively losing money to inflation.

You'll want some money to remain in a checking account (or a high yield savings account) to be available as an emergency fund, in case you need cash.

The rest of it though, you will want to invest it (put those dollars to work on your behalf).

The general recommendation for investing is "index funds". Fidelity and Vanguard are popular investing companies and both have very low fee index funds.

Stay away from managed funds and financial advisors. Stay away from anyone or anything that is asking for any kind of a percentage of your money (i.e. fees). Unless you strike it big, investing is a marathon where you eek out decent wins over long periods of time. Fees will fuck your shit up.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

Good on you for thinking about your money now! Most people don't "wake up" to their finances until they are older. Those people would be envious of you, since you're getting after it now.

Credit cards help. Just don't ever let debt build on them. It's not free money. It's borrowed money. There are additional perks to having one that may not be obvious. For example, if a thief steals the money from your bank account, it's a long hard road to get that cash back. If a thief steals your credit card, and you're on top of you monthly charges, it's a phone call and resolved. Also, credit card companies will go to bat for you when someone is pulling bullshit. I bought something for $100 online the other day, the vendor never delivered it. I challenged the purchase by calling the credit card company and got my $100 back.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

Since you're implying that you will save taxes now, I'm assuming you are talking about "traditional" IRA and "traditional" 401K (pre-tax).

One thing to consider is that you will, eventually, have to pay taxes on that money. One of the arguments against pre-tax retirement accounts is that no one knows what the tax rate will be in the future. Since you're 50, you are closer to that withdrawal date than an 18 year old. So, there's a bit more of an idea on what the tax rate will be in the next 10-20 years.

There's some nuance with your choice here, but it seems like a good move on the surface. Although, I don't know if I would pull money out of savings to do it. Also, I don't keep a bunch of money in savings because bank account interest rates generally don't keep up with inflation.

I'd consider committing your new income (future checks) to your plan of maxing out your retirement accounts and then I'd take your savings money (if there's a bunch) and invest it into a non-tax sheltered account. This way, your savings are making money for you too and you can sell them without a massive penalty in the event you need them.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

Congrats on paying off that credit card debt! Debt free is the way to be!

I'm not a massive proponent of having a bunch of money sit in a checking/savings account (i.e. an emergency fund), but it's something that is often recommended and it makes sense.

Personally, I would invest it into an Index fund at a company like Fidelity or Vanguard. They both have "total market index funds" which will diversify you across the entire stock market.

• FSKAX is the fund at Fidelity
• VTSAX is the fund at Vanguard.

Keep saving your money when you can and try to increase the amount you have invested!

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

NAH

She's making a terrible choice with her money though. I might be misreading here, but it sounds like your idea of "investing" it is to sink it into a home purchase, where it won't be available for her future ideas.

I'd recommend she put it into index funds at Fidelity or Vanguard. There are "Total Stock Market" and "Total Bond Market" index funds, which will diversify the hell out of her money AND earn an average of 8% compounding interest.

If she's had it for over 10 years, she could've doubled her money and would be able to liquidate it whenever she wants.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

She should consider investing it if she wants to leave her kids money. She's technically losing money to inflation in that weak ass savings/checking account.

Post to /r/personalfinance for more info if needed, but those books will set you straight.

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_W77H0JZFETGAT7PHC7W0

I'm not sure if you're just about to go to college and deciding on what to do, but I'd like to offer advice if that's the case (and for anyone in that situation).

My take on some of the worst advice that high school gives is to "do what you love" and "follow your dreams". I like to augment these statements to be "do what you love and follow your dreams when you retire."

You CAN retire early if you manage your money and get after it. If you are an American, then you need to recognize that USA is a capitalist country. For better or worse, it's a country that operates with the concept of making money.

My advice is that life is like a really nice house party. You can lean on the wall and mooch the amenities, or you can help make the party better. Help the food get made, help the trash get removed, keep the social dynamics going. Make the party great.

Look at the world you live in and try to identify what society values. If something is valued and you can learn how to do that thing, then you will find employment and probably make good money doing it. To me, the trick is to learn what will make you money and to not lose your "soul" in the process. Keep your compassion, but keep your eyes on the prize too. You want to be able to retire one day. THEN, you can give your time and experience back to others in any way you see fit, with no need to consider money/financial-survival.

