(Part 3) Best products from r/personalfinance

I think it's worth restarting your reward loop by taking small steps.

I'm not sure what your situation is, but most people I've met who "lack drive" have trained themselves to dislike doing hard work and have gotten used to low-effort dopamine hits (here goes hand wavy psychology!). So fundamentally, you have to think about routines, habits, and projects that will help your brain appreciate doing hard work again, putting in the extra work / grit, and persevering and delaying when you feel that dopamine.

It may be worth focusing on setting some reasonable personal goals and creating / iterating on routines to help you meet those goals. These goals should be attainable but require effort.

Look around and think about what in your life you've given up on or no longer pursue because they're difficult / annoying to do.

Phase 1

Restart your reward loops that are lowest on Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

Some examples:

• Losing weight (if you're over weight), opposite if you're underweight. Set a realistic goal (lose 5 pounds in 1 month), track progress daily on a notebook / calendar (I prefer to get out of apps / screens for these simple things), and start / end your day looking at it.
  
• Improving your diet. Write down what meals you eat daily and try to make 1 improvement daily (skipping 1 junk food, 1 snack, reducing sugar, skipping sodas, etc).
  
• Reading a difficult book. Something that's difficult. Set a reasonable goal (1 month or 2 months) but hold yourself accountable to making progress daily.
  
• Agree to a set amount of chores and do them daily. Write down in a notebook every day
  
  Some even simpler examples:
  
  
• Make your bed every day. Take a photo and print it out. Every day, see your photos from the day before. As the pile builds up, you like seeing that chain. Your only goal is to not break the chain. Jerry Seinfeld was famous for talking about how he practiced comedy in this way - https://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret
  
• Structure your computer / phone usage. Don't cut out social media and email day 1. Just delay when you let yourself check it. Check it at scheduled times (1 PM for 5 mins, 2 PM for 5 mins, etc). Avoid checking social media as a reaction to "I'm bored" or "I have 5 mins I'm in line". Practice rejecting giving your brain what it wants in the moment, and scale it up slowly (a great goal for many is no social media for an entire day!). Cal Newport's recent 2 books are great on this topic, here's a sample blog post: http://calnewport.com/blog/2016/02/16/write-an-attention-charter/
  
  By committing to chores, routines, and tracking goals and celebrating your progress with family (and explaining your high level plan like this), it's possible your parents are relieved and are more patient with you as you shift and improve.
  
  Phase 2
  
  Try to find a craft / skill that you want to get better that could one day lead to job. Look to the skills / jobs / etc you already have some knowledge about. People think being a barista is a dead-end job, but I know someone who worked their way up (got promoted yearly) from Starbucks barista to National Manager. I know someone else who got really deep into the craft of coffee, eventually starting their own roastery and coffee shop (and they sold for millions, etc). I recommend reading https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
  
  If you become very good at a single craft (Cal Newport's book is great here - http://calnewport.com/books/so-good/) by doing sustained improvement, you can trade that unique skill / position for improved life traits (working less, more money, more creative work, more autonomy, more ownership, etc). But keep in mind that when you're starting out, you're at the "bottom" and you need to focus on just getting better. Another Cal Newport post coming your way (http://calnewport.com/blog/2010/11/12/the-pre-med-and-ira-glass-complicated-career-advice-from-compelling-people/). You may also find that you have multiple interests and instead of being top 5% of a single craft, you become top 25% in 2 or 3. Scott Adams (from Dilbert) talks about that here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/10/23/dilbert-creator-scott-adams-reveals-the-simple-formula-that-will-double-your-odds-of-success/#41a096f42dbc
  
  What else?
  
  I would say more, but to be honest doing all of the above \^ will be PLENTY for you to restart your outlook and habits. It takes time and if you can find a life situation that will allow you to be patient (staying with supporting parents at home is a great way to do this) and improve, then that's excellent. If you try living alone and changing your habits alone while also trying to scale up your job, it may be difficult. But who knows, I don't know you, and maybe the "wake up call" is actually what kickstarts your journey.
  
  I'll just end with:
  
  
• Don't beat yourself up if you "cheat" one day.
  
• Work with others to help keep you accountable. Trustworthy friends, parents, etc. Check in with them, keep them in the loop about both your wins and struggles.
  
• Explore and try to learn as much as you can. Learning something new is hard and is uncomfortable and you'll want to just check texts or social media (or w/e distracts you), but learning to love the learning process is the ultimate life skill / source of fulfillment.
  
  Okay this has gone on too long, I thought I was only leaving a 1 paragraph reply ><

This is a copy and paste of my own post from six months ago, but it may be able to help you.

