Why is saving so hard for most normal people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get a dopamine rush every time I check my net worth and it's higher than before. I'm obsessed with making more money and investing it to increase my NW. Why does the average person not care at all about this? I'm 27 and all my friends are living in the moment, not saving anything. I grew up lower middle class and I hated every single second of it, I had divorced parents and my mom made 25-40k/yr and my dad made about 90-110k/yr. I now make more than both parents combined with a net worth of 600k, which I know is considered mediocre on this site but it's infinitely better than what I grew up with. I never want to feel poor again. None of my friends are good with money and they all blow it every month, even the ones without trust funds who should be saving.

How did you get to 600k @ 27 yo w/ 150K+ salary? Mathematically not sure how that's possible. Show us how you got there.

Not OP but people typically post their income and leave off the bank of mom and dad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get a dopamine rush every time I check my net worth and it's higher than before. I'm obsessed with making more money and investing it to increase my NW. Why does the average person not care at all about this? I'm 27 and all my friends are living in the moment, not saving anything. I grew up lower middle class and I hated every single second of it, I had divorced parents and my mom made 25-40k/yr and my dad made about 90-110k/yr. I now make more than both parents combined with a net worth of 600k, which I know is considered mediocre on this site but it's infinitely better than what I grew up with. I never want to feel poor again. None of my friends are good with money and they all blow it every month, even the ones without trust funds who should be saving.

How did you get to 600k @ 27 yo w/ 150K+ salary? Mathematically not sure how that's possible. Show us how you got there.

I remember before kids and house payments we had a cheap rental and easily saved $50k/year. We traveled but otherwise lived like grad students and don’t own a car. If op started working at 22 without debt, had a cheap rental or roommates, was given a car by parents, it’s pretty easy to save $75k/year and over 5 years in this stock market $600k seems reasonable.

Then you buy a house and mortgage eats huge chunk of salary, then have kids, and daycare, camps, lessons, sports, maybe even private schools if you hit a pandemic… etc. and many spouses don’t want to live like a grad student so you buy new furniture not yard sale sofas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get a dopamine rush every time I check my net worth and it's higher than before. I'm obsessed with making more money and investing it to increase my NW. Why does the average person not care at all about this? I'm 27 and all my friends are living in the moment, not saving anything. I grew up lower middle class and I hated every single second of it, I had divorced parents and my mom made 25-40k/yr and my dad made about 90-110k/yr. I now make more than both parents combined with a net worth of 600k, which I know is considered mediocre on this site but it's infinitely better than what I grew up with. I never want to feel poor again. None of my friends are good with money and they all blow it every month, even the ones without trust funds who should be saving.

How did you get to 600k @ 27 yo w/ 150K+ salary? Mathematically not sure how that's possible. Show us how you got there.

I remember before kids and house payments we had a cheap rental and easily saved $50k/year. We traveled but otherwise lived like grad students and don’t own a car. If op started working at 22 without debt, had a cheap rental or roommates, was given a car by parents, it’s pretty easy to save $75k/year and over 5 years in this stock market $600k seems reasonable.

Then you buy a house and mortgage eats huge chunk of salary, then have kids, and daycare, camps, lessons, sports, maybe even private schools if you hit a pandemic… etc. and many spouses don’t want to live like a grad student so you buy new furniture not yard sale sofas.

Oh and to add color, I really grew up lower middle class, most years my parents made $50k combined and our home was inherited from grandparents and was worth about $70k in 2010.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get a dopamine rush every time I check my net worth and it's higher than before. I'm obsessed with making more money and investing it to increase my NW. Why does the average person not care at all about this? I'm 27 and all my friends are living in the moment, not saving anything. I grew up lower middle class and I hated every single second of it, I had divorced parents and my mom made 25-40k/yr and my dad made about 90-110k/yr. I now make more than both parents combined with a net worth of 600k, which I know is considered mediocre on this site but it's infinitely better than what I grew up with. I never want to feel poor again. None of my friends are good with money and they all blow it every month, even the ones without trust funds who should be saving.

How did you get to 600k @ 27 yo w/ 150K+ salary? Mathematically not sure how that's possible. Show us how you got there.

I remember before kids and house payments we had a cheap rental and easily saved $50k/year. We traveled but otherwise lived like grad students and don’t own a car. If op started working at 22 without debt, had a cheap rental or roommates, was given a car by parents, it’s pretty easy to save $75k/year and over 5 years in this stock market $600k seems reasonable.

Then you buy a house and mortgage eats huge chunk of salary, then have kids, and daycare, camps, lessons, sports, maybe even private schools if you hit a pandemic… etc. and many spouses don’t want to live like a grad student so you buy new furniture not yard sale sofas.

