Is $79,500 a good salary for a 23 year old?

[c1pher]

Originally Posted by dscabra

Early '80s?

1983.

[dscabra]

Originally Posted by c1pher

1983.

Same here. Thankfully I was a resident of California when I went into the Army and didn't pay any state tax.

[c1pher]

Originally Posted by dscabra

Same here. Thankfully I was a resident of California when I went into the Army and didn't pay any state tax.

I switched to Florida while I was there. I was actually advised to by the personnel support division POC. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known better.

[Mosaud1998]

Out of curiosity, would renting a house, apartment, townhome, etc be a better option for someone my age, or would buying be better?

Obviously, with how the market is right now, there is no way I am going to be buying nor renting anything.

Maybe in a year or two.

[virtualbong]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Out of curisoty, would rent a house, apartment, townhome, etc be a better option for someone my age, or would buying be better?

Obviously, with how the market is right now, there is no way I am going to be buying nor renting anything.

Maybe in a year or two.

Save, save, save and save some more.

If you have the ability to live with your parents at home and not pay anything, do it. You will need the money in your late 20s when you are getting hitched and giving all of your money to support your wife, haha.

[roastbeef]

Yep.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

I'm not bragging. I just don't know how to feel about the $59k take home. can't do much with that.

can't buy a decent car without a loan or anything.

My first "real" job I made $35k gross. Probably never made more than like $80k gross up until like 5 years ago. Some how I still managed to buy a house, spend way too much eating out, traveled and bought a couple BMWs and more cars than I should have.... so yeah.

I use to listen to this podcast where people would call in with financial questions and every so often you would get an... oh help I'm a doctor I make $350k year and I'm broke and can't pay my bills... all I could think was wtf is wrong with these people. Most people make less than $59k GROSS... the median HOUSEHOLD income is like $68k but individual incomes its probably closer to $50k.

So yes you can afford to live just fine on that income if you CHOOSE to do so. You can also go broke on that income if you decide to do that.

[Housekeeping]

Really? Yes, it’s great!

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by virtualbong

Save, save, save and save some more.

If you have the ability to live with your parents at home and not pay anything, do it. You will need the money in your late 20s when you are getting hitched and giving all of your money to support your wife, haha.

Damn forgot about a wife

I probably spend $200-$360/month (Gas for the car, $200 rent...sometimes. My half of the car insurance and phone bill)

I hardly eat out (stuffs not good for you) nor buy $700 shoes or games.

If I do spend any money it's on detailing products for the bimmer

[roastbeef]

It's good, but out it to work for you. Invest 15% starting with a Roth IRA and a little more in a traditional Roth. Forget about crypto.

Live on less than you make and save the rest. Purchase a duplex. Live in one and rent the other.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

My first "real" job I made $35k gross. Probably never made more than like $80k gross up until like 5 years ago. Some how I still managed to buy a house, spend way too much eating out, traveled and bought a couple BMWs and more cars than I should have.... so yeah.

I use to listen to this podcast where people would call in with financial questions and every so often you would get an... oh help I'm a doctor I make $350k year and I'm broke and can't pay my bills... all I could think was wtf is wrong with these people. Most people make less than $59k GROSS... the median HOUSEHOLD income is like $68k but individual incomes its probably closer to $50k.

So yes you can afford to live just fine on that income if you CHOOSE to do so. You can also go broke on that income if you decide to do that.

I remember having a client call me at work. He wanted to buy a Mach-E.

The guy makes $380k/year but was in so much college debt that his credit was screwed up and apparently he couldn't put more than $2k down.

Every paycheck I've gotten goes straight to my savings. I have a little invested in stocks. But, I'm new to the whole stock market thing so I don't want to invest too much.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

It's good, but out it to work for you. Invest 15% starting with a Roth IRA and a little more in a traditional Roth. Forget about crypto.

Live on less than you make and save the rest. Purchase a duplex. Live in one and rent the other.

Forgot all about buying a duplex and living off the other person's rent basically.

Only thing that is a must-have is a GARAGE. I could care less about a bathroom

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

I remember having a client call me at work. He wanted to buy a Mach-E.

The guy makes $380k/year but was in so much college debt that his credit was screwed up and apparently he couldn't put more than $2k down.

Every paycheck I've gotten goes straight to my savings. I have a little invested in stocks. But, I'm new to the whole stock market thing so I don't want to invest too much.

As others have said, throw your money in a no load index fund. When looking at saving for retirement, time is money. The sooner you start to save, the more your money can work for you with compounding. The magic of compounding really shines the more time you give your money to work for you.

There's a Youtube channel I follow called The Money Guy Show. They did a scenario where they wanted to see if someone can still make money in the market over the long term if this person has the worst investing strategy in the world. This meant selling at the market bottom and buying at the market highs but constantly putting money in each month to dollar cost average. Their fictional investor still ended up making money in the long term. Not a lot but still was net positive.

[Cyn-BMW]

It depends where you live. And, it doesn’t matter how old you are. The price of most goods and services aren’t age dependent.

[Humdizzle]

definitely agree with investing in stocks. sp500 index funds are great as a low risk investment that will beat out any savings account. but keep some money in savings for emergencies.. you don't want to pull money out for an emergency when the market is at the bottom. personally i do a 80/20 split.

also... live a little. I'd rather be the guy driving a 911 at 30, than be 70 having saved and saved all my life to buy P1 which you can hardly drive due to your bad back and vision issues.

[///d]

Tell me you're on a BMW forum without telling me you're on a BMW forum.

This whole thread...

[flybigjet]

When I got commissioned in the AF, my father (who likes to dabble with no-load Mutual's as a hobby) told me that if I gave him money every month to invest, he'd make me a millionaire. I did, and he kept his word-- several times over. As others have said-- SAVE, SAVE, SAVE. You never know what's coming at you in the future, and having an emergency fund is a HUGE thing for peace of mind.

One of the best pieces of advice I was given when I was just starting out on my own was to avoid "impulse buys" at all costs. (Admittedly, Amazon makes that a lot harder nowadays). If I decided I really wanted something, I'd put off purchasing it for a while-- it was amazing how something I "absolutely, positively" had to have became much less important once I sat on the decision for a few weeks.

R.

PS: On a completely unrelated note: For about the first five years of my time in the AF, I was a Washington State resident (no state income tax), I was stationed in Delaware (no state sales tax) and I flew downrange every month during the first Gulf War (which meant no federal taxes for that month because I'd flown into a Combat Zone).

So overall, I pretty much didn't pay ANY state, federal or local (Sales) tax for almost five years. That was an admittedly weird and unusual situation but pretty much all of that money I would normally have paid in taxes went to my father for investing purposes. It made saving a LOT easier on a Lieutenant's salary.

R.

[c1pher]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Out of curiosity, would renting a house, apartment, townhome, etc be a better option for someone my age, or would buying be better?

Obviously, with how the market is right now, there is no way I am going to be buying nor renting anything.

Maybe in a year or two.

I own two homes but rent where I work. The first home is positive cash flow and the second home is a vacation home. The reason I am renting the third is partially for diversification but also because I can rely on my rent being stable and not worry about other repairs, tax changes, HOA etc for the duration of the lease. This has allowed me to sink extra money into investments. It also gives me more liquidity and post tax savings (other than gains).

Some people will debate with me, but much like marriage, unless you can get a sweetheart deal or have someone else pay for your home, home ownership is not the money-making machine scheme people will have you believe it is. Yes money can be made in real estate, but the average return on a home is 3% before you have to consider things like upkeep. There are hotter markets where you can appreciate at a faster rate but I feel you’re better off just investing in the S&P if you’re trying to grow a nest egg. Maybe later on consider dabbling in real estate when you want the psychological security of home ownership.

[Mein11]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Out of curiosity, would renting a house, apartment, townhome, etc be a better option for someone my age, or would buying be better?

Obviously, with how the market is right now, there is no way I am going to be buying nor renting anything.

Maybe in a year or two.

You have to determine your own situation. If you can continue to live with your parents and you're okay with it, use it as an opportunity to save. IMO it's better to buy a house or condo so you can at least get some equity compared to renting which you never see that money again. Maybe in the coming years the market will settle down and by then you'll have saved enough for a nice down payment and a security blanket for the inevitables that follow.

Be patient, but have a plan and try to stick to it.

[Joe T]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

What's the job

My team is service tech's fixing equipment. The warehouse guys are typical warehouse things. drive forklift, pick boxes, put boxes on pallet, put pallets on trucks... and when trucks with boxes come in, do the reverse

Typical blue collar stuff.

our sales people make between $50,000 and $600,000. It's all about building a steady book of repeat business

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

....$24 an hour to start (YES! ), and because of the labor market, all the hours you want right now (YES! ). Someone willing to work could easily make $90K with OT (HELL YES! ). Don't even need to graduate high school for that one (FUCK YES!!! Where do I sign up? ). Just pass the background check and be willing to work hard (Wait, what, hard work? Oh nevermind. Heading back to mom's couch...)

Unfortunately, this is a vast majority of Americans these days. I know of a kick ass job/jobs at a local sign shop that I do business with. Owner's are super cool, laid back work environment and they need damn near every position filled. Sadly, I can't think of a single person that I would send to them.

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

Would you be willing to take a 15 and 13-year-old?

To employ......or just to take? If it's just an even trade for.....shit, I don't even want anything in return aside from the quiet, my girlfriend has 3 kids I'll send wherever. I recommend a dog crate and a muzzle for the daughter though.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by King Rudi

Unfortunately, this is a vast majority of Americans these days. I know of a kick ass job/jobs at a local sign shop that I do business with. Owner's are super cool, laid back work environment and they need damn near every position filled. Sadly, I can't think of a single person that I would send to them.

Yeah, that was kinda my point. it was a general old man gripe and not directed at the OP, who clearly hustles to make that kind of money selling cars.