I started to learn to love the stuff I already have and just tried to be more thankful for them. They make things easier for me, they make my life happier. These can be anything/everything that you want it to be, without utensils I'd eat like a pig, without my rototiller I'd really have to bust my ass getting the yard ready for planting. :)

Loving things also goes hand-in-hand with two other things I like to do, which are reading and research. All of this requires reading and research, which I find pretty fun. It's almost like a game in itself. It helps me identify what I really need and don't need.

You have to ask yourself realistic questions and be honest with yourself about them with every purchase. It's very important, especially #4 because there are so many 'gotcha' products out there that don't improve upon products that we already own or do it better. I see products like that every day on facebook/fund raising sites.

1. Do I have enough to make this purchase/investment? (in full?)
   
   
2. Do I really need this product?
   
   
3. How will this help me live better?
   
   
4. Is there another product similar to this that does it better?
   
   
5. Will this last a long time?
   
   
6. Will this product help me save money?

Do you have an undergraduate degree already? If not, I was under the impression that GI Bill only helps you with one degree. Considering an MBA requires you have an undergrad degree to apply and be accepted.. if you don't have that undergrad degree now, don't expect the government to pay. I could be talking out my ass on that though.


"Survive comfortable" will depend largely on the school and location. Private school vs public school, city vs college town. Further thoughts I have here... The price tag on your education does not entirely translate to value. Look at the school's brand and student/faculty base. The education is important, but you are paying largely to be a part of the 'network'. Some networks are more respected than others, and some are more helpful and readily willing to offer jobs to one another.


I don't know what your living situation has been like while you've been in but if it has been the barracks life with restrictive rules be weary of once you come out and get that freedom to do as you please back. While I don't mean you deny yourself certain pleasures, just don't go crazy. I'm sure you know how it is to be on leave with all that pay sitting in the bank... just waiting for you to get home and play with it.


What was your job in the military? What did you think of that job? Is it something you could see yourself doing for a career? You stand in a strong position if it is something more technically oriented, or science based. You've got something a lot of college students around you won't have. EXPERIENCE! If you can expand on to the educational part of the field you stand to be in a great position out of school. And on that note, look at getting a degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) field. This as an undergrad and later augmented with an MBA would give you a strong bridge to the business side if it something you'd desire later on.


And here's a book I wish would've came out before I went college, hah. So Good They Can't Ignore You - Cal Newport TLDR - Find your passion is bad advice and potentially detrimental. People love what they do when they're good at it.


Hope this was helpful and sorry if it sounds more like a ramble. Just two cents from a 23 year old that has been out of school for a year

Edit: Continue to stay away from debt.

So first I will soapbox then tell you what I do personally. Hah, apparently this is a 10k+ essay so will split in 2.


Step 1: Pay yourself first. If you are "budgeting" for savings but end up at the end of the month with no savings you are NOT really saving. Pick your savings vehicle and set up direct deposit. Schedule so that the day your paycheck is cashed you have $500 automatically withdrawn from your account that same day to be applied to your investment directly. For you something like: Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 Fund (VTTSX).
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/target-retirement/#/mini/overview/1691
MER of 0.18%


So go to the library and borrow and read "The wealthy barber"
http://www.amazon.ca/The-Wealthy-Barber-Successful-Financial/dp/0773762167


In the same vein read: The Richest Man in Babylon. True when written in 1926 and still true now.
http://www.ccsales.com/the_richest_man_in_babylon.pdf
Audio version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRomaM-yxYs


Step 2: Take a long, hard look at why you spend. You are trying to fill a hole thinking spending will make you happy. You are realizing that it does not. What is new and shiny now will have a new version come along in 6 months. What makes you happy? Quality time with friends and family? Experiences? Leaning new things? Looking at the end of the year at your IRA/401k balance. Looking at your house down payment savings account? Make a list of the times you were the happiest you have felt in the last year then go to step 3.


Step 3: After determining what makes you happy start saving and budgeting towards that goal. Steam has a 75% sale on YNAB right now.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/227320/


Buy it, use it. Determine what you need to LIVE, then allocate the surplus. The Richest Man in Babylon says live on 70%, pay down debt with 20%, invest 10%. I propose it is income dependent. As a single guy I think you should be able to live well on a salary of $45k/yr and save/invest the rest.


Now you don't have to be like John Wesley (http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/what-wesley-practiced-and-preached-about-money) but look at what made him happy. Giving to the poor. He lived on 28 pounds a year and "saved" the rest to apply to what was his number one mission in life.


"1731 Wesley began to limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the poor. He records that one year his income was 30 pounds and his living expenses 28 pounds, so he had 2 pounds to give away. The next year his income doubled, but he still managed to live on 28 pounds, so he had 32 pounds to give to the poor. In the third year, his income jumped to 90 pounds. One year his income was a little over 1400 pounds. He lived on 30 pounds and gave away nearly 1400 pounds. When he died in 1791, the only money mentioned in his will was the miscellaneous coins to be found in his pockets and dresser drawers. Most of the 30,000 pounds he had earned in his lifetime he had given away."


