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Old 11-26-2015, 04:54 PM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,692,777 times
Reputation: 23268

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I do find a lot of people that are comfortable... they have a plan and it is working.

Plan covers all of life necessities like paying off the mortgage, car payments, health insurance... etc.

One of my friends was offered almost twice the salary if he would move to Texas for a start up... after discussing with his family... decided money isn't everything which is a point I think most would be happy with...

Just like we routinely have employees that are adverse to working any overtime... and others that would work 7 days straight as long as the compensation rolls in.

Even back in High School I had a Physics teacher that had great job offers in Santa Clara... he just loved teaching and what he was doing so much he turned them all down... now his two sons each have PHD in Physics and making many times what their father makes as a High School teacher... and he is very proud of them... just said he valued the schedule of teaching that allowed him to spend summers and holidays with his kids growing up...

I'd say the converse is true... some are satisfied having Section 8, medical and discounts and take comfort in knowing they have their bases covered...
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Old 11-27-2015, 08:37 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles (Native)
25,303 posts, read 21,472,117 times
Reputation: 12319
Yeah I feel that is true .
Everyone has a price though or almost everyone .
If the salary to move to Texas was instead 4 times the salary for example .. Would they still stay ?

He sounds like a good guy though that valued family above money or perhaps " prestige"

I agree that many are comfortable on section 8 , and other welfare type benefits or social services .

I imagine it would be difficult to break that habit of dependence .

People almost get addicted to their " benefits "
For some it might be the benefit of vacation days or medical insurance from their employer
While for others it might be section 8 or EBT etc

It's a lot easier to respect the physics teacher that is working hard to do things the right way
Versus the person on section 8 or welfare especially if they aren't doing anything productive with their lives .
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Old 11-27-2015, 09:13 AM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,692,777 times
Reputation: 23268
I personally know some Section 8 families that are now 4th generation...

Since Section 8 is a gateway for many, many programs... everything from school lunch, medical insurance to discounted utilities... it can be too good.

Last year a family of 4 or 5... can't remember which would have needed an income of 65k to equal the benefits available with Section 8... AND Section 8 is guaranteed... not like working a job and losing it.

In my 30 years of property management... I can count on one hand the number of families that were success stories... they used Section 8 as a safety net to the point they no longer needed it...

One was a young woman that got custody of her minor nephew and niece when their parents died in a car crash... there was no one else for them to live with unless Foster Care.

She kept the family together while she earned her Nursing Degree... and with her first job left the program... very rare indeed in my experience.
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Old 11-28-2015, 11:23 PM
 
233 posts, read 243,626 times
Reputation: 228
Default Plasma Money

Well I guess I should have just bought video games with my money instead of a house at the age of 21 on just $280 a month and no job.

Lets see:

Donating Plasma literally saved up about $3k, found a decent house in the Ghetto for only $15k. Put down $2k so I can pay a very tiny mortgage and brought my music studio equipment to my house and set up my 2nd room as a music studio charging local artist $100.00 an hr I know it was dangerous but it worked. I paid off the house in just 7months with still no job. Made a few renovations, later move into the living room and had a roommate in my room paying $300 a month. Well the rest is history..... Went to a local college on a partial scholarship and the money from the studio rentals. Eventually finish school got a decent wage job moved back in with the parents saved up bought a nice house in a middle income area with straight cash and cheap. I got married and we lived so good we could survive off one income, by doing this we were able to SAVE more money to purchase more houses to rehab for rentals. Fast forward we got 4 rentals and help my parents out helping them pay their morgtage.

None of this was Possible without SAVING and INVESTING into myself. Any young burger flipper could have done what I've done. It just takes a little Smarts and Guts!!!

My former neighbor was a Wal-Mart worker who SAVED up all her money to take trip to NYC for a Modeling interview. Well 3 yrs later this chick has condo in NYC and makes $7k a month.
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Old 11-29-2015, 12:58 AM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
7,651 posts, read 4,606,610 times
Reputation: 12718
Getting rich is difficult, relative to your own perspective, but very possible. Take your income, no matter what it is. If you can find a way to save 15% of it a year is the key. So a person that makes $10,000 at age 20 would need to keep their spending to $8,500 a year. When they retire at age 69 (when SS kicks in) they will have a nest egg of $544,680.42 assuming 3% inflation and wage increases. At that point, assuming SS is bankrupt and worthless, if the saver continues with the 3% increase of what they spent the year before and no income, their money will continue to grow faster than they spend it.

