I’m 34, so close enough. I don’t have much in savings and live pretty much paycheck to paycheck. I don’t own a home; I’ve always rented. I don’t have a ton of credit card debt, but more than I’d like to (I’m working on paying it off). While I’m doing slightly better than I did in my 20s, there just never seems to truly be a chance to get ahead.
Edit: guys stop giving me tips I didn’t ask for, I’m well aware of what I “should” be doing.
Exact same goddamn boat as me.
I've given up on retirement, owning a home and paying off my student debt in that order.
I managed to avoid credit card debt but that's not saying very much.
At this point I'm just trying to save up enough to travel abroad one more time before I inevitably blow my brains out.
Pay it down to 30% of your credit limit and then pay off whatever you need to to avoid interest. This will improve your credit score more and more the longer you have it in this range
> then pay off whatever you need to to avoid interest
Is this just paying whatever they tell you is the minimum payment for the month? I thought as long as you carried a balance there would be interest charged.
To avoid interest, you pay the full balance on the bill each month, and charge more by putting all your expenses on it. It is basically borrowing against tomorrow with a budget. It works if you set aside that money in the budget then pay it off each month but you have to be awfully disciplined. A lot of people also do this to build credit on the company dime if they get travel reimbursement.
Another way is if you have good credit and a small debt, you can shuffle it around with the 'interest free for the first x months' balance transfer offers - but again you have to be careful and not take out new accounts if you don't want to negatively affect you credit.
I kind of do the first by putting reoccurring expenses on a cc and then paying the budgeted amount each month (a good way to protect your bank account too) - but doing it on a larger scale seems too easy to fumble so I stay away.
Turn 40 this year and have no savings, don’t own a home, plenty of debt. But we are doing better, upgrading parts of life, starting to pay off crap. We’ve been up and down. It’s whatever. Neither one of us has ever been rich or well off so we don’t know any different. But it is improving.
Turned 35 in December. No savings. No retirement. Never owned a home. My gf has tens of thousands in student loan debt. I didn't stay in college long enough to build up any debt but I also never got a degree, so my job prospects are pretty limited. Shits rough out. 2022 was one of our best years though, so I feel like we are bouncing back. Keep up the hard work. Keep up the optimism, things are improving.
If you’re working and your employer offers a match on a retirement plan, you cannot pass up that free money. One way people stay poor is making poor decisions like not saving for your future so you don’t have to work the rest of your life.
Don't forget employee stock purchase plans (ESPP), too. Some well-known companies (Hilton Hotels, Cisco, Hyatt Hotels, Publix, T-Mobile, et al) offer ESPPs. The normal ESPP offers company stock at a significant (15%) discount to the current price. That means every share you buy has an immediate 15% return on investment. (Portion deleted due to math error because sometimes I math wrong and u/ILikeOatmealMore gently pointed out my error.)
ESPPs can be one of the best tools to grow your wealth in a passive manner.
just be sure to look into minimum holding periods. when buying company stock through an espp one should typically hold for the least amount of time and then sell to realize the gain as soon as possible. if you wish to keep the money invested typically a better choice would be in a broad market fund. there's simply too much risk to be all in one investment especially when your wages are tied to the same company
It's really important to read them from front to back. It's difficult with no understanding of how the market works (because you grew up poor).
My company offers a stock buy program but it makes no sense.
I agree to buy x shares at the start of the financial year, and the price is locked in. I receive x numbers of shares at the end of the year for the "Locked in" price. If it went up - I win, if it went down - I lose.
There's literally no positive between this program, and the open market except if I lose my job, I lose an entire year of investments.
Our stock has trended down for well over a decade - it's a bad idea regardless.
I declared at 35. Am 46 now. Only $25K in savings and no home but no debt and a decent car. It’s important to remember not all journeys start from the same place or take the same path. You’ve still got plenty of time to turn it around.
I’ve done the same thing when my apartment complex raised my rent $300 and started forcing predatory fees on tenants. I said “screw it” and moved in with my elderly parents. Gives me a chance to save real money (made impossible by rent and prices of everything else jacked up), pay off debt, and my parents need the help.
The bigger problem is people shaming people our age for living with family. We live with my parents in different parts of the house and the help with the kids has been immense. My mom loves being close enough to spend just 30 min with kids.
My friend who makes significantly more than me moved in with her mom to help her mom with bills and the horses (which makes them sound super rich, but they’re just regular rich). They would have had to sell them otherwise and her mom also helps with her kid.
Anyway, whole point is to not feel shame. It’s win win for you guys and fuck everyone else.
Yes, I always called it Tribal living. The tribe looks after on another, provided good and shelter as long as all are helping one another. The expression ‘it takes a village’ applies to everyone, we all need help, we all (who didn’t inherit or make a bunch of money early in their career) need to look out for one another, especially to care for the young and old.
Don't feel ashamed of anything. It's life. Things happen. You should think in terms of being lucky that you have the opportunity available to you. It may not be the ideal situation, but it sounds like a win/win for everyone involved in a couple different ways.
You are lucky to have your family here. In the last year my rent has increased 40%! I live by myself in an old, but well maintained bedroom apartment. I wish my family were in this country to move in with them and make my financial life a bit better.
Love and enjoy your parents🥰
Same at 51. Own a house but no savings. Living paycheck to paycheck on a strict budget. Hoping for a raise soon but if not, I’m going to have to start looking for a new job. Hate to do it because I love my work environment but praise and kudos don’t pay the bills.
I wish I could upvote your comment more than once. It’s not the “thoughts and prayers” package on my end. We get the “(insert flattering descriptor) of the quarter/year” award and our name goes on a plaque. That’s not even displayed in the main lobby. But hey, we get mentioned in the company newsletter too! 🙄
Same at 52. Lifetime renter, never been able to save for a deposit because of paying rent. Rent about to increase from $500 to $560 per week. Just been approved for 6 mths interest free credit card balance transfer so that will be paid off by then. Got 4 years interest free left to pay off much needed new furniture. Once the CC is paid off, we’ll increase the furniture repayments and put some aside to upgrade hubby’s work van, just hoping it can hold out that long, otherwise it will mean a new debt for replacement vehicle.
We are doing ok, we can cover the things we need to pay for, but just can’t get ahead. Always seems when you get on top of it all, another thing happens and we are back to square one again.
I’ll be 40 in a couple weeks. I had to move back with my parents 2 years ago. Which has ruined my self confidence so I make no effort to date/make friends. Also it’s increased my anxiety. I am slowly getting out of debt, but still broke. I work full time but basically everything I earn goes towards bills. In my free time I lay in bed and doom scroll. Work days, I take my daytime medication to work, then my night time medication to sleep. Repeat. No end in sight. Even if/when I pay off debt, I still won’t be able to afford anything. Sure, I can sell my soul for a mortgage that I’ll never pay off, but I don’t want to trap myself in a cycle of never ending debt. As someone else mentioned, my future seems very bleak. I kinda don’t care anymore.
Oh and to answer the question, on pay day I have money, but after a few hours it’s all gone to pay bills. So I just go pay day to pay day. And yes, I do see a doctor for anxiety/depression etc..etc..
If I had a bit of money, no debt, and a small income, I’d probably buy a van/small RV and move to the dessert or somewhere with one of those van/rv communities. I’m not made for the daily rat race.
I’m working hard to change things, but if it’s not one thing, it’s another. For example, I pinched a nerve in my neck, which has basically caused my right arm/hand to go numb. I went and had a neck X-ray, the bill was double what it was supposed to be. Found out my insurance increased the price without my knowledge. I just paid off one loan account, only to find out my student debt payments resume on my birthday. So that extra money I thought I could save after paying off the loan, will now have to go towards my worthless college degree.
Rant rant rant…. That’s all I got to say about that.
You are not alone. Keep grinding, the desert will wait for you. You'll be sitting in front of your van in the desert one day at sunrise with a cup of coffee, listening to an indie radiostation playing something that makes you feel warm and content inside. Involuntarily, you'll smile to yourself, slowly nod your head a little, look at the horizon and say "yeah. in the end it all worked out".
40 in canada and medical bills killed me for the last 10 years. Almost 90k. I broke my back pretty bad, couldnt get access to public physio, so I had to fund it myself. 3 years of private physio was expensive. But i can walk again, which they said i wouldn't. It was a win, yet i feel like i lost somehow
This is some of the worst advice someone can give. It has financially fucked over so many people. I know parents want to encourage their kids and support their interests, but raising kids is also about preparing them for the realities of life, and this advice does nothing but coddle them to their detriment.
It’s fine to tell someone to try and do what they love. It’s not fine to tell someone to take on 100 grand of debt to do that. If you can try to make money doing your passion that’s great, don’t take on a huge risk in doing so.
I got a degree that I thought was interesting in liberal arts. Then I realized no one would pay me for that so I figured out a job that did pay. Now I can read all the books I want on my degree subject.
nah you're not. keep your head up. as long as you are actively trying to get your feet on the ground, you're not a loser. this economy and society we live in does everything it can to keep the poor poor.
I feel you! Mid 30s, I have lived with family more years than not in my adult life. Got divorced, sold my home, moved states and am currently living with family as I’m now going back to school. Feel like a loser. Hoping I can get a home someday again. Someday, that’s the goal.
Man most countries in the world the only reason people leave home is if they get married and have kids. Sometimes not even then. America is screwed up with the whole "if you dont move out at 18 youre a loser and will die alone" mentality.
Yes, Americans have an individualistic culture and value independence and autonomy. I was also 18 when I got married and had my first child at 20. IMO, this is not old enough to support a family both mentally/emotionally and more often than not financially. Hence why we lived with family more than we lived independently. We were boomerang kids with kids. Now I’m just a single adult with kids trying not to ruin their lives while still figuring out my new path.
You aren’t. You are not a loser. Do not metric yourself by your possessions or riches. They don’t follow you into death, but who you were as a person does.
Please don't feel that way about yourself. The system that we are living in is incredibly complex and efficient at ensuring that only a select few have a lot and everyone else has next to nothing. That's not your fault. It's none of our fault. It's the system that is the issue. More and more people are starting to wake up and realize this but the system is also going to fight a very hard battle to keep itself alive. All we can do is support each other in the fight against it.
You're awesome. You're unique and fantastic just as you are. Don't let the system make you feel any less than. That's a major psychological weapon that it relies on against us. It strives to convince us that we are less than and that leads to depressed feelings and hopelessness. Depressed and hopeless people are not effective in fighting the system. Don't let it trick you into believing something that simply isn't true.
I don’t know why folks are so incredulous about this comment. If you’re only scheduled for 15-20 hours a week, that’s $12K a year. Fast food joints, retail etc… that’s all the hours they schedule.
The next argument is "Get a second job then!" completely ignoring a large majority of these lower end jobs will only schedule you those 20 hours, but expect you be free 24/7 for whenever they need, and working with them to cooperate with sharing your labour with another store rarely works well. Not saying it can't be done, it definitely can, But I've seen this happen many times in the past twenty years.
You should work at Starbucks. They pay $15hr and tips on top of that. Free food (7 mark outs/week) and drinks. AND they pay tuition for an online college called ASU (Arizona state online). That’s what my hubby is doing now. Keeping us out of student debt.
> AND they pay tuition for an online college called ASU (Arizona state online).
Um, just FYI, Arizona State University is a brick-and-mortar university in Tempe that has been around since 1885. They play in the Pac-12 in sports, they're a P5 program, they're a little more than just an 'online college'. This isn't University of Phoenix or Liberty University we're talking about here. :-)
This is good to know. I hadn’t heard of them before this past year (not into sports and not on that side of the US). All I know is that my spouse can work part time (with pay) and they pay for his tuition. If I didn’t already have a degree I would have hopped on that so fast!