As income rises let your quality of life rise a proportion of the increase but let your savings/investing take the majority of the increase.


Step 4: Seriously consider volunteering at something. Can be as little as 1-2 hours per week. Pick a mission or organization that has deep personal meaning for yourself. Animal shelter. Big brother/sister. Help underprivileged kids read at your local library. Absolutely ANYTHING but pick SOMETHING. Do this for weekly for 6 months and if you do not feel rewarded and that you wasted your time over the last 6 months PM me with the phone number of your supervisor/most responsible person at the place you volunteered so I can confirm you were actually there regularly for 6 months and I will send you $100 (I'm in Canada so would have to figure out how to send you a amazon gift card or something). Requirement is you going 6 months weekly for a minimum of 1hr.


1 - you will meet amazing co-volunteers.
2 - you will see how blessed you are. Instead of comparing yourself to the Johnses at the country club you will compare yourself to the people you meet at your volunteer gig. I will pretty much guarantee that at the end of 6 months you will find other things to do with your $400/month country club membership.

Follow these steps and you will be setting yourself up for success:

Open a high yield savings account and put in 6 months-worth of essential living expenses. This is your emergency fund. I use Ally Bank's online high yield money market savings account, which yields .84% annually.

Open a Roth IRA at Vanguard or Fidelity and create an automatic contribution plan. Invest in a broad stock index fund, you're young enough to take the risk. Once you set this up, don't look at it, don't touch it (you can't anyway without paying a big penalty). Contribute $5k to that puppy right off the bat (it would be better to contribute a smaller amount each month that comes out to $5k at the end of the year so you can take advantage of dollar cost averaging, but the minimum contribution at a place like Vanguard is usually $5k so you'll have to bite the bullet this year).

Pay off any credit card debt you have. Student loans, too. Because of the obscene interest rates on these types of debt, paying them off provides a much higher "return on investment" (~18-24%) than even high performing stocks would.

You need to find a better investment vehicle in which to store your $25k (since you're putting $5k in the Roth IRA). If you are thinking about college, grad or professional school, or really any type of accredited higher education, starting a 529 is an excellent idea (tax-free savings). You will want to read up on investing, since the best place to put this money at your age is almost certainly the stock market (with a smaller amount in bonds to cushion you should the market turn down), otherwise it will just sit in some shitty bank account losing 3% of its value each year to inflation. I highly recommend these two books.

If you don't have a credit card, apply for one so you can start building credit. As long as you pay it off in full each month and use it sparingly, there's no drawback (get one without an annual fee if at all possible; rewards are even better). Also, since you have the money you might as well take out a secured loan with your credit union. It will bump up your credit score nicely and is the easiest thing to do ever. Just walk n and say "I want a 12-month secured loan for $1,500," and the loan officer will take it from there.

If your checking account is with a megabank like BofA or Citi, switch to a local credit union so you can avoid horrible hidden fees and help not ruin the world. There is literally zero downside (people will say "but credit unions don't have 50 billion ATMs!" and you'll say "voila! le debit card!").

Also, if your work offers a 401(k) or 403(b) make sure to invest at least a little in it each month (it'll come directly out of your paycheck). If they offer matching funds (i.e., free fucking money), contribute up to the maximum amount that they match.

Here are two final personal finance resource for you.

Good luck!

\> This is not a financial problem, this is a trauma problem.

Perfectly said.

OP, in therapy you can talk about your experiences growing up with financial worries. A good therapist can help you explore how those experiences affected you and help you identify the narratives you tell yourself as a result.

It sounds like the financial hyper-awareness has actually served a very useful purpose for you so far. You did well in school and worked your way into a good career. But there's a saying: "What got you here won't get you there." Now your anxiety around finances is holding you back, and you would be better served by spending less energy worrying about finances while still putting a plan in place to responsibly manage your finances.

A therapist can also help you retrain your thinking. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one type of therapy which is aimed at retraining negative automatic thoughts. You identify negative thoughts and write them down, then apply techniques from the CBT toolbox to understand why those thoughts are distorted and replace them with more adaptive thoughts that better reflect reality.

The key point is that your brain won't let you simply choose to stop thinking a negative thought, because there's usually a kernel of truth. You need to replace the negative thought with a new thought that also true but is more adaptive.

So for example, when you think:

\> I'm suddenly gonna lose all my money at the blink of an eye

You can write that thought down, then look at a list of cognitive distortions and identify things like "all or nothing thinking" and "jumping to conclusions". From there you can identify potentially useful CBT techniques. Some techniques work better for certain types of cognitive distortions. So you might try techniques like exploring "What's the worst that would happen? How would I need to react if I actually lost all my money?", or you might try keeping count of unwanted thoughts to make yourself better at noticing them as they appear. There are dozens of techniques.

