Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No, I live in the Bay Area like you do. I'm one of those people you call "rental serfs". But I have 401K balance that is a nice multiple of my income. I don't care about having a lot of living space. At some point, rent increases might force me out. But I will not bellyache incessantly about it.
Right on. My "poor" sister always rented one room from people to live in LA, but always put money in 401k, when she couldn't afford much, she put in 4%, fast forward she has close to 3/4 of a million by herself in her 401k. Always 100% invested in the stock market.
Right on. My "poor" sister always rented one room from people to live in LA, but always put money in 401k, when she couldn't afford much, she put in 4%, fast forward she has close to 3/4 of a million by herself in her 401k. Always 100% invested in the stock market.
That's cool until rents double! You're at their mercy. In fact she's no better off than me. Probably worse off really since I have the family leverage to avoid rent spikes.
That's cool until rents double! You're at their mercy. In fact she's no better off than me. Probably worse off really since I have the family leverage to avoid rent spikes.
For about 10 years. But she did manage to have in her own name 3 small houses, one of them is worth at least 3/4 million. But she is over 60. Another thing is my sister always earned very low income, unpredictable income as in got laid off often, was unemployed for years as in two years in 2008-2009. Never married, so she didn't have the benefit of another income.
You on the other hand has a stable government job, is still young, you have time to accumulate. In short, stop whining.
It's cheap compared to the 1.5 M houses I see daily that were bought for 20k.
So what you hope for is for all the Tech companies to leave so housing can become more affordable for you? That's about as selfish as it gets as you stated in another thread that a 75% decline in housing would be good because people could afford them.
So what you hope for is for all the Tech companies to leave so housing can become more affordable for you? That's about as selfish as it gets as you stated in another thread that a 75% decline in housing would be good because people could afford them.
It would be a deeper than Deep Recession. After the dot com bust, house price only declined 20% in my area, in 2008-2009, nothing.
That's why I don't have 401K yet because I feel like I need a bigger increase to balance everything out. I plan to get 401K in about a year or two once I am out of debt and have a bigger salary.
Once you pay your bills for the month, do you have anything left over? If yes, do you need everything that's left over? Could you contribute some of that to a 401k -- even if it's just half that amount (or even less)? Not sure how old you are, but don't discount the benefit of getting started young on retirement savings even if it's just a few bucks -- compounding will work in your favor over time and it's much easier if you're not feeling pressured to play catch up in your 40s or 50s.
I told my daughter, it doesn't have to be much, start small. If you can put $200 a month then do that vs $1500 the limit allows. The key is to keep contributing. It gets in the habit. If you don't do it, the government will take over and force contribution. Do you want that?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
