Anyone else find it surreal that we're all adults with lives and families?

[Ben]

I'm the opposite of you guys it seems!

I have 8 savings/investment/pension accounts.

You know, there was another Singaporean guy back in the day, who liked to remind us of his opulence...

For real though, I'm aware our member base includes many people who're existing in life just fine, and in no way resent that. Envious, but not resentful.

 

[dimmerwit]

I would say that the quantity within those accounts, whilst still decent enough, is probably less impressive than the quantity of the accounts makes it sound.

I think it's more about taking advantage of whatever advantageous accounts your country has. Here we have an ISA, LISA and SIPP as relevant tax-free accounts. Add to that a regular savings account and a regular stockbroking account and that's 5 already. I have two ISA providers for cost reasons and two more cash savings accounts with very little in them because I'm simply too lazy to consolidate them.

 

[Mark]

You know, there was another Singaporean guy back in the day, who liked to remind us of his opulence...

Oh fuck.

Oh no.

 

[MC74]

Very much this. My friends are far more family to me than my family.

This, and with how tight this community is, pffft....The Bloodline ain't got shit on us.

 

[dimmerwit]

Did I ever mention my extensive gold watch collection?

Come over to my office and take a look!

 

[Ben]

Oh fuck.

Oh no.

View attachment 23337

I couldn't help it, mostly because I knew you'd find the comment even without being tagged and get PTSD.

I respect the forum too much to actually speak his name, though, lest we summon the demon.

This, and with how tight this community is, pffft....The Bloodline ain't got shit on us.

Family are the people who stay by you even when things go to shit, and don't judge. This community certainly has provided that for many over the years and still does.

 

[Crystal]

Did I ever mention my extensive gold watch collection?

Come over to my office and take a look!

...are you going to turn into one of those shady back-alley salesmen?

Family are the people who stay by you even when things go to shit, and don't judge. This community certainly has provided that for many over the years and still does.

^^^^

 

[Mark]

I couldn't help it, mostly because I knew you'd find the comment even without being tagged and get PTSD.

I respect the forum too much to actually speak his name, though, lest we summon the demon.

The wild thing is, anyone that thinks any of the other admins were assholes clearly doesn’t remember or wasn’t there to see what they were spared by MA’s post car crash return to power being interrupted. That goofball would have sank the forums in record time.

 

[Nae'blis]

Warned for tagging.

@BigDaddy tagged for warning

I still can't believe I'm an adult sometimes...

 

[MC74]

Another thing that's wild is it's through this community I ended up finding a partner in @Crystal after so many long years soul searching for the right partner. The other times I've tried, the chemistry just wasn't there, and unless you were one of those people that liked to party, drink, or go out all the time, you were gonna have a hard time.

 

[Crystal]

Another thing that's wild is it's through this community I ended up finding a partner in @Crystal after so many long years soul searching for the right partner. The other times I've tried, the chemistry just wasn't there, and unless you were one of those people that liked to party, drink, or go out all the time, you were gonna have a hard time.

 

[Quagmire]

I wish I was BigDaddy and could just warn you right now.

You can be my big daddy

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

I'm the opposite of you guys it seems!

I have 8 savings/investment/pension accounts.

Yeah?! Well I have 9!

USA USA USA

 

[Nae'blis]

Yeah?! Well I have 9!

USA USA USA

 

[dimmerwit]

I have several potential accounts with a £1 minimum and I'm not afraid to use them!

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

I have a RobinHood account with $20 in DOGECOIN and an old savings account with $4!

Edit: Of course since they named the DOGE organization in government, it's now worth $180. LOL

 

[shortkut]

I have money in places I don’t know because I let my previous jobs invest 4%+match and I didn’t save where that money went!

 

[Gloom-is-good]

Yall adults with the investment accounts wanna help ya GW fam out? Maybe make a thread and tell us where to start, etc.? I think it would be pretty great

 

[shortkut]

Yall adults with the investment accounts wanna help ya GW fam out? Maybe make a thread and tell us where to start, etc.? I think it would be pretty great

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

Yall adults with the investment accounts wanna help ya GW fam out? Maybe make a thread and tell us where to start, etc.? I think it would be pretty great

Open brokerage account, buy VTI or VOO - auto deposit whatever you can on a weekly schedule and don't think about it. Even $20 a week is substantial over time.

