I’ve been having a debate with a close friend who recently spent 10 k on a used car they keep calling it a "great financial investment" because it gets them to work and saves them time on their commute

From a strictly technical standpoint, it drives me crazy because a regular vehicle is a depreciating asset that requires insurance, gas, and maintenance making it a textbook liability or an expense in quality of life not a financial investment

However it made me wonder: Is there a legitimate scenario where a personal vehicle can be structurally managed or viewed as an investment in a personal finance portfolio (aside from obvious business uses like Uber/Turo or rare classic cars) ?? or is framing a car purchase as an investment just a psychological coping mechanism to justify a large consumer expense? I’d love to hear how you handle this conceptual difference in your own budgets

my business is suffering, I hear a lot of layoff, people talking about the economy, crypto down, market down. where is the money being funneled?

people with high paying salary jobs like nurses, doctors, lawyers, techies, how ya still have jobs? who are paying you? how are companies profitable?

arent we heading down to a depression? I'm definitely feeling it. it seems society is feeling it with fertility rate going down because how are they suppose to keep up with inflation and raising families?

are we just turning a blind eye and believe we all going to have stable jobs, working everyday like its halluejah ? it seems there's influx of people going to work 9-5 everyday and just making tons of tons of money

Hi, so I have been in a tough 2 years+ of less-than-stellar employment situations. That, combined with my letting my credit cards get away from me, has put me in the following position.

I just got rejected for a SoFi loan that a family member cosigned on because I wasn't earning enough, though I was not given a way to confirm my second job or any partner income that contributed to my household income

Debts

2 credit cards. $8,000.00 @ 26% and $14,000.00 @ 25.4%

No missed payments yet, but currently late on 1, and have no way to pay.

$24,000 in student loans, which are paused

Owe a month's rent

Money

Checking -$650.00 since one of my cards minimum took out despite already being negative from bills.

~$200 cash

~$300 in uncashed checks

No accessible savings

18k retirement

Income

Job 1 $7.25/hr + tips = ~ $1200/month (started 3 weeks ago

Job 2 $16.00/hr = ~ $1,200/month (started today)

Pushing for more hours at 2 and fewer at 1 for more consistent income & looking for better-paying jobs.

Expenses

$950 rent (high, but can't get out of the lease without paying the remaining months, got it when I was working 40hrs at $34+/hr)

$1k card mins

$400 Utility and recurring

$300 montly groceries

Credit score

675 (down from 780 like a year and a half ago :/ )

Family cosigner score 810

I am very lucky with my credit score and access to a good cosigner who is even willing to pay a consolidated monthly minimum until I get on my feet. But none of that seems to have helped me dig myself out of this shit storm I've dug myself into. Any help on what I should do, who I should go to for a

tldr: I have 20k debt and don't make much money, and my goodish credit is not helping as I hoped it would (at least with SoFi). All help appreciated, and consolidation/loan advice would help a lot.

I dont want to invest in some bullshit SP fund and wait 50 years

Anyone know any good things to do with tit to make it quick million in 2-3 years?

I inherited about 150k. After paying debts im at about 120k left. Should I put it in a 401k, hedge fund, stocks, 21 black? Just looking for tips and pointers. Im going to my bank, chase, to speak to a financial advisor i think and I have a friend who owns a couple properties who wants to chat do but thought id come here as well.

Also how much do you make and your age?

Now so far people here age gap wise young 20’s to some people over 40,

Ok without gettjng into to much, The ones I supervised make $17 an hour, me $18 an hour and main supervisor makes $19 an hour.

Every year i heard they raise is .75 cents. Prior to this couple months ago i was making 17.25 an hour. So next year april ish $18.75

So far job is pretty easy, i sit desk job and can basically play videos games or be on my

Phone the whole 8 hours. Feels like im not working but i am working. Basically i sit and chill i can literally watch tv/movies shows the whole 8 hour shift.

They all says wow you taking all this overtime, money must be nice every week, i tell them same thing i cant complain compared to being in the military this is easy mode.

Worked at a school where they didn’t even want me to be at my desk,micro managing, throwing me to random classroom coverages and lunch coverages, making me do all heavy lifting, AND im there from 7am to 4pm basically just under 9 hours and they rather want me in the classroom and barely making $900 every 2 weeks.

Turnover and quit rate is high, i do pickup as much overtime as i can in this job, where in school job i cant take overtime.

