Salaries

[Jim]

I think it depends on what kind of work you do.
For example, if you're making $1/hour on working your ass off such as a construction worker, then there should be a reason to be unhappy. But, if you're making $1/hour on something like screwing caps on toothpaste bottles, then maybe you should really think about why you're getting paid wthat ay.

You're kidding, right..... Screwing caps on toothpaste bottles would drive you insane, and I would be hard pushed to work that job for any longer than a week on TEN dollars an hour. Manual labour is all right; as long as you are able to mix it up, so long as you don't get confined to a routine, then it isn't difficult to find the time slip away from you. I would take construction work over... Toothpaste work any day of the week!

... Not that I plan to ever do either.

(PS: I just read your post again and I have now realised that I don't actually understand what you're on about..... You're either implying that people who screw caps on toothpaste bottles (Though, I would hope that they have a machine who can do that these days ......) should be GRATEFUL that they are earning the chiefly sum of a buck an hour, and in turn be grateful that they don't work on a construction site; or, you made a mess of articulating that if you work on a building site you get angry at your salary, while if you screw caps on toothpaste bottles then you are more placid in nature and, as such, would begin to question the fundamental reason as to WHY you earn what you do; in essence, that the thinking remains the same while the approach is different.)

I wrote way too much. Maybe I should remove those brackets.......

Maybe I should go and revise for something.................

(Define: Procrastination)

I've never managed to do that - not at any real level, anyway.  Don't get me wrong,. I have savings.. but I also spend alot of money on stupid crap i don't need.  Its that 'keeping up with the jones' syndrome, I guess.

The American dream! 

do you always look for job / diplomas opportunities even if you have a job ?

Well... that depends on why you're doing what you are doing........

I know a lot of people that have gone to University to study law, accounting... It isn't because they want to be a lawyer, or an accountant. It's because that's where the money is. Regardless that where the money is is in the upper brackets of those careers, they don't care. They are always going to take the job that pays more.

I'm studying film, but I don't intend to sell out to Hollywood.    While there will no doubt always be a part of me that will want to succumb to more money, it's not something that I would sacrifice what I do, what I want to be doing, for. Doing what you do because you want to do it, and doing what you do because it has the biggest paycheck available to you are entirely different reasons for working.

That said, I haven't decided what I want to do once I've graduated. Hell, I doubt that I'll even get to choose. I'll probably just get my shitty degree, work my way through some shitty company for which my degree has no relevance, like Sony, and let the dollar signs cloud my eyes.............

[RichardNixon]

I make $800,000 a year. I massage the bare naked buttocks of sexy women all day. At times the job gets boring, but I wouldn't give it up for the world.

 

I did recomend you to my granmother and her friends, they're coming first thing tomorrow. (Actually they left today)

I reserve the right to reject any customer without reason.

[sandman]

luckily i can say i am one of the few that saves more as i make more. the key is starting out with a saving mentality. then it's easy to increase the amount you save as you make more money. don't get me wrong, i spend alot of that additional money, but i always increase my savings.

fuck the jones'. 

[SLCPUNK]

I read an article a few months back that said many Americans actually have negative savings.

Forced saving/investing is the way to go. You never miss it and get used to it. When the car payment goes away, start saving/investing that money too. Keep housing cost at 25% or lower. If you have credit cards pay them off as soon as you can, and then don't run them up again.

If you can't afford it..........don't buy it.

[Bill 213]

My view is fuck saving.? As long as I have a few grand in the bank to cover any immediate upcommings that's all that matters to me.? I have the live for today mentality.? A guy I used to work with bought savings bonds every month, never spent anything, drove a beater car and he made around 3000 a month.? Saved all this money up and then died in a car wreck when he was 23.?
I say as long as you have money to keep you happy, then spend that shit on yourself and such.? Unless you're married and have a family which I don't plan on doing until I'm in my 30s.? Right now my main mission is to buy a speed boat and it's gonna run me around $25k for the one I want.? Fuck it, this is something I've dreamed about all my life and I'm gonna enjoy it now instead of when I'm 85 and shitting myself.? My view on life is when I get old enough I can't work anymore, stick my ass in a home and let me eat baby food and hit on the nurses.

