If I had all the money in the world...

[lalt]

I don’t like to talk about personal finances too much and I’m really not as materialistic as I sound in this post, but was wondering if anyone thinks about the same thing.

 

I have a decent paying job and I’m financially stable, but I’m also still relatively young and live in an expensive city, so we don’t own our own house. I have enough money to pay for most of my gf’s food, not that she has any problem paying for it herself, but I do wonder what my life would be like if I basically had unlimited money and could buy her whatever she wanted, whenever. I’d love to be able to to take her to the best restaurants and let her buy anything she wants, or order her whatever takeout she wants, whenever. I’d order fancy breakfasts every day of the week, have an endless supply of gourmet snacks, etc. I’d also be able to buy her any clothes she wants, her wardrobe would update so often she wouldn’t have to worry about outgrowing clothes. She wouldn’t have to work either and she’s pretty lazy anyway, so I imagine her luxuriously relaxing the whole time.

I’d also love to be able to fund numerous feedees online, like being able to pay for as much food as they can possibly eat, helping out with rent if they needed it, buying the best cameras so they can show their gains off in 4k, etc. The idea of being the one to enable them to totally dedicate their lives to gaining as much as they want to is a pretty big turn-on lol.

Anyone else think about this? 

[S77]

Making money starts by paying yourself first.

The goal is to have your money go out and make more money.

• Learn about assets vs liabilities.
• Use credit wisely
• save up an emergency fund
• Take up a side hustle
• Learn about investing.

[gta]

I agree with S77, financial health is as much knowledge as it is discipline. It's good to regularly review and update your financial strategy, even if you consider yourself financially stable. I consider that as: you pay all your monthly bills in full, have manageable long-term debt (cars, house, etc), and still have money left every month to save/invest. If you don't cross off those items, those are the first to consider. Pay off as much debt as possible first, starting with the most painful like credit cards and student/personal loans (high interest, no equity). Also consider your monthlies: housing, transportation, food (goes against your thoughts above, I know), utilities and entertainment. Tools like Mint are great at giving you a full picture of cash flow over time. It'll break down how much you spend in each category, and allows you to quickly see where you could be saving/cutting costs.

Once you get to that last part - having money at the end of every month to save/invest - that's where you'll find countless strategies for having your money make money. You have to find what works for you there. Investing in a stock portfolio is pretty common, from your bogleheads all the way to your WSB style day traders. Others pursue things like real estate - flipping houses, owning rental properties, etc. Some people spin the extra money into an entrepreneurial venture, building a side hustle as S77 said. But there is considerable truth to rich vs wealthy - live at or below your means, and put that extra money to work!

A mistake I was making for many years was putting everything extra into savings, building way beyond the necessary nest egg emergency fund and big down-payment budgets. Inflation is a real thing, and according to this US Inflation calculator, $1000 in savings ten years ago only has the purchasing power of about $846 today. Last time I checked, my bank didn't pay me $150 in interest over that time to cover the inflation cost 🤑.

Lastly, don't forget about retirement, especially if you don't work for a company with a pension plan! Exponential equations and compound interest increasingly work to your advantage over time. The best retirement investment advice I was given was to simply "do it!" when I started my first job that offered retirement benefit. Retirement may seem way off when you are in your 20s, but don't borrow from that budget when trying to find money in your monthlies, unless absolutely necessary. I am well on my way to an achievable retirement because of this, and I know people my age who haven't even started saving towards retirement yet. I feel bad for them, they won't "catch up" like they think they can.

So, I fully realize your post is more about living the life of supporting feedees, but it is an expensive lifestyle. By all means pursue it if you want, but a realistic approach would be to consider it as part of a budget 🙂 

Typical disclaimer that I am not a financial advisor, this is not professional financial advice, blah blah blah 😀

[juneall]

buy a super bowl ad. make up an amazing product that’s too good to be true , advertise the shit out of it, get people talking about it. and in the end it never existed