4 ms·

This kind of ignores the people in their twenties are often in massive student debt and likely to be unemployed or have employment that barely makes a living wa

This kind of ignores the people in their twenties are often in massive student debt and likely to be unemployed or have employment that barely makes a living wage. Save/invest 15% is not helpful advice to somebody with no job, or somebody who is struggling to make rent cheques.

martincmartin 10y ago
The author addresses that. He suggests using this time to gain financial literacy. From the booklet: "[Doing all the reading] may take you up to a year, but you’re in no hurry, since you are just beginning to think about your retirement and you likely have little in the way of assets; you may even be in hock up to your ears with debts from school and car loans. So there’s plenty of time, and the months you take to complete the course laid out in the booklet will be the most profitable reading you will ever do; it may not be too much of an exaggeration to suggest, in fact, that your financial life depends on it. " and "eliminate your credit card debt, followed by your car loan. What about your educational loans? Since your long-term investment return on your retirement savings will be around 5%, which is likely lower than your loan interest rate, you should make paying off those your next priority. When, and only when, you’ve gotten rid of all your debt are you truly saving for retirement. "
pascalxus 10y ago
Go to a local community college for the first 2 years, then you can transfer to a UC or State college. Take the easiest/least time consuming classes you can find and try to work during those 4 years. Don't allow a useless college degree to make you broke. For most jobs/careers, You just need the certificate ~ at least in the long term.
- aanm1988 10y ago
  Yet more "just sacrifice more" rhetoric.
- permatech 10y ago
  > Take the easiest/least time consuming classes you can find and try to work during those 4 years. Don't allow a useless college degree to make you broke. If you take the easiest/least time consuming classes you will likely end up with a useless college degree. Go to a state university that has a solid co-op or intern program and major in something difficult. Take hard classes and focus on those (EE, CompSci) because they will open up high paying internships during school and an entry job after graduation. Don't burn yourself trying to balance school and work concurrently, don't waste your time taking easy classes that will leave you struggling after graduation! > For most jobs/careers, You just need the certificate ~ at least in the long term. That may be true, but your courses/GPA will matter for the first job... or to get the MS degree required for many jobs in engineering today.
  - pascalxus 10y ago
    For example: a computer science degree teaches you a lot of stuff, covering an enormous diversity of CS topics, but 80% of it won't have anything to do with a career in Software engineering. The stuff you really need to learn, you'll need to learn on your own. That's why I'm saying, take the easy classes, then spend the extra time on an actual software engineering job or internship where you can learn what you really need to learn. The degree is required for a lot of SE jobs but that doesn't mean it's useful (as in applicable to SE).
icedchai 10y ago
15% also isn't enough, if you're serious about retiring early.

martincmartin 10y ago

The author addresses that. He suggests using this time to gain financial literacy. From the booklet: "[Doing all the reading] may take you up to a year, but you’re in no hurry, since you are just beginning to think about your retirement and you likely have little in the way of assets; you may even be in hock up to your ears with debts from school and car loans. So there’s plenty of time, and the months you take to complete the course laid out in the booklet will be the most profitable reading you will ever do; it may not be too much of an exaggeration to suggest, in fact, that your financial life depends on it. " and "eliminate your credit card debt, followed by your car loan. What about your educational loans? Since your long-term investment return on your retirement savings will be around 5%, which is likely lower than your loan interest rate, you should make paying off those your next priority. When, and only when, you’ve gotten rid of all your debt are you truly saving for retirement. "

pascalxus 10y ago

Go to a local community college for the first 2 years, then you can transfer to a UC or State college. Take the easiest/least time consuming classes you can find and try to work during those 4 years. Don't allow a useless college degree to make you broke. For most jobs/careers, You just need the certificate ~ at least in the long term.

aanm1988 10y ago
Yet more "just sacrifice more" rhetoric.
permatech 10y ago
> Take the easiest/least time consuming classes you can find and try to work during those 4 years. Don't allow a useless college degree to make you broke. If you take the easiest/least time consuming classes you will likely end up with a useless college degree. Go to a state university that has a solid co-op or intern program and major in something difficult. Take hard classes and focus on those (EE, CompSci) because they will open up high paying internships during school and an entry job after graduation. Don't burn yourself trying to balance school and work concurrently, don't waste your time taking easy classes that will leave you struggling after graduation! > For most jobs/careers, You just need the certificate ~ at least in the long term. That may be true, but your courses/GPA will matter for the first job... or to get the MS degree required for many jobs in engineering today.
- pascalxus 10y ago
  For example: a computer science degree teaches you a lot of stuff, covering an enormous diversity of CS topics, but 80% of it won't have anything to do with a career in Software engineering. The stuff you really need to learn, you'll need to learn on your own. That's why I'm saying, take the easy classes, then spend the extra time on an actual software engineering job or internship where you can learn what you really need to learn. The degree is required for a lot of SE jobs but that doesn't mean it's useful (as in applicable to SE).

icedchai 10y ago

15% also isn't enough, if you're serious about retiring early.