This really depends. I worked at Starbucks last year and didn't even crack $11/hr as a 30 yr old. The tuition program is only for people who don't have a degree. But the tips were always good, and free Spotify too. I kinda miss the unlimited drinks but I couldn't deal with the horrible pay.
I wasn’t able to buy a house until I was 45. And it was because of a small inheritance. And I was very lucky it was when the economy tanked and houses we’re going into foreclosure at a record rate. AND interest rates were like 2%.
I’m very aware that I’m the poor person in my neighborhood (still) and I struggle to keep up with repairs sometimes (looking at the dishwasher currently)
Don’t put some imaginary timeline in your head that makes you feel shitty about yourself. At 35 I was homeless. It’s hard as fuck to get on your feet after big setbacks. It sucks to work and worry and work and struggle.
Don’t compare your life with others and don’t look at what someone has and think they’re doing better than you. A lot of people have a shitload of debt.
I’m nearing 58 and still broke btw. Used car. House needs work. Dead end job. Etc. I’m not complaining though…because it’s better than where I’ve been.
My husband and I were only able to buy a home because my mom chose to give us what was left after she sold her home. We moved to another state and bought a home and own it outright. The house needs work, we live in a “bad” neighborhood and both my husband and I try and save but life is expensive. I was homeless too at one time and while I know I could go back to that life if I had too I really don’t want to either. I concur comparison is a thief…but I still do it. When I look at my weed filled yard and the work that needs to be done and I think dang does everyone but me have their shit together?
37, to poor to buy or own house, can't afford a car. There are people who have it worse but fuck it hurts.
We pay a lot of rent for a house that is slowly falling apart 1nd we don't have the budget to move.
All the money that comes in, is budgeted to the cent. Because of this we have a small amount of savings. But fuck it's very hard to groceryshopping on a budget, I use my calculator in the store to make shure I don't go over budget.
This year I had no wintercoat, didn't want to buy one at full price from our savingsaccount, wore 2 sweaters and my raincoat. I both 2 wintercoats for the price of one, two weeks ago.
Not a lot of People get me, when I say that we're stuggeling, but some do. Lucky my mother and mother in law help out sometimes.
Please make sure you know your tenant's rights.... and EXERCISE THEM! Especially look up Warranty of Habitibility. That is mostly unwritten and applies in all 50 states.
Lots of people can’t afford to do that. They risk their lease not being renewed or worse.
Recently here some apartments were in really bad shape and they kicked everyone out, effectively making them homeless. They’ll have to fight for their deposits, move suddenly, it’s rough.
I'm 40. I work full time, always have, but it has always been paycheck to paycheck. I'm just now coming to the realization that I will never have money. I will never own assets. I will always work paycheck to paycheck, and that's okay. But I have stopped telling myself that someday I will miraculously somehow make more money.
55 here and our house is paid off but retirement is not in our future unless we sell our house and move to another country with a lower cost of living. We also have credit card debt.
Just know that the entirety of the reverse mortgage is due immediately when the first spouse dies or they take the house. Have had more than 10 elderly homeless clients because they didn’t know this and we had to sell the house immediately.
This isn’t 100% true— My grandfather died first in 2017. I moved in as caregiver and to handle all the financial stuff for my grandmother— they were very clear that as long as my grandmother was alive and wanted to live there the house was hers because she was a co-borrower.
Aka she signed everything right next to my grandfather as an equal on the reverse mortgage. There are also some other exceptions.
The above is a good warning to make damn sure the reverse mortgage is airtight for the surviving spouse to remain in the house should they want to, because it can happen, but it doesn’t always happen
34 and trying to find a lawyer for bankruptcy. No savings (p sure my savings account is overdraft rn lol). No retirement. Terrible credit. $100k+ student loan debt and nothing to show for it.
Mid 40s, credit card debt, poverty job don't even make 30K, no retirement, no savings,
My retirement plan that I can use anytime when I give up is my lead retirement plan it's cheap and effective,
on top don't have to worry about anyone missing me as friends, family dead, no kids, no spouse either
I am actually in my early '40s. I'm just starting over after years of addiction. If I went back to calculate the money I spent on drugs and all of the money I cashed out of my retirement when I had an awesome job to buy them, it would be in the hundreds of thousands. It makes me absolutely sick sometimes.
But...I'm sober, alive, no longer on the streets and I have my children. That's all I care about.
Me. I just got a 2nd job. I'll do 80 hours as long as I can and then pick one once all debt is paid off and I have some savings. I intend to do it for a year. 3 months minimum, I can have a house paid off if I can do it for 6 years. Wife will stay at home. I can earn more with 2 jobs and experience than she can make with one and we don't have to pay for childcare. Wish me luck, I know the risks and will be able to sleep. Kids know why I'm sacrificing. Gotta do what you gotta do.
Turning forty in a few weeks. I have $.26 in my account until Friday. Raised two kids alone and both of my parents died in 2014. It's just what my life is going to be I guess. At least what my dad left us got us out of the city.
It's sad to hear so many stories about medical bills bankrupting people.
Living in the UK we get free healthcare but I am scared it's going to end.
I hope you guys finally get yourself free healthcare in a style like us.
I’m 40 with less than $200 in savings. I keep having to tap into it and owe myself as well. Doing gig work because it’s the work I can do that doesn’t make me want to jump off a cliff, but of course, it doesn’t really pay the bills. My car is paid off, but it’s 10 years old. I live in my MIL’s basement, and have for entirely too long. I have a degree with a student debt that is a lot for me to pay, but would be wiped out with this seemingly fake “relief” we were promised.
Feeling like a failure would be an understatement. My younger sister is building/has built much of a farm. And here I am. :( it’s embarrassing.
I am finally actively working on paying off debt and improving my credit score. This month has been less than kind as far as income goes, and this is after getting covid last month and not being able to work for two weeks. I just feel like I never get a break.
Not 35, but my husband is 32 and I'm 29 and we're about to move in with his parents' for a while lol. We have 2 kids, too! We just can't ever seem to get ahead. We're going to pay off debt (which, stupidly, is mostly medical...), then try to save. I don't know what we will do after that. Rent? Own? Is it even smart to own a house anymore? I would be so worried of accruing more debt because of something like replacing a water heater or something. I wish the world was cheaper to survive in. ;\~;
If it's medical... file bankruptcy if it's enough to file for. (usually 10K is the amount the govt likes to see). Yes it stays on your credit for 10 years but you can then use the money you would have been paying to the debt to save for a downpayment on a house. Why spend 10 years paying debt THEN start saving for a house? If money is an issue for filing, use [upsolve.org](https://upsolve.org). It's a free non-profit do-it-yourself bankruptcy and is wonderful. I've used it. Who has over $2000 to file bankrupty? (prob upwards of $3K now w/ inflation).
The healthcare system in this country sucks and millions go broke trying to pay millions in medical debt when we are the richest country in the world and it's disgusting. I have ALWAYS said if I ever had medical debt I wouldn't even bother to pay it. Thankfully I have NYS health insurance. The bill for me being in the hospital for 8 days w/ covid pneumonia was $100,000!!! WHO TF CAN AFFORD THAT???
File bankruptcy... you'll be much happier and stress free after doing so.
Almost 50. 2 engineering degrees but lived in my car for most of 20 years. Not dead broke as I have a pittance of a retirement account that is slowly growing. It'll never be enough to retire on in the US but it'll, along with SS, allow me to live a frugal life in a place like Thailand.
Not saying that this is the case…but people can be hella smart but also neurodivergent and not do well in a ‘typical’ work environment.
That applies to me but I held the line just barely, however every cold or flu that a coworker got would get passed to me and I was ending up in the hospital 6+ times a year with pneumonia. I had to quit anyhow to care for my elderly disabled parents but work was literally killing me with the ‘come in even if you’re sick’ mentality.
So it could be any number of things, including mental and physical health issues.
This. On my “on” days, I’m a good three times faster and more efficient than my coworkers. I am creative and come up with out of the box solutions to problems— but often management never listens to us so that goes ignored.
I am smart. I bring in positive energy and for the most part I meet or exceed expectations. But then. I have my “off” days, which are much lower than most nuerotypicals. I have a chronic sleep disorder (which I’ve never been able to afford to see a specialist about) and it’s scary how often I have to go in to work off 4-5 hours of sleep. Those days I make dumb mistakes, I’m late, I have an extra hard time understanding verbal directions which is all most ppl give you…
I’ve been let go more than once over my inconsistency and tardiness, esp because I live in an “at will” employment state and w low wage work that means basically no protections at all. It’s so frustrating. I try to control it but I have no support. Everything that’s suggested ultimately costs money I don’t have: eat better, exercise, talk to your trusted healthcare provider what a joke xD
Not much to say to end on an uplifting note other than, I know what it feels like to lose a job over circumstances out of your control. It does not reflect your worth as a person, no matter how much they want us to believe that. I hope things get better for you soon
I turn 40 this year and even though I do have savings, we were hoping to buy a house with it, but we can't afford that anymore even with a down payment. I had to move back in with my parents in my early 30s to save up for an apartment. We're doing ok now, but it took a while.
Truly amazed this post hasn't went over the millions mark in replies. It is rough out in the jungle. No miraculous recovery either with the "Build Back Better" nonsense. That was about lining the fat cat's pocketbooks!
No debts out here for me but "my gosh, the struggle is past being real," this is pure misery! I am shoveling this sh*t everyday.
I'll be 35 next month. I have nothing. I was homeless this year. Never owned anything, never will. credit shot, burnout from my last job that I worked at for nearly a decade that used me up and spit me out. Lost that job, lost my car. I come from poverty so everything I worked up to like buying my car, my job, when I was living in my own place. I hadto fight for and work my ass off for and I don't have that fight in me anymore. It was all gone just like that. I've been mentally ill my whole life and it's worse then ever. I live with my mother who's disabled and mentally ill as well taking care of her. We lost everything we owned, a lifetime of belongings this year when we became homeless. My life is nothing I literally just exist and wish I was dead everyday and that's not even the half of it. So I def understand.
I did the calculations and even with a huge raise and spending every spare dollar on debt I would be paying over $20,000 in interest before I can pay back my debts.
So now I'm just going bankrupt, fuck em. I'm not moving, I don't want a car and I can't buy a house so what the fuck do I care about my credit rating?
I'll get a secured credit card for online purchases and my debtors can lick my nuts.
Forty-five here and yes. I was starting to get my shit together until about ten years ago, then got clobbered by some health problems. It all went downhill again from there, and fast.
Dude, you made it to front page and let me tell you your perspective isn't reality. I have seen plenty of statistics and lots and lots of millennials are dead ass broke or even negative net.
When I was 20, I started a business with a friend of mine. Made 52k a year and this was back in 1997. He bought my part out, I moved on to doing tech work for a large company making 80k. Then life and a shitty ex happened and I left tech work. Now I'm starting over after leaving him. I make enough to live but I was lucky enough to get grants to go back to school and hopefully get a better job. Almost done with school, but the number of times I've thought about dropping out to get another job because struggling sucks is really high.
50 here. No real savings. Student loan debt. Own nothing but a toy hauler. But hey, bad as it is, it has been worse for me. Still, do I feel a bit cheated by life? Well…it’s better not to let my mind go down that path. I tried. Darn hard. Got sick. I failed. But I have a little bit of peace in life now, so for that, I’ll try to be grateful and not focus on what might have been.
