regardless, you can backdoor the money into a Roth IRA by contributing to an after-tax traditional IRA (where there is no income contribution limit), and then roll it over immediately to a Roth IRA :)
​
source (schwab): https://www.schwab.com/resource-center/insights/content/backdoor-roth-is-it-right-you
>Freedom allows you to pursue happiness 24/7.
I read a book by Morris about happiness and he explains how it's not a state that can be attained: https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Happiness-Desmond-Morris/dp/1904435572 In short, happiness is the result of an improvement in circumstances. You can't always improve your circumstances, so happiness can't be attained without occasionally (intentionally or otherwise) lowering your overall circumstances.
You probably got it from "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", from the declaration of independence. Which is a great document, but I wouldn't use it to base your life philosophy on. Life is about finding meaning and purpose, not happiness, although you likely will find happiness while searching and acquiring meaning and purpose.
A way I avoid being too frugal: look at the things you do the most and enjoy the most. Buy high quality products for those things that last a long time that you get a good deal on.
Examples: I had this Chef knife recommended to me by the cooking subreddit ten years ago and it's still amazing: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000CF8YO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_FJTBYHHP8K0RHVC0K7JZ Found on sale occasionally for $20ish.
Or some amazing noise cancelling headphones from Jabra because I work from home. Stalked techbargains.com for a couple months until they were $100 off.
Your life is better and your frugal mind can justify the price by spreading the cost over a long period.
For reference OP, most of the evidence finds that lump sum beats DCA about 70-90% of the time over 20+ year periods. One example study: https://www.schwab.com/resource-center/insights/content/does-market-timing-work
What i found
I mean there is business wo/men who have b/million dollar companies with just a highschool degree
https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/best-paying-jobs-for-workers-with-high-school-diplomas
https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/scientific-computing-with-python/
https://www.inc.com/joe-procopio/coding-no-code-java-zapier-slack-flutter-bubbleio.html
This is the new trend look up low code or no code approach. The barrier to entry has been lowered much more.
This is your strong base. These are non specific but important base things you need to have/know before going forward.
Your next steps will be to use knowledge gained in #2 & #3 to make decisions going forwards. #1 gives you the security and opportunity to take some risk and #4 is just essential for anything you want to do. 1. Make a budget with actual spending numbers. This includes everything down to spending money on burgers and sodas with friends up to your monthly contributions to investment accounts. 2. Picking the right investment vehicles. You likely aren’t getting benefits from your job so you need to set up your own Roth IRA and personal 401k. 3. You need to understand benefits and how to set them up for yourself. 4. Have a rough idea on a path forward. Sure you are covering all your needs and then some now, but this isn’t a sustainable career long term. Especially if you want to meet a nice girl, have a family and buy a house.
Look into a job at Gumroad (not sure if they’re hiring right now). I believe it starts around $100/hr and can be part time.
Edit: looks like they’re not hiring right now but here’s more details (I knew someone that used to work there) https://www.notion.so/Jobs-f43f816013b2405aa41ddefb663a4a38#98239b20e8b7400ab2d3901559718509
haha, nice.
I had to go review my numbers to confirm the research for my own use-case still meant doing a roth and I found a calculator by Schwab if you ever want to reference it in the future. But your comment did a great job delivering the message on its own.
Here's some other info on what to expect after a bootcamp. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/5-key-learnings-from-the-post-bootcamp-job-search-9a07468d2331/
No its more like a junk bond loan to a new company, you can get better rates than 9% using junk bonds.
They also have a rating of 1.8 on TrustPilot and very likely a Ponzi scam, but even if that wasn't the case its still super high risk investing which you shouldn't be doing with FIRE money. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.investvoyager.com
Schwab has a whole bunch of zero fee, low-cost indexed mutual funds and zero fee, low expense ETFs that you can access from your IRA accounts!
Anyone can read about them here.
I prefer the ETFs and use a mix of the following in my Schwab IRA accounts: SCHB, SCHM, SCHA, SCHH, SCHF, SCHZ, and SCHP.
Nice, thanks a lot!
