I’m 35, have paid off $200k in professional school debt and spent $25k on clothes, designer bags and jewelry to celebrate. (I also max out retirement and save the majority of my income.) That won’t be repeated, but it was fun updating my wardrobe to reflect my $200K+ salary. Before I was wearing the same clothes that I purchased out of college when I was making $60k. It feels good to look nice.

I regret nothing.

Many people who are short on money suffer from incredibly poor financial literacy, impulse control, and budgeting skills.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you need to finance a boat, pool, second home, vacation cruise etc then you can't afford it. These are all cash items only.

You should be able to buy a second home in cash? Come on! You must be incredibly wealthy and out of touch to think that.

ITA with him/her that you should be in a position to pay cash for any of these items or you shouldn't buy them. I say this as someone who constantly daydreams of a yacht purchase in 10 years or so, and whose parents didn't buy their second house until they were in their 60s.

Agree. Also, no leasing cars either.

Anonymous wrote:Most people with a lot of money aren’t very smart about money. Lord only knows what they did to deserve it.

+1 I might not say most but I agree that just because a person has a lot of money it's no sure sign that they're good with money. I also feel like self-made (or "new money") types tend to be smarter about money than the people who grew up rich.

That renting is stupid.

When I was young and wanted my freedom, it made sense to me. People kept saying I was throwing my money away, but I was getting a place to live.

Now I understand real estate can be an investment, but I don't really regret my early ways.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That 529 plans are a good idea.

Dangit meant *aren't a good idea. I think they’re a huge gamble. Both me and my siblings got scholarships and traditional college is less useful than ever. I’ll put my money elsewhere in case life doesn’t follow my scripted plan

If the beneficiary gets a scholarship, or even goes to a service academy, you can withdraw an equivalent amount from the 529 without penalty. Just saying so you don't scare someone off, you're of course welcome to your opinion.

Anonymous wrote:That 529 plans are a good idea.

Dangit meant *aren't a good idea. I think they’re a huge gamble. Both me and my siblings got scholarships and traditional college is less useful than ever. I’ll put my money elsewhere in case life doesn’t follow my scripted plan

That 529 plans are a good idea.

Financial planners are useful.

Expensive cars are stupid.

Oops wrong thread

Protesters don’t spread Covid.

Most people with a lot of money aren’t very smart about money. Lord only knows what they did to deserve it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you need to finance a boat, pool, second home, vacation cruise etc then you can't afford it. These are all cash items only.

You should be able to buy a second home in cash? Come on! You must be incredibly wealthy and out of touch to think that.

ITA with him/her that you should be in a position to pay cash for any of these items or you shouldn't buy them. I say this as someone who constantly daydreams of a yacht purchase in 10 years or so, and whose parents didn't buy their second house until they were in their 60s.

I guess I'm confused because why would you pay cash for a second house as opposed to finance a portion of it and otherwise invest that money? Isn't that the smarter play if you can realistically expect to earn more in the market than your mortgage rate? I wonder the same thing about a primary mortgage?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you need to take out parent plus loans or private bank loans to afford a kid's college you can't afford the college and neither can your kid. If you can't afford it now there is no chance you can afford paying it plus interest for the next 20 years.

Completely agreed with this--PLUS and private should be avoided unless it's just for liquidity purposes. For an undergraduate education though I'd say federal student loans are a great financing option and students/families should not be scared away from them. I'd also say public all the way especially for undergrad. Private colleges and universities are not worth it.

I could see some exceptions to this. For example, a low income family that co-signs modest loans to afford community college + transfer to an inexpensive state school. Assuming the child works during the summers to minimize loans they should be able to repay their parents for the loans after graduation, especially if they pick a marketable major.