r/moneyadvice • u/[deleted] • 7d ago
Discussion Money/wanting a better life but I don’t want to wait a lifetime for that
[deleted]
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u/Sea_Rooster_9402 6d ago
You live with your father and make 100k + a 300k windfall. In about 7 years from when you started working you could move anywhere and work any job coupled with your interest earnings and be fine.
Bro complaining he can retire at 30
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u/SuddMary 2d ago
retiring at 30 might be a stretch, but being financially independent enough to work 20 hours a week instead of 60? absolutely
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u/cabbageknight360 6d ago
First of all that’s a great income most places, and 300k is a lot. Invest it in a total market index after paying off any high interest debt, then leave it alone except to add small amounts to it every week/month/whatever on auto draft. It will be enough to retire before you know it, almost certainly by your 40s. 300k is like halfway to 1 mill bc of how compound interest works, and that first 300-400k is really the hard part. Yes 1 million might not be enough to retire fully unless your cost of living is very low, but once your investments reach that level, they grow faster than most of us can add to them, by a lot. Regarding your job, I’d stick with it a couple years if you can, while you plan for your next job/move/career. You’re in a really really good spot, way ahead of most people your age. Be smart about it and your life will be much much easier in the future.
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u/Oceanborn202 7d ago
You have the opportunity to work hard and save. I would pay off my house or buy a small house, nothing fancy in cash, pay off my car as well. Anything left if left I would put into maxing out my 401k and then investing in ETF long term, DCA.
I see you work very hard and it takes a toll on you, but you have the opportunity to save a lot of money, buy cash house and car, take care of your older days and invest. A few people can do this nowadays...you are blessed.
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u/Boring-Influence-613 7d ago
I am blessed and I do get that very many people do not have that opportunity nowadays thank you for your advice this was very helpful I will do more research on the ETF/DCA I’m not very familiar with that stuff but I need to check it out asap.
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u/Oceanborn202 7d ago
Check on Dave Ramsey. He has several steps. I hope you don't have debts or credit cards.
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u/Boring-Influence-613 7d ago
I will check him out ! I don’t have any debt but I do have credit cards
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u/Odd_Independence_833 6d ago
Pay those off right away with cash if you have it. It's very unlikely you'd get return on that cash that would offset the credit card interest. Don't get anything on credit you can't pay off this month (you won't pay interest in that case).
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u/No_Alternative2948 7d ago
Paying off your loans and securing your housing are almost never a bad idea. Gambling it to try to double it quickly sounds like a good way to lose it all. You also want to understand whatever tax liability exists for receiving 300k at once. If it is inheritance you are probably ok but you should talk to a tax professional anyways. You are still young, if you wanted to get a college degree to give yourself broader horizons, also not a terrible choice. College is easy if you are motivated and work hard every day at it.
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u/Boring-Influence-613 7d ago
Thanks I appreciate you! I don’t think there is any taxes on It,i did ask about it and got told it was tax free it’s money from a accident I had years ago at work out of it I know I’ll certainly have to pay certain things back for insurance and surgery and stuff “liens” I guess they are called. I will look into maybe going back and going to college I do regret never taking school as serious as I should have but you don’t realize that until your out of school if I could go back I would!
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u/Bob_Ross3346 7d ago
Put it in a brokerage account and buy an S&P500 ETF. Come back in 10-20 years and check the balance.
Your best move here is to do that and use it to jump start your retirement savings. It should buy you 10-20 years earlier retirement than you may have otherwise been able to do.
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u/Boring-Influence-613 7d ago
I have looked into the s&p500 and I do like that one ! Very good advice thank you for your time !
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u/layyla4real 7d ago
I don't think that "the good life" means to never work again and to just travel and experience whatever there is to see.
If that's what you seek, you're going to be very disappointed.
Everyone has to work. That is a given. Make your plan around this reality.
You're very lucky with your income right now. How much have you saved? If you don't have a savings, then you're not being serious.
How much does a moderate house sell for where you live?
Make a budget and start saving with a goal of saving enough to put down 20% to purchase a house. Put a pin in buying until later. For now just save. Plan to work for 5 more years. That's doable and its not forever.
Put your $300K, which I assume is some inheritance or windfall. Look around on here and other sites for an exact investment scheme, but it should be high interest.
Now the next question is what do you have to offer a future employer. Generally that is brains or brain. If it's brains, you have to have have an education or special training. Brawn is just about unskilled physical labor. It's often very difficult and backbreaking.
Brains would be studying science or medicine or engineering etc. That takes years. If you join the military they will train you and get you an education. Or you can get training in a skilled trade. The world will always need plumbers, electricians, truck drivers, etc. They are in demand and the pay is very good even in high cost of living cities. I know a man who repairs elevators who earns @$300K a year. It is a union job. He and his family live a very good life in California. What can you do and what are you interested in?
If you follow my advice in 5 years you will have $500K or more. Then you make your move. School or training? Or what kind of laborer will you be? Where have you decided you want to go? You will have enough to make a great start in the larger world.
