6 ms·

Sorry if this is off-topic (and maybe a bit personal), but as a recent graduate, I'm not sure what I would do with all that extra money. What do you (or most pe

by qntty 11y ago

Sorry if this is off-topic (and maybe a bit personal), but as a recent graduate, I'm not sure what I would do with all that extra money. What do you (or most people) generally spend it on? I make less than that, but if I didn't have student loans, I wouldn't know what to do with it besides leave it in the bank.

fokinsean 11y ago
> leave it in the bank cha-ching That and invest.
vitd 11y ago
I'm not the original poster, but I'll tell you what I've done in the past which has worked fairly well. I put as much as I'm allowed to into an IRA for retirement and into my spouse's IRA, too. I max out the matching amount on my 401k. (Those 2 things alone ensure that I'm putting away 10-15% for retirement.) I do some additional short to medium-term investment in the stock market. Nothing too risky, but enough to hopefully beat inflation. I also bought a few expensive toys that I really wanted (nice high-end camera, for example) and take regular vacations to nice spots. I started giving to charity, too. I also decided to do something closer to home and helped a relative with their student debt. I started taking some of the free time I have and that nice camera to do photography for a local charity.
vinceguidry 11y ago
If you're not already married, you should be using it to date. College is hands-down the best place to find a significant other. Once you've graduated, the social life you took for granted quickly fades away and finding people to spend time with and then actually spending time with them becomes vastly more difficult. If you're a cisgendered male, it can be absolutely brutal. Cisgendered female, much less so but still a problem. One of the few things that makes it easier is the willingness to be generous. Leaving it in the bank is an excellent option. You've got two main things to save for, a down payment for a house and your wedding. Better still is a balanced and sane investment portfolio, but leaving it in the bank is better than a bad portfolio, so take some time to learn how investing works if you choose to go that route.
- warfangle 11y ago
  And if you're not cisgendered it can be even worse...
- zavi 11y ago
  What are some smart dating strategies for a straight white male new grad in the Bay Area with 6 digits of disposable income? Dating market seems extremely competitive here.
  - ryandrake 11y ago
    > What are some smart dating strategies for a straight white male new grad in the Bay Area with 6 digits of disposable income? Spend the money on a plane ticket to somewhere with women?
    - vinceguidry 11y ago
      I wouldn't recommend this approach. A relationship is built out of time spent physically present with a person, trying to hack this by building a relationship with less time spent before marriage, or by substituting time spent in presence that is not physical, makes for a weak bond that will likely break after a few years of marriage, particularly if one or both of you have poor social skills. I emphasize social skills because, like Vitamin D, the hacker lifestyle leads us to be deficient in such a vital resource. We should be supplementing our lifestyle with lots of activities that force us to interact with other people in ways we're not used to. I've been going to the same bar for the last 8 years. It's often painful, I still don't really fit in, but it's been crucial for helping me develop my sense of self. Another good place to frequent is coffee shops, but good neighborhood coffee shops are quite rare. Starbucks doesn't really do the trick, something about the atmosphere discourages the kinds of spontaneous casual community that you really need to develop social skills.
    - jseliger 11y ago
      This is a funny comment, but it's also better advice than it might seem, for reasons Jon Birger describes in Date-onomics: http://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/19/briefly-noted-date-onomics-how-dating-became-a-lopsided-numbers-game-jon-birger/ http://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/19/briefly-noted-date-onomics...
myblake 11y ago
Invest it or save it and avoid debt. You will thank yourself later. If it makes sense to, consider buying a primary residence, but don't spend too much on a car, or eating out, or anything like that. Make sure you have some nice toys and are generally not wanting, but also make sure to max out your 401k and then some.
kough 11y ago
Give it time, you'll manage to think of something.
rifung 11y ago
Save/invest the money so that one day you won't have to work anymore and can do the things that you would do if you didn't have to make a living.
delecti 11y ago
It's really easy to spend more money if you have it.
misframer 11y ago
If you don't want to think too much about investing, you could invest in a target retirement date fund, e.g. VTTSX (2060)[0], and let it grow for a few decades. [0] https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundIntExt=INT&FundId=1691 https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundIntExt=I...
sotojuan 11y ago
Save, travel, and go on dates!
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
jonny_eh 11y ago
Tesla, Oculus Rift, gaming rigs, comic books. Dating too, I guess.
- Cshelton 11y ago
  This. Get a Tesla! And travel...
pilom 11y ago
$18,000 per year in your 401k, $5500 in an IRA, $3350 in an HSA. That's $26,850 right off the bat. All tax free. Then max out your student loans and save up for the down payment on a house. Then date and find a spouse with a similar mindset about money. You'll be able to retire (literally never do work you don't want to do ever again) in 15-20 years easily if you keep your spending under control.
- steveax 11y ago
  If you max out your 401k contribution ($18,000 if you're under 50) you can also contribute to an IRA (Roth or traditional) but your contribution will not reduce your taxable income.
  - delecti 11y ago
    The two aren't related. If you max out a traditional 401k and your income is low enough that you can take the traditional IRA deduction as well. Though that deduction phases out by $71k/year, which in our field is relatively low.
auxym 11y ago
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ Thought that might be interesting, it was to me (came upon it on HN).
seansmccullough 11y ago
I save it, I don't want to work in an office for the rest of my life! Great opportunity to max out your 401(k) and Roth IRA.
cylinder 11y ago
You save and invest.
JoshTriplett 11y ago
> Sorry if this is off-topic (and maybe a bit personal), but as a recent graduate, I'm not sure what I would do with all that extra money. What do you (or most people) generally spend it on? I make less than that, but if I didn't have student loans, I wouldn't know what to do with it besides leave it in the bank. Saving it (in an index fund rather than a bank) is an excellent thing to do with it. Keep living like a college student (or even a fair bit better than that), and save the rest, and you'll be able to retire in your mid-to-late 30s. Resist the inclination to expand your expenses to match your income; it doesn't actually make you any happier, long-term. (Many different studies have confirmed this: increasing your level of spending tends to give you a short-term burst of happiness followed by a return to the baseline; it doesn't permanently raise your baseline.) You don't necessarily have to retire early. If you prefer, keep working past that point as long as you're enjoying yourself. You'll be able to have a lot more flexibility in your work, and later in your career you'll be well into the territory of "start your own charitable foundation" or "don't bother raising a series A".