Here is the one I've been using, made in Python:
It assumes the 4% interest and shows how much you have invested (x-axis), how much you withdraw each month (y-axis) and for how many years it can go on (color). 100 years is the color cutoff.
A bit into the dark-blue region is where you can withdraw money forever. And the dark-red region is where you can enjoy spending lavishly for a few years and then be left with nothing. The yellow-to-teal narrow region is the sweet spot, where you can have the best quality of life you can afford for many decades.
It also clearly shows how much difference even small variations can make. For example, if you have $1.5m invested, then withdrawing $5k a month allows you to do it for well over 60 years, while increasing the withdrawal amount just to $6.25k a month (by 25%) already pushes you into the sub-30 region. So even a slightly more frugal lifestyle translates into many extra years.
Experience is experience! My first job was at a no name small private company for 60k. I think it is harder to get your foot in the door with minimal experience. Too many low tier candidates who went to a code school and are not actually capable. Most companies are leery of low experience candidates. Once you get some experience, you've proven yourself and are still in the field.
I'd take whatever you can at first. Then always be interviewing. Hit leetcode.com hard, keep grinding, and always interview every year. Moving jobs always looks better on your resume and you get more experience and should always get more money. Every time I jumped jobs, it was basically a 25% jump in comp.
The big tech companies are where you will hit the next level in comp. But they are really hard interviews. Worse case is you fail and you still learn something every year. I've failed lots of big tech interviews. But keep at it and learn something each time and you will eventually make it if you are determined enough!
Then you can dream of retiring early from such job haha
CS is the no brainer if you want to go to school.
Having said that. If you don't like it you'll burn out FAST. Find something you love mate.
If you happen to be into it, I'd say check out www.freecodecamp.org/learn cause it's free
What benefits do a network of computers reap?
The machines are designed to do what humans instruct them to do. They can be used to power a decentralized network of transactions or research the cure for cancer (Example 1 , Example 2). I find the later provides far more benefit to society and would prefer any excess compute capacity be allocated to these efforts.
Anyone who believes cryptocurrenies restore power back to the people is mistaken. That can be seen by China banning the system and the US taxation of the system.
That sounds quite stressful. Ideally you'd have FIRE'd on your own terms. I'd suggest to take some time off, reevaluate things. I really like this book about career switching. Who knows? Maybe you could find a part-time job, new less stressful job or focus on a hobby that really fulfills you. Best of luck on your journey and GFY :)
Actually, this really isn't a new idea. I read Die Broke when it came out back the late 1990's. It does a fairly decent job of diving into the scenario you describe.
> What if I want to retire early and time it perfectly so that all of the money runs out right when I die?
The most obvious way to do this is to purchase an annuity. However, there are caveats. For example, an annuity doesn't usually adjust for cost of living.
choose a low cost index fund and let it sit there for 30 years. to do that, you'll have to follow Aerodye's advice :) Suggest "how a 5th grader beats wall street", this is the book that most impacted me financially. also if "If you can" by Bernstein gives a roadmap to an excellent basic financial education
https://www.amazon.com/If-You-Can-Millennials-Slowly-ebook/dp/B00JCC5JKI
also, consider giving some to a charitable cause. when we give, we get.
Can you get a simple steering wheel lock? There used to be commercials for The Club and a quick search shows that it’s still around: https://www.amazon.com/Club-1000-Original-Steering-Wheel/dp/B0000CBILL
Read it and apply the lessons, it really is that easy. MrMoneyMustache is another great blog/forum as well.
Yes, in a nutshell. Basically, you pick a realistic yet conservative rate of returns (extra $ made from the stock/index/whatever increasing in value). Most people estimate like 6% to 8% growth - over a 15 to 30 year period. Sure, things will go up and down day to day, month to month, but overall if you look up charts for VTI, VOO, or other major index funds they all go up over time. It may not look like that if you're only looking at a week or a month, but look up a 5 year chart for VTI - up.
So if it grows at 7%, and you withdraw LESS than 7% of your total equity, then in theory if you have enough in there it will continue to grow/appreciate. Generally, people use 4% as a "safe withdrawal rate" (SWR).