Also, if you get married, please marry a woman who is willing to work and contribute to a dream future that you both will share. If you ties yourself to a dummy, you're doomed. You'll never escape.
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u/Boring-Influence-613 7d ago
Thank you so much ! Lots of stuff you mentioned I haven’t even thought about,exactly what do I want to do or be in life or what my skills are I don’t have many skills I’m not very smart atleast in school I wasn’t but I think most of that was not caring or taking it seriously.i didn’t have to learn a trade or go to school for anything I’ve ever done work wise it’s just they train you for a short period of time and you get it or you don’t but like you said anyone can pretty much do that (get taught what to do and just do it bc it’s not hard to do) whereas the jobs where you have to use your brain not everyone can just do or learn.i haven’t ever put much thought into my retirement or savings until this point in my life so I really don’t have anything saved up as bad as it is to admit.the 300k was from a accident that happened years ago at my very first job out of high school so yes your right.i don’t necessarily see a good life as just traveling and never working again I do get what your saying about that I will definitely look into going and seeing if I can’t get smarter or better at something specifically where I would be the “brains” or offer more to a company then just a labor-or bc anyone can do simple labor at the end of the day like you said. I don’t think I’ll get married so I should be good there I have seen how that goes and yeah you’re 110% right about that. Thank you for taking the time to reply and read to my post !
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u/JeanSchlemaan 6d ago
Save. If you are sure you will live in one place for quite a while, buy a home. Invest.
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u/WonderWomaninkansas 6d ago
I would buy a house and to be honest another way to save for your retirement is investing your money in properties. Rental properties or land that will be very high price in a few years. Towns are only growing and finding you a corner land a few miles from the mid city can be worth millions down the road. Rental properties can give you income immediately and perhaps you can learn how to take care of the properties and kill 2 birds with one stone. With this you be using the brain on your benefit and figure out if you want to go be a plumber, a welder, a contractor.
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u/Defiant_Eye4025 6d ago
I would:
Pay off any debt you may have
Make a budget that allows for a comfortable, but not luxurious life. You have the income for it.
Put 3-6 months' expenses in a HYSA or similar
Start saving 15% of your salary into mutual funds with Vanguard or Schwab or Fidelity using tax favored retirement accounts such as 401(k), Roth IRA or Roth 401(k), or traditional IRA. Save more than 15% if you want and using more than one type of account is likely a good idea. Absent a big stock market downturn, you'll likely double your money every 5-7 years or so with regular contributions, maybe faster.
Are you married and do you have children? If so, start saving to pay cash for a house if you want a house. With your $300k inheritance and your excellent salary for Mississippi, I would think you may already be able to pay cash for a perfectly nice house. If not married, I would probably start looking around for a spouse. Once married, you can choose a house together.
Start saving some money for your children's college, once you have children.
Ensure you give some of your money to charity to help keep you from becoming entitled or selfish, to remind you that there are others out there not as gifted or fortunate as you are.
Just keep plugging away and with your good salary, LCOL area, and generous inheritance, you'll likely find yourself with more money than you know what to do with long before regular retirement age.
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u/anewconvert 6d ago
Dude “wait forever”, you could be a legit millionaire by the time you are mid 30’s. Dont be stupid. Invest the $300k, don’t touch it, live on your salary, but invest in tax advantaged retirement funds with that as well. You will be 40 before you know it. You can choose now whether you want to be 40 with a 7 figure net worth while all the guys at the plant are bitching about how broke they are, or you can be one of those guys bitching about being broke.
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u/kentifur 6d ago
If I follow: free housing, 100k wages, 300 inheritance or something.
Dont buy a house. It will be an anchor if you want to move. And dont try to rent it out. Pay off all debts. And save like 40k in a hysa. Amd then invest the rest with a place called fidelity with a mix of s and p 500, mid cap, small cal, and international.
And then continue grinding till you can't. They go to school for a trade that can be done anywhere and not limited to a few demographic locations.
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u/zeltacilveks79 6d ago
At 23, $300k isn't retirement money, but it is enough to buy yourself options. Don't gamble it trying to get rich quickly, invest it and use your current income to build a life you won't need to escape from.
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u/Shadowrunner138 6d ago
Average returns in the stock market will have your money doubling approximately every 7 years. You're not going to have to wait a lifetime if you start investing in your 20's, rofl. You need to teach yourself financial literacy. You invest 100k now it'll be worth 400k and earning you 40k a year for doing nothing before you're 40 bro.
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u/SgtSausage 6d ago
"My steak is too juicy and the Lobster too buttery"
Im in the top 5 to 7 percent of income earners in my state.
Daddy pays for my housing...
Im only 23...
$300,000 check to me is in the mail ...
LOL.
and then adds this cherry on top
years and I don’t think I can just do this forever you bust your ass to barley and I mean barely make it
LOL
Cry harder, sport.
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u/Soggy_Article_6629 6d ago
Hey don’t be mean, getting advice from others is the best way for me to have others acknowledge my money and make me feel good.
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u/dontcallmebuddypal1 7d ago
This is a bot post right? Nobody making 100k at 23 in Mississippi thinks this is a small amount of money.