If you save, you reach a certain point where you wages will matter less and less compared to your investments.

Of course, life is not nearly so neat and linear. Full employment for 49 years is improbable. Steady 3% raises are unlikely. Few people have the luxury of starting their working career at zero and are deep in the hole from school. This is what makes saving more important. If your job is in danger, having savings will allow you to look for a best opportunity for you as opposed to the first opportunity you come across. This in turn allows you to direct your career in a direction you would like. Savings also allows the necessary financial transactions from eating up more of your precious consumption dollars that they need to. Finally, in life there are only a few times when you have great opportunities for investments. Often these come fleetingly. Those prepared to act will be able to reap great rewards, while those seeing it, but without savings will be left on the sidelines.

Anyway, good luck to all you in your financial journeys. Financial success is possible, and savings is the key.
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Old 11-29-2015, 01:38 AM
 
Location: NJ
395 posts, read 604,088 times
Reputation: 179
Saving 15% sounds nice but may be impossible for those with cc debt, mortgage, fixed expenses, etc

Quote:
Originally Posted by artillery77 View Post
Getting rich is difficult, relative to your own perspective, but very possible. Take your income, no matter what it is. If you can find a way to save 15% of it a year is the key. So a person that makes $10,000 at age 20 would need to keep their spending to $8,500 a year. When they retire at age 69 (when SS kicks in) they will have a nest egg of $544,680.42 assuming 3% inflation and wage increases. At that point, assuming SS is bankrupt and worthless, if the saver continues with the 3% increase of what they spent the year before and no income, their money will continue to grow faster than they spend it.

If you save, you reach a certain point where you wages will matter less and less compared to your investments.

Of course, life is not nearly so neat and linear. Full employment for 49 years is improbable. Steady 3% raises are unlikely. Few people have the luxury of starting their working career at zero and are deep in the hole from school. This is what makes saving more important. If your job is in danger, having savings will allow you to look for a best opportunity for you as opposed to the first opportunity you come across. This in turn allows you to direct your career in a direction you would like. Savings also allows the necessary financial transactions from eating up more of your precious consumption dollars that they need to. Finally, in life there are only a few times when you have great opportunities for investments. Often these come fleetingly. Those prepared to act will be able to reap great rewards, while those seeing it, but without savings will be left on the sidelines.

Anyway, good luck to all you in your financial journeys. Financial success is possible, and savings is the key.
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Old 11-29-2015, 05:48 AM
 
24,559 posts, read 18,281,854 times
Reputation: 40260
Quote:
Originally Posted by cm5878 View Post
Saving 15% sounds nice but may be impossible for those with cc debt, mortgage, fixed expenses, etc
No. It's not impossible. If you have credit card debt, you're buying things you can't afford. If you have a mortgage that is so expensive that you can't afford to save, you bought too much house. Half the world has a household income of less than $10,000.
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Old 11-29-2015, 08:46 AM
 
33,016 posts, read 27,473,071 times
Reputation: 9074
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD View Post
No. It's not impossible. If you have credit card debt, you're buying things you can't afford. If you have a mortgage that is so expensive that you can't afford to save, you bought too much house. Half the world has a household income of less than $10,000.


What if your rent is so expensive that you can't afford to save...AND you are renting a ROOM?


You're renting too much room?
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Old 11-29-2015, 09:48 AM
 
24,559 posts, read 18,281,854 times
Reputation: 40260
Quote:
Originally Posted by freemkt View Post
What if your rent is so expensive that you can't afford to save...AND you are renting a ROOM?


You're renting too much room?
Then you either fix the income side or move somewhere with lower housing costs.

...or do nothing and claim you're a victim.
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Old 11-29-2015, 09:49 AM
 
Location: SoCal
20,160 posts, read 12,769,893 times
Reputation: 16993
Quote:
Originally Posted by freemkt View Post
What if your rent is so expensive that you can't afford to save...AND you are renting a ROOM?


You're renting too much room?
Rent a closet. My kid's friend rent a closet for $200 a month in LA.
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