Learn to love whatever you do. That's the real secret. No matter what you do, there will be shitty days. You gotta learn to love it and get through it. Manage your money. Learn how to invest and, eventually, sustain yourself through investment (Financial Independence).

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

If you're about to go to university, then you are entering into debt to accomplish it. Don't fuck around while you're there. YOU are paying for those classes and paying a high price. Don't fuck around. Be smart about how you're entering the debt. For me, I attended a public, in state, university. I also went to a community college every summer where I took core courses for cheap, which transferred to my Uni. Then, when I graduated, I lived a meager existence and focused on paying off my debt.

There is an end to the tunnel of work, if you do it right. Good luck!

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO.

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

The TL;DR on investing for the laymen is "Index Funds"

Buy a copy of this: https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745 Future you will thank past you!

Buy this book:

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_KD9RKH46BF8HQ26BGDRP

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=i+will+teach+you+to+be+rich&amp;qid=1611817358&amp;sprefix=i+w&amp;sr=8-1

Read I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi. Best explanation to keep budgeting simple but effective.

You are in a wonderful position! You should definitely educate yourself on different aspects of finance. I'll link the resources that I recommend the most.

The short take is that index funds are where it's at.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

Tl;DR investment advice:

• Invest your money at a place like Fidelity or Vanguard.
• invest in the total stock market index fund and the total bond market index fund
  • Fidelity funds: FSKAX && FTBFX
  • Vanguard funds: VTSAX && VBTLX
• The recommendation from Mr. Bogle is that you invest, at least, 25% of your funds into both stocks and bonds, then allocate the remaining 50% based on your risk adversity. So, 75% stocks && 25% bonds for most risky and 75% bonds && 25% stocks for least risky. Some might argue that you don't even want to put 25% towards bonds if you're really young. I'm just parrotting the "25% in both stocks & bonds" that was explained in the "Common Sense" book.

Or make it a hobby. Do it in your spare time. Make it fun. More people deep dive into hobbies than trying to pick up a college course on the side.

You can watch YouTube videos. Read tons of free articles. Pick things up spending 15 minutes here and there and you will do fine. Books, podcasts, all sorts of good easy to access information is out there.

“Do it like your life depends on it” is a bit dramatic. But I’m not saying don’t do it.

An easy website with free articles and videos

A book I like

Some podcasts

I think this book is a good place to start.

I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_YAENFbMG25A1N

First off, thank you for your service! I'm really sorry that it resulted in personal injury, but I and many others do appreciate that you served!

You are in a wonderful position! You should definitely educate yourself on different aspects of finance. I'll link the resources that I recommend the most.

The TL;DR is that index funds are where it's at. I'd recommend creating an account at a place like Vanguard or Fidelity.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

Tl;DR investment advice:

• Invest your money at either Fidelity or Vanguard.
• invest in the total stock market index fund and the total bond market index fund
  • Fidelity funds: FSKAX && FTBFX
  • Vanguard funds: VTSAX && VBTLX
• The recommendation from Mr. Bogle is that you invest, at least, 25% of your funds into both stocks and bonds, then allocate the remaining 50% based on your risk adveristy. So, 75% stocks && 25% bonds for most risky and 75% bonds && 25% stocks for least risky. Some might argue that you don't even want to put 25% towards bonds if you're really young. I'm just parrotting the "25% in both stocks & bonds" that was explained in the book.

I've heard great things about this one, but havent personally read it (though i plan to)

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second-dp-1523505745/dp/1523505745/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

I learned a lot about personal finance reading this book, the title is clickbaity but the info inside has helped me out.

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1E02BVNVSSU6C&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=i+will+teach+you+to+be+rich&amp;qid=1602980616&amp;sprefix=i+will%2Caps%2C197&amp;sr=8-1

Personally, i'm not a fan of stuffing large sums of money into savings accounts. Savings accounts make very low interest. Less than inflation. So, your money becomes less valuable while it sits in there. I can understand having a little money in there, enough for a month or two, but I wouldn't stick the rest in there. Definitely create a bank account, but don't put the lion's share of that money in there. It'd be a waste unless you felt you really needed the money soon.

