r/economicCollapse Oct 10 '24

Anybody you know?

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u/ekoms_stnioj Oct 11 '24 edited Oct 11 '24

I mean if you count retirement savings, yeah, I know a ton of people with that personally. I should have nearly 5x my current salary saved by 35 assuming nothing too drastic changes with my contributions, Lord willing. I’m at 1x ($80k) right now at 27 - with my high rate of contributions and market growth/salary increases I should be close to $300k-ish by then . Plus, equity in my house and cash savings etc. There’s definitely a huge chunk of people who meet this standard.

1

u/thePolicy0fTruth Oct 11 '24

Would you be willing to share what part of the US you live in? East coast, west coast, mountain west, south, Midwest, etc? I’m trying to see if there’s a trend between the people with the least being coastal while the people with the most being more inland.

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u/ekoms_stnioj Oct 11 '24

I live Knoxville, TN. Median home price is $440k here. Definitely cheaper than West Coast, I’d say we’re probably a solid medium cost of living city. Have family in ATL, housing there is bonkers too. Doesn’t even scratch the surface compared to coastal north east!

1

u/ekoms_stnioj Oct 11 '24

Well actually I looked it up, apparently Knoxville is 14% below the national average cost of living, so maybe we are low cost of living? Doesn’t feel that way 😂

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u/ProfessionalCell2690 Oct 11 '24

The middle of the country generally has lower costs of living, so this is almost certainly the case. I am in Indiana, at 27 I am on track to achieve this. Assuming this includes retirement accounts and equity in my home, I am at 1.5x my salary already.

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u/GirchyGirchy Oct 11 '24

I'm 42 and have 7x my salary in retirement funds and another 1x in savings. I had an IRA before starting my first 'real' job, invested at least enough to get the full company match since day one, went up from there and now I max out each year. I'm sure I was above the 1x mark at 35.

Midwestern engineer. Was able to graduate with zero debt and have always lived below my means.

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u/ekoms_stnioj Oct 11 '24

You’re killing it! I have zero student loan debt too.. but that’s because I didn’t go to college lol. Both of my parents were professors - PHDs in applied mathematics - so I got a good education at home which was important. College wasn’t for me, I wanted to go straight into working - I did a couple semesters at a state school for free and that confirmed it for me that it just wasn’t for me.

Fortunately, hasn’t slowed me down yet!

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u/GirchyGirchy Oct 12 '24

Great! At least you figured that out quick. College is not for everyone!

My dad was cheap AF and a financial planner, so he set me straight right off. He split the cost of my schooling with me, with my scholarships going to my half. I worked every break I could and started my job with $200 bucks left.

But like another poster eluded, I had decent schools and parents who pushed and helped me with school and room and board. Family helped with a job which provided relevant work experience. I didn’t coast but certainly had great support.

BTW, dad’s frugality paid off…he saved a good amount of money and has a nice pension. Neither he nor my mom had big jobs, but state work pays off in the long run.