New here

[Warfusion]

Hey I've been looking around here a few days and decided to join. At this time i am a 26 year old maintenance worker finishing my b.s. in IT and going back after for engineering. I've tried to start saving for retirement since i was 16 but dont have much to show for it. I'm hoping to learn from you all and i like reading your stories.

[wanaberetiree]

@Warfusion Welcome!

[Car-Guy]

Welcome from a retired IT engineering person.

[Sunset]

Why don't you take a job in IT and get your engineering degree part-time ?
Guess I'm just wondering why engineering ?
If you were getting a degree in art history and then going back for engineering I would understand, but IT can pay well and there are a few jobs left ..

[donheff]

Welcome. If I started saving for ER at 16 I would never have qualified for my pension because I would have ERd before I earned it.

[MRG]

Retired IT here. I can understand why you wouldn't want to go into today's IT. If you want a family, days off, nights off etc.

Don't worry about what you're saving now. Remember in 25 years it'll be a much bigger number.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

[Katiek]

Welcome. It's definitely hard to save while you're in school, but you're already doing a lot of things right including taking steps to improve your income and being aware that starting sooner rather than later is important.

Especially at your age, little steps that may not seem like a big deal now will add up to a lot more in the future, so don't get discouraged!

[Big_Hitter]

save early, save often

[pb4uski]

Live below your means... this will enable you to save. Save regularly, increase your savings some as your earnings increase and use the remainder to improve your standard of living. Once you have an emergency fund funded, invest in no-load, low-cost equity index funds. You are young, slow and stead wins the race.

[petershk]

War: when I was 23 I had a web company (late 90s) and thought I was the s@$t. New BMW, fancy electronics, etc. Then it blew up and I lost everything. Avoided bankruptcy but lots of debt. It took me 5 years to dig out and I because a super saver and WAY happier.

Now I'm 40 and had saved up hundreds of thousands in those 12 years. I got very lucky at work lately and that accelerated the process... But of that had happened back then I'd blow it all.

Your mentality and process are what matter. The result is almost guaranteed... The timeline is unknown.

I would focus on keeping your mentality, make sure you find an SO with similar thoughts (assuming you are single ), and find work you like. As I started having a couple years of living expenses, work became better because I didn't need a job "next month."

Since you're also very young you could take time to look at potential sources of cash flow that are mobile.

Check out people like dividendmantra (who now has a popular investing blog). Foreverjobless. Lackingmotivation. Those guys all have interesting personal stories about how to not "work" and still live well.

You have the right ingredients WAY earlier than most people. Nice work.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app