10 years later it will be free money with compound interest. Any interest gained is taxable when you withdraw it though.

Both of those index funds generally follow the market so as long as the US is a country, historically it will go up over time. If you lose money with this strategy, we have a lot bigger problems to worry about as a society in general.

There are a ton more things I do, but that's the general investing 101 advice.

 

[dimmerwit]

I also have some more growth/tech focused stuff (equivalents of VGT and VUG) though obviously that comes with more risk.

You could also try VXUS for non-US stocks. American stocks have outperformed significantly over the past 10-15 years or so but historically that's not always the case. Pre-crash 00s were much better for foreign stocks whilst the S&P went nowhere. That said, given how global S&P 500 companies are these days I'm not sure that matters as much any more. I'm predominantly in US stuff for the record.

I do own some shares as well but that's never been a huge part of my strategy. I did well in tech stocks but I still believe beating the market is luck, or at best picking an outperforming sector.

Finally, I'd get well versed into whatever tax-advantageous accounts exist and are right for you. Consider the financial benefits vs potential early withdrawal penalties. I would say that this is one area where the UK does win out, since we have the ISA which is basically a Roth IRA but with a much higher annual contribution limit and no withdrawal restrictions.

 

[Benzine]

whenever i think on this topic the only thing i think of is how dumb all teh adults i knew growing up are

The biggest lie adults tell children (and maybe each other) is that they have their shit figured out. Some do more than others, but nobody does completely.

Hi!

I have savings accounts. We don't have any money in any indexes or such (except some individual stocks but those were gotten in ways that aren't us saving money and depositing), because we plan on buying a house soon. We also have what we call Kiwisaver which is for retirement/buying a house. That's just a typical fund though.

 

[shortkut]

Hi!

I have savings accounts. We don't have any money in any indexes or such (except some individual stocks but those were gotten in ways that aren't us saving money and depositing), because we plan on buying a house soon. We also have what we call Kiwisaver which is for retirement/buying a house. That's just a typical fund though.

My wife and I were trying to save every penny for the last 6-7 years so we could get a house. One thing that helped speed it up was putting our savings account money into short term CDs. Some of those 2-3 month ones had as high as 5%. Much better than leaving it in savings and making $1 for the entire year

 

[Benzine]

My wife and I were trying to save every penny for the last 6-7 years so we could get a house. One thing that helped speed it up was putting our savings account money into short term CDs. Some of those 2-3 month ones had as high as 5%. Much better than leaving it in savings and making $1 for the entire year

ah yeah we do that too but that's just with the bank anyway.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

Also look into Internet banks like Ally, Wealthfront, Marcus, etc. they all have solid interest rates on savings accounts.

I keep all my liquid money in a couple of these and right now earn 4.25% interest. Keep a local account for day to day bills and some extra but everything what should be in high yield savings accounts.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

I set up a Roth IRA a year-ish ago. Kinda late in my military career, but better late than never, I guess.

 

[kewltidus]

Man, I feel this so much.


For the most part, I still feel like a teen trying to figure things out—even though I'm 34, married, with a 13-year-old stepdaughter and a 15-month-old baby. It's weird how we can be deep into adulthood, doing all the adult things—owning a home, raising kids, paying bills—but in our heads, it still feels like we're just winging it, figuring life out as we go.


I try to make sure my kids have a better life than I did, and I do my best to be the rock for my family. But damn, it's exhausting sometimes. The stress, the financial weight, the pressure to always have the answers—it stacks up fast. And honestly? The hardest part isn't just the responsibilities, it's trying to find happiness in the middle of all of it.


I'm sure that's exactly how our parents felt too, but as kids, we thought they had it all figured out. It's only when you're wearing the adult shoes that you realize—no one really does. We're all just trying our best.

 

[Squall_Lionheart]

i joined GW in Dec 2000. 25 years ago O_O i was 11 and remember asking my dad if it's ok to sign up, as i remember you had to be 12!
now i am married and have an 8 month old kid
wtf