Money advice for a 19 year old

[tcpip95]

Hookers 'n blow

 

[hodgeman]

Responding cold...so there may be some overlap with the previous responses.

1) Tithe 10%. God won't put money in a closed fist.

2) Avoid debt like it's the end of you, for some people it is the end of them.

3) Invest 15% minimum of every nickel you make in a good, low cost, broad based index fund(s).

4) Don't touch the money you accumulate in #3 until you're old enough to know what to do with it.

5) Choose the right career. Love what you do, but get paid.

 

[nodakian]

Hookers 'n blow

Other than this, which I assume was intended to be humorous (I laughed, anyway) all good advice.

You're selling yourself short at $12. Walmart and high school fast food workers get more than that around here. Construction trades just about anywhere must be paying $15-20. Oil patch labor start around $20, lots of overtime, and benefits. If you can't get that kind of wage, move.

As I've told my daughter, if you have to sink 40 hours per week working, would you rather have $800, or $480? A $5/hour difference in wage adds up to something like a half million dollars over a career, not counting the difference in investing potential. Without knowing your particular circumstances, I'd suggest doing whatever it takes to boost current income.

Good luck.

 

[Wvroach]

I'll add on to the Dave Ramsey total money makeover offer, ill send you over a copy of financial peace as long as you are willing to read it and not let it collect dust, pass it on when you are done is all I'd ask.

Don't take financial advice from broke people, the internet is full of wisdom, but it is also full of scammers, liars and cheats.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I did not read all the responses, but my advice is put away as much as you can afford and then some. Get good advice on where to invest it. Save until it hurts. It will pay off in the long run.

 

[txtransplant]

So clearly you guys know what your doing when it comes to saving money and planning for the future

@Trapperkid its actually the opposite. Wealth is what you DONT see.

Try reading :

• The Millionaire Next Door
• The Laws of Wealth
• The Psychology of Money
• The Index Card: Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to be Complicated

Do NOT read:

• Anything by Robert Kyosaki
• Anything by Dave Ramsey
• Anything by Suze Orman
• Anything by Tony Robbins
• Anything by anyone else who you might expect to be in the same company as these people

 

[Corvus Corax]

Don’t be afraid to relocate for career opportunities or education.

 

[txtransplant]

Join the Boggleheads forums and Choose FI groups, and read them more than Rokslide.

 

[541hunter]

Invest in yourself (think vocation or college). Try your hardest not to accumulate debt. Save often and invest. Avoid the partying stage of life, it may seem fun but it’s only temporary and will set you back. Finally think with your head that contains your brain and not the other. While having children at the RIGHT time is amazing, having one when you are not ready is a much tougher road to go down.

 

[AZ8]

At 19, I had a pair of K-Mart binoculars, a generic Stevens 12 gauge, a .22lr, a hodge podge of Army surplus pants and shirts, a tent from Yellow Front and a 1976 Chevy pickup! Always had a great time.

Don’t worry about accumulating hunting stuff.

Avoid debt. Open an IRA/Roth and invest in stable funds. Make the maximum allowed contributions for your age every year. By 65 you’ll be swimming in money!

The hunting stuff will come eventually, a little bit at a time.

 

[roadrunner]

Literature reviews and research in financial literacy shows that we often get too impulsive at a young age, a "financial-crisis pandemic" if you will, with our eyes being bigger than our bank accounts.

The sooner you learn and understand the 10 Principles of Economics (namely 1 and 2) and apply the 50/30/20 rule, the better off you will be. It's different for everyone, including well established and "experienced" financial planners...

10 Principles of Economics

Good luck!

 

[kwackkillncrew]

once you get a better paying job live like your living right now and put that extra money in savings. I was in your shoes 10 years ago or so and the hardest thing is to put money away for later. like everyone has said you dont need fancy shit to kill shit. Save what you can and live like you are making less then you are. It will help you out down the road. dont buy the 300 dollar turkey call from ME when the 12 dollar call will killem just as well.

 

[Jkr61]

Learn a trade- go apprentice to a plumber, electrician, HVAC anything like this. Get damn good at the trade and also more importantly learn the business side- how to bid, bill, pay taxes, answer the phone and KEEP your word. I’m a property manager i hire tradesmen all the time the ones that keep getting work from me do the above things. Electrician’s are $125 an hr here. Damn I wish someone had told me that when I was young and became a truck driver. Oh and tons of tradesmen are getting ready to retire so wages will keep going up for those with skills. I’m also a believer in minimize debt.

 

[Pickettpuncher]

Well my girlfriends mom is an accountant but she likes to spend her money building a new house every two years lol

An accountant today doesn’t mean what it used to, at least according to TikTok…..

 

[LLRJ17]

Stay out of debt, learn how to budget, and follow Dave Ramsey.

 

[tdhanses]

Well my girlfriends mom is an accountant but she likes to spend her money building a new house every two years lol

Haha, I wish accounting paid well, my suggestion is go to a trade school and learn electrical. With the way the world is shifting electrical everything , it will just keep growing and it pays very well, your apprenticeship probably would pay more then $12/hr.

Then don’t keep up with everyone else, plan for your needs then wants.

 

[riversidejeep]

Learn a trade- go apprentice to a plumber, electrician, HVAC anything like this. Get damn good at the trade and also more importantly learn the business side- how to bid, bill, pay taxes, answer the phone and KEEP your word. I’m a property manager i hire tradesmen all the time the ones that keep getting work from me do the above things. Electrician’s are $125 an hr here. Damn I wish someone had told me that when I was young and became a truck driver. Oh and tons of tradesmen are getting ready to retire so wages will keep going up for those with skills. I’m also a believer in minimize debt.

What he said ^^ and always remember, It's not so much how much you make but how much you save. I have seen a lot of guys that made double my wages and are living paycheck to paycheck while I'm banking 50%. Choices.

 

[sndmn11]

No credit cards
No new vehicles
Put 1/4 to 1/2 your income in mutual funds (until you have grown up costs)
Stay out of the bars
Stay OUT of women who need gifts

Join the military and have them teach you some cool techy stuff, then be snag some contracts.

 

[zrodwyo]

Get educated in something valuable and then outwork everyone else.

I went from an army vet working as a security guard to finance intern (quadrupled my income overnight) by enrolling in school.

Don’t get hooked on anything and don’t get anyone pregnant.

This is America it’s not that hard.

 

[timekiller13]

Don’t get married and don’t have kids.


Sounds terrible but it’s great financial advice.

For the record I love my wife and my children but the amount of money I have spent makes me want to vomit. Daycare is a mortgage payment every month. So I could have had 2 houses if I would have never had kids.

And they don’t get any cheaper after day care. Dance recitals, horse back riding, basketball, soccer, swim, gymnastics. The money I spend on their activities I could go on a guided Dall Sheep hunt every year.

So, wrap that thing up. Or get a vasectomy. Save yourself some major dough.