The Official Under 30 Thread!

[Skylark postcocktail hour]

Holley, consider writing for the web. html and php are not difficult, and you can probably make more money on advertising on your website than you can selling books. My somewhat amateur website makes a very nice income off of Google Adsense advertising. My strategy is to write it once and then forget it and move on to the next subject. Give it a try, you might be surprised at the easy income.

https://www.google.com/adsense/

The web definitely needs more content!

 

[charlie]

Hey Skylark,

Your post on Adsense advertising on Google is really
interesting!! It looks like an ideal way to generate
some income with no capital investment. I would
love to hear more from you on this subject.

Thanks,

Charlie

 

[MooreBonds]

Hello fellow sub-30s

I've been fortunate enough to combine a small inheiritance with some very frugal living to get a huge jumpstart on my savings/ER goals.

It helps that I've lived at my parents house since graduating college in 2000, which augments my savings plan even more. Now, before you finish snickering, let me point out that my parents are gone 8 months/year in their semi-retirement home in FL...so it's like having my own place (3,000 sq ft home on 1.2 acres w/ pool) without a single penny to pay for taxes/upkeep/utilities. Of course, when they have to catch a 6:00am flight or need someone to get the mail every day and take care of the pool, you can guess the lucky guy that steps forward.

I know, some people may not be 'able' to stomach staying at home that long, but I get along with my parents, and by saving $20,000/year in housing works out to something like getting paid over $40/hr after taxes to be at my parents house when they're home (and even then, I spend my time doing my own thing in another room or out of the house).

Since my plan is to move out by the time I'm 30, my few years of plowing as much as I can into retirement plans (work for my father's company, which offers 15% of salary into a SEP IRA), having the company pay for auto/gas expenses (to minimize taxes/maximize after-tax income), and saving as much as possible are making huge advances on my savings plans. Sure, it can be a drag explaining to people that you live at your parents house, but if they can't grasp the reasons behind it, then odds are, they aren't my type to begin with.

When I'm kicking back at 45 (or even younger) sipping my margarita with my flowered shirt, enjoying the retired life and figuring out if I want to go for a 10 mile bike ride or layout in the sun for a while, those 5 years of living at home while my parents were away a majority of the time will be the furthest thing from my mind.

So, to sum it up, I offer these suggestions:

---If you can handle it (or have situations similar to mine), see if you can work out a deal with mom and dad (or even a relative who is out of town a lot) to stay at their place in exchange for doing menial tasks for them
---Work out a deal with your employer to pay for as many legitimate business expenses (car, gas, car maintenance, etc.) as they will agree to in exchange for lowering your salary by an equivalent amount (not only do you save a boatload of taxes, but your employer also saves the Medicare/SS portion that they would have paid on it, so they come out ahead as well).
---While not everyone recycles dryer sheets as badly as I do, try and set up a goal of going just "X" year(s) living as simply as possible to see that savings pile grow as fast as possible. If you can't make it a whole year, try alternating months to see if you can handle it. It is important to enjoy some of it now, but odds are you'll be thanking yourself 10 years from now as ER surges even closer.

 

[MooreBonds]

As far as investments go, I spent the roaring 90s as a know-it-all-teenager/young adult oscillating between break-even and 50% losses THREE times. So, from about 1993 to 2002, my net result was a scant break-even! (don't be afraid to insert your favorite insult, as I'm sure I've called myself it long ago)

I grew fed up with my results, and decided that those tax-free Muni, REIT and preferred stock yields from 6%-8% weren't so bad afterall. So, my portfolio now consists of a majority in the above categories. Now, I have assembled a relatively rock solid fixed income portfolio returning 5.7% post-tax.

And for those of you who slapping your screens trying to pound some sense in me for the inevitable additional interest rate increases, my munis have average durations and bond premiums that will result in less than 1% annual price declines, on average, IF rates rise an additional 2% from current levels.

With a fairly good fixed income portfolio base, I can now devote about 90% of future investment dollars (interest earnings and wages) to individual equities and mutual funds to help grow it all the more.

I'm fairly conservative in my investments and outlook, so if I can reach ER with my primary fixed income strategy and reduced volatility (with a little dabbling in equities), I'm ready to back up the truck and buy all the interest payments I can handle. Sure, I know there are ways to significantly reduce volatility with greatly diversified portfolios and higher returns, but my human nature hasn't allowed me to get to that point yet (perhaps in 1 or 2 years, but not yet ).

Good luck to my fellow Gen-Xers and Echo-Boomer siblings. If you make it to the beach umbrellas first, reserve a seat for me.

Peter

 

[unclemick]

YOU YOUNG PUNK! ----Heh, heh, heh, heh, ----except I was under 30 in the 1960's early 70's.

Hmmmm - won and lost - individual stocks, sector funds, REIT arbitrage, preferred stock, gold, raw land, held up to eight asset classes in the 80's(including foreign bonds) - before ever hearing MPT, Bernstein, slice and dice, yadda, yadda, etc.

Losing your shirt a few times is a good thing - especially for a blockhead like me.

Never say die - 75% in one balanced index fund and try to beat my benchmark with individual dividend stocks.

Hindsight being 20-20, if I'd put every nickel/sheckel/$, into a balanced value fund (Wellington, Dodge and Cox) taxable/tax differed I'd be retired in the Bahama's. As it turned out DCA into 401k (50/50 S&P/gic's) ala Ben Graham bailed my butt out.

My two cents - Vanguard balanced index as a benchmark and try to beat it. If you've already convinced yourself - Target Retirement and go fishing/ignore the market. Want to to keep a hand in income/dividends - read some Lowell Miller/Geraldine Weiss.

One fund will do it. Of course, I never figured that out when I was under thirty and don't expect anyone else too either - 'It's different this time'. Heh, heh, heh , - De Gaul and the Norwegian widow ride on.

 

[ordway]

Holley, consider writing for the web. html and php are not difficult, and you can probably make more money on advertising on your website than you can selling books. My somewhat amateur website makes a very nice income off of Google Adsense advertising. My strategy is to write it once and then forget it and move on to the next subject. Give it a try, you might be surprised at the easy income.

https://www.google.com/adsense/

The web definitely needs more content!

Hey Skylark, thanks for the link! I'm actually in the middle of getting my own website up, with the idea of putting short articles and book/DVD reviews up. I'm already in the Amazon affiliate program so I'll get some money if people follow those links to Amazon to buy books. I'm not sure about putting ads directly (on a web site devoted to spending money more carefully? heh) but the pay-for-search option looks pretty interesting.