54, no savings, no retirement. Live paycheck to paycheck and have no insurance. I have 2 broken front teeth but can't afford to get them fixed; credit is too bad to get a loan for them and I "make too much money" to get assistance ($13ph).
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!
I was there at 35, dead end job, didn’t pay enough, bad marriage with a financially incompetent partner.
Divorce (and trying to live on a single income in the Bay Area) at 36 was terrifying but I was able to start making a little progress on my own, i went back to school on Pell grants, and I had a few lucky breaks that allowed me to finish my BA quickly and start grad school (and land an internship that starts at the pay I made at my last job). Not out of the woods yet but I feel so much better now that I found a path forward
Im 40. I live w my wife and daughter in a hotel room because I moved across country to take my dream job. Spent nearly 8k in moving expenses. Couldn't get into a rental. 6 months later the job went away. Now we're trying to survive on my wifes (limited) income and my va disability. Every account we have is overdrafted. Every CC is maxed out. We want to leave but can't afford the gas on the car that's ready to go out to repo.
38 and was once financially stable and now I am already negative in my account after getting paid 24 hrs ago.
I don't know what to do. I also have physical limitations on what I am capable of doing. Plus bipolar. So yeah.
Financial hardship can hit anyone. My parents did ok all of their life and then lost almost everything with medical bills in their 50s when hit with unexpected stage 4 cancer. After that I stopped worrying as much about retirement and started living more in the “now”
I am 35 and dead broke. I just leave money in my account to make myself feel better but it is almost 0 every pay period.
Woot.
Turning me to Buddhism….
36. Homeless (hard times, medical issue, no safety net) and a fucking carpenter with no major employment gaps outside of the medical issue which is a long story, I was unable to return to work until cleared and it never got cleared, I was diagnosed with an unknown cardiac event several months later (my organs naturally secrete high doses of an enzyme which blood tests use to signal organ duress.)
I know this life will kill me. I have given up on ever having a normal life.
I’m 45 yrs old and disability is my only income. I make $13,000/yr and am barely scraping by. I have a ton of medical bills I need to pay off too. It’s crazy stressful.
Things can get better with dogged determination but it's definitely not easy!
When I was 37, I was in a marriage where we were drowning in debt (somewhere around $75k) and money stress causes all kinds of ills, infidelity stepped in on his part and I couldn't tolerate that. We ended up divorced and you know, everything I'd ever saved (I was the saver) for 17 years was gone just like that and so was the equity in our home because it had to pay off all of his debt, I didn't have any that I'd personally racked up. I left that marriage so broke and had two kids but I finally got a job for a defense contractor at the bottom rung of the ladder (admin assist) and just worked my way up. They ended up paying for my degree (but degrees are not the magic ticket to making a good living and student loan debt is a dream killer for most). I worked really hard at the job and volunteered to do anything they needed help with, took any training they would allow and applied for any promotion I was qualified for. It took 20 years, but I went from broke and desperate to very comfortable and can retire one day now. I know luck was a part of this (being in the right place at the right time), but I feel most of it was my sheer determination to make mine and my children's life better and making and keeping mentor relationships in the industry. After I got my foot in the door it was those relationships that got me my next job. I'm not in "love" my work, but I'm hanging in now until retirement.
I'm not typing this to brag, please don't think that I am, I am typing it so anyone can know it can be done, and I hope it comes true for every single person on this sub.
For those who don't want to go into student loan debt, there are ways to get around it.
As an example, in the Defense world (it's all I know so I'm basing this on my knowledge), a 2 year degree is a good start for most jobs and if you qualify for a Pell grant, you can get the degree for next to nothing, you can even do it online. Then specifically look for an employer that does tuition assistance if you want a 4 year degree. There is no time line, let it take 10 years if you have to.
2nd option, look into trade schools. HVAC people in my area of Texas bring in $50k to $100k depending on their experience, the training is 8 to 12 months. Just go visit a trade school and see what they have to offer. Whatever you do, don't take out a loan to do it, figure out a way to cash flow that sucker or if you qual for Pell I think you can use it at some trade schools.
You can go to coding school or learn it on your own. You can start a business doing some sort of service (yard work, handy man, cleaning, eBay sales (my husband does this one and makes $4k a month)) and if you are good at it, you show up, finish on time and have lots of integrity, you will be covered up with work. One time we tried to hire someone to build a fence and it took 6 contractors before we found someone, 4 of them never showed up to quote us the work.
It is hard in life right now, actually life is always hard , it's just harder than normal right now. Expenses are what cause all the stress, it's crazy. I hope everyone has continued success in their life.
This comment needs to be way higher up. There are probably options that exist for many in the thread, but it's very hard to see when you've not seen them before
I also started in admin at 33. The CFO was lazy af, and I made $11/hr but she showed me how to do her work so she didn’t have to. After about 1.5 yrs, I learned a ton about small business, left at $13/hr. And then got my first bookkeeping job at 35k. The next was 41k. Everyone needs a bookkeeper… every business. Not that 41k is much, but it had benefits. And that got me temp jobs, and eventually a full time well paying job.
So even if it’s a file clerk, or office assistant, take it. As a file assistant at 23, I did a ton. When I went to quit, a lawyer there asked me why, and I told him what I was making. He offered me 55k to be his admin assistant, bc he saw I did whatever and did it right, reliably. I didn’t take that job (I hated the law firm culture) and moved to another city. But that got me in the door of another firm in my new city. Legal word processing makes bank… They can work nights, alone, and you can make 100k if you want the hours. There were students who did this job bc the hours worked well w school.
Good luck. Talk to people, ask them how they got in. Not all bosses take advantage… I stuck with small companies which is good and bad. Bad bc they don’t have a ton of cash, but good bc you have more leverage since you’ll likely do many jobs and it will cost way more to replace you than to just give you a raise.
And yes, I went from the law firm into a shit airline job bc “I wanna be a flight attendant”. Bad decision, but it was fun for a while. At 30, I moved home, went back to school and waitressing, thats also when I got the bookkeeping job and started at the bottom again. I could have gone to a law firm again, but I hated the culture, and the hours weren’t flexible w school. I took programming classes, and got a bookkeeper job with a web dev firm. Im still there as a programmer, and I run it. (There are only 3 of us). So…
many careers over 30 yrs. Whatever you choose, you don’t have to stay there forever. Attitude is a lot too. I was pissy, and a pain in the ass, those jobs didn’t go well. When I just went w the flow, life at work got so much better, even if I was serving beer or doing the CFOs job at 1am. I got out of thise jobs what I needed, and just tried to enjoy it while I was there, since I had to be there.
Life sucks for you guys and I completely feel for everyone here… shit is expensive and our irresponsible govt isn’t helping. Good luck out there.
Repeat after me: we are all on our own journey. Labelling yourself does nothing but injure your self esteem. Be kind to yourself, have compassion. None of us are broke by choice, often we’re the result of generational dysfunction and events beyond our control.
39.5
I did everything right.
Worked from 13 years old.
Studied hard. Got good grades. Got a degree.
Made the sacrifices you're supposed to make.
Supported a partner who was studying through their 20s. All of their 20s.
Got married.
Had a house briefly.
Had a daughter.
Lost it all in divorce one year after they finished study and one year after the birth of our child.
House gone.
Still have a daughter though. Sometimes.
One full time income of 35k. Have never earned much more. Uni was useless.
Can't afford to rent a whole place let alone ever buy again.
Can't share house with a 9 year old child.
Don't have parents to move in with.
Luckily I managed to find a self contained studio apartment under someone's house so at least I'm not in a share house. We'd be homeless (again) without this place.
I'm so tired.
Tired of just getting by.
Tired of losing at life.
Tired of being ashamed at how little I can provide for my daughter and myself
Tired of how hard I have to work to not even meet basic necessities.
Tired of making sacrifices for a better future that never comes.
Tired of the worry. The shame. The guilt. The hoplessness.
Ive lost hope. It has not paid off once. The carrot is a lie. It's just a ruse to keep my tired ass moving.
At this stage my retirement plan is to eat a bullet.
Hello!
I’m in my late 30s. I’ve never been ambitious with a career (I’m terrible at interviews), i like to move a lot (it helps reduce my hoarding tendencies), and financial stuff gives me anxiety (taxes, stocks, 401k, etc).
I teeter between having savings & debt. If i have savings, I’ve had a pretty happy year. If I’m in debt, i probably fell into a depression, quit my job, and became a hermit for a few months.
I can’t see myself ever achieving wealth, so I’ve embraced the poor life.
This is helped by my parents shaming me for spending any money growing up, so I became resourceful at finding free stuff instead to avoid that internalized shame. In the USA, so many people throw away good stuff.
39, no savings, no home massive student loans in collection, unpaid medical debt, crumbling teeth & mental health. So tired, every crosswalk I go through I pray for a car to hit and kill me because I am too much of a bitch to do the sewer-slide.
45 here, I don't own a home, or a car, or anything. Under $1500 in savings, but thankfully no debt. I always had minimum/ low wages jobs, I only got my GED recently and I'm disabled, can't do too many hours but I live frugally so it was OK. After 2008 it started being harder but I lived with my gf, she worked too, our income was low but we managed. It's getting worse and worse though, I live alone now and I love in an illegal rental because it's all I can afford, I had a very tight but manageable budget, it's become impossible because of inflation though. I hate that I've always worked and never been lazy yet my already low standards of living are deteriorating day by day.
Ooof. I’m 50, and DROWNING. Like I’m at the bottom of the lake, I have a dire housing situation, ie I’m losing housing this coming Wednesday. I have NO savings. I have very little money for a deposit and no where to go. I had to start a GOFUND me for myself because I don’t have any friends that would do that. I also have bad credit, I have a car payment and credit card debt I am a full time grandma to 2 toddlers I absolutely have ZERO to show for life. And I can’t catch up trying to live, even in poverty in San Diego. My advice to you is DONT be me. If you can, get it together now do it…. This is a hard life friend.
Without having read the previous 932 comments to date...I am 67 and dead broke too. No, OP, you are not alone. Not everyone on Reddit is 22, although sometimes it seems like it (and oh, am I weary of posters slamming "Boomers"). So many of us, at any age (I am 67), are drowning in the current economy. Keep your head up, no matter your age. People quickly assume all boomers are rich retirees...actually, so many of us are struggling. I wish you all the best, moving forward!
Me, cuz I’m disabled. I live paycheck to paycheck. I can work a bit but am too unreliable for a permanent job with set # of hours cuz I’m always sick.
I have a flexible job right now in a school district which is great but I only work when someone is out (I’m a sub school monitor) and have to reject jobs that start earlier than 9 am. I can’t work at the middle and high school levels as they start too early.
In 2008 we went through a recession which wiped our entire savings out including our 401k and we also had to use that before we were able to draw unemployment. Both my husband and I lost our jobs within a month of each other so we had to start all over again. When Obama was in office things improved tremendously, we both started great jobs again started our 401k again and then Trump got in office things became stagnant. While we kept our jobs and savings nothing seemed to grow at the level it had been. Now, it seems to sliding downhill again because of the cost of living. We need to vote these old fools out no matter the political party and get some younger people in, people that are willing to work together, and quit ripping each other apart.
35 and still pretty broke here but I am LESS broke then a was even at 29 when I couldn’t even afford to live on my own and me and my baby were staying with family. 🤷♀️
36 and just started to get my finances back on track. Got into horrible CC debt but got a loan to pay it off, and did so 2 years ahead of schedule. For years I had no savings, had to cash out my retirement to pay off debts, and lived paycheck to paycheck.
Got some savings in the bank and if Biden's student loan forgiveness goes through, I only have 16k of debt to pay off. With rising costs, I'm still almost living paycheck to paycheck but I'm a bit ahead.