I'll note that studies have actually shown that CBT from a book can be just as effective as CBT with a therapist. I'd recommend finding a therapist if you're able, because they can help in ways that a book can't. But it's worth mentioning for anyone who isn't able to see a therapist, or isn't sure whether their therapist is any good.

You can just open up the book, start reading, and do the exercises. The key is that you can't just skim the book. You have to actually do the work and write down your answers.

Here's a good book on CBT:

https://www.amazon.com/When-Panic-Attacks-Drug-Free-Anxiety/dp/076792083X

Here is a good blog post on how to find a therapist:

https://blog.valerieaurora.org/2016/04/17/howto-therapy-what-psychotherapy-is-how-to-find-a-therapist-and-when-to-fire-your-therapist/

Finally, one way to feel more in control is to learn more about managing your finances. I'd recommend reading a good book on personal finance, like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Bogleheads-Guide-Investing-Taylor-Larimore/dp/1118921283

And then I'd recommend writing out an "investing policy statement". Basically it's a written statement describing your financial goals and long term plan of how to attain them. You're effectively writing instructions for your future self. This can help put worrying to rest. For example, you can consult the statement to remind yourself that you planned to save $___/month toward a house and $___/month toward retirement. If you are meeting your goals, you shouldn't feel guilty about spending money on things you enjoy.

Here's a blog post describing an investing policy statement:

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/how-to-write-an-investing-personal-statement/

0. Read The Truth About Money by Ric Edelman, it covers all the basics

https://www.amazon.com/Truth-About-Money-4th/dp/0062006487/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522467370&sr=8-1&keywords=the+truth+about+money


1. Have Zero debt


2. Live as cheaply as possible but maintain a healthy balance between frugality and enjoying life. Save 50% or more of your net income

$72,000 gross annual income - 22% federal tax - 9% California state tax - $16,800 annual expenses = $32,880

If you save all of that $32,880 every year, you might be able to achieve financial independence in 10 years (with some caveats, do read the fine print and do all your research about FI):

https://networthify.com/calculator/earlyretirement?income=49680&initialBalance=0&expenses=16800&annualPct=5&withdrawalRate=4

Also see https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/

3. Three to 12 months living expenses ($4,200 to $16,800) in a liquid account (bank checking/savings or Vanguard Prime Money Market VMMX).

Liquid means you have instant access (or max 3 days) to your money. This is money you CANNOT put in the stock market, it MUST be liquid and low-risk. Bank CDs are not liquid enough.

Three months because it ideally takes you that long to find your next job. 12 months and you have plenty of cushion. Ideally you'd take 2-3 months to take off and chill in between jobs.

With your remaining money, you can take a long-term outlook, meaning put it in the stock market as per below but you can't touch it for at least 20 years because that's how long you'd expect the market to even out the lows and the highs.

4. Maximum IRS annual contribution to Traditional 401k plan ($18,500 as of 2018).

That's $18,500 you're shielding from income taxes. Where do you invest the money? Stock index funds with the cheapest expense ratio you can find (0.06% or cheaper) and annual returns of 6% or better like VFIAX, VTSAX, or VBIAX.

Beyond those funds, if you want to fine tune your ratio of risk to return, you'll need to understand the difference between small-cap, medium-cap, large-cap, and their permutations (small-cap growth, small-cap value, mid-cap growth, mid-cap value, large-cap growth, large-cap value), and ideally you'd buy only index funds of these permutations, as index funds have lower expense ratios than managed funds. Don't forget international stock index funds.

Given that you're age 29, if you want to retire at age 59.5, let your money ride the stock market and grow for most of the next 30.5 years.

As you get closer to age 59.5, adjust your allocation, i.e., shield your money from the volatility of stock index funds by moving your money toward the safety of bond index funds according to a formula, on which opinions vary:

https://www.financialsamurai.com/the-proper-asset-allocation-of-stocks-and-bonds-by-age/

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/062714/100-minus-your-age-outdated.asp

http://money.cnn.com/retirement/guide/investing_basics.moneymag/index7.htm

5. Maximum IRS annual contribution to personal IRA ($5,500 as of 2018).

Personal meaning over and above your employer's 401k plan. Unfortunately that's $5,500 after income taxes. You might as well put this money in a Roth IRA (versus a Traditional IRA). Where do you invest the money? I'd take the same approach in #4.

However, the advantage of a Traditional IRA (versus Roth) is you can rollover your Traditional 401k money into this Traditional IRA as you move from employer to employer without worrying about conversion calculations. I suppose you could also rollover your Traditional 401k money into a Roth IRA but I don't know how complicated that is.

