#FinancialSuccess #EarlyCareer #SavingsGoals
Wow, congratulations on landing such a wonderful job fresh out of college! πΌπ It’s awesome that you’re already making $25/hr at just 22 years old, especially compared to your previous job. π°π
It’s great to hear that you have a smart financial mindset and are already thinking about your future. π‘πΈ With your living situation and lack of debt, you’re definitely in a fantastic position to save and invest your money wisely. π
Considering your goal of purchasing a house, it’s understandable that Long Island, NY may not be the most affordable location for you at the moment. But don’t worry, there are still plenty of options available! π β¨
Since you mentioned that you’ve been saving a ton of money over the past couple of years, you’re already on the right track. Keep building up your savings and continue being mindful of your spending habits. πͺπ°οΈ It’s also a great idea to explore investment opportunities that align with your financial goals. ππΌ
One piece of advice would be to research the real estate market in the area where you’d like to buy a house. Look for potential areas that have lower housing costs, but still offer the amenities and opportunities you desire. πποΈ You could also consider exploring different types of housing, such as condominiums or townhouses, which may be more affordable for your budget. π’ποΈ
Additionally, having a double major in history and political science can provide you with various opportunities. Consider leveraging your knowledge and skills to identify potential career advancements or side hustles that could boost your income and accelerate your savings. ππΌ
Remember, financial success is a journey, so keep setting goals and reassessing them periodically. And don’t forget to enjoy the present moments too! It’s important to balance work, savings, and social life. ππ
Overall, you’re doing an amazing job at such a young age! Keep up the great work, continue learning about financial management, and watch your savings grow. The future is looking bright for you! β¨π°π
You are on a great path and even just being aware of these things and thinking about them puts you ahead of the curve. I know you just finished school and donβt want to think about going back yet. If grad school is a future option consider working a state, maybe local govt job when you are ready to go back. A lot of those jobs come with programs that will pay for your tuition. I did my MBA in the evening at a good state school and only paid for taxes on it (everything over about ~$5000 had to be counted as income)
This is a ~$13000 annual benefit that a lot of people do not use or know about. I also have a bachelor in Poli Sci (only the minor in history) and I think at some point you will want to consider additional credentialing to take your next step.
Donβt change your budget or spending habits at all. Put all the extra into savings and/or Roth IRA. Set yourself up for life.
Iβll be turning 22 in about 3 weeks and I make a similar range hourly, high five!
Out of curiosity, what are the benefits like? Does your employer have a 401k match?
Find a new job in a cheaper city that pays more. 25 an hour is a good start but not enough these days. Especially if you want to buy a house
enjoy the $25 an hour and the excitement of making more than you ever have. you are young but seem smart. continue saving and looking for ways to make more money (with your degree maybe tutoring or copywriting on the side), make sure to pay yourself first (i.e. saving for retirement), and keep up the good work I bet your mom is proud.
Cool, whatβs you 2nd job?
Nice, I’m 32 and have never made that much despite building and designing fuel lines for rockets, ambulances, school busses, and more!
Congrats on your fortune!
I was in the same boat as you. Worked 60 hours a week until I had the balls to move to Baltimore π
What is your degree in? Do you want a career related to your degree or an hourly job? Are you ok working your job for the short/medium term until an opportunity might/might not come up. Basically “where you see yourself in 5 years” will determine what you do now.
But yes, continue to work and save. A good work ethic and life experience will be valuable no matter what choices you make.
I don’t see anyone else bringing this up but since you’re in your 20s, you should really consider opening and maybe maxing out your Roth IRA. You can open one up at any bank or financial institution like fidelity, Charles Schwab, vanguard, etc. A Roth IRA is a tax advantaged retirement account. Money you put in grows tax free. You ideally won’t touch this for 30 to 40 years and continue 5o contribute into it up until you retire. If you start now, you will retire a millionaire.
You should keep a liquid emergency fund in a high yield savings account for 3 to 6 months, this is probably not as important for your present situation since you’re still living at home so you can make do with less if you so desire.
After that is completed, in my personal opinion, I would max out your IRA which is 6000 dollars. We’re also approaching the next year as well, so you can also max out next year’s too if you want a really strong head start on you’re retirement savings.
Best of luck!
Edit* I also want to clarify, once you have money in your IRA, individual retirement account, you need to actually invest the money. If you’re not familiar with what you want to do, the easiest thing to do is buy a target date fund. These are funds where you pick the date of your approximate retirement age and they will balance your investments around that. E.g. more risk in the earlier years, more bonds in the later years.
You can also buy any funds that track the s and p 500, those buy small bits of thr top 500 most valuable companies.
