Finally Joined....love the site

[Debitsforlife]

Hey everyone,

After about a year of lurking, I finally joined the site! Happy to be here.

My story starts off a little different than many. Im only 23(as of August 25th), but I started working at an early age (16 yr old working full time hours *gasp*) .... Accumulating a fair sum of cash in the process. By the time I was 18, I started investing through a brokerage account....even caught apple stock on the down end and doubled my investment over a year.

So what did I do with it? Spent it of course

To be fair, a big portion of it went toward my college degree, but I bought a few cars (5) along the way too. Regret it now. (the car part haha)

So where am I now? Just graduated from college, and i've been working as a accountant for the past year or so. I became eligible for a 401k plan back in April and currently have about $8,000 put into it. Hope to hit 10k by the end of the year and will start maxing out my 401k next year.

I have about 3,000 in a fidelity IRA account. Hope to contribute more in there down the road as well.

Overall....few things (cars) I wish I didnt buy, but overall....I think I have a decent start. Im hoping to semi-retire by 35.

I've also been juggling the thought of going to law school and obtaining my CPA license as a combo vs my current path of just the CPA license....but the debt scares me. Any thoughts on that?? A part time consultant with a law and accounting degree would be a great gig at 35.....

Thats enough of my life story haha.....happy to be here.

 

[aja8888]

Welcome to the forums and keep up the savings. Lots of good info here.

 

[omni550]

Welcome aboard, dfl.

Sounds like you've learned a few lessons (new cars ) and you're on the right track.

omni

 

[rodi]

Welcome to the group. You're in much better (MUCH) shape than I was at your age.

I wouldn't pursue the law degree just for the career opportunities. You should have plenty of opportunities with the CPA license. I *would* pursue it if the law is interesting to you - especially in the area that overlaps with accounting/financing. I'm not sure what areas that would be - but I can imagine it could range from corporate mergers/acquisitions, pension work, bankruptcy, even divorce. It takes a certain mindset to enjoy those areas.... If that's where your interests lie - then get the law degree and go for it.

 

[TimSF]

Welcome to the journey and to this site! If you are interested in law, you may want to check out tax law. It's a great field for those who want to combine law and finance. You'd probably need to do one extra year after law school to get an LLM, but in the long run may be well worth it. (I sometimes wish I had taken this path.)

 

[Live And Learn]

Welcome and Congratulations on the great start. I love when I see young people thinking about their financial future. BUT - please don't let money rule your life. No matter what you do remember to live below your means and to take pleasure and joy in the simplest of things. Those things will bring you true joy.

As others have said, take the law school path if it is something that you are interested in and will be passionate about. There are many people on this forum who make a great deal of money but dislike their j*b. That is a horrible position to be in. I'd rather make less and LEAP out of bed in the morning with a true passion for the w*rkday ahead.

(ps: I'm an accountant and I had many many many great years where I loved my j*b. I've been able to accumulate enough to retire at 52 even without the CPA license. I have zero regrets.)

 

[38Chevy454]

You are doing good. Don't beat yourself up over the cars, hopefully they provided you fun and enjoyment. Were they the best financial decision? Probably not, but in the big picture were more likely a low cost lesson.

I am an engineer, so no help on the legal education. I will say that in general having more letters after your name (like CPA...) is good for income. My suggestion is do what you like and if legal side is interesting to you, pursue that. As Live and learn said, better to have a job you like than the opposite. Will your current employer give tuition reimbursement?

One key you have already started, get saving now and let it compound to help you later.

 

[robertf57]

In general, I think a law degree can be quite expensive and MAY not be a great investment. If you are interested in tax, it may work out well for you. I just know a lot of lawyers who are underemployed with very large debts.