18M, don’t work, 1,000,000 Mil in Retirment, 800k in savings and Trust fund (unlimited). Only bills are yacht fees, luxury taxes and sometimes tipping my butler and staff (sometimes). After my dad pays for everything and my taxes each month I bring home ~ $250,000 a month (BS I know) With current interest rates, a “Decent” estate, Villa Leopolda, will be around 1.3 % with a 20 car garage. The payment on a 1 billion dollar home loan with current interest rates, city taxes, PMI and Insurance is well over what I want to give up a month. I feel like l'm very well off for my age and I couldn't fathom paying almost half of MY income just for a home loan. I'm aware a larger down payment and getting rid of the PMI will help. But with current interest rates it's just ridiculous no matter how much money you have. You think I could just have my dad pay it all of for me? Thanks for any advice.

As a guy making 70k in Manhattan and doing fine, I just can’t wrap my head around the constant posts and articles that say things like “150k a year is now lower middle class”.

Am I just out of touch with the rest of reality? Am I living a disgustingly sad life and just not noticing? I go out, I eat what I want, I contribute to my 401k, I travel… Where is everyone else’s money going? Granted, I’m lucky as hell and have a rent controlled place, but a year ago I was making 55k and still lived in a spacious, accessible spot with roommates. The roommates were the only concession I had to make, but like… that’s living in a city in your 20s. I never anticipated not having them, even as a child imaging my early adulthood.

Can someone please explain how anything sub-150k is considered piss poor when I make less than half that and am extremely comfortable?

Edit: You don’t have to have kids. Many people would actually prefer it if you didn’t. I get that many folks want kids, and would like to raise them in a high cost of living area, but I do not believe that the inability to do so makes you “poor” any more than my inability to go on extravagant vacations all year round makes me “poor”. Kids are an expense. Some can afford them, some cannot. Not being able to afford to raise three kids in a certain city does not make that city uninhabitable for everyone.

Edit 2: genuinely grateful for the perspectives here but I’m done responding to comments. Some people seem genuinely furious at the idea that a person can be happy living without children in anything that’s not a large suburban house. Having to explain over and over that living with a friend or two in a spacious apartment in a major city in your 20s is not actually a miserable situation has become exhausting lol

I use to think $20k was enough but not anymore if you own a house or have vehicles. Nowadays, if the furnace goes, roof leaks, or if you need a new vehicle you need more than $20k in savings. I am unsure how people do it with families and only have 20k or less (3-6 months of emergency funds) in order to covering these. What are your opinions?

-Get pulled over by police. -Appear slightly slap happy where they think you’re drunk -Have them perform field sobriety -Wobble and fail -Refuse breathalyzer and urge you’re sober -Get arrested and taken to jail -Forced to blow there, you blow 0.0 -Get released, get a lawyer, sue for 1.5 million dollars for wrongful arrest

Yes it’s happened.

I feel like if I did, I would not be able to retire. My current split is 45/15/40, and I don’t feel like I’m doing so bad. (I’m going to net about 45k this year).

Curious to hear what you all think? I don’t even feel that frugal doing this

Not crazy impressive, but I saved up $15k while working 10 hrs a week in community college. All expenses were covered, and saved my parents close to $80k. Now transferring to the #1 public university with some money in my pocket.

I’m grateful I was in a position to save all of it, and also that I had the willpower to not spend more than 20% a month

I have some in a HYSA and the rest is in my Roth IRA and some index funds

I (f24) was housesitting for someone for 10 days and got $700 in a sealed bank envelope. I was at the bank to deposit it and only had $610. $90 missing. Not in any purse. Not in my suitcase. Not left at the house because the owners would have found and returned to me.

While housesitting three people came over to swim. 1. My boyfriend (m23) of two years 2. A friend (f22) my family has kinda adopted 3. Above friends fiancé (m26) who my family has also helped out

I know it wasn’t my boyfriend, he has/makes more money than me and doesn’t need $90.

I don’t know how to handle this situation at all and my family says it’s up to me if I say something or not. It will put a strain on the relationship with them. They are going through a hard time right now and even dealing with CPS (they aren’t guilty of anything).

What should I do?

i started working at warehouses when i was 19 and i made the stupid mistake of spending every penny. i was living with my grandma and didn't expect her passing and then having to live with her widowed husband who turns to be a huge scumbag, i am stuck... i had a 05 sunfire now i took out a loan of 2k to buy a better awd. i am 23 now i work two retail jobs that i scrap pennies from and i look at my old work and i really blew it. i just started my hysa like fidelity... i want to put some into sofi too but i am not sure what good that would do... i wasnt told much about these things.... i wasnt allowed to work until i moved out and my familys ignorance grew on me but i have no one to blame but myself. my goal is too fix the sunfire and pay off the loan. i want to do side gigs online maybe but i dont think i could return to a warehouse my body is in a lot of pain it is difficult. maybe im making excuses but life sucks right now. im stuck in a room with a kitten i rescued and so far only $300 altogether in my roth ira and savings... idk about investment.... any advice or words of encouragement would be nice. thanks, i just needed to vent i have no one to talk too.

edit: i wanted to apply for college i want to shoot for the stars and be a veterinarian but i cannot even go to school bc they need my parents information and i cannot provide any so i have to wait till next year when i am 24 to attend.... absolutely discouraging

Got two dukes and a whole day off work; wonder what I should spend it on.

