I’m honestly curious how people max out their 401k and IRA, save an emergency fund, have an expensive car and also a life on a auditor salary. I’m really curious.

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Posting as :
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Multiple credit cards with enormous credit card debt.

likefunny

Have wealthy parents. Privilege is real and can’t be ignored.

Not having to pay rent in college is huge for a lot of people. Either get to graduate with ~10k cash savings from internships/working part time or not take debt out to live.

No student loans. I went to a state school at 10k a year for 5 years, and took out 15k more over those years to live on and for books. Graduated with 70k of debt I pay $809 a month on.

Parents give you a car in hs/college/graduation. No car payment/don’t need to spend 5k on used car that needs 1k a year to keep running. Likely not paying car insurance either bc keeping you on your parents plan is only $30 a month or so.

No health care cost until 26, bc parents keep them on their plan.

No cell phone bill, again, minimum cost to keep you on their plan.

Option to live at home for a year or more after college and save for a house.

Generational wealth- grandparents start passing away around your post college years and they Leave some inheritance for you.

Financial safety net allows you to take risk with your work (ie start a business, work at a start up, etc.)

And a thousand more ways. Don’t be down on your self for living pay check to paycheck on an auditors salary when fully supporting yourself.

likeupliftingsmart

It’s hard even on a 6 figure salary if you have student debt 😭

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Preach fam

Well the people I know like that have no debt…parents bought them their vehicles, furniture, etc…already had a savings… and trips are paid for through miles/points they’ve accumulated from, once again, their parents

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I'm with OP. We do put way more money than most people we know for retirement, but besides that: house is 250k, drive old fully paid cars, don't go out to restaurants or vacations. We spend a ton in private school for our son, but you'd think that private school and retirement would both fit. They don't. It's truly the only big expense we have. Recently someone in FB mentioned a lot of people get help from family and it clicked. Have been able to confirm this hypothesis with acquaintances. Oh well ...

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live with parents

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Their books are cooked.

funnylike

Have a very rich SO?

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Or daddy?

I worked two jobs in HS and college and went to school. Saved almost every penny. I had to pay for school myself so everything was paid for in cash and now I don’t have loans. I had saved so much money during that time I paid for a car in cash in January and lived well below my means so I could be where I am today

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Same. Immigrated to USA with nothing. Went to state school. Medium cost of living city. It's definitely doable if you live below your means.

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I’m 45+ with humble beginnings and still trying to figure this out…so don’t sweat it…consistency is key if you ask me

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Don’t have kids

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I’m in tax and married with no kids. We’ve been married for 4 years and are finally getting close to being able to contribute to IRAs/max out 401Ks. We do have an emergency fund and keep a pretty tight budget. Not sure that expensive cars will ever be a thing for us!

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Everyone got dealt different cards in life we work with what we have. Don’t succumb to social media flexing of their fancy lifestyle. They are they you are you.

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Don’t live in NY/CA and skip the expensive car

smart

Neither of those apply to me

Have parents pay for erry thang and more importantly be born into a wealthy family 🥴

The people I know who did it a) did not have expensive cars, and b) had very inexpensive hobbies to fill their free time with (usually video games, cooking, running)

Biglaw, 500k a year

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