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Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

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Re: Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

#21

Post by ryeguy_24 »

neuroticfish wrote: post #18

I’m 29, almost 30, and my situation won’t have changed significantly by then. My net worth is about -$90k. I feel like my salary will cap out at around $70k because I’m a mediocre developer and not very smart. Can’t get married, can’t have children, can’t travel. My girlfriend doesn’t even know how bad it is because I’m ashamed to tell her. I mostly just resort to escapism (reading, video games, etc) because the drea…

Take a deep breath. This feeling of claustrophobia gets to all of us at times. Come up with a plan and stick with it. Discipline, while less fun, can make you feel really good and can be a turning point in your life. Hey, and there is always bankruptcy. I know somebody who is going through it right now because it was compounding faster than he could pay it off. Sometimes (definitely not always) it's the right option (comes with a bunch of other side effects). Tell your girlfriend too. Maybe she can help you with your plan. :) Best of luck (email in profile if you want to chat).

Re: Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

#22

Post by hellowway4567 »

pilom wrote: post #17
hellowway4567 wrote: post #11

I'm 29 but I'll soon hit 30. I have roughly $85k. I save all my money in normal savings account, no investing or anything related to 'value increasing'. I don't have a separate retirement account either. I feel like I am not managing my money well enough, but I also don't feel like I have a "plan" for when I'm older. My next job have a clause where they will match retirement savings up to X percentage, that's a good…

First thing I'd say with the new job is "maxing out" your 401k is $19,000/year not whatever percentage the company will match. If you can afford to put $19,000/year away, you'll likely retire before almost everyone you know. Assuming after tax income of $60k, you should be able to retire in 25 years: https://networthify.com/calculator/earlyretirement?income=60...

Unfortunately I do not live in US, so it's not exactly a 401k (barely know what it is). And upon reading the contract again I see now that they contribute only 2%.

As my salary would be 135k THB (4293 USD) per month (51k/year berfore taxes) that would be only 1000 USD per year, barely anything.

I probably save more than 19k USD per year by myself though, although I'm without children/house/etc right now so that might change.

Re: Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

#23

Post by hellowway4567 »

marketgod wrote: post #19
hellowway4567 wrote: post #11

I'm 29 but I'll soon hit 30. I have roughly $85k. I save all my money in normal savings account, no investing or anything related to 'value increasing'. I don't have a separate retirement account either. I feel like I am not managing my money well enough, but I also don't feel like I have a "plan" for when I'm older. My next job have a clause where they will match retirement savings up to X percentage, that's a good…

Interest rates are low right now so you aren't feeling the pain, but when the rates go up, inflation will eat your savings account. Look into a HISA account or an Index fund portfolio (higher risk/return) using Lazy Portfolio Bogle Heads is a good place to start.

Thanks, will check it out~

Re: Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

#24

Post by hellowway4567 »

EADGBE wrote: post #14
hellowway4567 wrote: post #11

I'm 29 but I'll soon hit 30. I have roughly $85k. I save all my money in normal savings account, no investing or anything related to 'value increasing'. I don't have a separate retirement account either. I feel like I am not managing my money well enough, but I also don't feel like I have a "plan" for when I'm older. My next job have a clause where they will match retirement savings up to X percentage, that's a good…

A matching 401k is really a great asset to have when job hunting. It's a sure-fire way to quickly compound a large amount of money. It's "free money" as they say, and always worth contributing to get the maximum match. Also, 401k's often (don't have to be, but usually) are usually pretty moderate index funds. The risk associated with them isn't always like buying Tesla before he went and made his "$420" comment. They…

As in my other comment, I mis-read the contract details. They will contribute only 2% and I am able to myself contribute 2-15% (isn't this the same as just saving myself?).

Also the country is Thailand, so there might be differences.

Re: Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

#25

Post by muzani »

Almost none. I had about 6 digits savings and it went down 5 digits a year.

Salary has gone up about 30%/year and I invested very heavily in that. But even with no savings, I'm much safer than I've ever been. Good insurance coverage, lots of job opportunities.

For context, about 80% of the region has no disposable income and the median annual salary for a senior engineer is US$20k. Household debt is 82% of GDP, so basically everyone owes each other, and payment often comes late.

Re: Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

#26

Post by EADGBE »

hellowway4567 wrote: post #24
EADGBE wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A matching 401k is really a great asset to have when job hunting. It's a sure-fire way to quickly compound a large amount of money. It's "free money" as they say, and always worth contributing to get the maximum match. Also, 401k's often (don't have to be, but usually) are usually pretty moderate index funds. The risk associated with them isn't always like buying Tesla before he went and made his "$420" comment. They…

As in my other comment, I mis-read the contract details. They will contribute only 2% and I am able to myself contribute 2-15% (isn't this the same as just saving myself?). Also the country is Thailand, so there might be differences.

