Lately, I've been thinking a lot about retirement. I know I'm only 20 years old, but I look at all the people I work with. Most are 40/50+, and they still work 40+ hours a week with absolutely no money saved. They're gonna work until their dead, I just don't want to do that. I live on a farm, which I'll eventually inherit , which should be about 800 acres. With that taken into consideration, I've decided that I'm going to start saving up for a house. I've spent my whole life with not much, so I'm not looking for anything extravagant. I figure with a 80k house, I'd need to save up a 10% deposit of $8,000, which is totally doable with my income. It might take a few years, but that's ok. I'm already starting to get myself out of the paycheck to paycheck routine, and I've got enough saved up where I don't worry about food/gas at all. Just the thought of financial security and my own house gets me really excited about working towards it. ....and even beyond that. I can imagine myself as an old man, sitting in a rocking chair on my front porch overlooking my land. A banjo in my hand and my dog at my feet. That's just paradise in my eyes. I just needed to vent a little bit. Everyone I know who I tell these dreams to call me crazy and unrealistic. Which I just ignore because they're all losers who care about nothing except when they're gonna get fucked up next. But it's still annoying not having any encouragement...
i dont fucking blame you man north colorado is beautiful .......all of colorado is beautiful, i live in arvada(hate it but its still colorado), denver is the best city i have ever lived in. anyways good for you dude, im gonna start setting aside like a bill from each check just to start saving, which isnt a lot, but i gotta pay off some debt already, and im only 18
lol your 18 and joined in july 2005 but to the OP ya man ive also been trying to get out of the paycheck to paycheck routine, and i also think your dream is a pretty achievable one
if your people are going to leave you 800 acres. 8 reasonable sized corn fields. (not accusing or anything, Just assuming your "tight" with your family) I would also talk to them about any long term investments that they have or basically know anything about, to give you advice. I only say this because I had random money that I put into a CD at 5%, only to find out just recently that I got college money left as an inherticance (to my dad to give to me, not to me) that my dads investing at a considerably high rate than 5. I basically asked him what the rate was because I wanted to get all my $$ in one investment, So basically im waiting for my CD to expire, and ill be adding a significant amount to the inherited money.--Basically the interest alone will pay for probably 90% of the 2 years i got left at college, leaving me in the end with my inherticance, all the money i invested, and no student loans. so basically my parents are helping me "turbocharge" my college savings, by letting me earn at their rates. This is big time leverage. If it were for anything but college im sure my parents would tell me to take a hike. I dont ask alot from my parents--my goal is toavoid going into student loan debt, which they would likely have to pay off anyways if theyre a co-signer.
Social Security will most likely be non-existent for our generation. I suggest you look into establishing an IRA. I started one a few years ago.. according to my uncle, who is a financial analyst who handles my portfolio, I will have hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time I retire.. damn near close to a million hopefully. Im investing a decent amount of my annual income into it though; 15% of my pre-tax annual income. You know those dreams you have of what you wish to do when you retire? An IRA gives you the perfect opportunity of accomplishing it. 30-35 years from now I hope to be sailing the Caribbean on my catamaran.