Why Are 20-Somethings Retiring? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Are 20-Somethings Retiring?

#91

Post by cobaltblue » Tue, Jan 05, 2016, 7:27 PM UTC

jophde wrote: post #88

cobaltblue wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even worse, he said of 20-somethings (not out of the whole population, and not just 20 year olds) which leaves a start number around 45 million, or a mere 45 people in the USA. It's actually pretty easy to become financially independent before you hit 30 if you finish college on time (while you're 23) and get a 6-figure job out of college, and work for a few years with a small (sub-25k/yr) annual cost of living.

$25k a year covers about half the rent in a place where you will get paid six figures after school. I am not sure you know what financially independent means.

You can get a studio apartment in the Greater Seattle Area for as low as $700/mo, though you should probably estimate around $1000/mo to be conservative. Additionally if you have a roommate (and maybe a bigger place, up to you how much you want to save vs. how comfortable you want to live) you cut your rent in half. Look wider than San Francisco -- if you're spending $50k/yr on rent, even in San Francisco, you're insane.

Re: Why Are 20-Somethings Retiring?

#92

Post by cobaltblue » Tue, Jan 05, 2016, 7:28 PM UTC

jophde wrote: post #89

cobaltblue wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's far easier to do a CS degree and get hired as a software developer (while not blowing your income on insanely high rent in San Francisco city-proper -- yeah you'll have to suck up a commute, live with roommates, or live almost anywhere else with a tech scene) than it is to win a lottery sum over $500k-600k. And there are more options than software -- just because the number of fields is small doesn't necessarily…

You must be CS Undergraduate

Nope, just very close to the fully financially independent group under 30. I work for a living.

Not sure that you understand that financial independence can be just as simple as a function of your total invested assets and expected future annual costs given the reasonable assumption that in the long run your investments will net you at least an average 5% return per year. Is that assumption guaranteed to hold? No, but it's reasonable, and that's what buffer room is for. My rent is $1300/mo, with utilities it's usually around $1500/mo, for a 3-floor house I share with a friend. With miscellaneous other expenses like food and entertainment I end up with living expenses in the neighborhood of $25k/yr, rent is my primary expense since I have no debt. When my investment assets reach $600k, 5% growth nets me $30k/yr (I'm ignoring taxes). So long as my average annual expenses does not exceed $25k/yr, and my average return stays at or above 5%, this is sustainable indefinitely.

And this isn't the only path to financial independence, it's just really straightforward for higher-than-average earners not burning an insane amount of their income on rent. (Mortgages are a different story.)

Re: Why Are 20-Somethings Retiring?

#93

Post by lewisl9029 » Tue, Jan 05, 2016, 10:15 PM UTC

cobaltblue wrote: post #91

jophde wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$25k a year covers about half the rent in a place where you will get paid six figures after school. I am not sure you know what financially independent means.

You can get a studio apartment in the Greater Seattle Area for as low as $700/mo, though you should probably estimate around $1000/mo to be conservative. Additionally if you have a roommate (and maybe a bigger place, up to you how much you want to save vs. how comfortable you want to live) you cut your rent in half. Look wider than San Francisco -- if you're spending $50k/yr on rent, even in San Francisco, you're ins…

> if you're spending $50k/yr on rent, even in San Francisco, you're insane.

Or maybe you want to live in a nice high end 1br condo in the heart of the city within walking distance to work and enjoy a higher standard of living because you can easily afford the $50k and still have plenty of money left over for living expenses and savings/investments?

Or to quote your earlier sentence, shouldn't it be "up to you how much you want to save vs. how comfortable you want to live"?

Re: Why Are 20-Somethings Retiring?

#94

Post by cobaltblue » Tue, Jan 05, 2016, 10:42 PM UTC

lewisl9029 wrote: post #93

cobaltblue wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get a studio apartment in the Greater Seattle Area for as low as $700/mo, though you should probably estimate around $1000/mo to be conservative. Additionally if you have a roommate (and maybe a bigger place, up to you how much you want to save vs. how comfortable you want to live) you cut your rent in half. Look wider than San Francisco -- if you're spending $50k/yr on rent, even in San Francisco, you're ins…

> if you're spending $50k/yr on rent, even in San Francisco, you're insane. Or maybe you want to live in a nice high end 1br condo in the heart of the city within walking distance to work and enjoy a higher standard of living because you can easily afford the $50k and still have plenty of money left over for living expenses and savings/investments? Or to quote your earlier sentence, shouldn't it be "up to you how muc…

You're right. One's sanity being in question requires many more qualifications.