1y ago Financial Independence

Throughout history collapsing governments have routinely increased the expenses in relation with owning property to the point above average people will simply walk away before being bled dry.

That's part of the reason Rome went from the first city with a population of one million to 500k. Then 500k to say 50k in 100 years

To go off the original thread, now isn't the time to purchase. Everything is still inflated from Covid.

Invest in yourself. Pay to learn new skills. Pay for life experience. Start a business if you're a leader and have an interest that could be profitable. Invest in someone you believe in if you're not business owner material and you're a good judge of character.

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1y ago Financial Independence

buying land/owning a home is one of the few things that will always hold value.

True but prices fluctuate a lot, and you want to buy the dip, NOT the peak or bubble. People who put everything into RE in 2007 probably waited a decade for it to be worth what they paid for it again, whereas those who bought in 2009 probably got twice as much for the same money and those properties started appreciating above purchase price right away.

My prediction is that all RE is nearing the end of a bubble so anyone with money to burn might be better off putting it in a short term investment for now and move it into real estate 12-18 months out when they can get far more for the same money and it won't go way down in value the first year of ownership.

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1y ago Financial Independence

@MentORPHEUS there's plenty of bad economic headwinds right now but buying land/owning a home is one of the few things that will always hold value. Stocks, commodities, ect all markets go up and down.

Owning land means real independence. Unless there is a complete breakdown of law and order, or a fucky workaround (looking at you, eminent domain), it is VERY difficult to take away from you. Its also one of the few things in this world of which there is a truly limited supply (there's only so much land on Earth, and only so much land that is actually desirable to live on) and has intrinsic value in a way that stocks, paper currency, and other stores of value do not.

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1y ago Financial Independence

@carnold03 Thanks mate, like the idea of the lists ;)

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1y ago Financial Independence

@RedPirate751 Yes but only where a deep discount is possible because right now housing is in a bubble that is going to crash soon with interest rates and the economy going South. Inventory is tight and prices very high in lots of markets right now; what houses BlackRock didn't snap up with help from the Plandemic got bought up by investors to turn into STRs like AirBNB. Many areas are currently putting strict and expensive restrictions on STRs as a result of entire neighborhoods ending up with more AirBNBs than permanent residents and the resulting problems. There's going to come fire sales in each market as this ripples around and in general as the economy slides and people have to liquidate when they can't refi their way out of hot water any longer.

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1y ago Financial Independence

@MentORPHEUS not commercial real estate. Buy a house.

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TwoInchesOfShaft

1y ago Financial Independence

@paul_ernst Reading the comments you guy until now, I’ll add that you should financially educate yourself. Take 50$ of those 100000 and spend them on books that teach you how to invest or how to handle money. That’s the best you can spend your money on for now. Definitely read a few books since opinions differ. Maybe start with something easy like Rich Dad Poor Dad even though it’s annoying to read and gives little actionable advice, you’ll learn something.

There’s this FIRE movement, financial independence retire early. Maybe check that out and see if you can see yourself there.

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1y ago Financial Independence

@paul_ernst in terms of maintaining your wealth. Make sure your savings is not sitting in a low interest account. Many banks online are offering 5% interest just to house your money.

Real estate is always a good investment. Whether that's a house or rental property.

Stocks are volatile but you can invest in index funds which hold groups of stocks.

Max out your ROTH if you haven't been doing that.

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1y ago Financial Independence

@paul_ernst I fundraise for a Boys and Girls club. You can donate to a local club or become a monthly donor and support the kids

1y ago Financial Independence

I managed to save close to 100K over the last 4-5 years. No idea what to do with it though. I work in tech, been focusing mainly on increasing my salary and now I believe it's time to start doing something with the fruits of my labor. Where do I start? How can I invest/spend it? I don't own a house, just a car. Any help, advice or links much appreciated.

After you pay off any outstanding debts you might have take a few minutes to look up your area's credit unions. That's assuming that you live in the US. Pick two credit unions, making sure one of the credit unions you choose offers business account support. Don't open a business account, but choose a credit union that offers what you see to be solid business support. Take that $100K, split it in half, open an account with one credit union with a deposit of $50k, and then open an account with a different credit union with the other $50k.

While the money is sitting there, use your idle time to make a list of the things that you want to do that you've been putting off for work, school, family, or whatever. Don't concern yourself with how silly the idea might be, just write the list out. Then when you've finished making your list, take another sheet of paper and re-write the list in order from simplest item from the first list, down to the most difficult and time consuming. When you've finished the second list, get started tackling the items on that list one by one.

When you've completed half of the list, log-in to trp and reach out to us again. By then, if you still have questions as far as what you should then do with your savings, you should have achieved experiences that influence and inform the direction you'd like to use those funds all your own, rather than have to read random suggestions made by a bunch of guys who don't know you from a hole in the wall. In that situation, we could then recommend books you could use to guide you in achieving those future goals. Best of luck to you.

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