So generally, according to 4% SWR, you can live indefinitely off $1m in investments, assuming you can live off of less than $40k USD per year (as 40k is 4% of 1M).
Highly, highly suggest reading Quit Like a Millionaire by Christy Shen. She lays all this out a lot better than I can, talks about tax strategy, etc.
Congratulations!
I think you might find it easier to keep up your temporary work while you find new interests and opportunities to socialize. While too much work can be draining and soul crushing, a modest amount of work can give your life structure, purpose and socialization, at least until you find something better to do.
In terms of occupying your time, hobbies are good options, as is working for non-profits and charities. Were there hobbies that you've enjoyed in the past? Any jobs or careers that you wanted when you were younger?
This may be one of those times when browsing reddit could prove highly productive. Look at others' interests to see what appeals to you - hiking, photography, knitting, coding, board games, writing, etc., etc. While many of these tasks are solitary in nature, you can also find groups that meet regularly, or conferences to attend. And consider having a look on MeetUp.com to see if there are local groups that interest you.
I've been retired for more than a decade. I write, I hike, I bike, I knit, I read. Each of these are largely solitary activities, but can be done with others. Writers conference in particular are great for socializing.
Other resources that might prove helpful include the book 'Wishcraft' by Barbara Sher and 'Voice of the Rising Generation' by James Hughes (and others). And if you haven't read 'Your Money or Your Life', that's also a classic.
Good luck!
I’ve seen a lot of people learn with: https://www.freecodecamp.org/
I personally learned through college and YouTube videos watching people design apps/websites/projects. Just start small and stick with it!
Already started with FreeCodeCamp
https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/scientific-computing-with-python/
Will check this one as well thanks anon!
I'd definitely advise against mutual funds. They generally cost more than it's worth, so you get a 6% return but cost 2% per year. Not worth it when you can just choose a couple good indexes like SPY or low cost ETF's and just throw your money in it. But yeah it's definitely time to get out of the savings accout and start investing yourself. If you want to go deep into education I like the book InvestED to get started and their podcast of the same name. I'm a big proponent of value investing and it's honestly not that difficult to learn. But even if you don't want to take that much control, indexing and dollar cost averaging over a 25 year time frame is much better than just throwing everything into a savings account.
What does your budgeting look like? I would definitely recommend Shannon Lee Simmons's book Worry Free Money. In it, she descibes a method to create entirely separate bank accounts for spending and saving. Separate your fixed costs and groceries and whatnot into one account, allocate a budgeted-for amount to savings/investments, and then "cash" accounts for each of you that you each get a budgeted-for spending allowance. The nice thing about this method is you can safely "spend to zero" in this account knowing your costs and savings are covered. It allows you to get your Starbucks and more feely know "can I afford this?"
Also highly recommend her Living Debt Free book! Helped my partner and I get out of years of debt strategically speaking.
Ask me next week, this week not so much.
In all seriousness, I’m of the Cal Newport school of thought, “So good they can’t ignore you”..
It’s easy to passionate about something your good at, and they tend to pay you well for being good at it, which makes it easier to enjoy, and the feedback loop begins. But it’s still a job, and FIRE is still the goal, or at least being able to.
My only advice is to buy a copy of Die With Zero by Bill Perkins, and go enjoy the next phase of life. Start planning the decumulation and what you want to get out of all that money.
Consider buying meat by the whole animal (eg. a quarter cow, a half hog, etc.). It's still pricey, but much cheaper than buying meat of the same quality piecemeal. Plus you're better able to verify the animals were raised humanely, and you support local businesses. This book has a ton of great how-to info on buying this way.
Early Retirement Extreme provides a thorough overview of the philosophy and strategy. Cannot recommend it enough.
The book Just Keep Buying by Nick Maggiulli is a great, easy read for beginners too. Audio book is cheap. Stresses the importance of, well, buying into your future through safe investments no matter what the market is doing.
Obviously it's straightforward wealth management that makes suggestions against FIRE but it's still well worth the read.
