Just think, if you lived in a duplex and rented half, you could send half your real estate taxes and mortgage interest to Sch E, still take a $12,000 standard deduction and deduct 20% of the net income (if any) kicked off by that rental property while building equity in another vehicle (albeit a tad bit more risky) to be used as a retirement investment.
Employee Stock Purchase Program
- Thread starter LineSkiCat14
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Listen, it's great to have a 401K and an emergency savings and it's important, but get that duplex ASAP. When my wife and I started with our first home and the first few rental properties, I think we have less than $50 in savings after each purchase. I'd usually leave a home closing feeling scared. But we were focused on buyinig and put our resources to that. I think my one company gave me a match of 6% and that was all I put in my 401K at the time. Nothing more saved that was not directl going to buy a home and rental propeties.
But you have a good gig and you will continue to make money upsate. So just buy the place already...you have probably priced yourself out of many places the last couple of years talking about it.
I'm not going to read two pages, but I'm sure somebody else has said this:
If there is no lock-up period, cash out your ESPP quarterly (ideally after receiving the dividend disbursement), open a Fidelity investment account, use Fidelity account to purchase shares in EFTs or mutuals ---> profit.
If there is no lock-up period, cash out your ESPP quarterly (ideally after receiving the dividend disbursement), open a Fidelity investment account, use Fidelity account to purchase shares in EFTs or mutuals ---> profit.
There is a lot of good financial advice in this thread, so no need to rehash that here, rather focus on the personal habit side of things.
Saving is a choice. There are obviously degrees to what an individual person can and can't do, but everyone can do something - it's a choice, a decision made and kept.
It's up to the individual what kind of lifestyle they want to live - and you might be surprised how well you can live by disciplining yourself to live below (I would say "within") your means in order to save above your means. And that doesn't mean that you have to deprive yourself of a good quality of life in so doing. I would argue however, in evaluating what is a good quality of life there's a big difference between a need and a want - you just have to condition yourself to be content living by and committing to a budget.
For example, set some ambitious goals for yourself. Pick something and do it - maybe you want to eventually save 25%, live off of 50%, pay taxes 25%. Or, maybe you want to eventually save 25%, give 25%, pay taxes 25%, live off of 25% ... or whatever it is that you target as a goal (goals can obviously change).
It's a personal choice.
You do that for 20-30 years while you are young and you will be glad you committed to that structure and discipline in your life as you get older - and not just for the obvious financial reasons.
Saving is a choice. There are obviously degrees to what an individual person can and can't do, but everyone can do something - it's a choice, a decision made and kept.
It's up to the individual what kind of lifestyle they want to live - and you might be surprised how well you can live by disciplining yourself to live below (I would say "within") your means in order to save above your means. And that doesn't mean that you have to deprive yourself of a good quality of life in so doing. I would argue however, in evaluating what is a good quality of life there's a big difference between a need and a want - you just have to condition yourself to be content living by and committing to a budget.
For example, set some ambitious goals for yourself. Pick something and do it - maybe you want to eventually save 25%, live off of 50%, pay taxes 25%. Or, maybe you want to eventually save 25%, give 25%, pay taxes 25%, live off of 25% ... or whatever it is that you target as a goal (goals can obviously change).
It's a personal choice.
You do that for 20-30 years while you are young and you will be glad you committed to that structure and discipline in your life as you get older - and not just for the obvious financial reasons.
Just curious...what do you exactly mean by your holiday spending is your downfall? How much do you spend? On parents or a lady friend? Only reason I ask is I cannot imagine your spending habits in two months delaying you being able to feel comfortable buying a house. If so, maybe you should rethink your spending habits. I hope you are not living check to check.
Get you a sturdy shopping cart with no wobbly wheels to roam the streets with.
1. If you have good 401k option with work with low fees, ditch the company stock altogether and max 401k.
2. Then max IRA.
3. www.bogleheads.com
4. Buy a few books on personal finance.
2. Then max IRA.
3. www.bogleheads.com
4. Buy a few books on personal finance.
There's a lot to it. I have a lot of people to shop for, and everyone birthday is in December. Not only does that mean presents, it also means a night out for drinks.. something that's my BIGGEST expense that I try to work on. I have about 2-3k in additional spending from Thanksgiving to end of December.
In reality, it shouldn't matter much, I just have a set goal in my head to get to.. and this month always proves to be a setback.
I think #1 is the biggest question mark. I haven't had a great 401k with the lowest fees and best choices of investments in the jobs I've had and my wife's plan doesn't even match anymore.
We decided to stop saving in her 401k plan and instead opened an IRA to buy ETF's and individual stocks. Really glad we did.