My parents basically blew the chance of a very easy life by being really fucking stupid with money. Dad could have been a multi millionaire by now but is sitting on literally nothing.sad, any of them filed for bankruptcy?
And my older brother figured out that if he maxed out as many credit cards as possible by the age of 25 then he could just act like money is monopoly money. What even is debt anyway? 5 figures, 6 figures - who cares? It's just several hundred dollars in minimum payments per month foe the rest of your life...
So now I'm basically allergic to debt. Even good debt. I can barely justify a mortgage or a car. Instead I live out of a suitcase at net zero. The most debt I've ever been in was 4k and that wasn't even for me. I'm only just now at the age of 36 learning how to invest and grow wealth.
It's just several hundred dollars in minimum payments per month foe the rest of your life...Just declare bankruptcy. Especially if he's 25.
Just declare bankruptcy. Especially if he's 25.
Nope. While I understand what you are saying and I go out of my way to avoid debt I never hesitated when buying a house to take on a mortgage. But I have pretty much paid for everything in cash in life just because my dad taught me to be responsible with money and not live off credit. But he actually had me take out a loan on my first vehicle rather than but in cash to establish credit.
i was raised very smartly when it came to financial decisions. Identifying needs vs wants, prioritizing responsibilities and bills. How to build wealth. Learned this from a young age.
Now Im 48 and sitting damn good. Own my home outright and have for years. No mortgage, no vehicle payment, legitimately about as perfect as you can get credit rating if I need it.
But I am really frugal. Its not a fear of debt, just I hate wasting money. Outside of required monthly bills I legitimately have spent less than $100 out of pocket in the last 12 months. Last spring I bought a video game and last November I bought 4 books. Thats it. Seriously.
I go months and months and months and never spend a penny outside of my required monthly bills. Im an extreme saver. But not out of fear.
Your stance isn't that bad. You'll probably be happier than someone up to their eyeballs in debt even if it isn't optimal. If you keep up with the investing you'll be setting yourself up for a good retirement. You still have a lot of time left to grow your money.
This is what I never got. I love my parents, I have a wealth of so many experiences in life because of them. But I swear, I only really understood the purpose of a credit card at the age of 32.
I'm 36 now and only starting to build wealth. Its a little maddening, but I guess now is better than never.
I never understood what it could be like to actually grow wealth until relatively recently. The idea that I could have money beyond what I need to pay bills for and a little bit extra "just in case" has been foreign to me.Yeah, it really is freeing. It's amazing how well passive investing in low fee index funds works. You don't even have to be a financial genius or anything. I'm not sure if that's what you're investing it, but that's my preferred investment vehicle. It kind of blows my mind too.
And now I'm realising...fuck that. I can have 6 figures in cash just sitting there in less than a decade without too much hard work, if I'm smart. That was eye opening.
Before my dad died he was in credit card debt he really couldn't afford. He called his BiL who is a lawyer and asked him what he should do. The advice was "don't pay anything. You're credit will go to shit but you'll never pay them."really? sad situtation all around
Apparently it's too costly for debt collectors to ever sue you so you'll just get letters about it. Also most of them will just cancel your debt after a certain number of years apparently.
Not saying this is good advice but hey
really? sad situtation all around
I mean not really. He just went on living his life for another 10+ years pretty comfortably. Not paying his debts really didn't affect him at all actuallyHow much was it though in debt? Heard of people doing that
pinky, when I was about 20 years old, I had a friend who was roughly the same age as me, but much more worldly, and he explained to me that if you have a credit card and pay off the debt at the end of each month, that's how you build up a good credit rating.
I really don't know much about personal finance, though. Anything else about money you've learned recently, that you should've known in your 20s, or possibly earlier?
Definitely disagree on the car being 10% of your income thing even as a lifelong cheapass. The average salary in America is 60k. Driving a 6k used shitbox sounds like both a hassle for how uncomfortable it will be every time you're in it to/from waging it up and how likely and often something that cheap is going to need repairs. I'm on month 7 of a 4 year financing term and my only regrets are that hvac and radio controls shouldn't be touchscreen-based and I should have picked something comfortable to drive like this a long time ago since I don't feel tired after every drive
Being frugal is one thing but that just sounds like out of touch Dave "hey just take public transportation even if it's dogshit in your random city" Ramsey financial advice