Just an alternative that allows you to work remotely and slow travel... I think this might be up your alley.
So one alternative is to have a 30-33 foot sailboat and Travel one harbour to the next... Become a sea gipsy! With 4G wifi I have been able to work quite well from my 35 foot family boat.
It's kind of cheap... For say 10-15k you get a decent boat you can travel far with. You start living on it, don't pay any hotels, if you do marinas they are often the best place to be in the whole town etc.
If it's sounds interesting read the book Get Real, Get Gone: How to Become a Modern Sea Gypsy and Sail Away Forever
I like "The Cash Machine" which is free on Kindle (ereader or app for your phone). It's not specifically FIRE but it does have everything to do with finances and reaching financial independence/retiring.
"Your Money or Your Life" is what got me started. Disregard their advice to invest in government bonds only though.
Believe it or not this book caught my eye at Sams Club and the title made me laugh, so I bought it on impulse. Wasn't really a FI/RE book though, but it got me thinking about passive income and all that.
Millionaire Next Door is also excellent. I've read much hyped "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and it contains the same information as the others, but the self help seminar guru language is annoying.
The hardest thing about FI/RE is not some technical secret but forcing yourself to invest in up markets and down without fail. It's weird but you really, really don't want to buy index fund shares when the market is down - then when prices are sky high and everybody at work is bragging about their stocks or real estate or bitcoin you want to throw your money at it like a drunken sailor, which is how people get bit by peaking bubbles.
Also don't panic and sell broad index funds during a dip (individual stocks absolutely can go to zero and stay there), even a bad one. It always feels like THE END OF EVERYTHING, but it never is.
Specifically how I view money: "Die With Zero" by Bill Perkins. Some of his inspiration came from the book "Your Money, or Your Life" as well, fwiw.
You'd think it's a book about lighting money on fire and leaving nothing for your kids, judging by the title. It isn't however, and challenges you to be thoughtful in your decumulation of assets - and proposes you convert your money into life experiences... at every stage of life. That is, don't wait for traditional retirement age to start checking things off of a 'bucket list'. I found it to be a great book that resonated well with me at my stage in investing and life.
Hire a fee-based financial planner (hourly, or $/plan)
Bravo for realizing you have probably reached your 'enough' number
I had a similar worry and have seen how other societies have been torn apart first hand. It's absolutely a risk and should be considered. I came across a book by a Morgan Stanley Banker Barton Biggs called Wealth, War, and Wisdom. He takes a look at wealthy people across modern societies (Europe, US, and Japan) from the early 1900s to the resolution of WWII. I highly recommend the book to everybody to have critical knowledge of what can happen during catastrophic events. Two important takeaways are that the liquid assets people count on like cash, stock and bonds become illiquid before people really know they need them. Another is that productive businesses and especially small scale farming are great fallbacks in times of turmoil.
Younger Next Year. This book is simple, and has lots of the answers. Changed my life, Been living it for 7 years or so since first introduced. https://www.amazon.com/Younger-Next-Year-Strong-Beyond/dp/076114773X
A friend recommended this science-backed book:
Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?: Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise
https://www.amazon.com/Which-Comes-First-Cardio-Weights/dp/006200753X
It’s not unless you’re planning to retire next year. The market will go back up eventually before you retire and when it does your gains will be much more than they would’ve been if the market stayed at the previous level.
You should read this book - https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Path-Wealth-financial-independence/dp/1533667926
Congratulations on finishing med school. As a mid-career doc, I wish I had done a number of things differently. I’m on a good path now, but choices you make in residency and especially the first 3-5 years after residency can have a big effect. If you haven’t heard of the White Coat Investor, check out his website—great info there. Here is also his main book, but he has some others, too.
All the best.
The House Hacking Strategy by Craig Curelop is a good read too.
This book would definitely do you some good on your shitty attitude towards people less fortunate than you. Check Your Financial Privilege https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V2NM9VJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8YEKP1P2Z430CHTENXBH
Learn how to tackle finances while also enjoying life: I Will Teach You to Be Rich
Learn how to invest: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing
It's not just the economics, it's having both parents in the picture and committed to the family for the long term. While this can be achieved outside of marriage with great effort, it generally isn't. This effect persists across all societies, even down to the tribal level, unless there is a cultural norm of children belonging to the village rather than the parents. Debt had a pretty interesting take on this.
