Broad sweeping assumptions are dangerous but helpful in these esoteric conversations so… I think most of us spend far too much money on wants that do little to enhance our lives. Some of this ‘want money’ should be used to plant hundreds of little seeds many of which will grow into mature money trees. This takes discipline, delayed gratification and persistence but will pay off in the end.

The idea of a perfectly healthy (mind and body) person leaving control of their future financial health in the hands of someone else is crazy. Take control, read, ask questions.

Sure our education system fails miserably in teaching sound financial principles but so what, take control. Spend some time on your Core Values then your Core Goals and achieve them.

I never saved really when we were first together and we made very little money. Unfortunately we struggled to make sure not to get in debt and were fortunate to make ends meet.

Currently I had coffee with a friend today who made $27k/year gross when he first arrived. I am fortunate to make that much but be married and cared for by someone much more well off. But it’s not uncommon to make that much where we live and be well very well educated. We’re talking 12+ years post-secondary education. So it can be tough to live. And I know this person, no debt. So it’s living very frugally to make ends meet.

Most people have choices to save or not to save and it is my opinion that most people in our country spend their money instead of saving it. How much one makes hardly makes a difference unless you are considered poor. It’s all about choices.

Our friends in the same field but cheaper cost of living in PA, IN, etc make a little less like $10k but certainly not enough to make up the difference.

You pay a tax for living in sunshine or in a “fun” city.

If that is not the case, then great, I can travel more and retire sooner. I personally would rather save more than I need instead of less.

Plus don’t you think location and COL has something to do with income? So what if a house in Iowa cost $60K and the income is $40K? I live in an area where the median home is $300K? Don’t you think people here should earn more ?

I definitely agree with age comes wisdom. But with youth comes the glass is half full exuberance! It wouldn’t be fun if we just moved through life without making mistakes. And boy have I made a lot already.

I hate to tell you this, but you have no clue what the next 30 years of your life will be like. You can make all the predictions you want and life will turn out completely different. That was a big eye-opener for us. You seem like the kind of person who wants to have all the answers and have her entire life planned out. When I was in my 20’s, I thought I knew exactly the trajectory my life would take. But that just isn’t realistic, although perhaps idealistic. Life is full of surprises, not all of them pleasant. The only thing we can do is focus on making the best decisions we can at each moment in time based on the information we have. I honestly don’t mean to sound patronizing but I learned in our 30’s that we didn’t know shit in our 20’s. When we were in our 40’s, we realized that we didn’t know shit when we were in our 30’s, and so on and so on. Wisdom is the benefit of aging, and most people would love to go back and do things differently if they knew then what they know now.

So much of life cannot be measured and quantified. Just work hard, balance your finances between enjoying today and planning for tomorrow, and take the time to enjoy life. It goes by in the blink of an eye and can end or change in a second.