If you made 180K at 29 but basically hit the ceiling

[paperfist]

I want to make 300-500K a year...but I don't want to get out of my comfort zone, I don't want to take any risks

other flipside, because I live in a very reasonable cost of living area, I can have everything I want on 180K a year. In 2 years, I'm gonna have my house paid for and be completely debt free - basically meaning that I can live like a king on 3-4,000 a month while making 15K a month. Me wanting to make 300-500 is more ego than anything

What exposure to risk does a 29 year old have?

I'd be dumping all that expendable income into passive avenues.

 

[ClarityZedd]

I guess that explains the other thread.

lol no doubt

 

[ClarityZedd]

What exposure to risk does a 29 year old have?

I'd be dumping all that expendable income into passive avenues.

what do you mean passive avenues?

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I live 1 hour north of City of LA and you can have all the 2+ acre properties you want for 500k-600k. I predict it will stay that way for 1 more economic downturn.

Is this one hour as the crow flies on in LA traffic one hour? Or is it one hour on the hyperloop?

 

[Ns1]

Is this one hour as the crow flies on in LA traffic one hour? Or is it one hour on the hyperloop?

40 miles/average of ~60 minutes depending on traffic/time.

I'm within the LA County, and about 40 miles from the border of LA city.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

What's the crime rate like?

 

[Ns1]

What's the crime rate like?

depends on which portion of this area you move to. I'm with all the middle/upper class LA expats that need room for their horses and toys. I feel safer here than all the hipper neighborhoods where I used to live...

 

[snoopy7548]

If I was making $180k I would hold onto that job for dear life, especially if a 3,000 sq. ft. home was $350k - that would be a LCOL area. Work for ten years then retire like a king.

Then again, if I was capable enough of making $180k/year, I would probably be the type to strive for far more.

 

[ClarityZedd]

If I was making $180k I would hold onto that job for dear life, especially if a 3,000 sq. ft. home was $350k - that would be a LCOL area. Work for ten years then retire like a king.

Then again, if I was capable enough of making $180k/year, I would probably be the type to strive for far more.

I could probably retire in about 25 years but I doubt I will want to. I'm gonna want to work until I'm 70 or 75

I want to make sure my future kids have everything they want - they will have nice cars, they will have college tuition paid for, etc...

 

[brianmanahan]

software sales, man

i know guys who make half a mill without breaking a sweat

 

[brianmanahan]

I want to make sure my future kids have everything they want

future kids requires a future wife

 

[ClarityZedd]

software sales, man

i know guys who make half a mill without breaking a sweat

I don't want to do cold calling or prospecting though

My job is so unbelievably easy dude you have no idea. I'm gonna make 20K this month and half my deals were people who came in and asked for me (which are super easy deals)

 

[Ns1]

future kids requires a future wife

 

[ClarityZedd]

future kids requires a future wife

 

[whm1974]

Dude I would start investing your extra money left over expenses. At 29 with your kind of income, you can afford to take a great deal of risk. And you need to invest in more then besides your house and 401K.

 

[ClarityZedd]

Dude I would start investing your extra money left over expenses. At 29 with your kind of income, you can afford to take a great deal of risk. And you need to invest in more then besides your house and 401K.

right now, I'm very aggressively paying off my house. In 2 years, it will be paid for and I will have zero debt

I dunno what I'm going to do at that point. I'm looking at excess cash per month in the ballpark of maybe 6000 a month...and that's me living like a king

I hear what you're saying about investing but I absolutely despise risk so it's kind of a balancing act for me to do something that will return money at very minimal risk

 

[Zeze]

right now, I'm very aggressively paying off my house. In 2 years, it will be paid for and I will have zero debt

I dunno what I'm going to do at that point. I'm looking at excess cash per month in the ballpark of maybe 6000 a month...and that's me living like a king

I hear what you're saying about investing but I absolutely despise risk so it's kind of a balancing act for me to do something that will return money at very minimal risk

If I were you, I'd save a lot. Selling cars as a sole career for life sounds very risky and unstable.

 

[ClarityZedd]

If I were you, I'd save a lot. Selling cars as a sole career for life sounds very risky and unstable.

dude I've made 120K+ for 6 years in a row and I'm making more and more every year. It's not like my skills or talent level are gonna decrease...they only get stronger

I also work at a fantastic dealership, one of the best in the country.