That "maybe" possible if you combine 10 "ifs" altogether but certainly not reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Think of it like other kinds of fitness. It’s healthy! And good! But if you get really into it and start to talk about it too much it can be really annoying for other people.

[Anonymous]

Because most people are short sighted and dumb or poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get a dopamine rush every time I check my net worth and it's higher than before. I'm obsessed with making more money and investing it to increase my NW. Why does the average person not care at all about this? I'm 27 and all my friends are living in the moment, not saving anything. I grew up lower middle class and I hated every single second of it, I had divorced parents and my mom made 25-40k/yr and my dad made about 90-110k/yr. I now make more than both parents combined with a net worth of 600k, which I know is considered mediocre on this site but it's infinitely better than what I grew up with. I never want to feel poor again. None of my friends are good with money and they all blow it every month, even the ones without trust funds who should be saving.

I grew up with kids who went to college to become surgeons, investment bankers, consultants, lawyers, etc. They spent all of their teens, 20s, 30s and some into their 40s and later studying and working really hard to achieve their goals. Then they realized that they spent the best years of their lives in hospitals, offices, hotels rooms, intercontinental flights, generally working more than 80 hours a week. For them it was a binary choice. Success in a competitive field required all of their time and attention. These are the golden handcuffs. Some did well financially and others burned out and retired early to some other field of work. They don't say it out loud often, but they all have regrets about giving up all they could have done in their youth. Money gives you security, but money is not the goal. Money allows you the option to do what you want. My friends deferred those choices to middle age, but there are things you can never go back and do when you are middle aged that you could have done when you were young. Said more succinctly, you can never be young again.

At 27, I would ask you to think about whether your obsession with accumulating money or constant delaying of gratification is really going to give you what you want out of life. I find it surprising that many people don't live their lives asking themselves this question often enough.

[Anonymous]

Lol, yeah, let me just go right ahead and save $50-75k per year in a normal salary. I'll get right in that 🤣😅😂😅😂🤣😅😂🤣

[Anonymous]

Well you are 27

You aren’t married
You don’t have kids
And you can live cheaply and do whatever you want with no demands from others

When life gets more complicated, you will look back and be amused at all the things you wondered why people couldn’t do as easy as you

[Anonymous]

I agree it’s important to start saving earlier but not to the point of deprivation or where all your joy comes from checking your account balances. Your friends like they’re having the time of their lives, don’t miss out. I loved my twenties, they were the most fun times of my life. You have to find a happy medium. I buckled up later and am in good financial shape, but has an absolute blast when I was younger and would not trade the experience for anything

[Anonymous]

Your parents made $150k — that’s not lower middle class.

My thought exactly. Nowhere near lower middle class. Where I grew up that would have been upper middle class, which, in my community, many of us mistook for upper class. Lots of what OP says doesn't make a lot of sense.

OP -- be careful. You sound like my mother, who was a hoarder ... of money. Yes, there is such a thing. And it's not good.

[Anonymous]

People who think nonstop about their NW, give off bad juju vibes. I avoid them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get a dopamine rush every time I check my net worth and it's higher than before. I'm obsessed with making more money and investing it to increase my NW. Why does the average person not care at all about this? I'm 27 and all my friends are living in the moment, not saving anything. I grew up lower middle class and I hated every single second of it, I had divorced parents and my mom made 25-40k/yr and my dad made about 90-110k/yr. I now make more than both parents combined with a net worth of 600k, which I know is considered mediocre on this site but it's infinitely better than what I grew up with. I never want to feel poor again. None of my friends are good with money and they all blow it every month, even the ones without trust funds who should be saving.

How did you get to 600k @ 27 yo w/ 150K+ salary? Mathematically not sure how that's possible. Show us how you got there.

I remember before kids and house payments we had a cheap rental and easily saved $50k/year. We traveled but otherwise lived like grad students and don’t own a car. If op started working at 22 without debt, had a cheap rental or roommates, was given a car by parents, it’s pretty easy to save $75k/year and over 5 years in this stock market $600k seems reasonable.

Then you buy a house and mortgage eats huge chunk of salary, then have kids, and daycare, camps, lessons, sports, maybe even private schools if you hit a pandemic… etc. and many spouses don’t want to live like a grad student so you buy new furniture not yard sale sofas.

600k over 5 years means 120k of NW growth per year between age 22 and 27 after paying tax, rent, food, car, insurance...etc. OP makes 150+ now. This is made up math.

[Anonymous]

If it is true, OP, you can stop saving now. Let the $600K ride and you'll be set for life.

Go get a latte. You've earned it.

[Anonymous]

I also get a rush when I see that I’ve made some money in my accounts. However, I am less than one year from retirement and worried about financial stability once I am no longer receiving a paycheck.