PS I've already decided to name my boat........"Bad Obsession"

[SLCPUNK]

If you put that 25k into an index fund now and let is sit ,never adding another dime, your return (assuming the wall street average of 9% since inception) you would have 368k in 30 yrs. How much will that boat be worth in 30 years? How much will it have cost you in gas, upkeep, boating fees, etc?

If you started with a lousy 4k a year, and dumped it into an IRA for 40 years (I'm assuming the age of 25) you would yield 1.6 million dollars. I could only wish I would have been smart enough to start dumping money into an index fund at your age. I could quit working even sooner.

It is never too early to start saving. The biggest mistake you could ever make in life is not saving. Unless you want to bag groceries when you are older. Trust me, one day when you are married and have kids it will be three times as hard to save money!

My advice to any young person is to wait. You can save now, pump money into something and make it work for you. If you buy an item, you only become a slave to it. You get up and go to work for that car, house, boat whatever.  Saving/investing will make money for you when you sleep. One day you will be able to buy that boat with cash and not bat an eye.

[kockstar999]

If you put that 25k into an index fund now and let is sit ,never adding another dime, your return (assuming the wall street average of 9% since inception) you would have 368k in 30 yrs. How much will that boat be worth in 30 years? How much will it have cost you in gas, upkeep, boating fees, etc?

If you started with a lousy 4k a year, and dumped it into an IRA for 40 years (I'm assuming the age of 25) you would yield 1.6 million dollars. I could only wish I would have been smart enough to start dumping money into an index fund at your age. I could quit working even sooner.

It is never too early to start saving. The biggest mistake you could ever make in life is not saving. Unless you want to bag groceries when you are older. Trust me, one day when you are married and have kids it will be three times as hard to save money!

My advice to any young person is to wait. You can save now, pump money into something and make it work for you. If you buy an item, you only become a slave to it. You get up and go to work for that car, house, boat whatever.? Saving/investing will make money for you when you sleep. One day you will be able to buy that boat with cash and not bat an eye.

I wish you would have given me that advice when i was 19...

[SLCPUNK]

I wish you would have given me that advice when i was 19...

I wish somebody would have told me too.

Doubt I would have listened though.

No reason you can't start now!

[Where is Hassan Nasrallah ?]

i' sorry slc, but ... what's the point of having money later ?
i dont wanna have fun at 60 years old, i wanna have fun now.

oh yeah, kids ? ... yeah well.

[kockstar999]

I wish you would have given me that advice when i was 19...

I wish somebody would have told me too.

Doubt I would have listened though.

No reason you can't start now!

where can i start an IRA at?

[RichardNixon]

I blow all my money on hookers and blow. And because I'm a "back door man" it costs lots extra.

[AxlsMainMan]

$7.75 an hour Mu'Fucka!!

Lunch money, drug money, alcohol money....ya know...

[estranged.1098]

If you put that 25k into an index fund now and let is sit ,never adding another dime, your return (assuming the wall street average of 9% since inception) you would have 368k in 30 yrs. How much will that boat be worth in 30 years? How much will it have cost you in gas, upkeep, boating fees, etc?

Yeah, but what about the fun he's gonna have with the boat? If he doesn't get it now what do you suggest he does for the next 30 years while the "money works"?

[SLCPUNK]

If you put that 25k into an index fund now and let is sit ,never adding another dime, your return (assuming the wall street average of 9% since inception) you would have 368k in 30 yrs. How much will that boat be worth in 30 years? How much will it have cost you in gas, upkeep, boating fees, etc?

Yeah, but what about the fun he's gonna have with the boat? If he doesn't get it now what do you suggest he does for the next 30 years while the "money works"?

I just gave that as one example of how money spent now is money lost later.

If I HAD TO have a boat now I would try to have double that money before buying. I could buy a home, fix it up, sell it and make 50k. Put 25k into funds and buy the boat cash. That is how I would justify the buy.

Or you could make a monthly payment option in a similar fashion. You could buy a wreck of a home and fix it up to rent. Your monthly positive cash flow from that home could equal the amount of boat you could afford. Once the boat is paid off you still have cash flow and a home that has appreciated over time, plus tax write offs. You could then use that cash flow to invest, or buy another toy. I'd pick this option before buying a boat on credit or plunking down my cash for a boat and having nothing in the assets column.