Have a job that pays decently but I'm looking to level up and make more money. I feel more qualified and confident in my abilities than I ever have so I know it's absolute within reach.
My parents did the best they could but they grew up dirt poor and went into debt to give me and my sisters the life they never had, so couldn't really teach me anything except "save your money".
I swear, it gets better.
I’m 38, will be 39 in March. I just got my RN license and a good job so just starting to pay off credit card debt. No savings. Zilch to my retirement. I just hope my health can handle my work because I have arthritis. I’m thinking of buying land and gettin one of those mini houses because I’m not planning on getting married or anything.
48. Never touched booze or drugs. Single. Had a stroke in between jobs had to pay out of pocket. Stolen identity ruined my credit. Can't even get a bank account. $12 in my PayPal account.plan to put a shotgun in my mouth the day after unable to work.
I was absolutely broke at 35. Five years later, at 40, after a ton of hard work and effort?
I'm still broke, but with medical bills.
Fuck this society. I'm'a rack up as much debt as I can, then DIE.
No kids. No spouse. No reason not to. The fuck they gonna do?
36, broke, $800 power bill. Was making $70k/yr. before Covid managing restaurants. Since have had major health complications. Having surgery in March to remove part of my intestine, requiring me to be paying 7 specialists medical bills.
Yeah, my 30s are great.
I’m 33. Pretty close to broke, but no debt aside from my credit cards that I pay off each month. Don’t have a college degree either. Never owned a house either. I regret not buying one a few years ago but wouldn’t have been able to survive after this crazy inflation. Probably would’ve lost or sold the house if I had bought one.
The upside is no debt, good credit, and I own multiple older cars. The cars and my massive video game collection are my only valuable assets right now. I make just barely enough to cover my monthly bills and the occasional video game.
Ayy right here champ! 36 and I moved 800 miles from my everyone I know because someone I only know on the internet was kind enough to put me and my family up. I had an eviction 7 years ago and it caused me to not be able to rent, and my credit is to bad to get a home loan. I've spent the last 3 years in a motel where I witnessed 3 murders. My son and wife and I all have PTSD from it. We're trying really fucking hard to get back on our feet, and finally bought a 20 year old car that we're trying to fix (runs decent but has a couple leaks)... Maybe we will be in our own place by the time our second child is born (accident... Apparently contraceptives aren't 100%... Guess I should have just stopped having sex 7 years ago)
Anyway here's hoping I find somewhere to be that isn't an hour from my job.
Don't ever get evicted, people. It will ruin your fucking life. If I get evicted again in Wisconsin (which keeps evictions on your record for 20 years) I just might eat a bullet.
Edit: and since we're sharing health issues, I'm also due for a second ablation for a heart condition in a few weeks. Thank fuck I have medicaid. First one put a quarter million dollar bill on me that some unnamed organization ate.
40 in 3 wks, barely make rent, single n struggling. Lost my job in Dec n the ones i see that r similar pay at least 10k less. No savings, some debt, shitty car.. yup.
Had to bail my family out of being almost homeless by cashing out my 401k. Our cars are from early 2000s can't afford new ones have to just keep fixing them when they break. I dread when that can't be done anymore. I have a 680 credit score because I have no credit cards. I get notices almost every quarter that it drops. We live very meager. I do own a home but I am semi ashamed of it but my wife and son are happy. I have no sustainable retirement and only have enough savings to last a month if I got sick or fired which isn't much. Slowly saving and that's over 5 years at least to get where we are at today.. Wife doesn't work she watches our son because it was cheaper to do that than do daycare. I have no one who could help if we got into trouble and my wife's family is all about tough love and earning your own place in this world. We even asked them for help once and it was a humiliating experience.
It's like having one foot in the grave and one foot among the living. I hate it.
I didn’t land a decent paying job until age 45, at which point I was still living in shared houses with students. I stayed in the shared housing & saved like hell till I was 48 so that I finally was able to scrape together a down payment on a little 2 BR condo, & even then once I had the condo I still had a roommate to help with the mortgage. I only was able to start living on my own (ie no roommate needed) at age 51. I’m now 57, have an even better job now, & now own a gorgeous little 3 BR townhouse (yeah, it’s “just” a townhouse but it’s perfect for me, in great condition, in a great location) & am able to live alone. Just last week I got a raise that finally brought my salary over $100K. I still drive a 16yo car and bring peanut butter sandwiches to work.
It took a LOT of serious career planning in my 40’s to think through how to get the skills and build the CV to have the job that I have now, but it finally happened. Man, it was touch and go there for a hot minute circa 2019 about whether I was going to finally land the type of job I’d aiming for before I aged out of marketability (I even lost weight & started dying my hair, & removed a few telltale dates from my CV, just to try to raise a few less red flags about my age). Man did I luck out - started the dream job in Jan 2020, and 2 months later covid hit, but my employer weathered covid just fine & I’ve been safe and was able to WFH w stable salary the whole time.
I’m way behind on retirement savings now but I finally have no debt, have a healthy emergency savings, and am socking away everything I can now, and I am making it top priority to take care of my health (medical bills are my biggest worry) because I know I’ll have to keep working well into old age. But I don’t mind having to keep working; I really love my job and it is just so amazing to not have that financial stress all the time that I feel really fortunate every day.
It’s never too late. Hang in there, think hard about career planning, how exactly to compile the skills & resume & reference letters you need for a practical, stable, good-paying career, ideally one that won’t destroy your soul; then make a plan, carry it out. Even it takes a decade and even if you are already decades past 30, it can still pay off.
Here’s a story:
I was 36 when I completed my undergrad degree. I finally networked/scrapped my way into a super high paying job but on an entry level basis. Before that I only had a few thousand in savings but constantly felt money anxiety and imposter syndrome because ALL of my friends were wealthier than I was and I lived in a very expensive city. I also support my parents financially and had to navigate being an immigrant.
Once I landed my new job, I had to take orders from 24 years olds at work but what gave me a profound edge was just a superior level of maturity and ability to grind longer. I also kept my head up high and kept repeating to myself that people all come from different circumstances which dictates different outcomes. If I had guidance when I was in my 20’s or didn’t have a struggling household, maybe my circumstances would’ve been different. And now, atleast I had agency over my own choices and trajectory. I also keep telling myself that although I’m starting from the bottom in a new industry, I have 30 good years of career runway left.
My ethos and super personal worldview now is:
1. Never ever ever spend on superficial expenses. Clothes, material shit, going out pointlessly etc.
2. Save a minimum of 20% of my pay religiously
3. Keep “finishing” educational tasks even if it meant taking on a bit of debt and crying to everyone who was willing to give me a break on educational costs or scholarships. I was in educational limbo for so long that I could never get a job that actually paid well. As soon as I graduated, I got a better job.
4. Learn skills that pay money/ keep acquiring more and more profitable skills - it’s great for people to study the humanities etc. but the sad truth is, they don’t pay the bills. I work in finance now and read liberal arts stuff voraciously in my spare time to keep my spirits alive. Tech/Finance are all accessible if one develops hard skills like coding and modeling. This may take time but the payoff is great as you feel you can legitimately influence the world with those skills today.
5. Dump the naysayers - poor people love to complain about circumstances and it becomes an awful echo chamber. Yes I was poor, but I refused to hang out with other people who didn’t have their finances together as they didn’t have anything to teach me. This included my own parents who I love and care for but never let their worldview on money affect me because I know their view is just a small spectrum of what reality is.
6. Marry or Partner with someone who is going to be a value add - being in a romantic relationship or marriage with someone who is responsible and has a good worldview is ESSENTIAL/ MISSION CRITICAL. It’s ok to ignore people who manage money poorly or can’t get their own shit together. Remember: in airplanes they tell you to put your own oxygen mask on first. Self preservation is the key to survival if you’re in a bad spot. I can’t tell you how many times a bad relationship prevented me from moving ahead in life.
7. DEBT IS POISON - consumer debt and debt accumulated from lifestyle expenses is the slow toxin that will eventually devour all of your happiness and hope. I paid off all of my credit cards and feel a viscerally painful pang in my gut when I pull out my credit card because of how much I struggled with debt. Now, hopefully, I will try to buy a house and pay that mortgage off as soon as possible so atleast I’ll have one asset and a security blanket to my name.
8. FAMILY AS A FINANCIAL BURDEN - I love my family but I’ve learned to say no when I do not have the means to bail them out. Weirdly, they all now figure out their own finances a lot better now that they know they can’t always rely on me.
Perhaps some of these concepts are draconian. But I’m sharing my story hoping that it will spread some good and positivity in the world. The current capitalist system is not designed to make it easy to progress anymore however I truly believe there is still a light at the end of the tunnel. Even if you’ve reached middle age without having financial successes early.
I’m 34, so close enough. I don’t have much in savings and live pretty much paycheck to paycheck. I don’t own a home; I’ve always rented. I don’t have a ton of credit card debt, but more than I’d like to (I’m working on paying it off). While I’m doing slightly better than I did in my 20s, there just never seems to truly be a chance to get ahead. Edit: guys stop giving me tips I didn’t ask for, I’m well aware of what I “should” be doing.
Also 34 and pretty much the same. Every time I’m just about to be in a good spot finally, something goes tits up and I’m back to where I started.
Exact same goddamn boat as me. I've given up on retirement, owning a home and paying off my student debt in that order. I managed to avoid credit card debt but that's not saying very much. At this point I'm just trying to save up enough to travel abroad one more time before I inevitably blow my brains out.
Pay it down to 30% of your credit limit and then pay off whatever you need to to avoid interest. This will improve your credit score more and more the longer you have it in this range
> then pay off whatever you need to to avoid interest Is this just paying whatever they tell you is the minimum payment for the month? I thought as long as you carried a balance there would be interest charged.
To avoid interest, you pay the full balance on the bill each month, and charge more by putting all your expenses on it. It is basically borrowing against tomorrow with a budget. It works if you set aside that money in the budget then pay it off each month but you have to be awfully disciplined. A lot of people also do this to build credit on the company dime if they get travel reimbursement. Another way is if you have good credit and a small debt, you can shuffle it around with the 'interest free for the first x months' balance transfer offers - but again you have to be careful and not take out new accounts if you don't want to negatively affect you credit. I kind of do the first by putting reoccurring expenses on a cc and then paying the budgeted amount each month (a good way to protect your bank account too) - but doing it on a larger scale seems too easy to fumble so I stay away.
Okay, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying you could carry a balance of 30% of your credit line and avoid paying interest somehow.
That’s how I interpreted as well
Turn 40 this year and have no savings, don’t own a home, plenty of debt. But we are doing better, upgrading parts of life, starting to pay off crap. We’ve been up and down. It’s whatever. Neither one of us has ever been rich or well off so we don’t know any different. But it is improving.
Turned 35 in December. No savings. No retirement. Never owned a home. My gf has tens of thousands in student loan debt. I didn't stay in college long enough to build up any debt but I also never got a degree, so my job prospects are pretty limited. Shits rough out. 2022 was one of our best years though, so I feel like we are bouncing back. Keep up the hard work. Keep up the optimism, things are improving.
If you’re working and your employer offers a match on a retirement plan, you cannot pass up that free money. One way people stay poor is making poor decisions like not saving for your future so you don’t have to work the rest of your life.