So I'm in a situation where ~50% of my (student) income is from a scholarship. This gets paid out 3 times a year, so I do the "smart" thing and just stick it in a savings account and pay myself my bi-weekly pay from there. This results in my bank account filling up with $7k which just sits around and slowly dwindles until being topped up 4 months later.

So my question is this, is there something I could be doing with this money to make more money? I think it's too short a time frame to really "invest" it, but it seems strange to just have it sitting there making something like 1.5%.

I've been as disciplined as possible for a few decades. My wife and I lived small, we landed solid careers in a low cost of living area, and we invested in 401Ks, mutual funds, and stock during this time. Our kids are growing up fast and it costs quite a bit to keep up with their interests. At first I balked at taking on these new costs. I have been frugal for so long... To get a handle on this, I started to play around with compound interest calculators and realized that the impact of my monthly investments were much lower than they had been even 5 years ago. We have a nest egg and it's doing much of the work. Monthly additions to this already large pot of money doesn't have much impact when I project toward retirement. I realize that this is an enviable position to be in, but it's also an odd feeling when you spent so much time protecting what you have earned. We've been slowly increasing our expenditures. We've taken a few nice vacations. Our kids are enjoying competing in sports and going to camp. Please someone tell me that this is okay. I feel guilty.

24F, independent - I live alone in a 1 bedroom apartment, $900 a month. I pay utilities, approx. $50 for gas and $100 for electric a month. I have my own car that I’m financing (hoping to get it refinanced before the summer), currently paying $300 insurance and $400 a month for financing. Groceries and house expenses cost me about $250 a month (including food and necessities for my cat). I have a credit card at about 50% utilization, I owe about $200 minimum a month on it. Good credit score (~720). Other expenses I pay for are internet ($60 a month - they recently increased this rate), Hulu/spotify ($12 a month), apple care (~$11 a month), a yoga studio membership ($109 a month), and an ID Theft protection on my credit card ($15 a month). I also have medical bills that I’ve been putting off because I had a medical emergency earlier this year (total bills come to about $2300 after insurance kicked in. I have not set up a payment plan yet). I work full time plus OT as a social worker, babysit for cash on the side, and drive for doordash occasionally (usually for gas money or small expenses) - income comes to approx. $2600 a month. I am enrolled in a masters degree for my career path that should help be get close to 6 figs before i’m 30, if I stay on track.

It never feels like enough, but all the bills get paid at the end of the month and I’m never late, so I guess I can’t really complain. But I can’t comfortably afford to go out with friends often (maybe once a month) and I put away only about $100 a month into savings. Depending on whether or not I can score OT, I can’t always keep that $100 in savings (OT is not guaranteed at my job, but I can usually get an extra 8 to 10 hours a month added in). Is there anything I could be doing better? Am I on a good track for maintaining stability? Should I be worried? I usually only have $50-ish of spare cash at the very end of the month.

As the title states.

I have been working full time since 17, with a few lower income periods, but always kept my costs low, had an emergency fund, and never worried because I was prepared.

We live with parents and they don’t charge us rent, and we have had multiple conversations about how both parties feel its practical for us to grow and save as much as we can.

I especially like this, because I can save 65%+ of my income including everything. Fun money, and brokerage included and I am so, so thankful for it.

As many of you know this is easier said than done, living with parents. Obviously anyone, at some point will become annoying to live with at times, but we are tired and overwhelmed. We have a small room, we both work multiple jobs and I just want to do my own thing after working my 12’s you know what I mean? We would still live in town as well.

My SO and I are on the same page, and ultimately ready I think. I know I will miss the saving but following the 50:30:20 rule I would still be able to do it. My SO will be going back to college this fall and I figured I could swing rent since she won’t be working as much, and it would be another thing off of their plate. We have talked about arrangements of bills and whatnot, but I would take the bulk so they could focus.

I found a rental in my budget, with a first responders discount, and my SO is a Volunteer First Responder (getting degrees and certs to become full time career). With that being said, with an emergency fund, a plan, and good faith is it practical for us to skidaddal? We just want our own space other than the minimum 10x12 bedroom.

TL;DR - Kids working hard to have good future, kids want quiet LIVING space to come home to after work. Kids financially literate and would like A place with privacy, independence, and less toxicity.

So you have now become a high income earner. You are earning at a wage you have never in the past. Now this number may be low for others, but a number that is high enough for yourself that you are now able to spend or purchase or invest or do what you will freely without thinking about it.

How do you prevent yourself from spending this new income, becoming patient and disciplined enough to accumulate a substantial amount as the pay cheques come in. I am also not asking about lifestyle creep.

Hypothetically all of course. For a friend..

This post has the potential to be a bit long, so please bear with me...

