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Why do we give awards to students for ideas that will never happen/are ridiculous? Netflix will never make an ad unit on their app, that would sell you Burger King burgers when burgers appear in movies or shows. That's just stupid. How did this win? What am I missing?
https://www.dandad.org/awards/new-blood/2020/burger-king/3628/grubtitles/
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The order of operations is tough to figure out when you’re a junior and have forces pulling your (presumably) limited income in a million different directions.
When I was a junior, I had zero savings, a credit card with a $4,000 balance, and student loans staring down at me. I also lived in NYC. I knew I needed a plan. There’s no one right way, but here’s what I did:
Step 1: Contribute enough to your 401k to get the company match. This is free money.
Step 2: Save $1,000-2000 in cash and put it in an easily accessible savings or checking account (separate from your main one). This is basically a starter emergency fund that puts a little padding between you and life. This shouldn’t take too long. Pay your minimums as you do this.
Step 3: pay off debt. This can take years. I started off paying down my credit card to zero. I’m still paying my student loans but have made a pretty big dent in them. You’re going to need to pay more than minimum payments here. Throw all you can at them.
Step 4: (I’m not here yet, but this is what i plan on doing) beef up your emergency fund from
1-2k to 3-6 months worth of expenses.
At this point, you are debt free and have a solid foundation.
Step 5: invest 15% of your income into retirement. Pick low cost mutual funds. Index funds are fine for most.
From here, it depends on your goals. Wanna buy a house? Save up a down payment. Getting married? Having kids? Prepare for that.
I’ve learned that concentrating on one goal at a time versus four is more efficient, hence the steps. Hope this helps, OP!
I’m not a junior, but I suggest also maxing out your 401k or at least contributing 10%. Also, instead of putting extra money in a traditional savings, invest it in something like Vanguard or individual stocks.
Savings accounts do next to nothing for you money. If you’re going to start a nest egg, put it somewhere where it’ll grow.
But before you do all of that, it may be wise to have an emergency fund saved up (3-6 months worth of living expenses).
When I was a junior, I think I was still saving somewhere between $500-$1,000/mo. Granted I lived in a somewhat low COL city back then.
I disagree with not putting money in savings . I totally agree with the 401k advice - obvi do that if you can.
I put a small percentage of my pay check into a savings account every pay period and I don’t fucking touch it except for serious emergencies . You’ll want to have SOME extra funds just in case you lose your job or find yourself with a hefty medical bill. You can easily do this and never notice it’s not in your checking account . Even like $50 bucks adds up - as you become a higher earner your can change the amount you put in.
Pay yourself first. Set up recurring transfers on payday to your savings or to your loans. I started out saying I will put extra money at the end of the month towards savings but it’s never there at the end of the month. You can also spread it out so you almost don’t notice it. Rather than $200 on payday, move $50 every Friday.
Pro
👆automatic. Recurring. Transfers. Will set you free. Honestly. Start now. Doesn’t matter how little. I’m 40. The market goes up and down but every time I’ve checked my accounts since I was a JR I’ve had more money year after year than I did before.
I’ve been able to save for the last 20 years. It’s good that you’re starting early. The real trick is to balance savings with investments.
You need the liquidity of savings in case your gig goes sideways and you’re out of work for a period of time (it’s happened to me more than once).
You need to invest so that your wealth grows rather than stagnates in a savings account with barely any interest.
If you’re participating in your company’s 401k plan, great! But it’s good to invest outside of that as well. Trading stocks or index funds gives you a little more control of what you buy into and when you take it. Sure you’re hit with taxes. But it’s the only way to see more progress.
The gen advice is to contribute to your company 401k up to their max match. Then max out your Roth. Then put the rest into your 401k until you hit the max limit.
If you have more, stick it in something like a mutual fund that’s tied to the S&P 500.
i am a junior and get the company match on my 401k. I used to have $100 go into a saving account every week, but i got a raise and i upped it to $200. thinking of doubling that again. i also put $900 into my student loan every month.
When I was a junior, I made the decision that I wanted to live alone, rather than have a roommate. As a result, I was barely able to save anything during that time. I have since made a point of making up for lost time with regard to my savings. There’s no “right” answer but considering roommates, trimming expenses, potentially looking at “side hustles” (if time allows) will all help if you are feeling the money crunch.
Rising Star
This is what I did, too. My only regret is I let it be an excuse to not contribute to my 401k as early as possible. Wouldn’t recommend THAT, but otherwise living alone in a city you love is pretty priceless
Yes I put 20% of each paycheck into savings. I’m lucky enough to live with someone who agreed to split rent proportional to our incomes so it’s pretty doable right now. And my company doesn’t offer 401K so I have zero idea what to do about that area
I was not able to save in any meaningful way until several years and a couple of promotions into my media career. 10 years in and i still feel like I am playing catch up. Paying attention now will set you up for success in a big way down the line. Good luck!
Rising Star
There’s a lot of good advice in here. But there’s also a lot of bullshit you don’t need to listen to right now.
As a junior and mid level, I didn’t save any money. How could I? I barely made any money in the first place. (I had student loans and I was paying rent in the most expensive cities in the US.)
I had a lot of fun though. A LOT.
LIVE your life. It’s ok if you’re not saving here or there when you start out on this business. Just don’t get into too much debt, and try not to live beyond your means.
You’re only young once. So don’t waste it worrying about saving money for the future. Embrace your life in front of you. Confront it head on and stare it down with a fierce gaze and let it know you’re coming.
Order that avocado toast. Pick up a round of drinks for your friends. Add that jacket to your cart. Buy that flight to the opposite coast. Travel to unexpected places. Indulge in all the luxuries money can buy you. Because you have plenty of time to save and invest and make fiscally responsible decisions when you get older.
Seriously. Put a little bit into retirement in ur twenties. That extra time it’s accruing interest will be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Dollar cost averaging as an investment strategy started when you’re young. Automatically, you purchase a dollar amount of shares in some thing like the S&P 500, not a number of shares. And automatically reinvest the dividends overtime. As your income grows you add to the amount you use for this fund.