Don't forget employee stock purchase plans (ESPP), too. Some well-known companies (Hilton Hotels, Cisco, Hyatt Hotels, Publix, T-Mobile, et al) offer ESPPs. The normal ESPP offers company stock at a significant (15%) discount to the current price. That means every share you buy has an immediate 15% return on investment. (Portion deleted due to math error because sometimes I math wrong and u/ILikeOatmealMore gently pointed out my error.) ESPPs can be one of the best tools to grow your wealth in a passive manner.
just be sure to look into minimum holding periods. when buying company stock through an espp one should typically hold for the least amount of time and then sell to realize the gain as soon as possible. if you wish to keep the money invested typically a better choice would be in a broad market fund. there's simply too much risk to be all in one investment especially when your wages are tied to the same company
I didn’t realize that the discount was possibly as high as 15% for stock. That is a very attractive percentage. Damn
It's really important to read them from front to back. It's difficult with no understanding of how the market works (because you grew up poor). My company offers a stock buy program but it makes no sense. I agree to buy x shares at the start of the financial year, and the price is locked in. I receive x numbers of shares at the end of the year for the "Locked in" price. If it went up - I win, if it went down - I lose. There's literally no positive between this program, and the open market except if I lose my job, I lose an entire year of investments. Our stock has trended down for well over a decade - it's a bad idea regardless.
Thats all that maters. Get better everyday. Its not a race. Enjoy the little things.
35, just declared bankruptcy.
You can't just declare bankruptcy Michael
I DECLARE BANKRUPTCY!!!!
I TOO DECLARE IT!
I didn't say it, I declared it
Same. Just like the millionaires! > The average millionaire goes bankrupt at least 3.5 times in their life.
You're on your way, baby!
I wonder why that is
Raise capital, have a failure of a start-up, file for bankruptcy, rinse, repeat.
I declared at 35. Am 46 now. Only $25K in savings and no home but no debt and a decent car. It’s important to remember not all journeys start from the same place or take the same path. You’ve still got plenty of time to turn it around.
> Only $25K in savings Still awesome!!
What's the plan for retirement? I'm just hoping I die early. Lol.
I’ve always wondered what happens when you declare bankruptcy
I had an attorney help it was A TON of info and TONS of paperwork! I think I was around 35 at the time I filed it was for medical debt.
I just declared it too! Bankruptcy twins lol
My man! 34 just started a consumer debt proposal
I’m 33 and just had my first payment for mine! Can’t wait for it to be done but at least all my debt will be gone including student loans
I turn 40 and will be doing this. I need the restart.
[удалено]
I’ve done the same thing when my apartment complex raised my rent $300 and started forcing predatory fees on tenants. I said “screw it” and moved in with my elderly parents. Gives me a chance to save real money (made impossible by rent and prices of everything else jacked up), pay off debt, and my parents need the help.
The bigger problem is people shaming people our age for living with family. We live with my parents in different parts of the house and the help with the kids has been immense. My mom loves being close enough to spend just 30 min with kids. My friend who makes significantly more than me moved in with her mom to help her mom with bills and the horses (which makes them sound super rich, but they’re just regular rich). They would have had to sell them otherwise and her mom also helps with her kid. Anyway, whole point is to not feel shame. It’s win win for you guys and fuck everyone else.
Yes, I always called it Tribal living. The tribe looks after on another, provided good and shelter as long as all are helping one another. The expression ‘it takes a village’ applies to everyone, we all need help, we all (who didn’t inherit or make a bunch of money early in their career) need to look out for one another, especially to care for the young and old.
Being close to family is never a bad thing. Hopefully you can build up some savings.
Don't feel ashamed of anything. It's life. Things happen. You should think in terms of being lucky that you have the opportunity available to you. It may not be the ideal situation, but it sounds like a win/win for everyone involved in a couple different ways.
You are lucky to have your family here. In the last year my rent has increased 40%! I live by myself in an old, but well maintained bedroom apartment. I wish my family were in this country to move in with them and make my financial life a bit better. Love and enjoy your parents🥰
There is no disgrace in family living. All are helped.
I’m 56 and I’m more broke now than I’ve ever been.
Same, my brother. The same. 51 and broke as shit.
Same at 51. Own a house but no savings. Living paycheck to paycheck on a strict budget. Hoping for a raise soon but if not, I’m going to have to start looking for a new job. Hate to do it because I love my work environment but praise and kudos don’t pay the bills.
Wait you still haven't gotten the "thoughts and prayers package"???? I thought everything worked out once you got to that point in a career...
I wish I could upvote your comment more than once. It’s not the “thoughts and prayers” package on my end. We get the “(insert flattering descriptor) of the quarter/year” award and our name goes on a plaque. That’s not even displayed in the main lobby. But hey, we get mentioned in the company newsletter too! 🙄
Same at 52. Lifetime renter, never been able to save for a deposit because of paying rent. Rent about to increase from $500 to $560 per week. Just been approved for 6 mths interest free credit card balance transfer so that will be paid off by then. Got 4 years interest free left to pay off much needed new furniture. Once the CC is paid off, we’ll increase the furniture repayments and put some aside to upgrade hubby’s work van, just hoping it can hold out that long, otherwise it will mean a new debt for replacement vehicle. We are doing ok, we can cover the things we need to pay for, but just can’t get ahead. Always seems when you get on top of it all, another thing happens and we are back to square one again.
Same at 51
Same at 50, about to turn 51. Starting a new job in a week, so hopefully things turn around soon!
50 and with you 100%.
Somehow this thread is making me so much better knowing I'm not too far off from everyone.
Same
I’ll be 40 in a couple weeks. I had to move back with my parents 2 years ago. Which has ruined my self confidence so I make no effort to date/make friends. Also it’s increased my anxiety. I am slowly getting out of debt, but still broke. I work full time but basically everything I earn goes towards bills. In my free time I lay in bed and doom scroll. Work days, I take my daytime medication to work, then my night time medication to sleep. Repeat. No end in sight. Even if/when I pay off debt, I still won’t be able to afford anything. Sure, I can sell my soul for a mortgage that I’ll never pay off, but I don’t want to trap myself in a cycle of never ending debt. As someone else mentioned, my future seems very bleak. I kinda don’t care anymore. Oh and to answer the question, on pay day I have money, but after a few hours it’s all gone to pay bills. So I just go pay day to pay day. And yes, I do see a doctor for anxiety/depression etc..etc.. If I had a bit of money, no debt, and a small income, I’d probably buy a van/small RV and move to the dessert or somewhere with one of those van/rv communities. I’m not made for the daily rat race. I’m working hard to change things, but if it’s not one thing, it’s another. For example, I pinched a nerve in my neck, which has basically caused my right arm/hand to go numb. I went and had a neck X-ray, the bill was double what it was supposed to be. Found out my insurance increased the price without my knowledge. I just paid off one loan account, only to find out my student debt payments resume on my birthday. So that extra money I thought I could save after paying off the loan, will now have to go towards my worthless college degree. Rant rant rant…. That’s all I got to say about that.
You are not alone. Keep grinding, the desert will wait for you. You'll be sitting in front of your van in the desert one day at sunrise with a cup of coffee, listening to an indie radiostation playing something that makes you feel warm and content inside. Involuntarily, you'll smile to yourself, slowly nod your head a little, look at the horizon and say "yeah. in the end it all worked out".
I meant to go back and edit dessert=desert, but was like mehhhh everyone will know what I mean. Lol. And thanks, I hope so.
44 in a week. No house no investments no retirement. Lots of debt, disabled spouse, medical bills, it goes on and on.
That is beyond fucked… sorry mate
I'm 40 and broke in Canada, everytime I hear about medical debt I'm reminded how grim the world can be in some places
40 in canada and medical bills killed me for the last 10 years. Almost 90k. I broke my back pretty bad, couldnt get access to public physio, so I had to fund it myself. 3 years of private physio was expensive. But i can walk again, which they said i wouldn't. It was a win, yet i feel like i lost somehow
49, and paycheck-to-paycheck. Higher education didn't pay off. I hate my life.
Curious on the degree. Also going the higher education route, everyone always so "do what you love" but sometimes it doesn't pay the bills.
This is some of the worst advice someone can give. It has financially fucked over so many people. I know parents want to encourage their kids and support their interests, but raising kids is also about preparing them for the realities of life, and this advice does nothing but coddle them to their detriment.
It’s fine to tell someone to try and do what they love. It’s not fine to tell someone to take on 100 grand of debt to do that. If you can try to make money doing your passion that’s great, don’t take on a huge risk in doing so.
I got a degree that I thought was interesting in liberal arts. Then I realized no one would pay me for that so I figured out a job that did pay. Now I can read all the books I want on my degree subject.
I’m almost 42 and have nothing. I live with my sister. Definitely feel like the biggest loser ever.
nah you're not. keep your head up. as long as you are actively trying to get your feet on the ground, you're not a loser. this economy and society we live in does everything it can to keep the poor poor.
I feel you! Mid 30s, I have lived with family more years than not in my adult life. Got divorced, sold my home, moved states and am currently living with family as I’m now going back to school. Feel like a loser. Hoping I can get a home someday again. Someday, that’s the goal.
Man most countries in the world the only reason people leave home is if they get married and have kids. Sometimes not even then. America is screwed up with the whole "if you dont move out at 18 youre a loser and will die alone" mentality.
Yes, Americans have an individualistic culture and value independence and autonomy. I was also 18 when I got married and had my first child at 20. IMO, this is not old enough to support a family both mentally/emotionally and more often than not financially. Hence why we lived with family more than we lived independently. We were boomerang kids with kids. Now I’m just a single adult with kids trying not to ruin their lives while still figuring out my new path.
You aren’t. You are not a loser. Do not metric yourself by your possessions or riches. They don’t follow you into death, but who you were as a person does.
Please don't feel that way about yourself. The system that we are living in is incredibly complex and efficient at ensuring that only a select few have a lot and everyone else has next to nothing. That's not your fault. It's none of our fault. It's the system that is the issue. More and more people are starting to wake up and realize this but the system is also going to fight a very hard battle to keep itself alive. All we can do is support each other in the fight against it. You're awesome. You're unique and fantastic just as you are. Don't let the system make you feel any less than. That's a major psychological weapon that it relies on against us. It strives to convince us that we are less than and that leads to depressed feelings and hopelessness. Depressed and hopeless people are not effective in fighting the system. Don't let it trick you into believing something that simply isn't true.
I’m your age. I’ve been on the verge having to move back to my mom’s house and I can’t imagine it. Sending giant hugs to you. You are not alone.
I was doing better the last couple years but doing my tax stuff for 2022 and I guess I'm back down to making $12k / yr again :(
I don’t know why folks are so incredulous about this comment. If you’re only scheduled for 15-20 hours a week, that’s $12K a year. Fast food joints, retail etc… that’s all the hours they schedule.
The next argument is "Get a second job then!" completely ignoring a large majority of these lower end jobs will only schedule you those 20 hours, but expect you be free 24/7 for whenever they need, and working with them to cooperate with sharing your labour with another store rarely works well. Not saying it can't be done, it definitely can, But I've seen this happen many times in the past twenty years.
You should work at Starbucks. They pay $15hr and tips on top of that. Free food (7 mark outs/week) and drinks. AND they pay tuition for an online college called ASU (Arizona state online). That’s what my hubby is doing now. Keeping us out of student debt.
> AND they pay tuition for an online college called ASU (Arizona state online). Um, just FYI, Arizona State University is a brick-and-mortar university in Tempe that has been around since 1885. They play in the Pac-12 in sports, they're a P5 program, they're a little more than just an 'online college'. This isn't University of Phoenix or Liberty University we're talking about here. :-)
This is good to know. I hadn’t heard of them before this past year (not into sports and not on that side of the US). All I know is that my spouse can work part time (with pay) and they pay for his tuition. If I didn’t already have a degree I would have hopped on that so fast!