6. Brokerage account with Schwab (or your preferred broker).

With the remaining money (not counting money you need for short-term financial goals like buying a car, etc), open a trading account with Schwab and buy more stock index funds with the same long-term outlook as #4 and #5 (more money toward retirement).

Keep in mind each trade (buy or sell) will cost you $5+ no matter how many shares you buy/sell.

You must be ok with not touching this money for the next 20+ years, although you can sell in an emergency without the early withdrawal penalty of your retirement accounts.

Ideally you'd only sell after minimum 1 year so you pay the long-term capital gains tax rate of 15% and not your standard income tax rate which is currently 22%.

I highly recommend reading (or listening with audible) to a couple books that I listened to when I was questioning my job and career choices earlier this year. They aren’t silver bullets, but they’ll definitely offer sound advice on how to actively work to improve your situation.

If you don’t have much free time to read, like me, try listening to the audiobook on your commute or at lunch. Just find a time and place that makes sense for you.

I hope those books help you as much as they did me.

• So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
  
• The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
  
• Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity
  *Think and Grow Rich
  

Save. Always and forever save as much as you can when you have the opportunity to. Keep putting money away now, each paycheck, even if for a week you can only put in $5.

There are various ways to save, obviously RRSP's are great for retirement, but there are also ways to save money that you can access if the need to do so arises. Definitely put money away separately for your children, for their education and such. Yes, there are student loans, but there could always be extra costs or fees outside of school, such as medical costs, bail, etc...

It is good to have at least 6 months worth of your expenses saved up, so that 7k is an ideal saving to have and you are already in a good position by having it. The reason to have that much saved up is so that if anything were to happen, in terms of either, or both of you, losing employment you have the finances to cover the costs during that period. Being broke is bad enough, but being broke and not being able to support ourselves, or the people that we should be providing for, is quite depressing to say the least. To reiterate you are already off to a good start with your bank savings.

The Wealthy Barber is a great book to read that provides insight into being intelligent with money, while I'm going to put an article for you to consider perusing: 4 Personal Finance Principles That Would Make Your Grandfather Proud


The Wealthy Barber

I have to agree w/everyone on the whole Apartment being out of your budget...but you didn't ask for that advice, so I'll try to help you out as best I can.

The way I like to help is by giving you one tool. Hardest thing about eating on a budget is you often eat the same thing, so a little variety is nice. I would suggest eating this one week, and finding other recipes next week, then coming back to this when you feel it. It won't be the cheapest, but it will taste solid and fill your belly (and more importantly be in your budget).
Key is to buy in bulk.

• Rice/Beans - Go to your local grocery store or go to Amazon. Buy rice in the 15/lb [bag](https://www.amazon.com/Nishiki-Premium-Medium-Grain-15-Pound/dp/B004NRLAVY/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1500740463&sr=8-1&keywords=rice&th=1https://www.amazon.com/Nishiki-Premium-Medium-Grain-15-Pound/dp/B004NRLAVY/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1500740463&sr=8-1&keywords=rice&th=1 ex.), and it should not cost you more than $1/lb.
  
  Same thing with the beans.
  
  
• Meat - I need my meat, but this is going to be generally the most expensive. I think the best thing you can do is to wait to look for whatever is on sale and again bulk it up. So for example chicken breast in my area normally ranges from $1.50-2.50/lb. So when it hits the low range for me $1.50 i tend to buy 2/3 packs and store it in my freezer (If it every goes to .99/lb I always buy at least 2 packs). Sometimes if other meats such as pork or ground beef goes on sale you can spoil yourself a bit. Key here is to use that freezer.
  
  Also learn HOW to debone a chicken . Now you can buy the whole chicken and give me more options.
  
  
• Eggs - My local store sells Eggs for about $1.20-1.99 for a dozen and from my experience is the cheapest at trader joes. I think it's worth the buy.
  
  
• Produce - Key is to wait for the sales. It's hard to bulk up on produce cause they go bad in a few days. But I generally buy green bell peppers, onions, and whatever is on sale.
  
  
• Spices - This is a going to a cheap way to make your food taste good. Salt/Pepper is a must. Bulk red chili pepper flakes (7oz) if you like spice. Garlic Powder Bulk (I get 13oz). And other spices that you personally like. Generally I tend to spend maybe $7 a month on spices.
  
  -----
  Ok now, just gotta cook. Cook the rice and beans together. While that's cooking, cook the meat. For Chicken Breasts, depending on the thickness, I suggest cooking it 5 mins each side and then letting it sit for about 3 mins after you are done. I then cook any produce I have, then add the rice and meat. I then push all the food to the sides of the pan put some oil in the middle and drop my egg (sometimes i drop 2 if im hungry). I personally break the egg and after about 1-2 mins i then mix everything together. I add my spices. Put in soy sauce, or a bit of ketchup, or hot sauce if I have it (Cheap tip: take a lot of condiments from fastfood joints, hahaha).
  