You are doing well for 22 year old in NY man.
Pat yourself on the back and get that feel good confidence conditioning in the brain. Just soak it up and bask bro.
I would say to just keep saving and get comfortable at your new job. Give a few months then start planning your next moves.
No need to rush unless you are getting the boot from your moms house.
good fucking job getting that new gig! hope that works out!
Stay positive and stay present in the moment mate, no matter what life throws at you.
Keep stacking bread. If you have no reason to move out, you are living expense free and that is a ~50k/year value. You can probably add another 10-15k of bar tab/eating out/social life expenses relative to a similarly aged peer in your area, so you are doing well even if it doesn’t feel like it. Wild assumption… but you are posting here π
As far as career advice, get to a place that has room for upward growth. Single, no expenses, and you sound diligent enough – find a spot that has capacity to build up in demand skills. Try to branch out and find some people who can guide/mentor you the right direction. Most people love giving advice and offering opportunities if they like you enough.
Keep on living within your means while finding opportunities to invest in yourself. Don’t fall into the trap of lifestyle creep. Look at your current job and see what future prospects exist for promotion and advancements. If you see none, then look and go see what skills you need to be able to find higher paying roles. $25/hr is not a lot, but you are in very good shape for your age, debt free and being proactive. Make you sure you also take care yourself in terms of personal health, doctor visit, dental, etc.
I was raised in an extremely strict American religious sect, and am just getting used to it he alcohol scene, I love how drinking habits are clarified here, and often in the sub.
That shit is expensive and can drain your budget quickly.
Just stay at home until your mother passes, inherit her home. This is the way in NY/NJ
Save money. You are probably early 20’s maybe 22 or so at a new job. Over the next few years, chances are you will continue to bounce from company to company. This is normal. Don’t buy until you feel like you’ve put down roots. In real estate, a good rule of thumb for normal people is to buy a house if you see yourself in the same area for 7 years.
Iβll go a bit contrary to the commune thread and advise you to look at advancement opportunities at this new 25 an hour job. If you donβt have much in the way of skills 25$ isnβt that bad, and if you can quickly climb through the ranks youβll make more than that in no time. If this is however more of a dead end job, I would advise moving on to something that pays a bit better, or develop more in demand skills while you grind out the $25/hr for a bit.
That salary, while larger than in your past, is very low for your area. You have a degree. The goal should be to push past $40/hr as soon as possible. If you want to stay in that area, you should target $60-70/hr in a few years as a minimum.
Being a Long Island resident myself, I will say this: $25/hr is awesome, but it only marginally puts you ahead of the COL out here (Iβm sure you already knew that). With that said, donβt be too comfortable with your new salary, because anything can change. Youβre already doing great with saving, and your situation definitely is more ideal than what most people have these days. Open that Roth IRA as the top comment posted, and keep living the same way as you had previously.
Youβre doing great, and if you keep it up, youβll be in a much better position in the long run. Sincerely, a fellow Long Islander earning $20.35 an hour
Get ready to realize how low $25 an hour is
I guess it depends on the area you live but $25 an hour is about minimum wage where I’m at. (Cali)
I would keep saving your money for as long as you can, but at the same time work your way up and try to get to a higher salary to live comfortably in your area. Gain experience in your field through hard work and the higher paying jobs will be much easier to obtain.π Good luck
Focus on getting a better income. Thatβs the most critical thing you can do for your future.
25 per hour for a college grad is not good enough. Donβt get complacent because itβs better than you had before.
You can and should do better.
Youβre on the higher end of Panda Express wages and you have a degree. Donβt settle.
I’m in a similar situation as you, slightly older and a make a bit more. My SO talked me into getting a cheap apartment for the next year instead of getting a house so we would get a better idea of what we wanted once it’d be over. I thought it would be a money sink, but I think it’s worth it. I heard that NY is expensive and I’m not sure how it works in the US, but I would recommend getting an apartment. It basically shows you how expensive life is and realistically how much you need to live. It helps you build habits like cooking and budgetting that you half-ass when you’re living with your parents (or at least I did). I never realized just how expensive furnishing an apartment can be or how you’ll do it while needing to replace your phone, repair your car or get a new coat. In my case, rent is something like 20% of my salary so it doesn’t seem like much, but when I look at a mortgage that would be 50-60% of my income, it sort of helps me plan how I would afford that. So besides the fancy budgetting (that you probably do enough of already), I would suggest moving out for a year and living it. Figure out how your schedule works around these things, how to take care of yourself, work and budget at the same time in a low stress environment. Once you’ve done that, finding a house/condo feels a lot more meaningful since you’ll know what to expect and that 1.5k a month is now going towards something you’ll own.