If you have this money saved up and you are intending on continuing to make money and continuing to save money, then you should do the following:

• create an account online at a place like Vanguard or Fidelity

  • with this single account/login, you will be able to create multiple investment accounts at that company

• consider creating a ROTH IRA account, which is a tax sheltered account

• consider creating a brokerage account, which is not tax sheltered

ROTH IRAs

All IRAs (Individual Retirement Account) are "tax sheltered", meaning that aspects of the money has a special status when it comes to being taxed and when it comes to how soon you get access to the money you invested.

You can have ROTH or Traditional IRAs.

Traditional is pre-tax contribution, while ROTH is post-tax contribution.

the TL;DR is that you want to do ROTH. It has to do with the interest you make not being taxable.

Only contribute money to this account if you are OK with not being able to touch the money until you are 59.5 years old Technically, with ROTH, you can withdraw your original principal without penalty, but I would advise against ever withdrawing from any IRA early. There are hefty penalties if you withdraw any profit.

• Consider investing into a ROTH IRA if you don't need the money any time in the foreseeable future

Brokerage Accounts

These are taxable accounts, but that's not too big of a deal. Your principal (what you started with) has already been taxed. It's your cash. You won't ever pay any more taxes on the money that you already have. If you invest it and sell later for a profit, then you will have to pay taxes on the profit only. (i.e. have $100, invest, it becomes $110 when you sell, then you owe tax on $10 of capital gains).

If you don't need the money as an immediate access emergency fund, then I would invest it. You can always sell everything and have your money wired to your bank account in a couple days. You'll just have to pay taxes on any profit that you made.

What to Invest In?

I'm all about index funds. They're the lowest fee and they follow the market. It has the least amount of human involvement and has been a proven winning strategy. There will be ups and there will be downs, but the average is somewhere around 8% annually.

• With Fidelity, I would invest in this fund: FSKAX
• With Vanguard, I would invest in this fund: VTSAX

Some Strategies You Could Employ:

Figure out what you need to be on-hand for an emergency and prepare to invest the rest

• If you are content to invest this money for the very long term, then do it inside of a ROTH IRA and don't plan on touching

  • you can invest up to $6,000 a year in a ROTH IRA
  • There are restrictions too. If you and your wife make too much, then you might not be able to use a ROTH IRA at all. Here's a chart
  • You could put 6K in this year, then 6K next year, keeping the other 5K as emergency or even investing a little of that 5K into your Brokerage account

• If you don't think you'll need the money and would like to invest it, but would also like to be able to sell and get all your money when needed without a penalty, then consider investing it under a brokerage account.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

These are the financial resources I recommend to people:

• Book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich - great general finance advice

• Book: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - best investing advice IMO

• Book: Your Money Or Your Life - great mindset on all the shit you're giving up for money, which should motivate anyone to work towards stepping out of the game.

• Blog: Mr. Money Mustasche - this dude is a living legend.

That "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" book will answer your questions about building credit in better detail.

Do you absolutely need a car? That'd be my first question. It might be that you do. It might be that you're caught in the common paradox of needing a car to get to a job, but needing a job to get credit and down payment for a car.

Are you going to university? Because if you are and are taking loans out, then those loans will be building credit for you as well.

I'm a fan of the linked books approach of using credit cards to build credit. I use my credit card whenever I am spending money and they won't charge me a fee for using it. The main understanding with credit cards is that you do not let your debt build on them. Pay it off in full, always. It's not free money. Only purchase things that you have the cash to pay for, then pay the credit card off with said cash immediately (that month). The only benefit to having the credit card is that my wallet is smaller, i'm building credit and earning points.

> I can make a robot milk a raccoon..

This is by far the best thing I've read on Reddit lately...

Not all financial advisors are above board, so that could be a factor in your friends losses as well.

Investing in individual stocks can be risky because as you said, their successes might be short term. That would be more of a medium to advanced strategy if you're interested. For a novice strategy, you'll want to focus on investing into mutual funds or ETFs that 'choose' the investments for you. My advice would be to read/listen to a couple investing books such as I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi which is a great one for someone in your situation.

As for compound interest, just do some Googling.. You'll find a ton of articles on why it works so well and how to take advantage of it. Here's one. And then, here's a calculator you can use to see the effects of it and play around with different numbers.

