I am in my early 40's and have about $300K invested and some in cash. I have $70K in credit card debt (no lavish lifestyle, just 2 bouts of unemployment and some major medical expenses, even after insurance).
I live below my means, LCOL city, used car, max my 401K, save my bonuses, etc.
I am going to get a large bonus where after tax, I'll get a couple hundred thousand.
Should I prioritize pay off all credit cards or pay down half/some of the cards and use the rest for a house down payment?
Yes, I see people under the bridge do it all the time
You could but seems rather odd to do it for the sake of getting a Tesla. You’ll be malnourished, look homeless, and couch surfing but driving a Tesla. Mkay.
Mentor
Yes, in Thailand
Coach
Why would you choose to?
Is this the right bowl? 🤡
If you don't buy the Tesla and you can live on $12k a year then you can shave more time off.
Coach
Trying to FIRE on $300K?
Coach
Lol, to each their own
Totally do-able in third world countries. But it doesn’t give you a standard of living of a Westerner; it gives you a standard of living slightly better than a local. So you’d be learning to live without A/C (and most these countries are HOT), without a car (hopefully you own a beat up motorbike), and without luxurious foods. Life would be tough for our standards.
Subject Expert
Most of our ancestors (and many of our contemporaries) somehow survived without AC, and AC is not only a major contributor to global warming but is also in a vicious cycle relationship to it. It should be reserved for situations where people are in danger of dying from the heat. Otherwise, adapt, dress more appropriately, use fans, and take advantage of shade and air flow.
Enthusiast
OP - check this out http://earlyretirementextreme.com
This person lives on even lower than that.
Subject Expert
Love this. Couple of blind spots / skipped steps (free university degree thanks to growing up in Europe, no mortgage payment because he had enough to just buy a 3br house in cash, etc.) but even allowing for variance of a couple thousand dollars to cover those things many of the principles remain sound.
Yes
Not in America.
The answer is yes but it requires sacrifice.
Either live with your parents, or live somewhere where rent bottom 50th to bottom 25th AT LEAST and make at least 4x your yearly expenditure (so 50k+) and are ok with putting just a lil into retirement/savings (and not having a fat emergency fund at all/ living paycheck to paycheck) and never eating out or going to doc etc etc
Really only possible if you are young and healthy and no dependents and okay with being very scrappy (no new clothes, no new car)
Students who do Americorps or other similar programs live off of meager stipends and it is possible, just only more probably if u are young n responsibility free
Obviously the more over 50k you make, the higher your quality of life, but trade off between minimalistic lifestyle and chill job vs stressful job. Sometimes people who make a lot of $$$ also spend a lot to lower stress from work.
Depends on where you live and what your lifestyle is. A lot of people get by on far less.
In Mexico you can, but I would have a side hustle earning you like 300-500 USD a month.
No. Some people might be able to, but you probably can’t. Just get a little side hustle. If you work at the local coffee shop for a few hours after work you can make your car payment.