  
  Cost (Per/Month) assuming you eat this the entire month
  
• Rice/Beans: $17-24
  
• Meat: $20-30
  
• Eggs: $6-10
  
• Produce: $15
  
• Spices: $7
  Total: $86
  
  I hope this helps a bit. I think the best thing is to learn how to cook. Utilize reddit, youtube, etc to find cheap foods that are semi-healthy and are within your budget. You don't have financial capital, but you do have your own labor and skills that you can grow to compensate for your current lack of $$$. I personally ended up loving cooking cause I went through the same thing, had no money in college and lived off Ramen, Rice, Chicken, and Beans. Slowly I learned how to cook and now although I spend a lot more on food I feel I can cook a great meal on whatever budget im on.
  
  
  
  
  
  

This is sort of random and you got much better advice in other comments but I'm going to throw it in as an addition anyway:

Read the book The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up. It's a book about how to organize your home, and therefor your life by surrounding yourself with things that spark joy. Shifting your focus off of money by going through your apartment and getting rid of clutter and stressors will help make you feel better and give you something else to "obsess" over. But most importantly it will make you more aware of what makes you happy. When you know what sparks joy for you, it will be easier to "allow" yourself to spend money on the quality necessities without feeling like you're blowing money. The book helped me with overspending on things I don't need but were "good deals" that just wound up causing me stress by overcrowding my home.

I think you may have traded the "thrill" of buying new stuff/nice car/etc for the "thrill" of accumulating money... sort of like an addiction in both extremes.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607747308/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_39HGybESD1QJX

Amazon seems to have a lot of recent books on the topic.

Family Trusts: A Guide for Beneficiaries, Trustees, Trust Protectors, and Trust Creators (2015)
https://www.amazon.com/Family-Trusts-Beneficiaries-Protectors-Bloomberg/dp/1119118263

Executor's Guide, The: Settling a Loved One's Estate or Trust (2018)
https://www.amazon.com/Executors-Guide-Settling-Loved-Estate/dp/1413324800

Trustee's Legal Companion, The: A Step-by-Step Guide to Administering a Living Trust (2017)
https://www.amazon.com/Trustees-Legal-Companion-Step-Step/dp/1413323650

Plan Your Estate (2018)
https://www.amazon.com/Plan-Estate-Denis-Clifford-Attorney/dp/1413325114

Every Californian's Guide To Estate Planning: Wills, Trust & Everything Else (2018)
https://www.amazon.com/Every-Californians-Guide-Estate-Planning/dp/1413324681

They are compatible.

It is basically a question of when you want access to the money.

You create a regular account, and IRA or a Roth IRA (assuming you make less than $193k)

The regular account you put you after tax money in, and you can take it out whenever you want. You pay taxes on the income and when you sell you will pay capital gains on any appreciation.

​

The Iras are accounts meant for retirement so you can't take money out until retirement age. With the IRA you put Pre tax money in with the Roth after tax money in. IRA deferes the taxes on income and gains. Roth you can take out without tax. but again at retirement age. There is a lot more info on here about the differences but that is the TLDR version.

​

Now that you have picked the TYPE of account (Regular/IRA/Roth) you have a choice of what to invest in. you can invest in many many things almost anything. but a solid simple and many would say best choice over the long term is the simple index fund with low fees. <.1 %

​

In summary you would buy the index fund in your roth IRA account if that was your choice. There is a done of good summary info tagged in here so that is a good place to start learning more or can pick up a book or two at the library this is a good one.

https://www.amazon.com/Four-Pillars-Investing-Building-Portfolio-ebook/dp/B0041842TW

https://investor.vanguard.com/index-funds/?WT.srch=1&cmpgn=PS:RE (Vanguard was the industry leader in pushing down costs for their investors so a very reputable company, though others have caught up on the low fee idea. )

Hope it helps!

Sounds like you are doing pretty well, you might enjoy the book: "Your Money Ratios: 8 Simple Tools for Financial Security" by Charles Farrell, 2010. He's got a number of rules of thumb to help you figure out how you are doing on saving (http://www.amazon.com/Your-Money-Ratios-Financial-Security-ebook/dp/B002YJK5O6/)

One ratio is capital to income at age 40, to retire @ 65 with 80% of your pre-retirement he recommends that your capital = 2.4x annual income. Your annual is $160K so, we would say to have $384K saved up. So you are right on course.

If you like good coffee, let me recommend an Aeropress. It is cheap, fast, easy to clean, portable and most importantly makes better tasting coffee than machines costing hundreds of dollars.

There are lots of good ones, and they all say the same thing - max out your retirement plans and own total market index funds at Vanguard. The Bogleheads Guide is good if you don't mind paying. Some good free ebooks, too, for example Investing In Four Hours will be free Aug 5.

