newbie seeking financial advice

You might find my list useful:

Elle and All,

Many thanks for your thoughtful comments and suggestions. I am sincerely grateful for your ideas and have far more confidence than when I started.

Thanks a lot.

I was taken out of context- my point was that a person could invest in equity mutual funds, not necessarily invest in equities by purchasing shares of individual stocks.

You are making EIGHT times your living costs and you want to work another 20 hours for more money? GET A LIFE! Its more than about working and money.

I think you're 100% incorrect on the food pyramid destroying this country's health. It is the failure to follow the pyramid that destroyed this country's health. (Skip, I know this isn't financial planning, but I just can't let this one go.)

Elizabeth Richardson

I agree. Thumper

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote: > You must have health insurance, however, if you are

But he'll have three financial dependents soon. That's probably cause enough for life insurance.

-Will

william dot trice at ngc dot com

Respectfully, I would suggest that this statistic means that six figures in not that high in New York City, not necessarily in the rest of the country.

-Will

william dot trice at ngc dot com

From

2006 Median Household Income: $48,201 19% are above $100,000

In 2005 it took $250,000 to get you in the top 1.5%.

In another section of that wiki article, NYT is quoted as defining 'class' by quintile of income. $88,000 will buy your way into the 'upper class.' I found that quote odd, as I recall another article stating that a plumber (I don't know why they chose that particular profession) no matter what his income cannot be 'upper class' which is reserved for doctors, lawyers, politicians, and CEOs of certain companies.

But I agree, Will, one city does not reflect the entire country. JOE

One of the problems I encounter in financial planning is where good-hearted souls divert so much of their resources to helping others that it virtually assures they themselves will need help at some point. In other words, the money they give away (and the future earnings thereon) is what would have made them financially secure.

My experience is that the most prudent gifting plans are grounded in giving income from investments, not principal. This ensures that we can continue to help others as the need arises and do so from a position of financial strength. No amount of good intentions will make up for a weakened financial situation.

So a suggestion: Come up with a rough idea of how much help you plan to give. Then start sending that amount to a savings account now, before it is needed. You can't touch it.

Then start saving 10% in your 401k, saving for a house down payment, save for future big ticket items like cars, and staying out of debt.

If you can do that, then your plan will work.

In other words, run a test and see how it feels. Then you won't have to ask about "what ifs" and you'll be moving forward with your eyes wide open. Good luck.

-HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC

I did not quite understand this part. If I have to spend some , say for sake of an example, some 50K per year due to my parents, brother, spouse and children a few years down the road do you mean I should send that amount to savings account right away and whatever the interest(5-6%) I obtain from that savings account I should use that to support them a few years henceforth? I realize with an inflation factor of about 4% per year and taxes due on that interest will take away much of the gains from the 5-6% obtained.

Did I understand you correctly?

Can you please clarify?

Thanks a lot.

at

Joe, I sincerely appreciate yours and Elle's financial calculators.

Yes, now I realize that saving aggressively, investing properly is the key to retiring properly in addition to starting as early as possible as you indicated in your spreadsheet how most folks at 20 have a gross of 60K per year at

wish I also were working and saving from that age.Thanks

I believe Skip means that you should start living on what you would have left over after spending to support your parents and brother. Can you continue to save toward your own retirement, save toward your house purchase, etc. on what you have left? If not, then you either need to increase your income, or you need to scale back the amount of help you can give to your parents and brother. Live now as if you were supporting your family and see if you already have sufficient income to do this.

By the way, I think the suggestion to get additional certifications in your chose field is an excellent way to increase your future income. This is something you can do now and will not take either as much cash or time as getting an MBA. If you are comfortable working for the government, stay with it as it can pay excellent financial benefits as you get older.

Elizabeth Richardson

Most folks at 20 are earning 60K a year? That sounds completely wrong to me.

Yeah, no way. Here's an interesting site with some salary data. I can't say for sure how accurate it is, but it serves as a starting point for research.

It shows the median salary for people with relatively low experience to be somewhere around $50K. That's the median, meaning half make under that. Now, I seem to recall that that OP is in software development. Looking at that are specifically:

Sounds like he's fine, with better things to come with experience.

Brian

I wasn't aware that the spreadsheet that JoeTaxpayer shows was for software developers

It seems to assume that at age 20 everyone earns 60,000 dollars and goes up from there

$50K for software developers may be within the realm of possibility for someone starting out, but the average 20 year old doesn't make anywhere near that.

Another factor was a banker I talked to told me social security will be depleted by the time I retire in some 40 years and one at my age should not depend on that which made me more alarmed. The media reports on social security and the link

mentioned that the blog earner at age 29 had a net worth of 204Kmade me even more confused and think that lot of people at 29 have anet worth of 204K.

It seems I need to think twice before judging people in financial matters.

Thanks for your clarification.

Sorry, it seems I misunderstood Joe's point. I briefly glanced at

mentioned age 20, salary of 60K and assumed most people of thatage earn that much. I at that point did not recall it was just ahypothetical dataset.I now realize it depends on field, area of living and many otherfactors. Yes, someone in New York City or California in some fields atthat age might pull that income, but in other parts it is quite rare.

I understand that, but the fact that I am new to this area of investing and savings coupled with the fact that I will have lot of expenses in the coming three years or so makes me think I am not earning enough. Another factor is some links heavily biased me like

teenagers were earning quite a bitand as Rick explained such folks are rare. Someone mentioned to me most MBA graduates from top 5 colleges start with 6 figure packages and some of them cross the 7 figures in some 10 years. Some other folks like my landlord who earn about 900K per year without a high school diploma in real estate in his middle thirties, sports/TV/movie stars stories who pull in 700K per month me more confused. I was comparing myself to wrong people. I apologize again. I am much clearer now that these people are a small fraction of the society as John explained. I need to examine anything before accepting it on face value. Presently, I am jumping to conclusions which is what led to this misinterpretation.

I appreciate all the people who are trying to assist me in this group. I just need to be lot more wiser in financial matters and read a lot more.

Thanks so much for your advice and clarification.

I can confirm my company will hire a new college grad with a Mechanical Engineering degree, a Computer Science Degree, or similar technical degree and put them in at around $45-55k starting. I work for worlds 12th largest employer, I believe (we are top 20 in world employees- the only two things in more countries are the Catholic Church and FIFA).

I started at 39k 11 years ago.

Not all 22 or 24 year olds make this, but it is clearly possible.