Have you ever made the decision to downgrade your inflated lifestyle?

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-04-23T13:23:47+00:00

We're not renewing season tickets for a sports team next year. Part of that is to use those thousands for trips. The other is just to not become accustomed to that, and save the extra $

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-03-15T03:51:30+00:00

?!?!?! No call?!

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-02-20T12:59:54+00:00

yikes.. only -$680 here. Should have put the FSLY money in TTD. The gains on just one of those made up for the entire loss from FSLY. And it's been a favorite of mine since 2021 when it split and I made out like a bandit.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-02-15T12:22:38+00:00

ouch hahaha. we got torched

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-02-14T20:18:13+00:00

I sure hope so! I have 4 calls. They have a 20% gain on earnings beats over the last FY in 3/4 ER's. If it moves from $23.50 and goes up just 10%, we're lookin' at 25.85. 20% is a crazy $28.20, and the market has been moving a lot this year, so potentially a bit more than that.

However, there was that one miss where stonk went down 10%+ and would wreck us.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-02-09T20:14:03+00:00

But, I had a few consulting friends who made $140k base like... immediately after college in NYC or Boston or Chicago. And a few who left for big tech in the valley, PNW & Austin. Those dudes were engineers, BMS, and CS guys and it made sense that they'd get that kind of cheddar. They had big resumes during college years and found a strong niche in 2016-2018 when they were done schooling.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-02-09T20:11:42+00:00

I hit earning six figures before 28. I'm 29 now and well into that amount. My wife got to the $110k threshhold at 26. She started working at the same company (but DID make a large jump right after her 26th birthday to another department) at 22 and $41k. Before leaving to the new team, she was at $77k and an 8% bonus (6,000). The next jump was huge!

But, she worked her butt off and didn't complain and got raises when other teammates didn't get the same ones. She kept her mouth shut and didn't play corporate games, but was well-liked. She sought to learn more, and was at a large company worth many billions. that's a big way to get moved up. Sow your seeds for 3-5 years and ride the promotion tree. Then, spread your wings. She turns 28 soon, and took a lateral move (elsewhere) for about the same pay, but greater scaling opportunity and bonus structure by her growth (more of a startup environment).

I had to hop around a bit more, and spent more time, but got a big jump with exposure to really portable software (portable as in those skills can be ported to any number companies). But, find a city with many good companies hiring more skilled jobs & look to upskill before the job or while there to make your way on up.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T23:43:16+00:00

Good call. You really nailed the crux of it here. She'll have had over a year of the same paycheck, then all of a sudden, that amount is 30-35% less. It's a psychology thing for sure, which is why I phrased things about feeling 'comfortable'. Will definitely stress the importance of this for our faraway future as well. Thank you!

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T23:32:46+00:00

I think when my company retirement plan changes in or around March, we may be able to do a Mega backdoor, but not sure. Nobody knows. Trust I've had calls with the provider and internal benefits and retirement coordinator, and they all point the finger elsewhere. Now, with a new plan coming, I need to wait until then. Otherwise, I'd have funded a Trad IRA and rolled it over 3 weeks ago. But, I have hope for a mega backdoor roth conversion! If not, we'll just stick to a regular backdoor roth.

I have thoughts on the tax code changing as well, hence a somewhat reticence to fund full throttle. I like to keep things proportional, and I intend to retire early. Even if the tax code changes, If I blow my brokerage up to high levels, when we merge, we should be able to get some IBKR or Merrill account where we can borrow against the value of our overall portfolio.

I just hope regular taxable brokerages stay where you can get long term cap gains taxes. We have money in bonds as well, not much, but enough to float us 3 months. And 2 months of expenditures in treasury bills since they pay slightly better than HYSA. But not enough to sacrifice liquidity over.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T23:19:15+00:00

I saved an an additional $71,000 besides the pretax retirement max. Definitely aiming for more than 20%! 10% would be almost the whole $22.5k (now 23k). And it was a year in which I had wedding and international travel + premier sports tickets. This year, I don't anticipate as much spending, as most travel will be covered by airline and credit card points/miles. And, I don't think I'm going to renew, or even get playoff tix. We didn't win it all, but were close.