Edit: Really? Downvoting a book? I get that some of you don’t like bitcoin but come on, that’s ridiculous.

This is a good book to get the basics down.

https://www.amazon.com/Cryptoassets-Innovative-Investors-Bitcoin-Beyond/dp/1260026671

It took me months before I felt like I actually understood it though. I've personally never come across a single person who understood blockchain/crypto enough to speak intelligently about it's intricacies but despite that still thought there was no place for it in the future. The hardest thing to wrap your mind around is how it isn't just a digitized version of traditional assets, yet it's hard to discuss with those unfamiliar with it without making comparisons to equities, commodities or currencies. But it doesn't quite fit into any of those boxes.

Anyway, that's a really good book to give you a broad overview. Then you can decide for yourself if you think they're the future or not. FWIW, I decided they were a few years ago and needless to say I do not regret making that decision.

Furnishings aren't a purely financial decision. You also have to consider comfort and style. You may be spending a lot of time with this furniture. And you may not want your place to scream "college student" or "bachelor pad".

You can still get comfortable and stylish furniture cheaply the way everyone else is recommending. But you may want to be a little picky and maybe even pay full price for some things if you'll get that much appreciation out of it.

I'll also caution that just because you have space for something and you can get it cheap (or even free!) doesn't mean you should take it. Space has a tendency of filling itself up with stuff. You should read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up before you buy anything.

Also, I find the product reviews at The Sweet Home are worth considering to help cut down on the analysis paralysis of having to buy so many different things. Of course, don't overdo it and buy stuff you don't really need!

I think prime is worth the convenience and for prime video.


we generally dont spend a lot of money on crap we dont need anyways and some products break after the warranty period, so we find ourselves buying more from Costco or other places with better return policies... which is sad because I work on Amazon every day to help companies with their accounts.

I actually found this book to be far more impactful on my spending than anything else:

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308


We buy things we really need or really love and rarely anything that doesnt fit those two criteria, which I think was my greatest takeaway from this book

they don't own them - they're paying monthly. You're putting your cash aside, they're putting it in to a mortgage. Over the long haul, it might pan out for them, but for many, mortgages in the short term haven't been good, landing many people 'underwater' so to speak.

You've just paid off a bunch of debt, have a bit more to go, but are saving cash. You've got $42k in savings - in a year you'll have $78k (more, assuming some upward trend in your investments). You'll be at $80k. Count your car - $10k? That's 90k. You'll be nearer that $100k mark faster than you might think, and the compounding effects will take hold in the next couple of years.

As boring as this sounds, keep at it. You're doing well.

There's a difficult truth we ignore when looking at others' situations - we rarely see what's going on behind the doors. I had a friend making pretty good money - $120k or so - moderate-cost suburban midwest - two kids, wife, nice cars, nice big house (finished basement). I've been jealous for years. He confided in me a couple years back that they're basically broke - he can't leave his job, they're living check to check, his wife overspends regularly, they've had credit cards cancelled, had to borrow $500 from family as a down payment on a new refrigerator, and more. He can't seem to save a penny on $120k. And he's trapped. And miserable. And no one could tell by looking at the happy family with 2 cars, 2 kids, nice house in the 'burbs.

As corny as this sounds, bond with your wife, friends and family. Stay strong in them. Your job/financial situation may change for the worse, or it may improve a lot. But if you're not solid and on the same financial page as your wife, things will get really bad - if you think you're struggling now, imagine having a wife that was spending $3k/month without telling you about it, racking up secret debt.

Again, it's hard to see some of this now, but you're really not in such a bad place. Consider seeing if you can move to someplace a bit nicer away from the heroin junkies in the street - going from $1100/month rent to $400k house is a jump lots would like to make, but is a bit extreme. Look hard for something that's, say, $1500/month. You can easily afford that, you'll have a nicer environment, and it may help change your perspective on your situation.

EDIT: Good book to put this in perspective: http://www.amazon.com/Green-With-Envy-Financial-Happiness/dp/B003GAN1XE

If you send me your address, I'll send you a copy.

They're great. More of an "entry-level" item for moving into good coffee. Like only $25, brews in about a minute, and makes one cup. I mainly use a French press, but I still use my old aeropress a few times a month.

I bought a $5 metal filter so i didn't have to keep buying the paper ones. Also, Google the "inverted method" for using an aeropress. The book doesn't tell you, but it's really the superior way to use the product.

https://www.amazon.com/Aeropress-Coffee-and-Espresso-Maker/dp/B0047BIWSK

>Man, this subreddit always makes me feel like garbage.

Don't sweat it. Just by reading this and caring you're ahead of most people. The subreddit will self-select for people who have the time and money to invest.