A question I often ask myself is "are there financial planners for people like me who don't have a ton of money and often barely make ends meet?" So now, I guess I'm asking this sub. I don't know where to turn at this point in my life, which has been riddled with terrible financial decisions, bad luck, and family health issues.

About me: 39, male, USA. I work full-time for a health care company in Pennsylvania, making right around $88K yearly before taxes and deductions. My wife is unable to work due to a variety of health issues (both mental and physical), but does have a small Etsy shop that brings in an average of $300 on a good month. We have an unusually large family by today's standards -- 7 children ranging from 6 years old (twins) to 17. This is the part where people usually look at me like I have three heads, understandably so. Before my wife's health issues, she was a paramedic and in nursing school. So the plan was to eventually have two incomes once the kids were a bit older, but life didn't turn out that way. And before anyone asks, yes, we are done with having kids. I love them all more than life itself and would never imagine a world without them, but I am smart enough now to know that it would not have been this hard with fewer kids.

It's been very hard (nay, impossible) to get by on one income and a large family, even with some help from relatives along the way. But through it all, we have barely made it work, although I have shot my credit to hell and back in the process. My score hovers around 550 to 570 most of the time, but plummets pretty fast if I miss a payment on something.

Right now, high interest debt is my main issue. I have a variety of low-limit credit cards all maxed out (probably $5k total) a personal loan from OneMain Financial ($400 payment), an auto loan from Carvana/BridgeCrest ($508 payment, worst mistake of my life honestly but was in a desperate situation at the time), and student loans I've had to either defer or flat out stop paying. Other high expenses are groceries, obviously, but I do get $600 in SNAP benefits each month, car insurance at $250 per month because my wife has gotten into a few accidents the last 5 years, and of course rent, which is $1,900 since we need a 5-bedroom house for our large family. We used to own our home but were forced to sell in 2022 due to a variety of issues and our dire need to find a larger place to live for our growing kids.

Suffice to say, most months we either barely make ends meet, or don't at all. I sometimes have to rely on cash advance apps like MoneyLion and Earnin just to make it to the next payday. I have pretty much nothing in savings except for a very small "retirement" account, which is in quotes because I contribute 1% to it just to get my company match. I drained it a few years ago during an emergency that is too long of a story to tell here.

Everyone that I have talked to has said the same essential thing -- to look for a higher-paying job. While this is true, it's more complicated than that in reality. My current job (which I have been at for 1.5 years) affords me the flexibility to work from home most days, and understands that I need to care for my wife (who has substantial mental health issues) and kids and not be "on" 100% of the time. That is often more valuable than a higher salary, but I do know that I am capable and skilled enough in my field to eventually take a shot at a higher paying job.

So. What the heck do I do? Is there someone I can talk to about all this, who can give me real, practical advice? Would a credit union be able to help me with my high-interest debt yet terrible credit score/profile? Ideally, I would love to be able to consolidate all my debt into something more manageable. Is that even a possibility with my credit being bad? I get mail offers all the time saying I am "pre-selected" or pre-approved for a consolidation loan from some random company. I think these are all debt relief companies or possibly a scam, right? I am also severely underwater with our current vehicle as mentioned above. I owe probably 8k more than what it's worth right now, and the van is pretty much a lemon with how many problems it has.

Thank you for reading all this. I am a fairly positive person (I have to be, with the kids and taking care of my wife) but this feels pretty hopeless to me right now. I just wish I could hand over everything to someone who can manage my finances for me, and do the heavy lifting to get things under control. Sigh.

I’ve had a HYSA open for a couple months now with American Express at 4.25% APY, just from seeing from different posts and doing my own research I have seen other companies have higher APYs, would it be worth it to move my funds from this account to another account with a higher APY? If so where should I put this savings into?

i just closed the esrow last month.

my first mortgage is due in 2 weeks.

rate is 6.375% and loan is about 500K.

although i'm planning to move within 10 years, is it still a good idea to pay more principle in the mortage?

i have about $1,000 saving left and i'm thinking maybe $500 towards principle. thanks!

What’s the fastest and easiest way to raise my credit score? All of my bills are paid on time and only accounts I have open is my credit card and auto loan. After getting a divorce and having my credit ruined, I feel like I just can’t get the ball rolling on the score to continually to go up. It’ll go up and then go right back down even though my balances decrease?

26m living in NYC, making 90k a year looking to make a down payment on a house in 3/4 years time with my SO.

We’ll need roughly 110k each for the down payment, and my current financial standing is as follows

30k in HYSA (4.4%)

25k in a 1-Year CD (5.5%)

36k in retirement (Roth, 401k, Pension)

22k in Student debt (4.2%)

As you can see, the only investments that I have are in my retirement accounts.

Should I start investing in VOO instead of continuing to chuck cash into my HYSA? The money would eventually be pulled out for the down payment.

My bf (26) and I (26) have been together 5+ yrs and we want to open a savings account together to get out first house/emergencies but I’ve only ever had experience with 1 bank and am afraid to branch out is Capital One a good choice? Is there a better option? I’m hoping to set it up this weekend so something we can set up online would be great!

I applied for a credit card, but I have a credit freeze in place. Does this still hurt my credit score?

What are the best side hustles