But I do want to save a lot of money...I just hate having say 100K in bank account not earning any interest

 

[Red Squirrel]

Good idea to try to pay off the house fast. It's crazy how much of your payment goes to interest if you only pay the minimum. Anything extra goes right on the principal. I have around 10 years left on my 25 year mortgage and I've been living in my house for a bit under 10 years. So I will shave off 5 years easily. I'd be putting even more on it myself if I was making more money.

My future dream is to buy acreage (like even just a few acres) in wooded/lake front area and live mostly off grid though. Costs of living are going up too fast so if I want to retire at a decent age I'll want to be mostly self sufficient.

As a side note selling cars takes over your life. My dad did it most of his life (he sells RVs now). He can get a call at any hour of any day, even late at night. Either a customer that wants to buy, or a customer having issues, or any inquiries. If you want to make a sale, you always have to be available. I assume you're on commission.

 

[Darwin333]

I'm maxing out my 401K and the rest of my extra cash, I put into my house to pay it off ASAP

I dunno what I'm going to do with all the extra cash once my house is paid for. I don't want to put it into a savings account and grow at a terrible percentage

they really should allow me to put 40-50K a year into a 401K

I wasn't talking about 401K when I said investing. Obviously you should max out your 401K if you can but you don't get "rich" with 401Ks. If you aren't aware of the "time value" of money then you should probably read a few books and do some math. $180Kish a year for the next 20 years could easily net you much better financial return than eventually making $300K in 20 years. You would need to be able to make a reasonably educated guess on how much you'd make every year during the 20-30 year lead up but then it is just basic math.

You should be able to get 10ish% returns on index funds that you basically keep buying and forget. That is making your money work for you. There are literally a crapton of other ways and things you can invest in, each with varying degrees of risk and reward, that part is on you to figure out.

 

[madoka]

I'm wondering this because I sell cars for a living and I'm never gonna make more than maybe 150 to 190K

Serious question: What brand(s) of car do you sell?

 

[whm1974]

Good idea to try to pay off the house fast. It's crazy how much of your payment goes to interest if you only pay the minimum. Anything extra goes right on the principal. I have around 10 years left on my 25 year mortgage and I've been living in my house for a bit under 10 years. So I will shave off 5 years easily. I'd be putting even more on it myself if I was making more money.

My future dream is to buy acreage (like even just a few acres) in wooded/lake front area and live mostly off grid though. Costs of living are going up too fast so if I want to retire at a decent age I'll want to be mostly self sufficient.

Great for you if you can do that. Maybe grow your own food?

 

[ClarityZedd]

Serious question: What brand(s) of car do you sell?

I'm terrified to say because of internet detectives

 

[Red Squirrel]

Great for you if you can do that. Maybe grow your own food?

TBH I'd probably still do trips to grocery store and to town in general, but simply cutting out hydro, gas, and the high taxes of the city would save quite a lot of money, though being further from town would kind of force me to learn to cook more instead of eating prepped food or take out. I do want to grow some of my own food too though. I would have excessive solar power in summer because the days are long, so I'd probably do a lot of my growing then. A mix of outdoor and indoor growing. And indoor only in winter. I need to start on that soon actually, could do it even here so that I can get good at it.

It would also force me to do some work as living off grid obviously requires a certain level of work. Battery maintenance would need to be done at least once a month for example. Probably even more often. I have a feeling once I retire I'll become complacent and sit around and do nothing, so I'll want to force myself not to do that. Even now I kinda do that when I have stretches of time off... It's kinda bad actually.

 

[snoopy7548]

I wasn't talking about 401K when I said investing. Obviously you should max out your 401K if you can but you don't get "rich" with 401Ks. If you aren't aware of the "time value" of money then you should probably read a few books and do some math. $180Kish a year for the next 20 years could easily net you much better financial return than eventually making $300K in 20 years. You would need to be able to make a reasonably educated guess on how much you'd make every year during the 20-30 year lead up but then it is just basic math.

You should be able to get 10ish% returns on index funds that you basically keep buying and forget. That is making your money work for you. There are literally a crapton of other ways and things you can invest in, each with varying degrees of risk and reward, that part is on you to figure out.

Take this guy's advice. Dump like $80k of that $100k into VTSAX, reinvest the dividends, and just let it coast.