I'd recommend you to start educating yourself on finance. It's something we can all keep learning about. I'd recommend the following:

• I will teach you to be rich - a great primer on finance
• The little book of common sense investing - the best investing advice, in my opinion
• Your money or your life - great book for mentality about money

my TL;DR for you is:

• pay off your debts (become debt free)
• invest in index funds. I like Vanguard and their index funds
  • VTSAX - vanguards total stock market index fund
  • VBTLX - vanguards total bond market index fund

Have you heard of Ramit Sethi's *I Will Teach You To Be Ric*h? In it, he talks about conscious spending, where you "spend money on things you love and cut costs mercilessly on the things you don't". I use to think cut, save, don't spend, only bare necessities. But this often left me deprived, guilt riddled whenever I did purchase anything. It in turn created more anxiety that unfortunately made me what to shop more. Kinda like bulimia but with money and spending; which was really unhealthy. Conscious spending helps me identify what brings me joy (shout out to Marie Kondo) and what I think is worth it. I often ask myself if I would end up donating or throwing it out in 5-10 years. I'm I just wanting to possess it just 'cus it's pretty? Would someone else find more joy in it? It usually helps my decision process. Now I find myself acknowledge and appreciate its beauty before letting it go to a proper home with someone who'd give it more time and love.

Amazon link to his book so you can take a free peek inside (pg126): https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745/ref=sr_1_1?crid=17JU7UPS78KMI&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=i+will+teach+you+to+be+rich&amp;qid=1601655998&amp;sprefix=i+will+%2Caps%2C161&amp;sr=8-1

Learn your stressor(s)/que(s) and be honest with yourself. Sometimes it just takes setting some time aside, have a tech-free day to clear your mind, or mentally checking in with yourself, like you would with a friend going through a tough time. IDK if this would help much but that's how I process my shopping itches.

I read "I Will Teach You to Be Rich" when I was just starting my career and it was a great intro to personal finance and retirement planning. Solid info mixed with some humor and prioritizes keeping it simple.

Book on Amazon

Blog, which I think has the same info for free

Hi u/sunzip

My gap year turned into 3 years - meaning I went into 1st year university at age 21.

The hardest part of that time was makingfriends my age. First-year students like to befriend other students since they speak the same language. They are in a place where everyone is: away from their parents for the first time and drinking for the first time. It’s a freedom they experience together and it’s a big part of their friendships.

Without having close friends taking a gap year with you or a program you can take with others your age -- gap years can be very lonely. Being lonely + having disposable income makes bad habits very easy to start.

My best advice: have a strategy for staying social and stick to it. Maintain existing friendships you have, go to large events in university towns, host get togethers. Anything to keep yourself social.

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The time alone makes developing the healthy habits you’re looking for much easier. Take advantage of that. Just don’t neglect your social life.

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For meeting people follow the advice of Owen Cook on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/user/RSDTyler

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He’s been going to bars 5+ days a week for 14ish years learning how to be attract women. The same shit that makes you magnetic to people at the bar works in normal social interactions. His ideas are relevant for guys and girls looking to become attractive overall; but his word choice is for a male audience haha. Give him a look.

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For “learning money management” buy the book “I Will Teach You to be Rich” (or download it illegaly)

https://www.amazon.ca/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?crid=2YZF4W2KWA3BU&amp;keywords=i+will+teach+you+tube+rich%2C+second+edition

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The author outlines the money management system he uses; just copy it. The key take aways from the book are

1. Automate all payments (credit cards, bills, insurance)

2. Automate your saving (have a $ amount automatically withdrawn out of your chequing account weekly to an online savings account )

1. Automate your investing

He details how to do it all in the book – just do it. It will put you ahead of most adults. Most people don't take saving/investing seriously until their 30s/40s.

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For “managing impulsiveness”

Download the “Wim Hoff Method” app.

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Wim Hoff has hiked to the top of Mt. Everest wearing shorts, and a pair a shoes. He credits his ability to handle the cold to a breathing technique he developed in his 20s. I just started practicing this week. Super cool. If you can manage the cold, you can manage your impulses.

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All the best,

SuperJesus0123