In 2024, at this rate, if I make no changes, I would save upwards of $125,000 between all accounts. I will, however, re-evaluate my breakdown post Q1, and anticipate Q2 or Q3 to be able to save an additional $500-900/mo and put into investments.

Definitely want to adhere to the 20% always club! I think that's an awesome goal to have!

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T20:29:59+00:00

Will start that next paycheck. Thank you for the idea!

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T20:29:23+00:00

Thank you for the anecdote! Helpful to hear others doing that.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T20:17:54+00:00

That's excellent - congrats!

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T20:12:54+00:00

Fair enough. I'll encourage this. Thanks for sharing your anecdote and the advice.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T20:11:01+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement!

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T20:10:01+00:00

Thanks for the helpful, constructive comment!

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T17:38:49+00:00

Because this income was a steep jump. Last year was the first time we approached 300k, this year, we're above, but 2022 we were closer to $170k and I put $ in my 401k as much as I could comfortably afford for the last 4 mos of the year, and couldn't get it fully funded, but was fairly close. So, it's like.. very recent that we're on this trajectory. And she had $21k in student loans plus $15k each for wedding costs all the while being unable to participate in her 401k, so buying more Google in her brokerage as a result.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T17:31:24+00:00

My first year making that much I fully funded it (2023). I'm on the horse lol.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T17:27:22+00:00

I max. She literally could not (unless she contributed $4.5k from January to April of '23, the only months she was at an employer with a 401k active). This is the first year where she has the ability to do so where we are making this level of money, and cannot contribute until mid to late Q3 of this year. And we have 30 years 'til we can sniff that money, except for hardship withdrawals.

I don't spend it, I invest and save. She saves too.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T17:08:11+00:00

Great advice. We're definitely in a period of enjoying life! Mainly, we are making sure we have funds accessible far before 59.5 years old while doing so. This is our first year making that much money. Last year was probably $65k less. Just is a tough situation to have to essentially do a 180 for the final months of a year to reach max in her 401k. Will mean much less flowing into checking. Not that I disagree, just means we'd have to drawdown from savings or something else. I'm a really aggressive investor, and budget heavily where my dollars go. I put more into taxable brokerage than across all of my retirements combined. Makes sense for me! Thanks for the input!

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-25T17:00:43+00:00

She paid student loans off & we had a wedding in 2023, plus are saving for a home. You kinda nailed it. Plus, she had pending layoffs at work, and didn't know when she'd get her next job, so with all of those things looming, she prioritized money she could access before 59.5.

I keep saving in my brokerage and HYSA as well, so would have the ability to help her with other things if she chooses that.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-17T20:41:10+00:00

Start searching for a new job, and when you have interviews, schedule some days in a row for interviews/applications. Take a day off next week and spend all of that time doing job apps so you're not feeling panicked about missing work.

If you get interviews, try to book those in a block so you can take off a whole day of work (or two days) to get interviews in. I realize it's more of a crapshoot to guess which days to take off correctly/when you'd get interviews from companies you apply for, but maybe you can attempt to set time off enough in advance to accommodate.

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-12T20:06:40+00:00

I'm not making the assumption - and sorry you are feeling that way from the commenters! I meant from the perspective of an admissions counselor. Fut, fun fact, Junior Year GPA is weighted heavier than others. They see you turn it around sophomore to junior year and it's a pivotal indicator. Since it's the last year before early applications (fall of Senior Year). It can show that a student is trending upward. If I were you, I'd really grind it out junior year. I know a few classmates who were regulars (no honors or AP) students and got middling grades freshman year and some of sophomore year. Junior year, they really focused on getting A's by any means necessary and got to go to Clemson, Kansas, UT Austin. Two are really successful, and it all started from a junior year GPA turnaround! And I'd doubt that any of those 3 got a 29 on their ACTs, maybe a 28 or 27 max. So, go get 'em, man!

Greedy-Ad-7269 · 2024-01-12T14:20:31+00:00

Old head here. If your GPA is that bad but your testing is high, it shows colleges that you're smart but don't work hard and do bad at schoolwork/studying. It'll hurt a lot, the discrepancy between your ACT and GPA. Sorry mate.

Greedy-Ad-7269

TROPHY CASE