Awesome I wish you the best.
In the meantime I highly recommend you check out this book. The Wealthy Renter This book has helped me speed up my FIRE journey. It’s from a Canadian perspective but can totally be applied to the USA (I’m assuming you live in the USA)
There’s nothing wrong with buying a place you can afford. You might be surprised how much money you could save renting in the long term. Cheers!
That's your "thinking" and the math, especially with regard to bitcoin, is that over all investors and across all time, that what you were doing was stochastic. I.e. essentially gambling.
"Thinking" that luck had nothing to do with is normal and a well known psychological effect. It's a trick your brain uses to reduce cognitive dissonance. The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness
For the market perspective, I offer the book A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing.
If you're just arguing about my terminology of gambling vs characterizing the market outcomes as total random then that has some validity. I admit poet license comparing it to the lottery but for all practical IRL purposes, that remains a good characterization.
The math suggest that I am right to very large degree when the averages are considered. What OP did was essentially the same as gambling.
As proof, I'd offer the very well known book A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing.
I don't believe the market is 100% random and there are certain other caveats. As an example, some market makers with computers can use the simple speed (relative to the market) to extract profit and certainly some people have an information asymmetry (probably insider trading information).
Still, as a general principle, I subscribe to the EMH and the concept that - whether timing the market or picking stocks - such activities are essentially gambling.
I just checked and it is both the same age..
https://www.schwab.com/ira/roth-ira/withdrawal-rules
-Withdrawals must be taken after age 59½.
-Withdrawals must be taken after a five-year holding period.
(To avoid penalties)
(Unless the people who downvoted me has any supplemental articles to link me so I can correct myself)
> Spend it. I don't want to wave at my money
That's a nice sentiment but difficult in practice. Most of us don't know when we're going to die as an example. Annuities offer a solution but that's removing all risk at the cost of removing all upside.
The math of the Trinity Style SWR says that a lot of us will die with a lot of money and some will die with none. There are other withdrawal strategies obviously but it's not so easy to "Die Broke" without making some trade offs.
I’d recommend reading a book like the The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. You need a bit of a mindset and habit change, that’s what I’d guess is holding you back.
I can answer that… Amazon prime is the same price unless it’s heavy. If you order something standard package size it will be the exact same price. If you order like a bed frame… or for example https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009779DUA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_MEMZBMXK9DZESN3P9C0S?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
That thing costed me like an extra $25 on shipping. Somehow I didn’t even realize I was charged extra on shipping until it was on the way to me and I was just like whatever.. I still want it.
https://www.schwab.com/ira/roth-ira/contribution-limits
I think there is an income limit
If you were under the income limit you can fully fund both. The limit on 401(k) does not affect your Roth.
Sorry, am i missing something here? Is it really possible to convert 401k to roth ira, and from that point avoid taxes on further earnings withdrawn before 60?
I m not an expert but i scanned through roth ira withdrawal rules and it seems to me before 60 i m essentially gonna pay regular tax bracket on both earnings and contribution.
And if we get technical, there are tax advantages in actually borrowing 50k, because from this point my gains on those 50k can be: - qualified dividends - capital gains
and on that portion of earnings i ll actually pay lower tax than i would pay if money were sitting in ira (provided i m no longer in high tax bracket due to regular income)
Well, after some googling, I’m believe the correct answer is: probably not, unless some weird conditions exist.
And
But if you have a job, and are maxing out your 401k, do you mean 100% of your income is going to it, or you are hitting the 19.5K limit?
If it’s the former, you still may not be able to fund the IRA, because 100% of your taxable income has been put into a tax advantages state. If it’s the latter, you should be able to fund IRA up to the 6k limit or the total earned income minus whatever you put into the 401k (whichever is less).
I think.
I think there's a big difference between being interested in learning how to use software vs learning how to write software.
