Howdy Big Money Ags,

I'm mid 20s guy here looking for general advice on anything I might be missing out on taking advantage of. Maxing out my 401k and maxing Roth every year. I have extra cash going into a taxable brokerage acct and have about 5k in emergency savings. Anything else I might have missed or advice you would give in general when you were around my age?

Anything is much appreciated. Thanks and gig em!

I'd probably diversify. Land, RE, Bitcoin, etc.

Lead and Steel

don't buy a new vehicle.

use an app like acorns or fundrise and do some passive investing to diversify a bit

Excluding traditional financial markets, I understand the general attraction of owning land. However, there is really not a real reason to own it if you aren't going to use it in some day. Income producing real estate, of course, is a different story.

No sir, no house right now. Renting apartment. Plan on getting one or a condo soon. I'm just trying to build a solid foundation right now.

Don;t know your time horizon on purchsing a place but I would do so as soon as possible or make as large of a down payment as possible given rising interest rates. Some here have a much greater knowledge of what the mortgage rate environment is for the next 3-5 years.

I also agree with the 3-6 month emergency fund . I would make it a portion of your brokerage account.

Buy real estate, specifically in vacation areas where you can do short term rentals.

I don't disagree but life doesn't always go on script.

When it's just you there are way less variables to control and worry about.

Spot on.

Our biggest regret was not buying undeveloped lake front property. Years later a similar piece of land for our future retirement site (still a few years away) set us back six and a half times as much.
While not everyone has such marginally predetermined long-term plans, if we made the original purchase it could've been sold for profit should our plans have changed.
While lake front tends to be something, like land in general, "they're not making any more of," there is a new one-Lake Bois D'arc (sp)- coming up in far NNE Texas. Not where we bought, btw.

One poster here mentioned keeping your emergency fund in your taxable brokerage.

Personally I cannot agree with this. I view a 6 month emergency fund as the money you set aside when things truly go sideways. Don't underestimate the possibility of that happening in a down market. I'd hate to think I had to sell a losses or at multi-year lows to pay the mortgage/rent, buy groceries, job hunt, etc.

Its because many people see 9.1% "official" inflation and say holding cash is a liability. Six months is half a damn year. And to have that sitting in your accounts losing REAL value, because you value its liquidity, is cringe to a lot of people.

I know this is counterintuitive, but if you need to weather the storm, it may be best to go into debt. Depending on what terms you can get on the loan, if you can keep it south of 9% its free money.

I would increase emergency fund. $5k feels low to me. Maybe keep $5k where it is for now and start buying some ibonds at current rates. Ibonds are stuck for 1 year so don't count as emergency funds for now but will 12 months from now. So a year from now you'll have $5k + whatever you put into ibonds today as emergency.

Also, I agree with the marry rich recommendation. Unless you find a unicorn that ages well, looks will fade fast. Generational family wealth will last forever. Good luck.

I'm not officially recommending this because it has major pros and cons, but from a purely financial bottom line then don't have kids.

There are all kinds of reasons to ignore that advice.

Both of my posts have been a little half serious, but if there was one thing that I wish I had focused on earlier it's funding my taxable account. I started plowing money into that a little later than I like looking back on it.

Primarily because I ended up winding down my peak earning years much earlier than I ever anticipated and I might need to dip into it as gap money.

SF2004 said:

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According to this forum... which btw is the largest collection of millionaires on the internet that no one knows about.

Calculate the future value of EVERYTHING. Toilet Paper? Better know the future wealth impact between 1 ply and 2 ply.

Absolutely never do anything as it is waste of money. Never buy anything because it is a waste of money. Opportunity cost means nothing here. If you pay interest on anything you should wait until you can pay cash. Never mind that the interest expense on that new pool could buy more years of your kids enjoying it.

If your company doesn't have you making more than the CEO then tell them to go F off.... it is that easy.

Real World:

Fund your 401k up to company match.

$10K in savings account

Start funding a taxable brokerage and IRA. You can't shield all of your money from uncle Sam and you need to live today. Otherwise all of your wealth will be spent when you are 80 years old and have to pay someone to wipe your ass.

After that just live as you can't take it with you.

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It's a special place. Let's keep it that way.

I still advocate that we require a Net Worth minimum of at least $2M before you are allowed to post on this board.

Gabster43213 said:

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I also agree with the 3-6 month emergency fund . I would make it a portion of your brokerage account.

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This is always a controversial take on here, but I agree with this. The long term growth you're giving up by parking such a large amount of money in cash grows to be significant over time. With todays brokerage accounts, you can have funds in your checking account within a couple of days (or faster).

As for having to sell into a bad market, ok but in exchange you are forgoing ALL potential growth and appreciation forever. Your call.

401k maxed
Roth maxed
$15 k in emergency fund
If heathy HSA maxed (tax free shelter)
Ease into a church and pray for guidance - start tithing
On toys try to limit the interest-rate under 6%
Do

I will add my standard warning to every 20 something.

Avoid 3 things and you will be fine.
Too much house (don't rent a kick ass place because you can, living like you are still in school for a while longer will help you get your feet under you)
Too much car (the POS you drove in college, is fine until you get your feet under you)
Too much relationship (you, and everyone else is going to change more than you can imagine in your 20s. Living on thbeir own for a while will help your future spouse grow into a good partner as much as it will help you. Hold off getting married and don't be afraid to break up with people because of opportunities that might come up like relocation opportunities, promotions, getting admitted to a top 7 MBA program, etc)

In your 20s finical security will give you the flexiblity to take advantage of opportunities that your peers won't be able to.

This post like all advice is what I recommend for the vast majority of people, so i am going to predict there will be responses saying how terrible this advise is because someone married the girl that meet at fish camp graduation weekend and immediately bought a house the second weekend after they graduated and he is now a fortune 500 CEO and she has launched a successful charity after raising 6 children that all went to harvard MBA/MDs after playing ball for Texas A&M

1 ply vs 2 ply argument is for the poors. Buy a bidet for the efficiency and financial impact of saving on TP.