Ladies and gentlmen, those in their late 20’s and early 30’s, guess what? We are in trouble.
Long ago our parents used to automattically get those pension checks. Back when we were born in the late 70’s and early 80’s (what makes a generation anyway lol) 68% of workers had pensions for security, but now that number is reversed. Basically 68% DON’T have pensions at all. The only reason why so many of us have 401K is because of a law passed in Congress back in 2006 that made is super easy to get it from work.
And don’t get me started at employee loyalty… you should expect , unless you have a union (and maybe not even then) to possibly find yourself unemployed. I try to tell my fellow peoples that depending on which state you live in, you don’t really have a right to a job. In other words, an employer can fire you just because they wan to (the reason why they don’t is that they don’t want a bad rep and the lawsuits cost money even if they win).
By the way, do you have a Roth Ira? I don’t (yet) and many of us, especially the grown and sexy, do not either. I would like to think I would have done better than most considering my financail abilities, but guess what?
So now I’m in a worst senerio; basically starting over at 30. Lost my job at the worst time (2001 August) and had credit card debt that ballooned after not finding work that paid more than 15K a year (living in NYC on 15K is not fun) and yes I have a full year college degree. The good news is that I learned one very important thing: do not depend on your job or a check. You have to, I repeat YOU HAVE TO figure out how your money will work for you. 401k’s, 457k’s, IRA’s IRA Roths and those “retire in this many years” mutual funds. to start with it something to think about but that is just the beginning.
Buying a House an Automatic Investment… NOT
Buying a house IS NOT an investment UNLESS you figure out a way to make it one. Just because you have equity in your home doesn’t make the home a asset either. Why? Because how much money has to come out of your pocket before you get to use this equity? What do you have to do to get the equity out? Another loan right? hat do you do with this money? The only real answers should be 401K, refurbish the house, small business investment, or education, NOT buy a car, pay off credit card and such.
Don’t get me wrong, getting a house is a good move when you think about your move. Its hard to go wrong with it especially if you pay 6-7 hundred dollar rent in your area and that is what your monthly payment would be on your own house (including all taxes and interest on the loan). Also, if the houses are too expensive where you live try to think about getting something somewhere else if you can. I am. My house will most likely be in some other state. I live in NYC, one of the most expensive place to live in the US. No way I’m buying a 600,000 to 800,000 dollar house that only has 2 bedrooms lol.
Houses around my way are in the 700-900 thousand range. Some are in the million range. believe me when i say this, those houses are NOT worth that. And so what that they have the ability to be a 4 family house. The rent would have to be 2500 a month for each to pay the mortgage… and no that doesn’t include all the NYC taxes.
Its not to late my grown and sexy people!!!
It is never too late to find out about how this money thing works. You need to just like I do. We all spend it, use it, save it and try to invest it. You should know what a 5 year ARM is, what a CD is, what ratios can be used to look at a financial statement, what APR is, and so forth. What’s an IRA Roth? What’s a small cap mutual fund? I highly suggest that you look into creating your own business part time. Do not be afraid of failure! You are not in school anymore and the Bell Curve does not apply in real life. You fail when you do not learn from what went wrong.
Don’t worry my gown and sexy peoples!!!!!11!1!!1!11! I’m learning too and its why I created this blog. While I’m learning this stuff and, in some ways, create a little knowledge base of terms for myself, I totally expect you to look around as well.
Besides, why shouldn’t fashion tech and money go together?
Being Grown and Sexy 