by qntty 11y ago

fokinsean 11y ago

> leave it in the bank cha-ching That and invest.

vitd 11y ago

I'm not the original poster, but I'll tell you what I've done in the past which has worked fairly well. I put as much as I'm allowed to into an IRA for retirement and into my spouse's IRA, too. I max out the matching amount on my 401k. (Those 2 things alone ensure that I'm putting away 10-15% for retirement.) I do some additional short to medium-term investment in the stock market. Nothing too risky, but enough to hopefully beat inflation. I also bought a few expensive toys that I really wanted (nice high-end camera, for example) and take regular vacations to nice spots. I started giving to charity, too. I also decided to do something closer to home and helped a relative with their student debt. I started taking some of the free time I have and that nice camera to do photography for a local charity.

vinceguidry 11y ago

If you're not already married, you should be using it to date. College is hands-down the best place to find a significant other. Once you've graduated, the social life you took for granted quickly fades away and finding people to spend time with and then actually spending time with them becomes vastly more difficult. If you're a cisgendered male, it can be absolutely brutal. Cisgendered female, much less so but still a problem. One of the few things that makes it easier is the willingness to be generous. Leaving it in the bank is an excellent option. You've got two main things to save for, a down payment for a house and your wedding. Better still is a balanced and sane investment portfolio, but leaving it in the bank is better than a bad portfolio, so take some time to learn how investing works if you choose to go that route.