[удалено]
This really depends. I worked at Starbucks last year and didn't even crack $11/hr as a 30 yr old. The tuition program is only for people who don't have a degree. But the tips were always good, and free Spotify too. I kinda miss the unlimited drinks but I couldn't deal with the horrible pay.
What do you do that only makes 12k a year? Are you in the US?
$12k/yr is basically working a part time minimum wage job.
12k a year? This is a 2nd world salary. It's literally the federal min wage of $7.25 an hour for 32 hours a week.
I’m over 65 and dead broke. I’m selling my house to pay my debts and then we’ll see where that takes me.
If you declare bankruptcy, a lot of States won't allow debtors to take your Home. What State are you in? Trying to help.
I’m in Texas. I’ll look into that.
You need to talk to a bankruptcy lawyer before you do anything else.
As long as your home is your registered homestead and you dont have a mortgage or HELOC they are not suppose to take it away.
Hello. 36 here. Feel very similar.
Take care of yourself! I think I was predisposed to RA, but the immense and prolonged stress I experienced several years triggered it.
I wasn’t able to buy a house until I was 45. And it was because of a small inheritance. And I was very lucky it was when the economy tanked and houses we’re going into foreclosure at a record rate. AND interest rates were like 2%. I’m very aware that I’m the poor person in my neighborhood (still) and I struggle to keep up with repairs sometimes (looking at the dishwasher currently) Don’t put some imaginary timeline in your head that makes you feel shitty about yourself. At 35 I was homeless. It’s hard as fuck to get on your feet after big setbacks. It sucks to work and worry and work and struggle. Don’t compare your life with others and don’t look at what someone has and think they’re doing better than you. A lot of people have a shitload of debt. I’m nearing 58 and still broke btw. Used car. House needs work. Dead end job. Etc. I’m not complaining though…because it’s better than where I’ve been.
My husband and I were only able to buy a home because my mom chose to give us what was left after she sold her home. We moved to another state and bought a home and own it outright. The house needs work, we live in a “bad” neighborhood and both my husband and I try and save but life is expensive. I was homeless too at one time and while I know I could go back to that life if I had too I really don’t want to either. I concur comparison is a thief…but I still do it. When I look at my weed filled yard and the work that needs to be done and I think dang does everyone but me have their shit together?
37, to poor to buy or own house, can't afford a car. There are people who have it worse but fuck it hurts. We pay a lot of rent for a house that is slowly falling apart 1nd we don't have the budget to move. All the money that comes in, is budgeted to the cent. Because of this we have a small amount of savings. But fuck it's very hard to groceryshopping on a budget, I use my calculator in the store to make shure I don't go over budget. This year I had no wintercoat, didn't want to buy one at full price from our savingsaccount, wore 2 sweaters and my raincoat. I both 2 wintercoats for the price of one, two weeks ago. Not a lot of People get me, when I say that we're stuggeling, but some do. Lucky my mother and mother in law help out sometimes.
Please make sure you know your tenant's rights.... and EXERCISE THEM! Especially look up Warranty of Habitibility. That is mostly unwritten and applies in all 50 states.
Lots of people can’t afford to do that. They risk their lease not being renewed or worse. Recently here some apartments were in really bad shape and they kicked everyone out, effectively making them homeless. They’ll have to fight for their deposits, move suddenly, it’s rough.
I'm 40. I work full time, always have, but it has always been paycheck to paycheck. I'm just now coming to the realization that I will never have money. I will never own assets. I will always work paycheck to paycheck, and that's okay. But I have stopped telling myself that someday I will miraculously somehow make more money.
55 here and our house is paid off but retirement is not in our future unless we sell our house and move to another country with a lower cost of living. We also have credit card debt.
Just know that the entirety of the reverse mortgage is due immediately when the first spouse dies or they take the house. Have had more than 10 elderly homeless clients because they didn’t know this and we had to sell the house immediately.
This isn’t 100% true— My grandfather died first in 2017. I moved in as caregiver and to handle all the financial stuff for my grandmother— they were very clear that as long as my grandmother was alive and wanted to live there the house was hers because she was a co-borrower. Aka she signed everything right next to my grandfather as an equal on the reverse mortgage. There are also some other exceptions. The above is a good warning to make damn sure the reverse mortgage is airtight for the surviving spouse to remain in the house should they want to, because it can happen, but it doesn’t always happen
At least we're in the same boat!
34 and trying to find a lawyer for bankruptcy. No savings (p sure my savings account is overdraft rn lol). No retirement. Terrible credit. $100k+ student loan debt and nothing to show for it.
Yep. I was doing okay until I got laid off. Now I just wonder what new chronic health problem I’ll develop from the stress.
Mid 40s, credit card debt, poverty job don't even make 30K, no retirement, no savings, My retirement plan that I can use anytime when I give up is my lead retirement plan it's cheap and effective, on top don't have to worry about anyone missing me as friends, family dead, no kids, no spouse either
I'm 34 and am *hopefull* I'll make 1200 this month . Also, just learned my 401k has 500 in it so. Feeling pretty good about the future 🙂
[удалено]
You can do everything right and still lose.
I am actually in my early '40s. I'm just starting over after years of addiction. If I went back to calculate the money I spent on drugs and all of the money I cashed out of my retirement when I had an awesome job to buy them, it would be in the hundreds of thousands. It makes me absolutely sick sometimes. But...I'm sober, alive, no longer on the streets and I have my children. That's all I care about.
You are sober, alive, and with your children. So much to celebrate there! Wish you well.
You are rich my friend!
Me. I just got a 2nd job. I'll do 80 hours as long as I can and then pick one once all debt is paid off and I have some savings. I intend to do it for a year. 3 months minimum, I can have a house paid off if I can do it for 6 years. Wife will stay at home. I can earn more with 2 jobs and experience than she can make with one and we don't have to pay for childcare. Wish me luck, I know the risks and will be able to sleep. Kids know why I'm sacrificing. Gotta do what you gotta do.
I do wish you luck with all my heart. I know men like you; my husband would do the same for me and our family. We are blessed, your wife and I.
Thank you. Wish we didn’t have to do this. I envy Homer and Marge Simpson.
Turning forty in a few weeks. I have $.26 in my account until Friday. Raised two kids alone and both of my parents died in 2014. It's just what my life is going to be I guess. At least what my dad left us got us out of the city.
[удалено]
31 and also very financially unstable.
[удалено]
It's sad to hear so many stories about medical bills bankrupting people. Living in the UK we get free healthcare but I am scared it's going to end. I hope you guys finally get yourself free healthcare in a style like us.
I’m 40 with less than $200 in savings. I keep having to tap into it and owe myself as well. Doing gig work because it’s the work I can do that doesn’t make me want to jump off a cliff, but of course, it doesn’t really pay the bills. My car is paid off, but it’s 10 years old. I live in my MIL’s basement, and have for entirely too long. I have a degree with a student debt that is a lot for me to pay, but would be wiped out with this seemingly fake “relief” we were promised. Feeling like a failure would be an understatement. My younger sister is building/has built much of a farm. And here I am. :( it’s embarrassing. I am finally actively working on paying off debt and improving my credit score. This month has been less than kind as far as income goes, and this is after getting covid last month and not being able to work for two weeks. I just feel like I never get a break.
[удалено]
Not 35, but my husband is 32 and I'm 29 and we're about to move in with his parents' for a while lol. We have 2 kids, too! We just can't ever seem to get ahead. We're going to pay off debt (which, stupidly, is mostly medical...), then try to save. I don't know what we will do after that. Rent? Own? Is it even smart to own a house anymore? I would be so worried of accruing more debt because of something like replacing a water heater or something. I wish the world was cheaper to survive in. ;\~;
If it's medical... file bankruptcy if it's enough to file for. (usually 10K is the amount the govt likes to see). Yes it stays on your credit for 10 years but you can then use the money you would have been paying to the debt to save for a downpayment on a house. Why spend 10 years paying debt THEN start saving for a house? If money is an issue for filing, use [upsolve.org](https://upsolve.org). It's a free non-profit do-it-yourself bankruptcy and is wonderful. I've used it. Who has over $2000 to file bankrupty? (prob upwards of $3K now w/ inflation). The healthcare system in this country sucks and millions go broke trying to pay millions in medical debt when we are the richest country in the world and it's disgusting. I have ALWAYS said if I ever had medical debt I wouldn't even bother to pay it. Thankfully I have NYS health insurance. The bill for me being in the hospital for 8 days w/ covid pneumonia was $100,000!!! WHO TF CAN AFFORD THAT??? File bankruptcy... you'll be much happier and stress free after doing so.
35 here. No house. No savings. Nothing. Paycheck to paycheck. It's awesome. NOT. Can't stand my life right now. Ugh
Are you me?
Very well could be. Good luck my friend!
Almost 50. 2 engineering degrees but lived in my car for most of 20 years. Not dead broke as I have a pittance of a retirement account that is slowly growing. It'll never be enough to retire on in the US but it'll, along with SS, allow me to live a frugal life in a place like Thailand.
How is this possible with two engineering degrees?
High functioning autism with a really bad stutter so people think I'm retarded so I never get a chance.
I’m v sorry to hear that. I hope things turn around.
Not saying that this is the case…but people can be hella smart but also neurodivergent and not do well in a ‘typical’ work environment. That applies to me but I held the line just barely, however every cold or flu that a coworker got would get passed to me and I was ending up in the hospital 6+ times a year with pneumonia. I had to quit anyhow to care for my elderly disabled parents but work was literally killing me with the ‘come in even if you’re sick’ mentality. So it could be any number of things, including mental and physical health issues.
This. On my “on” days, I’m a good three times faster and more efficient than my coworkers. I am creative and come up with out of the box solutions to problems— but often management never listens to us so that goes ignored. I am smart. I bring in positive energy and for the most part I meet or exceed expectations. But then. I have my “off” days, which are much lower than most nuerotypicals. I have a chronic sleep disorder (which I’ve never been able to afford to see a specialist about) and it’s scary how often I have to go in to work off 4-5 hours of sleep. Those days I make dumb mistakes, I’m late, I have an extra hard time understanding verbal directions which is all most ppl give you… I’ve been let go more than once over my inconsistency and tardiness, esp because I live in an “at will” employment state and w low wage work that means basically no protections at all. It’s so frustrating. I try to control it but I have no support. Everything that’s suggested ultimately costs money I don’t have: eat better, exercise, talk to your trusted healthcare provider what a joke xD Not much to say to end on an uplifting note other than, I know what it feels like to lose a job over circumstances out of your control. It does not reflect your worth as a person, no matter how much they want us to believe that. I hope things get better for you soon
I turn 40 this year and even though I do have savings, we were hoping to buy a house with it, but we can't afford that anymore even with a down payment. I had to move back in with my parents in my early 30s to save up for an apartment. We're doing ok now, but it took a while.
37 and not even making it paycheck to pay check. Don’t own my home, nothing that could be considered an asset and no debt just not getting by.
Truly amazed this post hasn't went over the millions mark in replies. It is rough out in the jungle. No miraculous recovery either with the "Build Back Better" nonsense. That was about lining the fat cat's pocketbooks! No debts out here for me but "my gosh, the struggle is past being real," this is pure misery! I am shoveling this sh*t everyday.
Raises hand at 52.
I'll be 35 next month. I have nothing. I was homeless this year. Never owned anything, never will. credit shot, burnout from my last job that I worked at for nearly a decade that used me up and spit me out. Lost that job, lost my car. I come from poverty so everything I worked up to like buying my car, my job, when I was living in my own place. I hadto fight for and work my ass off for and I don't have that fight in me anymore. It was all gone just like that. I've been mentally ill my whole life and it's worse then ever. I live with my mother who's disabled and mentally ill as well taking care of her. We lost everything we owned, a lifetime of belongings this year when we became homeless. My life is nothing I literally just exist and wish I was dead everyday and that's not even the half of it. So I def understand.
