10 Years of Personal Finance Advice in under 10 minutes

[seekeroftruth343]

Hey guys I’m a 29 year old male registered nurse that grew up in abject poverty to eventually become middle class.

I’m single, so it’s just my income.

I would say this is all from my own efforts but truly in every aspect of life call it luck or God’s blessing plays a role in your success so take this all with a gain of salt.

I have about $70k in my 403B 100% S&P 500.

$26,000 in my rollover 401k & Roth.

Paid off 21’ Corolla.

Paid off student loans, from a state university.

I’m not rich, but coming from not knowing where my next meal was coming from as a kid to this feels like a huge jump.

If this sounds like something you can respect here’s my advice.

This is simply things I’ve found have benefited me greatly and helped me exit and STAY out of debt as an adult.

Here’s all my best tips.

• if you can’t pay for it with debit, don’t buy it on credit. Credit cards are IOU’s future you will need to pay. Befriend your future, don’t sell their future away.
• the ONLY THING that will determine your financial wellbeing is your SAVINGS rate, as in if you make $400,000 but spend $397,000 a year, you will always be one paycheck away from collapse.

-80% of your expenses are food, rent, and transportation. You can completely ignore the rest of your expenses if you just find ways to effectively cut these.

I got roommates and save $1000 a month from this alone.

I got an economy car I could pay off in 2 years and now I save $400 month compared to the Tesla I wanted.

I completely ignore the food I buy because I slashed so much here. It’s not about cutting every expense just getting breathing room.

How I manage my money

• how I allocate my spending based on the guidelines from John C Bogle, Warren Buffet, and Dave Ramsey. (If you disagree with these people I ask you, who has more money you or them? So until it’s you I’d defer to someone with better results.)

I max out my 403B, or until my employer matching.

Put 100% of it into S&P 500 low cost index fund.

Anything beyond 6 months emergency fund is automatically invested into a brokerage.

Simply cutting my expenses in the 3 biggest areas.

Paying off high interest debt, and avoiding incurring.

Then maxing my 403b, and putting anything above 6 month’s emergency into index funds has kept me out of debt and my net worth growing with almost no personal involvement.

So again it’s simply: Cut-pay off-emergency- low cost index fund- hold till retirement.

It’s advice I’d give myself, my mother, even my children, so I’m giving it to you now.

If you want my references read:

The little book of common sense investing.

Dave Ramsey’s FPU

Rich dad poor dad.

Google Warren buffet quotes on general investment advice.

I suspect I’ll get roasted for this, but I believe if you apply this you’ll thank me in 10 years.

 

[resjudicata]

@seekeroftruth343 As a 28 year old NP who came from serious poverty and is doing very well in his life all of these tips are nice but the biggest thing you did was becoming an RN.

Im glad youre doing well but remember youre not some financial wizard. A lot of the books and guys you mentioned are questionable lmao.

You got a good job and made some safe investments. Good for you though, honestly.

 

[blessedbrian1989]

@seekeroftruth343 This advice is mostly sound.

But I’m sorry rich dad poor dad is a terrible book. I also have way more money than Robert Kiyosaki. Way more. Like. Way way way way more. That guy sucks.

And Dave Ramsey is a fuck.

 

[lukeworsham]

@blessedbrian1989 I would say Robert is, at the very least, strategic. Most people lack that basic concept.

Dave Ramsey is AA for people with spending problems (larger group than many think). His advice, like AA, isn’t as helpful for people who don’t have problems (namely with spending and credit-related tools).

 

[blessedbrian1989]

@lukeworsham Robert is broke. So his strategy is trash. And he is a dick about being broke.

AA welcomes anyone, no matter what. Ramsey is an asshole and shames people. Literally told a friend of mine to sue his mother.

I also would be astonished if his place in outside of nashville doesn’t have a mortgage. (Gasp debt!) ((I shouldn’t speculate))

And his investing advice is straight garbage.

 

[goneguy]

@lukeworsham Strategic? He sold his book everywhere full of BS then filed bankrupcy instead of paying the publisher… he is scum

 

[jayk]

@blessedbrian1989 I also have more than $1.2 Billion.

 

[dlyssesuouglas]

@blessedbrian1989 Forbes estimates his net worth at $120M in 2023. You have “way way like way way way way more” than that?

 

[blessedbrian1989]

@dlyssesuouglas He is over 1 billion in debt and is filing for bankruptcy.

Whatever article you are reading is old.

 

[jeepsi]

@blessedbrian1989 I just read this the other day and got a hearty chuckle reading about his 1B+ debt

 

[webman]

@jeepsi I love how every time you hear him speak he reminds you that “I use debt. So I’m smart. I’m stupid”

 

[dlyssesuouglas]

@blessedbrian1989 Can you show me where he himself is bankrupt and has $1B of debt and not his company? My understanding is that his personal wealth is still in excess of $100M while his company filed for bankruptcy recently.

 

[fullofspirit]

@dlyssesuouglas Donald Trump wealth, where your corps go bankrupt (especially multiple times) is no savvy expert. Just a grifter.

 

[dlyssesuouglas]

@fullofspirit I know. can’t stand Robert Kyiosaki, but doesn’t mean he’s broke.

 

[eddih]

@dlyssesuouglas If you're in that much debt, yes, you're just as broke as the poor guy with a $30 overdraft in his account. They both do not have enough to pay their bills.

 

[dlyssesuouglas]

@eddih Can you find me a source where he personally has the debt or is it his company which has the debt and is going bankrupt? There’s a reason you start a company, to separate your liabilities from your companies. My understanding is that it’s his companies which are bankrupt but he personally is very wealthy.

 

[sgr]

@dlyssesuouglas Just because he plays the game well enough to not have declare personal bankruptcy doesn’t mean he’s not a grifter. All it means is he has a shield to protect from his inability to manage money. Ive never declared bankruptcy on my business nor personally, because I know how to manage money in my household and in my business.

 

[dlyssesuouglas]

@sgr Oh no I 100% agree. He’s a POS grifter through and through and has ridiculous narratives that do a huge disservice to the average person who listens to him. The original comment was about how the Redditor has more money than Robert, which is what I was pointing out.

Absolute POS I agree.

 

[princessval]

@seekeroftruth343 Man, the “who has more money, you or them” part reeks. I hope that you grow out of such a mentality and realize you can learn from people who have less.

 

[breathoffaith]

@princessval I was going to comment the same thing and then saw this, thanks for summing it up so succinctly.

You know who also has a lot of money? Gary Vee, Grant Cardone, Andrew Tate, Tai Lopez. All scammers contributing nothing to society.

And I'd like to add: Dave Ramsey is a piece of shit.

Sorry for dumping this under your comment.