Writing software is where the money is at. But if you don't enjoying, you're not gonna do well as you are not motivated to learn it and push yourself.
leetcode.com is where I go to practice for interviews. Lots of little coding problems. It's not perfect but is something to judge your interest in actual coding.
In HS, I was also generally interesting in computers, gaming, and software. Didn't have any actual coding experience. But sort of fell into computer science. Average day looks like a little bit of development. But a lot of software development is figuring out what the hell you actually need to build. So lots of conversations, negotiations, and working with other devs/looking at a large shitty code base to figure out what on earth you need to add :D
I haven't tried it but people speak highly of Free Code Camp. As the name implies, it's free. They have courses on data visualization, data processing, and back end development (and many more)
There is a free community version.
Sorry, I can't be more helpful to you. This is raw source code in a source code repository. This is the normal way programmers do things but if you're not a programmer, it's a bit harder (understatement of the year) to use.
I didn't build an executable because of virus concerns (i.e. realistically, as programmer, I would never just run an anonymous someone else's executable so I wouldn't expect someone else to run mine).
Good? Retired 8 years and for the most part been too busy. You get to do what you want to do.
Lots of people like Erni Zelinskis stuff.
How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor https://www.amazon.com/dp/096941949X/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_g_RCXQRF1VDXMVWK2RDSFZ
Great question. You only have about four thousand weeks to live, give or take. It's easy for people get caught up in FIRE as the one thing to optimize for. But what about CAGE (Content And Generally Enjoying)? Okay, maybe not the best acronym, but the point is a future-oriented mindset has its limits. What brings you joy in the now, and does it even require spending money?
A pension is just an annuity. So here is an annuity calculator from schwab to let you know the hypothetical value of your pension.
Right, if you've had a Roth IRA open for at least five years. Here's a good summary of the various rules: https://www.schwab.com/ira/roth-ira/withdrawal-rules.
If I had the money, I would put as much as I am legally allowed to deposit on the earliest day available. There is some evidence to suggest that investing all of it right away is more effective than dollar-cost averaging. Unfortunately, I'm a grad student making grad student wages.
a direct rollover is separate from your contributions. So you could max out your 401 and still contribute to a Roth IRA. Withdrawal of earnings all depends on how long you had the Roth Account open. You can remove your contributions anytime since you received no tax break for them.
https://www.schwab.com/ira/roth-ira/withdrawal-rules
This is the best explanation of all the withdrawal situations I’ve seen.
The answer to both is largely "Tech salary in a tech city (but not the bay area)".
I'm not qualified to answer, but I asked a similar question and someone who I say was qualified responded with some really helpful advice and sent me this: https://www.schwab.com/resource-center/insights/content/does-market-timing-work
George W. Bush never got a single job without the help of his father. Not one!
Most of them were members of Yale's Skull and Bones club.
Source: Family of Secrets. Great read if you have the time.
I think Crypto is controversial as the early internet. But I think if you understand the ways it will change and understand industries and utilities that will move markets you can make a lot of money while 98% of the world things it’s magic internet money. I read this book and can’t recommend it enough. I’m not here to shill any coins, just challenge the biases that anchor people.
The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250304172/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_ERHDQAAEA8MGTA4AT4Q5
This is probably the first one, it's also the most extreme. Other's "Simple Path to Wealth", etc are a little more gentle & doable. But, philosophically, this is it. IMO.
​
This is a good start! If you decide to minimize risks and have some savings, I'd advise opening Simple savings account that currently at 2.15% with a minimum $10K deposit (https://www.simple.com/2percent) in which I'd put $10K.
The rest I'll invest it in Vanguard investor account with slightly more aggressive approach 70% in your case $7K in vanguard total stock market index fund (VTSMX) and the remaining 30% ($3K) in
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBMFX).
Then every month part of the salary (roughly about 33%) should go into these two funds: 15% in VTSMX and 8% in VBMFX and 10% in savings.
This is a very simple approach as it is hard to beat the market so better invest in total markets to alleviate risk and having to manage too much of the funds. If a financial crisis should happen the bond should give you a little cushion and you’ll be able to pull in your savings fund to invest and make a bigger leverage.