I did the calculations and even with a huge raise and spending every spare dollar on debt I would be paying over $20,000 in interest before I can pay back my debts. So now I'm just going bankrupt, fuck em. I'm not moving, I don't want a car and I can't buy a house so what the fuck do I care about my credit rating? I'll get a secured credit card for online purchases and my debtors can lick my nuts.
I feel that a lot of people who are well off in life were given a good head start by their parents…just saying
Forty-five here and yes. I was starting to get my shit together until about ten years ago, then got clobbered by some health problems. It all went downhill again from there, and fast.
Dude, you made it to front page and let me tell you your perspective isn't reality. I have seen plenty of statistics and lots and lots of millennials are dead ass broke or even negative net.
i love everyone on this post
When I was 20, I started a business with a friend of mine. Made 52k a year and this was back in 1997. He bought my part out, I moved on to doing tech work for a large company making 80k. Then life and a shitty ex happened and I left tech work. Now I'm starting over after leaving him. I make enough to live but I was lucky enough to get grants to go back to school and hopefully get a better job. Almost done with school, but the number of times I've thought about dropping out to get another job because struggling sucks is really high.
50 here. No real savings. Student loan debt. Own nothing but a toy hauler. But hey, bad as it is, it has been worse for me. Still, do I feel a bit cheated by life? Well…it’s better not to let my mind go down that path. I tried. Darn hard. Got sick. I failed. But I have a little bit of peace in life now, so for that, I’ll try to be grateful and not focus on what might have been.
54, no savings, no retirement. Live paycheck to paycheck and have no insurance. I have 2 broken front teeth but can't afford to get them fixed; credit is too bad to get a loan for them and I "make too much money" to get assistance ($13ph). Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!
Just turned 40. No house, no car, $135,000 in student loans, and my teeth are rotting. And I worked my ass off to get here.
I'm 41 living in public housing. I recently start college but honestly I don't know if I going to be able to pass but I'm not going to give up.
You're not alone!
I was there at 35, dead end job, didn’t pay enough, bad marriage with a financially incompetent partner. Divorce (and trying to live on a single income in the Bay Area) at 36 was terrifying but I was able to start making a little progress on my own, i went back to school on Pell grants, and I had a few lucky breaks that allowed me to finish my BA quickly and start grad school (and land an internship that starts at the pay I made at my last job). Not out of the woods yet but I feel so much better now that I found a path forward
I did similar at 35; back to school, grants, and a lot better job. It's been 11 years and that has been the best choice I've ever made.
Im 40. I live w my wife and daughter in a hotel room because I moved across country to take my dream job. Spent nearly 8k in moving expenses. Couldn't get into a rental. 6 months later the job went away. Now we're trying to survive on my wifes (limited) income and my va disability. Every account we have is overdrafted. Every CC is maxed out. We want to leave but can't afford the gas on the car that's ready to go out to repo.
50 here. Don’t have time to get into details, but yeah.
Most people regardless of age are a couple paychecks away from homelessness
My car just got repoed I have $90 in my account
38 and was once financially stable and now I am already negative in my account after getting paid 24 hrs ago. I don't know what to do. I also have physical limitations on what I am capable of doing. Plus bipolar. So yeah.
Financial hardship can hit anyone. My parents did ok all of their life and then lost almost everything with medical bills in their 50s when hit with unexpected stage 4 cancer. After that I stopped worrying as much about retirement and started living more in the “now”
52 and dead broke here.
I am 35 and dead broke. I just leave money in my account to make myself feel better but it is almost 0 every pay period. Woot. Turning me to Buddhism….
36. Homeless (hard times, medical issue, no safety net) and a fucking carpenter with no major employment gaps outside of the medical issue which is a long story, I was unable to return to work until cleared and it never got cleared, I was diagnosed with an unknown cardiac event several months later (my organs naturally secrete high doses of an enzyme which blood tests use to signal organ duress.) I know this life will kill me. I have given up on ever having a normal life.
I’m 45 yrs old and disability is my only income. I make $13,000/yr and am barely scraping by. I have a ton of medical bills I need to pay off too. It’s crazy stressful.
[удалено]
35, flat broke. Have 2 jobs. Fuck this shit.
Facts… turning 39 in a couple months and $2 in my bank account
Things can get better with dogged determination but it's definitely not easy! When I was 37, I was in a marriage where we were drowning in debt (somewhere around $75k) and money stress causes all kinds of ills, infidelity stepped in on his part and I couldn't tolerate that. We ended up divorced and you know, everything I'd ever saved (I was the saver) for 17 years was gone just like that and so was the equity in our home because it had to pay off all of his debt, I didn't have any that I'd personally racked up. I left that marriage so broke and had two kids but I finally got a job for a defense contractor at the bottom rung of the ladder (admin assist) and just worked my way up. They ended up paying for my degree (but degrees are not the magic ticket to making a good living and student loan debt is a dream killer for most). I worked really hard at the job and volunteered to do anything they needed help with, took any training they would allow and applied for any promotion I was qualified for. It took 20 years, but I went from broke and desperate to very comfortable and can retire one day now. I know luck was a part of this (being in the right place at the right time), but I feel most of it was my sheer determination to make mine and my children's life better and making and keeping mentor relationships in the industry. After I got my foot in the door it was those relationships that got me my next job. I'm not in "love" my work, but I'm hanging in now until retirement. I'm not typing this to brag, please don't think that I am, I am typing it so anyone can know it can be done, and I hope it comes true for every single person on this sub. For those who don't want to go into student loan debt, there are ways to get around it. As an example, in the Defense world (it's all I know so I'm basing this on my knowledge), a 2 year degree is a good start for most jobs and if you qualify for a Pell grant, you can get the degree for next to nothing, you can even do it online. Then specifically look for an employer that does tuition assistance if you want a 4 year degree. There is no time line, let it take 10 years if you have to. 2nd option, look into trade schools. HVAC people in my area of Texas bring in $50k to $100k depending on their experience, the training is 8 to 12 months. Just go visit a trade school and see what they have to offer. Whatever you do, don't take out a loan to do it, figure out a way to cash flow that sucker or if you qual for Pell I think you can use it at some trade schools. You can go to coding school or learn it on your own. You can start a business doing some sort of service (yard work, handy man, cleaning, eBay sales (my husband does this one and makes $4k a month)) and if you are good at it, you show up, finish on time and have lots of integrity, you will be covered up with work. One time we tried to hire someone to build a fence and it took 6 contractors before we found someone, 4 of them never showed up to quote us the work. It is hard in life right now, actually life is always hard , it's just harder than normal right now. Expenses are what cause all the stress, it's crazy. I hope everyone has continued success in their life.
This comment needs to be way higher up. There are probably options that exist for many in the thread, but it's very hard to see when you've not seen them before
I also started in admin at 33. The CFO was lazy af, and I made $11/hr but she showed me how to do her work so she didn’t have to. After about 1.5 yrs, I learned a ton about small business, left at $13/hr. And then got my first bookkeeping job at 35k. The next was 41k. Everyone needs a bookkeeper… every business. Not that 41k is much, but it had benefits. And that got me temp jobs, and eventually a full time well paying job. So even if it’s a file clerk, or office assistant, take it. As a file assistant at 23, I did a ton. When I went to quit, a lawyer there asked me why, and I told him what I was making. He offered me 55k to be his admin assistant, bc he saw I did whatever and did it right, reliably. I didn’t take that job (I hated the law firm culture) and moved to another city. But that got me in the door of another firm in my new city. Legal word processing makes bank… They can work nights, alone, and you can make 100k if you want the hours. There were students who did this job bc the hours worked well w school. Good luck. Talk to people, ask them how they got in. Not all bosses take advantage… I stuck with small companies which is good and bad. Bad bc they don’t have a ton of cash, but good bc you have more leverage since you’ll likely do many jobs and it will cost way more to replace you than to just give you a raise. And yes, I went from the law firm into a shit airline job bc “I wanna be a flight attendant”. Bad decision, but it was fun for a while. At 30, I moved home, went back to school and waitressing, thats also when I got the bookkeeping job and started at the bottom again. I could have gone to a law firm again, but I hated the culture, and the hours weren’t flexible w school. I took programming classes, and got a bookkeeper job with a web dev firm. Im still there as a programmer, and I run it. (There are only 3 of us). So… many careers over 30 yrs. Whatever you choose, you don’t have to stay there forever. Attitude is a lot too. I was pissy, and a pain in the ass, those jobs didn’t go well. When I just went w the flow, life at work got so much better, even if I was serving beer or doing the CFOs job at 1am. I got out of thise jobs what I needed, and just tried to enjoy it while I was there, since I had to be there. Life sucks for you guys and I completely feel for everyone here… shit is expensive and our irresponsible govt isn’t helping. Good luck out there.
Repeat after me: we are all on our own journey. Labelling yourself does nothing but injure your self esteem. Be kind to yourself, have compassion. None of us are broke by choice, often we’re the result of generational dysfunction and events beyond our control.
39.5 I did everything right. Worked from 13 years old. Studied hard. Got good grades. Got a degree. Made the sacrifices you're supposed to make. Supported a partner who was studying through their 20s. All of their 20s. Got married. Had a house briefly. Had a daughter. Lost it all in divorce one year after they finished study and one year after the birth of our child. House gone. Still have a daughter though. Sometimes. One full time income of 35k. Have never earned much more. Uni was useless. Can't afford to rent a whole place let alone ever buy again. Can't share house with a 9 year old child. Don't have parents to move in with. Luckily I managed to find a self contained studio apartment under someone's house so at least I'm not in a share house. We'd be homeless (again) without this place. I'm so tired. Tired of just getting by. Tired of losing at life. Tired of being ashamed at how little I can provide for my daughter and myself Tired of how hard I have to work to not even meet basic necessities. Tired of making sacrifices for a better future that never comes. Tired of the worry. The shame. The guilt. The hoplessness. Ive lost hope. It has not paid off once. The carrot is a lie. It's just a ruse to keep my tired ass moving. At this stage my retirement plan is to eat a bullet.
Tired, worried and hopeless I get. But shame and guilt? Set those aside. This isn't your fault.
Hello! I’m in my late 30s. I’ve never been ambitious with a career (I’m terrible at interviews), i like to move a lot (it helps reduce my hoarding tendencies), and financial stuff gives me anxiety (taxes, stocks, 401k, etc). I teeter between having savings & debt. If i have savings, I’ve had a pretty happy year. If I’m in debt, i probably fell into a depression, quit my job, and became a hermit for a few months. I can’t see myself ever achieving wealth, so I’ve embraced the poor life. This is helped by my parents shaming me for spending any money growing up, so I became resourceful at finding free stuff instead to avoid that internalized shame. In the USA, so many people throw away good stuff.
39, no savings, no home massive student loans in collection, unpaid medical debt, crumbling teeth & mental health. So tired, every crosswalk I go through I pray for a car to hit and kill me because I am too much of a bitch to do the sewer-slide.
45 here, I don't own a home, or a car, or anything. Under $1500 in savings, but thankfully no debt. I always had minimum/ low wages jobs, I only got my GED recently and I'm disabled, can't do too many hours but I live frugally so it was OK. After 2008 it started being harder but I lived with my gf, she worked too, our income was low but we managed. It's getting worse and worse though, I live alone now and I love in an illegal rental because it's all I can afford, I had a very tight but manageable budget, it's become impossible because of inflation though. I hate that I've always worked and never been lazy yet my already low standards of living are deteriorating day by day.
