Savings is for old fuckers
 

I don't know where to begin with this…I will say this though: If you follow this advice, let me send you my address so that you can go ahead and give me your extra money.

If You Have Savings In Your 20s, You’re Doing Something Wrong: http://elitedaily.com/life/savings-2...wrong/1214445/

I can see where it's coming from, but the "bet on yourself" has hidden components - you are betting on yourself to make more money later, and you're betting that you'll be able to drop the bad habits you develop, and you're betting that you'll be able to recognize when it's time to do it.

I have always (since adulthood, anyway) had a 'fund' in hand (not a bank) in order to GTFO if and when I please. And I've pleased. A few times.

The power of interest over time is amazing. The earlier you get started, the better. Playing with one of those online calculators drives that message home.

...said the girl who may be stripping herself for money once she gets desperate enough.

:::makes it rain just in case:::

https://media.giphy.com/media/rpjQiKYTjt9a8/giphy.gif

Golly gee, you might even gets 1% these days.

My biggest fear, and always has been, is dying with unspent money and unused vacation time.

There's little sense in being the wealthiest man in the graveyard.

Now, can I interest you in this bridge?

I should have clarified that I was talking about the stock market.

TBH, that sentiment is not alien to me... At one point in my life - while doing kiosk sales for commission in the US - I was making an average of 200 USD a day, and whatever didn't go on living expenses went on quality purple-haze weed. And this was while still having debt left from a previously failed startup...
Shortly after I switched company branches, had a fight with my new boss and ended up homeless with nearly nothing until I was able to make contact with some family members and get my ass back to Israel.

While it took me awhile to get the hang of it, right now is the first time in my life I am really managing to do well and sensibly financially - a clean slate with no debt (and already some savings), living comfortably well bellow my means, great job security and future opportunities to increase my means while I am at it.

Edit: Well... I am 30, so technically I got the hang of it just when my 20s ended.
edit 2: Oh shit.. Until now it didn't dawn on me quite in that framework - my 20s ended... Fuck.

While I said earlier that I could see where it was coming from, it was definitely not my path. When I graduated from college, I put all my money into paying off my car. Then I bought a condo, and put all my money into paying that off. Now I put it all into stock.

I've always been an old fucker.

This was a major bone of contention between me and my Ex. I wanted to eliminate debt, and she wanted to pay minimum installments, and blow the rest.
When the interest rates dropped dramatically, I refinanced the house. The woman said your monthly payment will drop from $550 to a couple hundred. No, no, no, leave it at $550 with the lower interest rate.

Paying the mortgage every month is just a chore I did automatically without thinking about it, as it's a very long term obligation. One day I got a letter saying the next payment would be the last, and the amount they calculated would be $xxx.xx, which was lower than normal. Caught me off guard because this was seven years early.

Suddenly I've got all this extra money every month to save. Nope, that's goes against my life long fear of dying with unspent money. Eliminated debt, bought toys, and knew a lot of people who a few unexpected bucks now and then, could make giant strides in their happiness and well being.

I wonder whether there is a relationship between spending everything now and... Not really seen a future.

This is a fine strategy... as long as you have parents who have saved.

As the parent who has saved, I've been able to live, myself, on my savings while work was scarce, and been able to be the metaphorical lifeboat for my kids, whose savings habits are not very clear to me.

Enjoying life as an old fucker entails a certain level of old fucker behavior.

I actually don't quite have those directly, but I generally agree - the not saving philosophy is very much an expended childhood where even with income you are still putting the weight of your security blanket on someone else, one way or another - parents, extended family, government, or in some cases your future self and future children through the magical time traveling fuck-over system we call debt.

In 2 or 3 months I should have enough of a starting sum on the side to start nagging glatt for stock market advice.