warfangle 11y ago
And if you're not cisgendered it can be even worse...
zavi 11y ago
What are some smart dating strategies for a straight white male new grad in the Bay Area with 6 digits of disposable income? Dating market seems extremely competitive here.
- ryandrake 11y ago
  > What are some smart dating strategies for a straight white male new grad in the Bay Area with 6 digits of disposable income? Spend the money on a plane ticket to somewhere with women?
  - vinceguidry 11y ago
    I wouldn't recommend this approach. A relationship is built out of time spent physically present with a person, trying to hack this by building a relationship with less time spent before marriage, or by substituting time spent in presence that is not physical, makes for a weak bond that will likely break after a few years of marriage, particularly if one or both of you have poor social skills. I emphasize social skills because, like Vitamin D, the hacker lifestyle leads us to be deficient in such a vital resource. We should be supplementing our lifestyle with lots of activities that force us to interact with other people in ways we're not used to. I've been going to the same bar for the last 8 years. It's often painful, I still don't really fit in, but it's been crucial for helping me develop my sense of self. Another good place to frequent is coffee shops, but good neighborhood coffee shops are quite rare. Starbucks doesn't really do the trick, something about the atmosphere discourages the kinds of spontaneous casual community that you really need to develop social skills.
  - jseliger 11y ago
    This is a funny comment, but it's also better advice than it might seem, for reasons Jon Birger describes in Date-onomics: http://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/19/briefly-noted-date-onomics-how-dating-became-a-lopsided-numbers-game-jon-birger/ http://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/19/briefly-noted-date-onomics...

myblake 11y ago

Invest it or save it and avoid debt. You will thank yourself later. If it makes sense to, consider buying a primary residence, but don't spend too much on a car, or eating out, or anything like that. Make sure you have some nice toys and are generally not wanting, but also make sure to max out your 401k and then some.

kough 11y ago

Give it time, you'll manage to think of something.

rifung 11y ago

Save/invest the money so that one day you won't have to work anymore and can do the things that you would do if you didn't have to make a living.

delecti 11y ago

It's really easy to spend more money if you have it.

misframer 11y ago

If you don't want to think too much about investing, you could invest in a target retirement date fund, e.g. VTTSX (2060)[0], and let it grow for a few decades. [0] https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundIntExt=INT&FundId=1691 https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundIntExt=I...

sotojuan 11y ago

Save, travel, and go on dates!

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

jonny_eh 11y ago

Tesla, Oculus Rift, gaming rigs, comic books. Dating too, I guess.

Cshelton 11y ago
This. Get a Tesla! And travel...

pilom 11y ago

$18,000 per year in your 401k, $5500 in an IRA, $3350 in an HSA. That's $26,850 right off the bat. All tax free. Then max out your student loans and save up for the down payment on a house. Then date and find a spouse with a similar mindset about money. You'll be able to retire (literally never do work you don't want to do ever again) in 15-20 years easily if you keep your spending under control.

steveax 11y ago
If you max out your 401k contribution ($18,000 if you're under 50) you can also contribute to an IRA (Roth or traditional) but your contribution will not reduce your taxable income.
- delecti 11y ago
  The two aren't related. If you max out a traditional 401k and your income is low enough that you can take the traditional IRA deduction as well. Though that deduction phases out by $71k/year, which in our field is relatively low.

auxym 11y ago

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ Thought that might be interesting, it was to me (came upon it on HN).

seansmccullough 11y ago

I save it, I don't want to work in an office for the rest of my life! Great opportunity to max out your 401(k) and Roth IRA.

cylinder 11y ago

You save and invest.

JoshTriplett 11y ago

> Sorry if this is off-topic (and maybe a bit personal), but as a recent graduate, I'm not sure what I would do with all that extra money. What do you (or most people) generally spend it on? I make less than that, but if I didn't have student loans, I wouldn't know what to do with it besides leave it in the bank. Saving it (in an index fund rather than a bank) is an excellent thing to do with it. Keep living like a college student (or even a fair bit better than that), and save the rest, and you'll be able to retire in your mid-to-late 30s. Resist the inclination to expand your expenses to match your income; it doesn't actually make you any happier, long-term. (Many different studies have confirmed this: increasing your level of spending tends to give you a short-term burst of happiness followed by a return to the baseline; it doesn't permanently raise your baseline.) You don't necessarily have to retire early. If you prefer, keep working past that point as long as you're enjoying yourself. You'll be able to have a lot more flexibility in your work, and later in your career you'll be well into the territory of "start your own charitable foundation" or "don't bother raising a series A".