Make sure you reinvest dividends and earnings to compound interest over the years.
With this you’ll be on a good path to fire as your salary increase your investments will increase.
Hope this helps!
Cashflow tracking and net worth tracking are different things and trying to shoehorn them both into the same spreadsheet just makes it worse for both. I have budgeting software (Actual Budget) for day to day use, it doesn't know about my retirement accounts and doesn't need to. Likewise, my spreadsheet doesn't know how much I spend, just a total balance at the end of the month.
If you're nit-picky like I am and need stuff "just so" try GnuCash: https://www.gnucash.org/. It's a true double entry bookkeeping application. Fair warning, you may need to learn or know some things about accounting. I'm an engineer and it took me a good while to figure out the details of accounting but I love the accuracy.
I know exactly my net worth at any given point in time and I can tell what my W2 will say weeks before I get it, it's super easy for me to balance my checkbook and I can see ALL my accounts at the same time. I mean, all: Assets, Expenses, Equity, Liabilities, and Income.
I used Excel for several years to track my basic checking account balance and credit cards. When I started trying to track a couple of small business accounts I needed more dimensions than Excel could handle. I ditched Excel and I tried using Intuit Quickbooks and found it was FAR superior but I then realized that I hate Intuit. You know, their software is crippleware? They make it work for a year or two then force you (through the software) to buy it again.
I said "F-that", Intuit can suck "the big one". Anyway, I learned about GnuCash shortly after trying quickbooks and found that it has nearly the same feature set and I like the interface much better. Best of all, it's open source (free) so you know it's going to get better and better with time.
If you're just looking for a number that's close without doing much work, one of those other suggestions (mint, YNAB, etc) will probably get you there. If you want to get every last cent and detail accuracy, I'm not sure it gets better than GnuCash. :)
I forgot to mention, Im a computer science major, I have a basis of developing on the web, C++, Java, bubble.io, the Adobe's, etc. Only problem is I cant leave or go anywhere until may due to legal issues (U.S pot laws need to change). WWYD to make money and have the dignity of being able to share with your family of what you do
I forgot to mention, Im a computer science major, I have a basis of developing on the web, C++, Java, bubble.io, the Adobe's, etc. Only problem is I cant leave or go anywhere until may due to legal issues (U.S pot laws need to change). WWYD to make money and have the dignity of being able to share with your family of what you do
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143115766/ref=as_li_tl from 1992 is believed to be one of the first FIRE books, so we're going on 30 years if that is what counts as mainstream...
This is the way. If you want a little more background, JL Collins book is easy to read and follow this approach.
This one on money , and this one on intelligent investing will get you started.
Dave's savings and debt advice are fine but I wouldn't follow his investing advice. I agree you don't need to pay down that low rate mortgage. If your taxes are going to be relatively low the next few years open a Roth IRA at Fidelity or Vangaurd and put money you wont be needing into a low or no cost total market fund like FZROX. Here's a good book to start with. The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119847672/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_g_NYF79486Y5BKBTSV22K6
Your local library may have a copy.
From another low income kid to another: Congrats! You can do this.
LUXE Bidet Neo 320 white 320-Self Cleaning Dual Nozzle-Hot and Cold Water Non-Electric Mechanical Bidet Toilet Attachment, 17 x 10 x 3 inches https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JG3NVG2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_17EWNR7RD1YPFJT2HWRP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Whether you're investing in stocks, bonds, or anything else, I encourage you to consider doing it through index funds. For an explanation as to why, I suggest that you to read this book by John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard and the creator of the first index fund. It's the best book I know of for demystifying personal investing and pulling back the curtain on industry nonsense.
You'll need a book.
The Inteligent Investor. It's Warren Buffett's Bible.
Sure!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08C46GFXG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Let me know if it doesn't resolve properly.
It's a quote.
It's meant to inspire wisdom.
I don't know your life situation, your upbringing, education, nor monetary situation.
But I do know that emotional people who make uneducated decisions tend to not keep any windfall they make for very long.
