Financial/Investment advice please

[Tom Brands]

I started lifting weights now that I do ballet. But I already was muscular cuz I did pushups/situps bodyweight exercises almost my whole life.

 

[DrHenley]

...like trying to sweep the sand off of the beach...

 

[Skeeter]

Brent, I don't think I was being rude in any way. I stated a number of facts, and one suspicion. Is it rude to quote a person when they say they make $15/hr?

This is a "Prepper" website. Tom is as much a prepper as a grasshopper is. He has no business here other than to stir up trouble which he's doing. Like many I tried to 'help' him (even though I strongly suspected) but it didn't take long to see through his bull.

My point is that this guy isn't asking real questions. He's making $15 and talking about investing?

As I said, please don't feed the trolls.

It's entirely possible to invest while making $15/hr. My first job out of the military I started out at $13.50/hr and through my employer was putting 3% of that into a 401k at the time. Of course this was almost 15 years ago already.

 

[TexasFreedom]

It's entirely possible to invest while making $15/hr. My first job out of the military I started out at $13.50/hr and through my employer was putting 3% of that into a 401k at the time. Of course this was almost 15 years ago already.

Skeeter,

Let's not get confused. Hey, I bought a house when I only made $15/hr. But that was when the dollar meant something, maybe 30 years ago. Minimum wage was $3 back then. There is no comparison of $15 either 15 or 30 years ago with today. How about comparing the average salary in those years? Today it's $50k-ish, 15 years ago it was maybe $35k, and 30 years ago it was maybe $25k. So would you have been saving 15 years ago if you made 30% LESS back then? When you were saving 3%?

Today's $15/hr is still living-in-mom's-basement salary. Or share a nasty apartment with 4 guys salary. It does not support a wife or family. It does not support 4 walls of your own. It does not support investing in anything. If you want to invest in something, make yourself a better person who's worth twice that salary.

 

[Brent S]

I think making money is important if you want to have a good quality of life. I also think that what you do with your money is even more important. Simple things like having no debt, not wasting money on things like convience store junk, and just being wise with what you make can offset a higher wage. Debt to me is the biggest waste of ones income. Most of the people in the states are financed up to their eyeballs between their house, one or two shiny new cars and credit cards (which are the dumbest thing). I try to live by the motto of if you can't afford it with cash then you can't afford it. The only exception to debt for me is if your borrowing to make money. I took out a mortgage to start our business. Yes it is still a risk, but at least if you have a good plan it is so much better just buying a shiny new car or something that immediately goes down in value. I also made the effort to pay back the loan as fast as possible. It took about 9 months and I'm debt free again. So many people want instant gratification, but it costs a lot more than they realize. I wanted a cell phone when I started our business. I had to go to three places before I found one that would just sell me one right out (wallmart). The other two phone stores would 'give' me a phone when I sign up for their two or three year contract, but couldn't just give me a price on one for cash. The deal sounds good up front but ends up costing a lot more over the long haul. I'm no financial genius here, I just try to use good old common sense with what I have.

 

[Tom Brands]

I agree Brent. I've never bought anything expensive in my life, so I've never gone into debt (except for school). It's important to think for a long time before making big purchases. I think if most people did that, they would realize they might not need such a big tv or whatever.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I agree that being debt free is the best way to go and should be everybody's goal. But if your smart you can use debts to your advantage. I've taken some big gambles over the years by leveraging debts. Just a few years ago I was over a million dollars in debt, mostly in real estate, but also in stocks. I have since sold most of my real estate holdings and have paid off all of my debts, except for my tractor which is 0%, and retired years before most people could ever think about retirement. I would not recommend anyone else taking the kind of gambles that I did, but for me it paid off big time.
No matter how much a person makes, they can always find some cash to invest. During high school I was making $1.25 per hour plus room and board working on a ranch. I put most of that away. When I was 19 I was making $5.36 and bought a house, had two kids and two cars and a very high maintenance wife.
Make a plan and stick with it. Pack a lunch for work rather than going out, if you smoke or drink, quit. Cut out all unnecessary expenses and you'd be amazed at how fast your money will add up. If you don't have any marketable skills, go to trade school. Make yourself worth more to an employer than the next guy.

 

[Skeeter]

I've never gone into debt. However, once you sign up for the military you are on the hook like no other and it feels 100x worse than debt.