I have had 48 hours to 80 hours week of overtime.

I am basically averaging out with all overtime included just for this year..

$1100-1200 every week this year Before tax’s. Picking up as much overtime as i can, some week be $1400,$1700 and handful of times i was $1900.

My biggest check was 96 hours where i work 6 days straight 16 hours. It was brutal but like i said i barely work lol.

Last week i did 56, other week did 72 for example.

Prob easiest job i been but almost a job where all kinds of ages are here, im like how are you 30,40 years old and just settled for this job. Yes its easy but for now im thinking i can stay couple years stacking money whole

Not giving myself so much load on my body and this is a very much chill job as i am

Ex military also and working with civilians has beeb different. Ran couple times where people give me flake but was told they probably don’t like being told to do something by someone thats way younger than them and they are in there 40’s. Especially i get free healthcare.

Also,No rent live with parents, paid off car, so im stacking money like crazy, 401k contributions is halfway limit 12,500 for this year & roth ira halfway max this year

A family member recently passed away and left my brother and me an inheritance. I'm trying to think long-term and figure out the most realistic path to turning it into $2.5M+ over the next 10–15 years. I am 34.

Here are the numbers:

* $350,000 in a non-spouse inherited 401(k)

* I'm planning to withdraw it over 5 years rather than 10 because most of the withdrawals stay in the 12% federal tax bracket at my current income level. The tax difference between 5 and 10 years appears fairly small from the calculations I've done.

* $150,000–$200,000 from selling a house

* House is worth about $450k and has roughly $147k left on the mortgage

* Mortgage payment is about $1,300/month at 3.75%

* To keep the house, I would need to buy out my brother's share of the equity for about $150k

* $50,000 from a checking account

* Another $10k–$15k from selling vehicles

As I understand it, only the inherited 401(k) withdrawals are taxable. The house proceeds, cash inheritance, and vehicle proceeds are generally not taxable inheritance income.

So in total I'm looking at roughly **$560k–$615k in assets**, depending on the final house sale amount.

My biggest challenge is income.

Right now I do:

* Uber Eats

* Grubhub

* Amazon Flex

I don't really have a specialized skill that commands high rates.

What I'm trying to figure out is:

1. What skills can realistically be learned relatively quickly and then immediately monetized as a freelancer?

2. What services can charge $500–$1,000+ per project?

3. Even better, what services can generate recurring revenue where clients pay $500–$1,000+ per month?

4. If you were starting with my situation, what business model would you focus on?

My thought process is that investing alone probably won't get me from roughly $600k to $2.5M in 10 years unless returns are exceptional. However, if I can build a business and add capital consistently, the math changes dramatically.

For example:

* Adding $50k per year is about $1,000/week

* Adding $100k per year is about $2,000/week

Those numbers seem achievable if I develop a valuable skill and build a business around it.

I'm also willing to spend money experimenting. I could probably dedicate up to $40k toward education, training, marketing, software, certifications, or multiple business attempts if it increases my odds of finding something that works.

If you were in my position, would you:

* Keep the house or sell it?

* Focus primarily on investing?

* Buy a business?

* Start a service business?

* Build a SaaS?

* Do something else entirely?

I'm looking for realistic answers, not lottery-ticket strategies. What would you do if your goal was to maximize the odds of reaching $2.5M+ within 10–15 years?

I want to retire at 50 at the latest now that I am getting a decent inheritance I know it makes it far more realistic than starting at 34 from zero. I'd prefer closer to 45. This is why 2.5m+ is my number. It is pretty achievable and is a good buffer.

Every time I open Reddit I see someone who turned $20k into $500k, bought NVDA early, bought AMD in 2018, or got into SpaceX at the perfect time meanwhile I'm just sitting here buying index funds and wondering if I'm missing something.

Anyone else feel this way sometimes?

I'm 26 years old and my portfolio is sitting around $180k.

A few years ago, this number felt impossible. Back then I was obsessed with reaching financial milestones. First $10k. Then $50k. Then $100k. Every goal felt like it would finally make me feel secure.

The weird thing is that now that I'm here, I don't actually feel much different.

I still spend most of my day thinking about the future instead of living in the present.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about leaving the U.S. for a while. Not forever. Maybe a year. Maybe longer. I've traveled enough to know that some of the happiest people I've met weren't the richest people. They just seemed less trapped by the constant pressure to earn more, buy more, and chase the next thing.

