Money advice for a 19 year old

grfox92

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Joined
Mar 14, 2017
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NW WY
Alot of people i know are driving brand new cars, big new house and brand new toys, but they are in debt up to their eyes and living pay check to pay check to cover the bills of the toys.
Don't be those people.

This is the number 1 thing I tell my younger friends. Everyone in my town is driving around in a $70k brand new diesel. Not only do 70% of them not need that truck for it's intended purpose, but not one of them would buy that truck if they had 70k in cash laying around.

For the OP I will tell you this, you need to start saving for retirement right now. I don't care how good of a job you get with what pension or 401k, it won't be enough. Just walk into Walmart, Home Depot or the grocery store and see how many people over 70 years old are working there. They are out of money, or what they have coming in isn't enough.

Start with 100 a month or whatever you can afford and get it into some kind of mutual fund. Do it as an auto transfer out of your account once a month. Re invest a chunk of your tax return every year, pick a percent and stick to it.

I was responsible for hiring for some major retail organizations and the old senile folks coming in trying to get jobs because they were broke was heart breaking.





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dtrkyman

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Oct 2, 2014
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My main point was the fact you are already thinking about it is great, way ahead of the game!
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2021
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Western NC
This is the number 1 thing I tell my younger friends. Everyone in my town is driving around in a $70k brand new diesel. Not only do 70% of them not need that truck for it's intended purpose, but not one of them would buy that truck if they had 70k in cash laying around.
yep i have some buddies that fish a few fishing tournaments with us that have already said they cant swing it with the high gas prices.

well its hard to do when you paying 1500 a month on a truck and boat. then pay stupid high gas prices on top of that.

im still gonna make them and im 4.5 hours each way because i have play money instead of bill money



you gotta figure out do you want to look cool doing something 1-2 times a year or do cool stuff all year long.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
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Lenexa, KS
I just think we cram college down kids throats. I am young at 30 years old and I cannot remember a time from about 6th grade that we weren't told "go to college, get a good job, sit at a desk, etc." Not once did anyone ever tell me about trade school.

If you want to be an accountant, your going to find a benefit of a four year or even graduate level degree. If you want to be an engineer, its the same.

If you want to start your own business mowing lawns. Four years of college is not going to teach you what you need to know. Dont waste your time and money.

We do cram it, agreed.

I do think managing a more complex trades business like a big plumbing HVAC shop would benefit from a 4 year degree, especially if one wants to be innovative or best in class. That’s a personal opinion of course.

I’m not swayed by the cost of college, it’s the time. That’s the downside to going to college.
 

CorbLand

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Mar 16, 2016
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We do cram it, agreed.

I do think managing a more complex trades business like a big plumbing HVAC shop would benefit from a 4 year degree, especially if one wants to be innovative or best in class. That’s a personal opinion of course.

I’m not swayed by the cost of college, it’s the time. That’s the downside to going to college.
I would agree with you that if you want to take your business past a local, small business then education would not hinder you but I also think that you could learn what you need to know on the internet for free. Youtube is an endless resource for pretty much anything.

Also Khan Academy was single handedly the most useful resource I ever used in college and its free.

 
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
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oregon coast
Hind sights 20/20. How else does one learn?
In all reality, we will mostly all learn from our own mistakes regardless of the advice we get when we are young.

There are some things I would do differently if I had it all to do over again, but can’t say I regret any of my youth… I like life now, and it’s all from cause and effect from my decisions.

There was a lot of good advice that I knew was good at the time but it didn’t flow with how I wanted to do things. Nothing wrong with some hardship
 

QuackAttack

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
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Hey everyone I’ve been on this forum for probably a year now maybe and I’ve seen that at least some of you guys are going on really cool hunts and building these insane rifles with 2-5 k scopes. So clearly you guys know what your doing when it comes to saving money and planning for the future. So I’d like to ask for your money advice for a 19 year old kid. I have a few stocks and cryptos like 150 dollars worth. And I do plan on starting a Roth IRA this year. And I’m also planning on getting a little better paying job. 12$ an hour currently. I don’t have a truck yet which is what I’m saving for currently. Thanks for any advice.

