I agree. I carry debt I shouldn't but I want things and don't want to wait.

I don't think I will ever find fault with people who aren't into saving money and long term financial stuff. Tomorrow never comes for lots of people anyway.

I feel you; you've got to live. The problem is, tomorrow does come for the vast majority of people.

Like most anything else, I think there's a happy medium.

I absolutely agree.

As I've mentioned here before, we lost a considerable amount of money due to the crash of 2008 and by 2013, we weren't even back to 65% of our original savings. Had I kept all of that money in low yield CD's and savings accounts, I'd still have it to this day.

Instead, it was lost to me but Wall Street, brokers and corporations earned it back tenfold.

One thing I know about my brain is I just like to save or do some financial education because it helps give me hope and entertainment now. I know there are no promises later that it will get better, it just helps me live day in and day out with hope for a brighter future. The people who are better with their brains don't have to do all this shit to feel good about where they are going. They are just living man

See, I am kind of in the same situation. Money isn't everything to me, I like what I do and I am not interested in chasing money doing something I don't like. My wife makes pretty good money, and she could make more if she wanted to get her nurse practitioners or further, but we are happy where we are.

That is almost over 3 times my mortgage, wow.

A lot of good points in here, I see a lot of my friends fall into your exact description. Very few of my friends are homeowners, and very few have any retirement accounts started.

Very good take on the state of wealth. I talk with a lot of younger people who don't comprehend Wealth. I see and hear it all the time families making a 6 figure income and live paycheck to paycheck and not doing anything to enhance their Net Worth.

I admit when I was in my early 20's I spent everything I made. I read 2 books that changed my Paradigm about money. (The Richest Man in Babylon and The Millionaire Next Door) I have spent the past couple of decades applying those principles. I have accumulated considerably more Wealth than a lot of my peers. I do not have a college degree I have worked hard and worked at living within my means.

That's a huge part of it, for sure. I've spent the last year or so trying to steer my family (i.e. my wife) into a pretty strict budget. I think we've settled into it in recent months. It's kind of amazing how quickly savings can add up when you only buy what you need and live within your means.

Good for you! Keep it up and you'll be amazed at the results. A written budget is the first step. I occasionally hear Dave Ramsey on the radio and think he is doing a pretty good job of changing peoples attitudes toward money.

I learned the best thing ever from watching my dad. He just had a way of being both very frugal and very satisfied with life at the same time. He was very good at knowing what was a good expense in terms of long term satisfaction, and he was willing to pay for the right things, but he didn't want to spend on a million little things with very little satisfaction. He drove a beautiful old Cadillac for years until it got stolen. He'd gotten it from an aunt who was not going to be driving anymore, both frugal and satisfying. He'd bought his house in Brookside from an uncle at a very family friendly price. He and my mom loved touring open houses and thinking about dream houses, but they really didn't need it, so they never pulled the trigger on any of them.

He did however spend the money to send my sister and I to private school, and as much as I hated it sometimes, there is no doubt it was an excellent investment. He also bought a computer way back in the day (1979) for around 3000, a huge expense that he mentioned could have bought us another car, but again, as an educational investment, paid off huge for both him and for his kids.

I don't think he carried debt around, except maybe during the early seventies, and I have no idea how much he earned, but we never wanted for the needs, and we grew up not needing much of the wants. I try to live the same way. I think at my age, he sold his firm to Burns and McDonnell, and then did quite well after that even if it had been a bit lean leading up to that. I am likely more stable at the same age, but I probably will opt to work less as I get older and not increase my earnings over time, so he probably wins in the long run.

This is sort of a parent appreciation thread too, so thanks to my dad for being a great example!

This is a great post.

I have never asked my dad what his financial situation was like at my current age, but I am going to guess not spectacular like many sophomores in college.
So I will answer with "equal to".

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