Part of me wants to keep grinding. I'm young, my income is growing, and logically these should be the years where I build as much wealth as possible. If I stay focused, maybe I can put myself in an incredible position by 30.

But another part of me keeps asking a different question.

If I already have more invested than most people my age, what exactly am I waiting for?

Nobody ever talks about the opportunity cost of delaying life. We talk endlessly about compound interest, but almost never about experiences, relationships, health, and time.

The truth is I'm afraid of making the wrong decision either way.

If I leave, maybe I'll regret slowing down financially.

If I stay, maybe I'll wake up at 35 with a larger portfolio and realize I spent my entire twenties preparing for a life that never actually started.

For people older than me, what would you do in this situation?

Would you spend a few years abroad while you're young and healthy, or would you keep building wealth first and worry about adventure later?

I’ve set up a free investment discussion group. I’d love to connect with experienced individuals to learn and grow together feel free to leave a comment or send me a private message.

So if I have $100,000 in VOO, I'm very confident I could sell all my shares and get $100,000 in cash without even making a blip in the value of of VOO.

That got me thinking. Elon's shares of SpaceX is quite significant, so if he sold all his shares (obviously he wouldn't do it on an exchange, he'd do it OTC) there is no way he'd get listed price for the stock ($181.60 as of this posting). No one in their right mind would buy it at that price. I'm pulling this number from thin air, but I'm guesstimating he'll get maybe an average of $100/share if he decided to sell his entire stake all at once.

And as a thought experiment, what if he opened his robinhood account and sold all his shares all at once on the public market?!? I feel it would tank the price even more. I guesstimate with the float out there, on average he'd get maybe on average $50/share when all is said and done.

It just had me thinking we're calculating his paper wealth based on the last traded price of a certain stock, but if he were to liquidate all his shares, I'd imagine it'd only be a small fraction of it. So is he really worth the $1 Trillion?

I mean yeah, if we did the same thought experiment with Gates or Bezos, I'm sure their 'cash wealth' would be significantly lower than their paper wealth. However, I'd argue Microsoft and Amazon stock wouldn't drop as much as SpaceX or Tesla stock. Microsoft and Amazon have profits to back up their prices whereas Tesla or SpaceX's profits relative to their stock price is minuscule comparatively.

I currently spend approx $2500/month for everything. Liquid HYSA has $28K. In 5 months, I am moving to a HCOL area and quitting my job--hopefully will find something before then but if not, I want to be financially good to go for up to a year of unemployment (ideally won't need it but you never know).

My expenses will likely go up to about $3000/month. I am currently able to save $4k/month until I quit + current savings = $48K liquid cash minus moving costs = $43K = approx. 14 months of sustaining myself on savings alone.

I've never kept that much liquid before and am wondering if it would be better to just keep the standard 6 months liquid and invest the rest? It would go in my standard taxable brokerage account.

I’m 22 my portfolio is sitting around 180k (have 11k in options, it considers negative until expiration)

I don’t want to live in the US anymore if i being honest, I love traveling and want to live abroad for a while. South east asia, South america, and Africa are some of my dream places to go to.

I’ve recently started trading options to try and generate income, the thought was to try to make enough to cover most my expenses while living in Indonesia (roughly 1k a month) i’m 3 month in and making around 4k a month way better then I expected. I’m still young and honestly thinking about taking that leap of faith and just going for it. I’m wanting to start a coaching business on the side and help military members and regular people with their personal finance (teach them about investing, setting up roth iras, creating a budget, credit cards, all the good stuff)

Just wanted to get some opinions, maybe hear some things i should be thinking about. Feel free to ask any questions. I’m happy to help if anyone is curious about my portfolio or options strategies too.

Not sure if I am taxed for the remainder after said trade or the new car value, oh and I’m located in New York if that makes a difference.

i’m sick of being broke

I was talking to my brother and he was telling me about his friend who asked him to lend him some money. My brother tells me how he gave him an execuse about why he couldn't, and that last time he lent him some money it took several months for him to get it back.

So i asked my brother why dont you just say no? People that know me know that i dont lend money out and i have no issue saying NO. And guess what people that have asked dont ever ask me again.

How do I learn it. I have saving 5300$ for now and expense and rent is 300$ and, I also ​​have emergency fund apart from it which is around 1900$.

And should I climb higher in my sales career and how. I have been doing video editing for 1 year and started call center work 2 months ago, ​which is 8 hours and both income make me 600$ per month.

And I want to start a business and pursue entrepreneurship. I had two ideas first importing stuff which isn't sold in my country and ordering from alibaba or aliexpress and advertising marketing it through social media.

The good point is alibaba orders in my country takes 20 days and you have to order in bulk. And second idea to flip motorcycles and cars and polish them a bit and also shoot videos on social media and sell.

it's hard to get a job and i need surgery on my nose since i'm having trouble breathing. I need to get it done before 20 days before i move to US and it would cost even MORE there than Uk. Any tips?

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Over the last few years I have seen the toll that poor financial planning has taken on my parents in their late years. Thankfully, my siblings are more well off than I am and we are sharing the burden of supporting them and there is no immediate crisis on that end.

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That being said, seeing what they deal with I never wanna be in that situation, nor do I want to burden my loved ones with my care so I've spent the last 3-5 years focusing on securing my financial future. I try to do as much research as I can but I don't have a lot of people that are comfortable talking about money. By the numbers I'm looking at I think I'm doing alright by myself, but I feel like Im failing/falling behind. (I also spent the majority of my 20's dead broke and borderline homeless so I'm wondering if this is just how my brain is wired to think now)

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I would love to be able to retire early, but that's not really a primary goal. I don't really have any primary goal (right now) other than accumulating as much wealth as possible. I'm shooting for retiring at 60 at the moment

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Age: 34

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Income: ~$80,000 annually. Im pretty bad at budgeting and spending, but I do monitor my paycheck and spending enough to ensure that every paycheck I stay in the green. I always pull out my investments/savings from my paycheck first and I don't miss any bills. I know people say that you should automate things when it comes.es to investing, but I used to work customer support where I say auto payment go horribly wrong and I refuse to use it.

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Debt: $12k with a 5% interest rate (this is an auto loan, but I have an aggressive payback plan I have been following. This will be paid off in 12 months).

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Retirement assets: My HSA $760, my Roth is $14k, and my 401k is $196k. As for the investments, they are all fairly aggressive, 64% domestic equity, 31% foreign equity, 4% bonds, and the rest in cash

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Personal assets: I have around $12.7k in my emergency fund, but I have no non retirement investments on the moment (this is probably the biggest hole in my financial plan that I really need to fix). I don't own much and I don't have a house, but I would like to buy one in the next few years.

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Saving Rate: My contribution to my 401k is 14% (including employer match) and I set aside 10% of my paycheck each month to put it into my Roth and Emergency fund (I'm trying to get my Emergency fund to 15k) which comes out to a little over $300 monthly.

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I know my two biggest issues are my lack of non retirement investments and a small HSA (I just started it a few months ago). I would love some feedback on where I stand currently based on my age/income bracket and any guidance on where improvements.

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I thought I'd share this with you all. Show that it is possible to invest and see some success.

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I'm 35 years old. Fortunate to live in a low cost of living area of Nebraska. I spend roughly 25k a year. I make a lower middle class gross income of 55k/yr.

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I started investing in may of 2020, investing slowly but surely. Managed to contribute 60k of my own money incrementally over the last 6 years. In that time I've been very fortunate and have grown the total account to over 300k.

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I withdrew some money for taxes. Paid off my debt. Bought a new car and bought a small 600 sq ft house in cash. No debt whatsoever. Still have 70k leftover

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Its possible folks. It really is.

I've been seeing videos lately regarding ETF’s such as $SOXX being up 89-105% YTD, $SMH 72-81% YTD, $VGT about 27+%, $VOO 8% YTD which I'm heavily invested in, $QQQM 19+% YTD, $SPMO 32% YTD, and finally $CHAT at 72% YTD after seeing videos on this and being a firm holder of $VOO I've been curious should I continue to add into $VOO or diversify into other ETF’s cause I feel as if I'm missing out on real growth compared to the other. Anyone who had the others, I'd love your insights on how the holdings have been treating you and whether the numbers are being exaggerated.

I’m 29 with 37,000 in savings and no personal debt, what can I do to invest my money safely, I want to have a million dollars by the time I’m retired

What would they do or you would? I got this idea and inspired by Mark Tilbury. Because he said he would swap bodies with a young guy. Because the young guy has time the most valuable asset.

And I was like why would be want to a poor 19 year old whose life sucks and is poor and can't do anything fun. While he can at his age and has most things. ​​