> Isn't this is the same as just saving myself?

Yes, it is. Though you'll more than likely see returns much higher than a standard (but safe) savings account will give you. You'll also get that 2% float on top of free money.

2% still isn't bad. Free is free, as I said.

In my particular case it's only 5% (best case):

50% match up to the first 10%.

So if I contribute 1% of my pay to it, I'll get a .5% match. If I contribute 10% to it, I'll get a 5% match. I can contribute more but I'll only ever get that 5%.

In your case, this is good compared to my situation in that you don't have to contribute 4% to get that 2% match, you can contribute even just 2%.

This is in the US FWTW. It's a pre-tax situation. I don't pay taxes on my contributions or my employers contributions; but I do when I withdraw them (earliest I can start withdrawing is age 59-1/2. The assumption is that when I start withdrawing, my tax rate will be lower than it is now so I'll still "come out ahead".

Re: Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

#27

Post by EADGBE »

hellowway4567 wrote: post #22
pilom wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First thing I'd say with the new job is "maxing out" your 401k is $19,000/year not whatever percentage the company will match. If you can afford to put $19,000/year away, you'll likely retire before almost everyone you know. Assuming after tax income of $60k, you should be able to retire in 25 years: https://networthify.com/calculator/earlyretirement?income=60...

Unfortunately I do not live in US, so it's not exactly a 401k (barely know what it is). And upon reading the contract again I see now that they contribute only 2%. As my salary would be 135k THB (4293 USD) per month (51k/year berfore taxes) that would be only 1000 USD per year, barely anything. I probably save more than 19k USD per year by myself though, although I'm without children/house/etc right now so that might…

The real power in that 19k is over a long period of time. I have no idea what the rates you get in standard savings, but assuming 2-3% interest on that you're looking at ~$450,000 over about 20 years. VS ~800,000 over 20 years at 7% interest (that's a pretty conservative investment interest rate).

But as you mention, you're not in the US, so you may not be limited to that 19k (That's simply a different tax strategy, no one says you can only save that much).

Re: Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

#28

Post by mortivore »

deanmoriarty wrote: post #15

I’m 32, not married, and my net worth is ~$1.3M, all invested in Vanguard index funds. Started at $0 right after college (no student debt luckily) and got there through savings and frugality and good employment options in the Bay Area. The cost of living is insane over here, but if you are not pretentious, financially disciplined (and in my case don't want kids), you’re going to be easily saving 6 figures a year, whi…

That's a good nest egg for your age. Are you part of the FIRE movement(not sure how else to phrase this)? If so, what are your plans? If not, same question lol.

Re: Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

#29

Post by tumahimikka »

neuroticfish wrote: post #18

I’m 29, almost 30, and my situation won’t have changed significantly by then. My net worth is about -$90k. I feel like my salary will cap out at around $70k because I’m a mediocre developer and not very smart. Can’t get married, can’t have children, can’t travel. My girlfriend doesn’t even know how bad it is because I’m ashamed to tell her. I mostly just resort to escapism (reading, video games, etc) because the drea…

I know plenty of mediocre developers making 6 figures. I'm talking "reading your code gave me an aneurysm, for the love of god learn how to indent". People who would need 300 lines to do fizzbuzz. People who would rather die than test their code before they check it in. Being paid a lot as a developer isn't about skill. Just fake it til you make it.

Re: Ask HN: 30+ year olds - how much have you saved so far?

#30

Post by deanmoriarty »

mortivore wrote: post #28
deanmoriarty wrote: post #15

I’m 32, not married, and my net worth is ~$1.3M, all invested in Vanguard index funds. Started at $0 right after college (no student debt luckily) and got there through savings and frugality and good employment options in the Bay Area. The cost of living is insane over here, but if you are not pretentious, financially disciplined (and in my case don't want kids), you’re going to be easily saving 6 figures a year, whi…

That's a good nest egg for your age. Are you part of the FIRE movement(not sure how else to phrase this)? If so, what are your plans? If not, same question lol.

FIRE is one of the things I'd like most in this world, so I'm definitely trying to pursue it, but I'm very different than the crowd you'd find on reddit or other online communities: I don't assume an happy path that will allow me to FIRE as soon as my expenses are 4% of my nest egg, I see that as too risky.

I am personally using a conservative estimation that my portfolio will just keep up with inflation (0% real growth), and since I don't plan to leave any legacy, my math is simple, adjusted for inflation I can withdraw PORTFOLIO / (90 - CURRENT_AGE) every year. Based on that math, I still have a long way to go.

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