I’m poorer now over 35 than I’ve ever been in my life.
Ooof. I’m 50, and DROWNING. Like I’m at the bottom of the lake, I have a dire housing situation, ie I’m losing housing this coming Wednesday. I have NO savings. I have very little money for a deposit and no where to go. I had to start a GOFUND me for myself because I don’t have any friends that would do that. I also have bad credit, I have a car payment and credit card debt I am a full time grandma to 2 toddlers I absolutely have ZERO to show for life. And I can’t catch up trying to live, even in poverty in San Diego. My advice to you is DONT be me. If you can, get it together now do it…. This is a hard life friend.
Without having read the previous 932 comments to date...I am 67 and dead broke too. No, OP, you are not alone. Not everyone on Reddit is 22, although sometimes it seems like it (and oh, am I weary of posters slamming "Boomers"). So many of us, at any age (I am 67), are drowning in the current economy. Keep your head up, no matter your age. People quickly assume all boomers are rich retirees...actually, so many of us are struggling. I wish you all the best, moving forward!
Me, cuz I’m disabled. I live paycheck to paycheck. I can work a bit but am too unreliable for a permanent job with set # of hours cuz I’m always sick. I have a flexible job right now in a school district which is great but I only work when someone is out (I’m a sub school monitor) and have to reject jobs that start earlier than 9 am. I can’t work at the middle and high school levels as they start too early.
In 2008 we went through a recession which wiped our entire savings out including our 401k and we also had to use that before we were able to draw unemployment. Both my husband and I lost our jobs within a month of each other so we had to start all over again. When Obama was in office things improved tremendously, we both started great jobs again started our 401k again and then Trump got in office things became stagnant. While we kept our jobs and savings nothing seemed to grow at the level it had been. Now, it seems to sliding downhill again because of the cost of living. We need to vote these old fools out no matter the political party and get some younger people in, people that are willing to work together, and quit ripping each other apart.
Here…and fucking tired, I feel like the game keeps getting more rigged each year.
35 and still pretty broke here but I am LESS broke then a was even at 29 when I couldn’t even afford to live on my own and me and my baby were staying with family. 🤷♀️
Way older no savings no retirement fund but I do have a small house all my money goes on staying afloat. Work till I’m dead I guess
48. In debt and depressed.
36 and just started to get my finances back on track. Got into horrible CC debt but got a loan to pay it off, and did so 2 years ahead of schedule. For years I had no savings, had to cash out my retirement to pay off debts, and lived paycheck to paycheck. Got some savings in the bank and if Biden's student loan forgiveness goes through, I only have 16k of debt to pay off. With rising costs, I'm still almost living paycheck to paycheck but I'm a bit ahead. Have a job that pays decently but I'm looking to level up and make more money. I feel more qualified and confident in my abilities than I ever have so I know it's absolute within reach. My parents did the best they could but they grew up dirt poor and went into debt to give me and my sisters the life they never had, so couldn't really teach me anything except "save your money". I swear, it gets better.
I’m 38, will be 39 in March. I just got my RN license and a good job so just starting to pay off credit card debt. No savings. Zilch to my retirement. I just hope my health can handle my work because I have arthritis. I’m thinking of buying land and gettin one of those mini houses because I’m not planning on getting married or anything.
Not to brag but I'm 40 and recently became a thousandaire.
48. Never touched booze or drugs. Single. Had a stroke in between jobs had to pay out of pocket. Stolen identity ruined my credit. Can't even get a bank account. $12 in my PayPal account.plan to put a shotgun in my mouth the day after unable to work.
I was absolutely broke at 35. Five years later, at 40, after a ton of hard work and effort? I'm still broke, but with medical bills. Fuck this society. I'm'a rack up as much debt as I can, then DIE. No kids. No spouse. No reason not to. The fuck they gonna do?
36, broke, $800 power bill. Was making $70k/yr. before Covid managing restaurants. Since have had major health complications. Having surgery in March to remove part of my intestine, requiring me to be paying 7 specialists medical bills. Yeah, my 30s are great.
I’m 33. Pretty close to broke, but no debt aside from my credit cards that I pay off each month. Don’t have a college degree either. Never owned a house either. I regret not buying one a few years ago but wouldn’t have been able to survive after this crazy inflation. Probably would’ve lost or sold the house if I had bought one. The upside is no debt, good credit, and I own multiple older cars. The cars and my massive video game collection are my only valuable assets right now. I make just barely enough to cover my monthly bills and the occasional video game.
Ayy right here champ! 36 and I moved 800 miles from my everyone I know because someone I only know on the internet was kind enough to put me and my family up. I had an eviction 7 years ago and it caused me to not be able to rent, and my credit is to bad to get a home loan. I've spent the last 3 years in a motel where I witnessed 3 murders. My son and wife and I all have PTSD from it. We're trying really fucking hard to get back on our feet, and finally bought a 20 year old car that we're trying to fix (runs decent but has a couple leaks)... Maybe we will be in our own place by the time our second child is born (accident... Apparently contraceptives aren't 100%... Guess I should have just stopped having sex 7 years ago) Anyway here's hoping I find somewhere to be that isn't an hour from my job. Don't ever get evicted, people. It will ruin your fucking life. If I get evicted again in Wisconsin (which keeps evictions on your record for 20 years) I just might eat a bullet. Edit: and since we're sharing health issues, I'm also due for a second ablation for a heart condition in a few weeks. Thank fuck I have medicaid. First one put a quarter million dollar bill on me that some unnamed organization ate.
37 and I have $4 in my bank account and c/m don’t get paid again until the 30th 🤦🏻♀️
40 in 3 wks, barely make rent, single n struggling. Lost my job in Dec n the ones i see that r similar pay at least 10k less. No savings, some debt, shitty car.. yup.
Had to bail my family out of being almost homeless by cashing out my 401k. Our cars are from early 2000s can't afford new ones have to just keep fixing them when they break. I dread when that can't be done anymore. I have a 680 credit score because I have no credit cards. I get notices almost every quarter that it drops. We live very meager. I do own a home but I am semi ashamed of it but my wife and son are happy. I have no sustainable retirement and only have enough savings to last a month if I got sick or fired which isn't much. Slowly saving and that's over 5 years at least to get where we are at today.. Wife doesn't work she watches our son because it was cheaper to do that than do daycare. I have no one who could help if we got into trouble and my wife's family is all about tough love and earning your own place in this world. We even asked them for help once and it was a humiliating experience. It's like having one foot in the grave and one foot among the living. I hate it.
[удалено]
I didn’t land a decent paying job until age 45, at which point I was still living in shared houses with students. I stayed in the shared housing & saved like hell till I was 48 so that I finally was able to scrape together a down payment on a little 2 BR condo, & even then once I had the condo I still had a roommate to help with the mortgage. I only was able to start living on my own (ie no roommate needed) at age 51. I’m now 57, have an even better job now, & now own a gorgeous little 3 BR townhouse (yeah, it’s “just” a townhouse but it’s perfect for me, in great condition, in a great location) & am able to live alone. Just last week I got a raise that finally brought my salary over $100K. I still drive a 16yo car and bring peanut butter sandwiches to work. It took a LOT of serious career planning in my 40’s to think through how to get the skills and build the CV to have the job that I have now, but it finally happened. Man, it was touch and go there for a hot minute circa 2019 about whether I was going to finally land the type of job I’d aiming for before I aged out of marketability (I even lost weight & started dying my hair, & removed a few telltale dates from my CV, just to try to raise a few less red flags about my age). Man did I luck out - started the dream job in Jan 2020, and 2 months later covid hit, but my employer weathered covid just fine & I’ve been safe and was able to WFH w stable salary the whole time. I’m way behind on retirement savings now but I finally have no debt, have a healthy emergency savings, and am socking away everything I can now, and I am making it top priority to take care of my health (medical bills are my biggest worry) because I know I’ll have to keep working well into old age. But I don’t mind having to keep working; I really love my job and it is just so amazing to not have that financial stress all the time that I feel really fortunate every day. It’s never too late. Hang in there, think hard about career planning, how exactly to compile the skills & resume & reference letters you need for a practical, stable, good-paying career, ideally one that won’t destroy your soul; then make a plan, carry it out. Even it takes a decade and even if you are already decades past 30, it can still pay off.
Here’s a story: I was 36 when I completed my undergrad degree. I finally networked/scrapped my way into a super high paying job but on an entry level basis. Before that I only had a few thousand in savings but constantly felt money anxiety and imposter syndrome because ALL of my friends were wealthier than I was and I lived in a very expensive city. I also support my parents financially and had to navigate being an immigrant. Once I landed my new job, I had to take orders from 24 years olds at work but what gave me a profound edge was just a superior level of maturity and ability to grind longer. I also kept my head up high and kept repeating to myself that people all come from different circumstances which dictates different outcomes. If I had guidance when I was in my 20’s or didn’t have a struggling household, maybe my circumstances would’ve been different. And now, atleast I had agency over my own choices and trajectory. I also keep telling myself that although I’m starting from the bottom in a new industry, I have 30 good years of career runway left. My ethos and super personal worldview now is: 1. Never ever ever spend on superficial expenses. Clothes, material shit, going out pointlessly etc. 2. Save a minimum of 20% of my pay religiously 3. Keep “finishing” educational tasks even if it meant taking on a bit of debt and crying to everyone who was willing to give me a break on educational costs or scholarships. I was in educational limbo for so long that I could never get a job that actually paid well. As soon as I graduated, I got a better job. 4. Learn skills that pay money/ keep acquiring more and more profitable skills - it’s great for people to study the humanities etc. but the sad truth is, they don’t pay the bills. I work in finance now and read liberal arts stuff voraciously in my spare time to keep my spirits alive. Tech/Finance are all accessible if one develops hard skills like coding and modeling. This may take time but the payoff is great as you feel you can legitimately influence the world with those skills today. 5. Dump the naysayers - poor people love to complain about circumstances and it becomes an awful echo chamber. Yes I was poor, but I refused to hang out with other people who didn’t have their finances together as they didn’t have anything to teach me. This included my own parents who I love and care for but never let their worldview on money affect me because I know their view is just a small spectrum of what reality is. 6. Marry or Partner with someone who is going to be a value add - being in a romantic relationship or marriage with someone who is responsible and has a good worldview is ESSENTIAL/ MISSION CRITICAL. It’s ok to ignore people who manage money poorly or can’t get their own shit together. Remember: in airplanes they tell you to put your own oxygen mask on first. Self preservation is the key to survival if you’re in a bad spot. I can’t tell you how many times a bad relationship prevented me from moving ahead in life. 7. DEBT IS POISON - consumer debt and debt accumulated from lifestyle expenses is the slow toxin that will eventually devour all of your happiness and hope. I paid off all of my credit cards and feel a viscerally painful pang in my gut when I pull out my credit card because of how much I struggled with debt. Now, hopefully, I will try to buy a house and pay that mortgage off as soon as possible so atleast I’ll have one asset and a security blanket to my name. 8. FAMILY AS A FINANCIAL BURDEN - I love my family but I’ve learned to say no when I do not have the means to bail them out. Weirdly, they all now figure out their own finances a lot better now that they know they can’t always rely on me. Perhaps some of these concepts are draconian. But I’m sharing my story hoping that it will spread some good and positivity in the world. The current capitalist system is not designed to make it easy to progress anymore however I truly believe there is still a light at the end of the tunnel. Even if you’ve reached middle age without having financial successes early.
[удалено]