I wish you all of the luck and grace possible in life.
However, I am quite confident that I won't be living in a cardboard box anytime soon.
Be well and read a book
Is there a midline phone you like? I said "seems like" in my comment specifically because I really don't follow this stuff closely, but my previous phone's (OnePlus) new model was really not competitive pricewise compared to the S21 (regular version, not ultra, specifically this one for $600 right now https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Unlocked-Smartphone-Pro-Grade-SM-G991UZVAXAA/dp/B08N38M7NT?th=1). So I'm certainly open to hearing about alternatives.
I definitely didn't intend to get a Samsung, but I felt like Samsung lowered their price point for the S21 enough that it just made sense.
I feel you! My AC just died as well (seriously! just this week), and I live in the South, so it's hot and humid and miserable. On a vehicle that age, though, it probably just needs refrigerant. You can try something like "EZ Chill" from Amazon for $35: https://www.amazon.com/ZeroR-Chill-R134a-Sealing-Container/dp/B093Q81ZP3/ (I'm not recommending that brand in particular, just pointing you in the right direction). Even if you sell the Jeep, getting the AC going will help the resale price! I've yet to have an AC that was really dead rather than just needing a refill. Worth a try!
Transmission issues may be more serious...
This book really made me value good sleep even more. I loved this read.
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501144324/ref=cm_sw_r_u_apa_glt_fabc_9583RBAKW2F475QK0E1S
I'd read a few books. There are some great guides out there on how to market yourself more traditionally (like to gallery owners, etc.) like How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist
But I'd also read some books on social media marketing and how to build a following. The more of a built-in following you have online, the easier it will be to market new pieces. You only have to do the dirty marketing work once really, and then it takes care of itself.
If you want to Die Broke then just buy an annuity with a COLA rider. It'll probably cost you more than the traditional VTI and 4% SWR approach but you'll have a high probability if will succeed and you will die broke.
If you want answers, here you go: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07QPZ8HBM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glc_EHFYSVEVBNZTCRQT2ZZY
You want more income, a new source of income, blah blah blah. This is one of the most promising methods to use. Unfortunately most people want to use reddit to learn to become wealthy instead of doing real HW. Choice is yours.....
Python is eminently useful for many things! Tech jobs are definitely an option for you without college.
I found this Ramit Sethi book super helpful in my 20s—it’s very actionable advice explained in a simple, smartass way.
Forgot to add, VTSAX. I just finished JL Collins Simple Path to Wealth and after paying 1% to a firm to manage my investments I’m moving the majority to this one fund until I get closer to retirement. https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Path-Wealth-financial-independence/dp/1533667926/ref=nodl_
Soda Stream tip: buy some baking flavoring oils and add 1 drop to 16 or so ounces of carbonate water. Great flavor, no sugar, almost no calories.
Soda stream tip 2: you can get converters that will allow you to hook a standard 20+ lb CO2 tank to the device. Large upfront cost, but considering I pay $15 for 25lbs of CO2 rather then $20 for those 14 ounce tanks, it pays for itself in a while. (About a year and a half based on our calculations)
Buying because the price is high is kinda the opposite of what you generally should want. ;-)
More troublingly, Russell 1000 Growth is FAANG on steroids - might as well call it tech only. Generally tech stocks have not performed that well long-term - for every Microsoft there had been a million Pets.co, and the dot-com bust was only the latest iteration. Nobody knows how it will be this time, but seems like a major bet to tilt your allocations this way, made more unattractive by currently high valuations for the index.
If you want to get into factor investing I would recommend to you this book by Larry Swedroe. Turns out “value”, not “growth”, is where the long-term gains have been. But I haven’t had the guts to bet, so I sit with the total market.
How to turn $100 into $1,000,000: Earn! Save! Invest!
It's been a few years since I read it myself, but I recall this book being good and aimed at kids. It also gets good reviews on Amazon.
There are a lot of good books on how people make economic decisions. It's really - to some degree - part of our biology. Our brain makes decisions in a certain way and these can be reliably exploited by many means.
I would recommend the book Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions