jamey said:

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I got a neighbor that rents a 3200 a month house and they drive a Bently and one of those expensive SUVs

Me and my wife's cars added together cost a lot less than 1 of theirs and we have a mortgage that costs $600 a month less than their rent.


Another neighbor revealed a few weeks ago they have 30K in credit card debt. The wife is a stay at home mom

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Amazon truck at their house a lot ? I can see how that could happen though if it was kind of tight with her staying home before and now Bidenflation…..

Pilot Ag said:

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FWIW my dad runs a fairly large bank. I've been looking at getting either a gently used or new truck now (old one has 300k miles on it and is an 08 and to put it nicely - it's very tired) and he told me that they're planning for a big wave of repo's in Q1 of next year, so I'll have to wait it out.

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How does one purchase a repo?

I imagine just purchase them directly from the dealership like any pre-owned car.

MAS444 said:

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I imagine just purchase them directly from the dealership like any pre-owned car.

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I figured the bank owns the car, at least some of the time. What if someone pulled a loan from a credit union?

I was a member of a CU that would post their repos for sale, when they had them. Usually in their newsletter or online website. I knew a guy who bought a Toyota truck that way. It was a good deal, they just didn't come up very often.

Of course - but many are financed through the dealership (and/or banks connected to dealerships/manufacturers). Either way, banks aren't in the business of selling cars.

Members Choice Credit Union used to do this. I bought a truck there years ago for a great price.

They would just park them out front and you would go inside to submit a bid.

Pretty incredible. Congrats man.

Is your money guy taking new clients? If so please PM me his contact info. Thanks man!

94chem said:

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Bird Poo said:

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Pretty incredible. Congrats man.

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Who knows if it will actually work out...with 18 years of tuition left to fork over, I can't exactly keep a conservative portfolio and expect to have $600K or so. I mean, I'm a scientist, not a venture capital CEO, Wall Street bean counter, or ambulance chaser. But I know people with twice as much income, 1/3 as many kids, who started working at 22, and act like college was some huge, unexpected surprise.

I will say this in all caps: LISTEN TO ME, KIDS. THE MONEY YOU SAVE IN YOUR 20'S IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MONEY YOU'LL EVER SAVE.

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No truer words. I'm still kicking myself for not opening a Chevron 401k in the late 90s when I worked there as a co-op student. I had the chance and opted out. Stupid.

Quote:

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If only 20 year old me had seen that….

Though to be fair, a warning of staying away from bad women would have been more lucrative in the end.

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And any woman who doesn't respect your money (and her own) isn't worth your time. But I know from experience men tend to like to be the "white knight". If you're not a damsel in financial distress, they can be intimidated.

Yea I'm trying to stack as much cash as possible right now, 401k, Roth, i bonds, brokerage, if I had an HSA I'd max that ***** out too. A lot of my friends are the same way, but I also know many people that are buying new vehicles, luxury items, etc…

Everyone I know has a Denali or an AT4

Dill-Ag13 said:

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94chem said:

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I will say this in all caps: LISTEN TO ME, KIDS. THE MONEY YOU SAVE IN YOUR 20'S IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MONEY YOU'LL EVER SAVE.

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Amen

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What if you were in grad school and had no money through your 20's?

~egon

Pay yourself first. period.

Why would anyone (except for maybe an MD) be in grad school for all of their 20s?

I have a PhD. It took me 4 years…I was out before I turned 26. If grad school is taking much longer than that, there is a problem.

I was behind in my savings, not just because of grad school, but because I then took a job in higher ed, and also had a baby at 26. But while I didn't save as much (I did contribute to a 403b and a state retirement plan), I did minimize expenses.

Black Tooth Grin said:

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TXTransplant said:

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Why would anyone (except for maybe an MD) be in grad school for all of their 20s?

I have a PhD. It took me 4 years…I was out before I turned 26. If grad school is taking much longer than that, there is a problem.

I was behind in my savings, not just because of grad school, but because I then took a job in higher ed, and also had a baby at 26. But while I didn't save as much (I did contribute to a 403b and a state retirement plan), I did minimize expenses.

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Lot of reasons for this. A sick family member or a military commitment are a couple.

Kudos on your accomplishments, but your situation is your situation only. Being afforded the conditions where a timely path through school exist is a gift.

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Fair points, but I read the original comment differently (and think the poster was trying to make a different point).

Graduate degrees have a bad reputation of being drawn out for 6-8 years, especially in the sciences and engineering. This is usually a combination of a bad advisor and a student who doesn't know how to properly manage the situation. Or one who isn't motivated to finish their degree. There is no reason it should take this long, if you are a full time student.

And my original point still stands. Even if you are in school and don't have any income, there are ways to minimize expenses so you are in a better position when you do graduate and get a job.

If you are talking about how to optimize savings as early as possible, it's advantageous to finish your degree as soon as possible. I get that there are people who for family and financial reasons can't do that. But I know there are also people who take out student loans and stay in school much longer than they should because they live on the loans like they are income (and payments are deferred). That's a bad financial strategy for building wealth in the long term (which is what this thread is all about).

AgOutsideAustin said:

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BenTheGoodAg said:

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rononeill said:

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Pay yourself first. period.

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Can you explain what this means with respect to this topic?

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Usually the term means no matter your income or situation you should pay yourself first which means save some percentage of your money. Save some amount then start paying others for vehicles, houses, vacations, or whatever. Too many people pay others for "things" before paying themselves then they find it hard to save……

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I would hope so, but you never know. I'm sure the targets of this discussion might interpret it differently.

62strat said:

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TXTransplant said:

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Why would anyone (except for maybe an MD) be in grad school for all of their 20s?

I have a PhD. It took me 4 years…I was out before I turned 26. If grad school is taking much longer than that, there is a problem.

I was behind in my savings, not just because of grad school, but because I then took a job in higher ed, and also had a baby at 26. But while I didn't save as much (I did contribute to a 403b and a state retirement plan), I did minimize expenses.

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my wife was. She paid 100% of her undergrad and grad, so she had to work while attending. Why is that considered a problem?

Graduated at 29-30 years old.

I got my bs in engineering from a&m at 30 years old lol.
COME AT ME!

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.

I think that's a different situation than the original comment I replied to that said "What if you are in grad school and have no money?"

I read no money = no income (ie, full-time grad student working as an RA or TA). If you are in sciences/engineering, you do typically get a small stipend, but it's not an income, per se, and you aren't a university employee, so you don't have access to employee benefits like retirement plans and health insurance.

If your wife worked while also going to school, then she did have income. Maybe she didn't have enough left over to invest, but if she was paying for school, that's a different kind of investment.

Like I said above, I read the original post as a situation where someone is a full-time grad student with no job/no income. If you are dragging out being a professional student with no job/income with benefits, then you're not doing yourself any favors when it comes building wealth and/or minimizing debt.

Graduate degrees are a tricky thing. I have one, but I wouldn't say it's the smartest financial decision I ever made. I could have had a great career (albeit a different one) without a graduate degree, and I would have been more equal to my peers when it came to salary and retirement investments.

I've managed to catch up, but the fact of the matter is, every year you spend in a school and out of the workforce is a loss. The same can be said for women who take extended leave to have kids.

The answer to the post I originally replied to is still get out of school and into the workforce as fast as you can if you want to save money in your 20s.

Edited to add: I believe Dr. Doctor is a PhD chemist (based on other comments I've seen him post over the years). It's very rare for a PhD in the sciences or engineering (if doing a research-based program) to work full time while going to school. So that was the perspective I had when I replied to his post.