Serious answer- If I could talk to myself at 21, this is what I would say-


Go to Vanguard.com and open a Roth IRA (brokerage).


Put a portion of every paycheck in it, maxing it out early in every year. Buy VOO with the money and hold forever with dividend reinvestment turned on.


You will have 7 figures at retirement.


The one thing you can’t buy is time and your money requires time to grow. Start now…don’t wait.
 
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moxford

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Sep 5, 2014
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242
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San Jose, California, United States
Realize that stability for the future, and a safety net, is what allows you to live happy day to day.

You can make oodles of money and still be miserable. Live life, don't chase dollars, plan for yhe future, and make good memories while you are young. When you are older and have money, you won't have nearly the time or health to enjoy life like you can now.

Moderation in all things, including moderation.

Cheers,
-mox
 

MTWop

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Joined
Dec 31, 2021
Messages
178
Don’t get your financial advice from a hunting forum where people spend insane amounts on gear that may or may not make them more effective hunters. Having enough money to do the hobbies you love is important, but having enough money to feed/house your family AND fund a retirement is more important.

Agree with a lot of what’s said above. You can look rich or be rich, but very few can do both. Live below your means. It’s easy to go buy an 80k truck and million dollar house. The banks love it. Unfortunately it’s then very difficult to dig yourself out of that hole and have any money to invest for retirement. Extensive education is not necessary to make a great living, but dedication and selecting the right occupation is. One of my most beneficial resources I ever came across was boglehead forums. Look it up. It’s the equivalent financial forum as the rokslide forum is to hunting :)
 

Gman12

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 27, 2020
Messages
223
The absolutely best way to make serious money in life is to find a niche. Become an expert in something where there is not an insane amount of competition whether it is some type of service or selling a product. The best niche would be something where you do not have to compete with big box stores.

First I would try to find a good job somewhere that pays well and has excellent benefits. One of the most important and best ways to make money long term is through a 401k. Enroll as soon as you are eligible and put in as much as you can afford. Many places like my company will match up to 6% so contribute at least up to the matching percentage. The only free money in this world that I am aware of is the matching portion of your 401k. Many people who contribute regularly throughout the entire careers to their 401k program end up retiring with over a million dollars. I can not emphasize enough how valuable this program is to the average person.

With the job market as it is now, it should be fairly easy to find a job making at least $20 per hour or maybe more.
 

FLATHEAD

WKR
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Messages
2,297
Hey everyone I’ve been on this forum for probably a year now maybe and I’ve seen that at least some of you guys are going on really cool hunts and building these insane rifles with 2-5 k scopes. So clearly you guys know what your doing when it comes to saving money and planning for the future. So I’d like to ask for your money advice for a 19 year old kid. I have a few stocks and cryptos like 150 dollars worth. And I do plan on starting a Roth IRA this year. And I’m also planning on getting a little better paying job. 12$ an hour currently. I don’t have a truck yet which is what I’m saving for currently. Thanks for any advice.
The way things are going, I would say work your way up the wage ladder, all the while paying cash
for wants and needs. I would not go in debt.
 

CorbLand

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Mar 16, 2016
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7,761
The way things are going, I would say work your way up the wage ladder, all the while paying cash
for wants and needs. I would not go in debt.
Depends on how things go. If inflation holds and this is the new normal, debt would be the best thing you could have right now. (minus anything that has ~15% plus interest). If this causes an economy to tank, cash would be the best thing to have. The question is, which one is it going to be?
 

grossklw

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 24, 2017
Messages
236
Location
Wisconsin
2 very different forms of debt.
Consumer= Bad Debt
Income Producing Assets= Good debt, I'm locking in low interest rates at today's dollars and paying them back with later with less valuable ones.
 
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