> 401k up to employer match
> Max out Roth IRA
>* Max out 401k

Even if you only get partially through the second step, you're still doing well. The money you invest now will be worth much much more after growing for a couple decades. The habits you develop now on good saving will be even more valuable. :-)

>That's it. I don't really know the difference between stocks and bonds and I have no idea what any of these acronyms are, but I guess that's why I'm here: to learn.

Here are some good books to learn from-- go check your local library for them or even an earlier version:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062006487/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470067365/

Just read Millionaire by Thirty which isn't exactly about real estate specifically and is perhaps a bit trite. However, he was a radical saver as well and got there with real estate and a little luck. You might find some parallels. If you read it, I'd be interested in a follow-up with your opinion.

Just mentioned in another post that I like Lindahl's books on multifamily. I haven't read a lot of books on single-family investing. I generally recommend seeking out local REI (real estate investing) clubs an checking out their resources.

Definitely invest. Always remember that your money should be working for you at all times, if you're not getting a 4-7% apr minimum, don't have your money in it, barring emergency funds.

I always recommend 1-10% into cryptocurrencies, depending on your risk tolerance. A lot of people who know nothing about cryptocurrencies have a knee-jerk reaction to it that results in downvotes in this sub, but for those people, there's a book you should read so that you can at least downvote intelligently. cryptoassets. Though I'd expect you to sing a different tune after, it definitely explains crypto in a way that people can understand.

I'm rereading the book Get a Financial Life which taught me about a lot of the things I never learned at school or from my parents. It's a good place to answer your questions about what to do with your money, and these are the basics you can teach your son over the years. It helped me out immensely ~10 years ago, would recommend. Maybe it's even at your library for free.

Hi, former Wall Street-er here. Sounds like you're more interested in fundamentals investing instead of technical? If so, read:

• The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Investing
  
• Ratio Analysis Fundamentals
  
• Best Practices for Equity Research Analysts
  
• Applied Equity Analysis
  
  The last two are fairly specific to the equity research career, but if you're doing fundamentals investing you'll be using the same principles.
  
  If instead you're interested in technical investing, Getting Started in Candlestick Charting is my go-to.

If he had will find that and try to put your hands on the insurance policy. Contact social security about any death benefit for burial to be paid to your mom as well as social security payments for your minor siblings.

I'm going to recommend a book to you, try to get it from the public library but, if it is unavailable you can buy it.

Executor's Guide, The: Settling a Loved One's Estate or Trust by NOLO publishing.


https://www.amazon.com/Executors-Guide-Settling-Loved-Estate/dp/1413324800/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539069704&sr=8-1&keywords=nolo+guide+for+executors


Soup to nuts on how to settle an estate.

Sorry, [this](Epiphone Les Paul SPECIAL-II Electric Guitar, Vintage Sunburst https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002CZUV0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Qoqzzb2X8TKTH) is the link, but the deal has already expired. If it makes you feel any better though it stopped working not long after I placed the order (I tried telling my friend and he couldn't get the same discount).

I personally like The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing.

The author goes over the basics as well as styles of the greats.

Here is what is happening:

Your financial planner gets kickbacks for selling insurance policies. He wants you to have lots of money on hand so you can buy insurance policies so he can collect kickbacks.

This is why most financial planners are awful people. They take your money, say they are going to help you, then fuck you on behalf of their corporate pimps.

Drop the financial planner and figure this out yourself. You can use this personal finance subreddit, but if you need things in a book format, I recommend Get a Financial Life. This is not the last book you'll read on personal finances, but it is an excellent first book. You can finish it over the course of an afternoon or two, and it will help you understand all the basic things you need to know, from mortgages to car notes to insurance.

In that same vein, I found this book (Green with Envy) to be pretty interesting.

Disclaimer: I haven't read it, but I've heard good things about Get a Financial Life.

I honestly don't think so. I have tried a lot of different coffee makers and always keep coming back to the Aeropress. It costs $30 and makes better coffee than anything I have had at any coffee shop.

Sure the Aeropress is more involved than other methods but it has become a part of my daily routine.

Devil Take the Hindmost - fun, readable book about the history of investment https://www.amazon.com/dp/0452281806/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_xIpbBbSMEKR7X

The Boglehead's Guide to Investing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JUV01RW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_gKpbBbSYVVXS7 has a lot of practical info on wealth maximization through minimizing taxes, long term consistent debt such as frequent new car purchases, and general buy and hold investment strategies

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041842TW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_6LpbBb1PVZEMX solid, classic book about foundations for building wealth

Start by reading. Then read some more. And more, and more, and more.

I recommend this book.

This might be a good read for you: https://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124

The Wealthy Barber


https://www.amazon.ca/Wealthy-Barber-Successful-Financial-Planning/dp/0773762167

My stepdad is a financial advisor and he recommends this book for young people: Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in your 20s and 30s.

Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner
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