Get assets first. Get assets that create money, and then buy the toys with the money assets create. If you have to wait, then wait. Most of America does it backwards and that is why (regardless of home, clothes, cars etc) most of America is broke as a joke.

[Krispy Kreme]

If you put that 25k into an index fund now and let is sit ,never adding another dime, your return (assuming the wall street average of 9% since inception) you would have 368k in 30 yrs. How much will that boat be worth in 30 years? How much will it have cost you in gas, upkeep, boating fees, etc?

If you started with a lousy 4k a year, and dumped it into an IRA for 40 years (I'm assuming the age of 25) you would yield 1.6 million dollars. I could only wish I would have been smart enough to start dumping money into an index fund at your age. I could quit working even sooner.

It is never too early to start saving. The biggest mistake you could ever make in life is not saving. Unless you want to bag groceries when you are older. Trust me, one day when you are married and have kids it will be three times as hard to save money!

My advice to any young person is to wait. You can save now, pump money into something and make it work for you. If you buy an item, you only become a slave to it. You get up and go to work for that car, house, boat whatever.? Saving/investing will make money for you when you sleep. One day you will be able to buy that boat with cash and not bat an eye.

Excellent advice. Americans save less than any developed country in the world. Start saving young, even $100 a month ($25 a week--bring your lunch and no fancy coffee drinks) and you are on your way to a comfortable retirement. This attitude of "I have to have it all now" is ridiculous and irresponsible.

[SLCPUNK]

where can i start an IRA at?

http://www.vanguard.com

Has one of the lowest operating costs around.

Max is around 4k a year right now.

[sandman]

i actually agree with both bill213 and SLCPUNK.

luckily my mom and dad taught me well on how to save. when i was in 9th grade i made $150 a week at my daytime job (groundskeeping - $5/hour, 30 hrs/wk, under the table). they made me save $100 of that. at the end of the summer i had $1200. they invested $1,000 of that for me in a CD, and later in a mutual fund (bought a radio with the other $200). and i still have the fund today (and the radio) and it's worth a hell of alot more.

and as smart as my dad is with money, he mentioned a few times that you don't want to be the richest guy in the grave.

so if you're single, spend money and have fun. but get in the habit of saving SOMETHING. at the very least max out your 401K. you'll get used to it quick, and you probably get a company match (free money). and then throw some money into a savings account every month. in a few years, you'll have much more financial flexibility, which will enable you to continue to have fun even when you have a house, family, kids, etc.

[Bill 213]

I actually found out today I can get great financing on the boat.  I'm gonna go that route.  I usually add $250 a month to my savings, but I'd actually like to do something with a chunk of that money investing wise.  Not too much, but like $250 a month or something. 

[SLCPUNK]

Not too much, but like $250 a month or something. 

It depends how much access you want to your money you save. If you want to really save it, try an index fund and forget it is there. Don't pay attention to the ups and downs of the market.

Savings is just a little better than putting money under the mattress. Even if a savings account is 3 percent, that is roughly what inflation is. So your true yield is a big fat goose egg.

I also think some people may be misunderstanding what I am saying. I am not advising living like a pauper and putting all your money away. But rather avoiding the "now" mentality that ends up trapping most Americans into giving all their paycheck up when they get it. Also I think you can be creative and find ways to use assets to buy your fun things. Many of the examples I am giving to show how much more that money could be worth later then it is now.

Think of it this way. If you buy a toy (boat, nice car you don't need etc) it is a depreciating liability. If you buy an asset, it is something that will appreciate with time. I want a Z4 BMW right now. Say I buy a nice used one for 25k. In 10 yrs how much is it worth? Plus you have to add in the hidden cost of depreciation (which people never do), fuel, maintenance, insurance and so on. If I took that same 25k and let it mature over ten years how much more could I have? So. I won't buy it. I drive my car I have now, which is really nice and forget about the toy until later.


I can say that I personally know a few people who made sacrifice, drove the same crappy car for ten years, lived tight, while they bought homes to rent, bought stocks etc. They often had no money at the end of the week, but all their money was going into the asset column. One retired by 40 and the other retired in their early 50's. Both were millionaires and then some.

Lucky for me, I am amused rather easily. Shiny things distract me and I can stare for hours at a computer screen before realizing it isn?t even on yet. So I can keep my needs down to a minimum.