[Tampa]

I think it's an extremely difficult assessment to make. I’m 29 and have zero debt outside of my car payments. I have an MBA and no student loans (thanks to inherited money that could only be spent on education. Yes I realize how fortunate I am every day.)

I live my life as close to a 100% cash-only basis as possible and my credit score is excellent.

I bought my car pre-owned and got a pretty nice deal because it was a manual.

I save 15% of my take-home each month and put another 7% away to my 401(k) with matching of my first 5%.

Due to the economy being shaky, we haven’t gotten our usual merit increases at work in a while, so that makes things a little harder. I also live in a pretty expensive city (Miami). Aside from having my education paid for (which is WONDERFUL), I was never given any money from my parents, so I basically just started out from scratch upon graduation. A lot of the kids I went to school with got a nice check for getting through grad school, so they’re probably a little bit ahead of me in the savings department if they’re smart.

I still wish I had more cash on hand, but who doesn’t. I don’t necessarily become fixated on the big number all the way down the line, I just try to live responsibly and reasonably each day and make sure my savings goes up every two weeks, even if it’s only by a little bit.