GeneralWhat is your wealth?
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GeneralWhat is your wealth?Posted:

Wren
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This is a discussion for those that are willing to discuss their finances. The purpose is to allow a form of communication to exist between the 1% and the 99%, where certain questions or at least insight can be gained into both sides of life.

I am particularly interested in whether there are any self-made millionaires on this forum. The conditions are simply that;

    No more than 30% of your wealth has been gifted to you or inherited,
    Your net assets equate to $/£/Eur1,000,000 or more

To facilitate discussion, I will provide a list of information that may be useful to include in your post. Feel free to make your own adjustments where desired;

    Age:
    Country:
    Qualifications:
    Source(s) of Income:
    Current Position:
    Net Asset Value:
    Net Debt Value:
    A Main Reason Relating to your Wealth:
    A Main Reason Relating to your Debts:


My answers to the list can be viewed in the spoiler below;

    Age: 21
    Country: United Kingdom
    Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree in Law
    Source(s) of Income: Part-time minimum wage job, parents, investments, study loans
    Current Position: Student, part-time standard employee
    Net Asset Value: £15,000
    Net Debt Value: £56,720
    A Main Reason Relating to your Wealth: My parents are currently financing my existence during my studies, my car and a monetary gift was provided which makes up a significant total of my asset value. The remaining amount has been generated through my part-time work and investments.
    A Main Reason Relating to your Debts: I have paid for 3 years of study at University through Student Loans, and I have just commenced my 4th year (which I have included in my total debt value) to obtain a Master's and to qualify as a trainee Solicitor.

Feel free to ask me any questions

The following 4 users thanked Wren for this useful post:

r00t (02-02-2022), Milkwagons (02-02-2022), Scizor (02-01-2022), JOEYKMODS (02-01-2022)
#2. Posted:
Scizor
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Age: 27

Country: United States

Qualifications: Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering, eternally online loser

Source(s) of Income: Employment, as well as investments if we're just counting total value and not actual taxable income yet.

Current Position: Project Management for Medical Device Development at a Pharma company

Net Asset Value: Low-Mid 6 Figures in low expense ratio Index funds, enough cash on hand to feed myself. A car worth maybe $2,500, I rent an apartment so I'm just lighting money on fire there.

Net Debt Value: I float $1.5-3k monthly on Credit for living expenses, otherwise none after managing to pay off my student loans early via ramen and self loathing

A Main Reason Relating to your Wealth: Lucky and immoral enough to work in a field that pays well from profiting off of human misery (half joking). I'm pretty basic and don't do a lot of fancy things other than liking to experience nice restaurants. Monthly rent is $1250 and other expenses/bills come out to about $600 on top of that. Was able to attend college on a lot of scholarships.

A Main Reason Relating to your Debts: I mostly use my CC's for day to day costs including rent and bills, I pay in full around statement time to avoid carrying that over though. I drive a car from 2003 so no monthly loan payment, but I'm probably going to get something new in the spring-summer so I'll be bringing on some debt there.

I was going to respond with a shitpost about having all my money tied up in ape jpg nft's but it seems like an honest neat thread, thank you friend


Last edited by Scizor ; edited 2 times in total
#3. Posted:
Milkwagons
  • Summer 2023
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Joined: Apr 25, 20149Year Member
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Joined: Apr 25, 20149Year Member
Posts: 542
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Age: 44
Country: USA
Qualifications: I can cook minute rice in 58 seconds and I'm the best cook in Indiana
Source(s) of Income: cook
Current Position: owner
Net Asset Value: $988
Net Debt Value: $43334
A Main Reason Relating to your Wealth: I was taught how to cook by Scizor
A Main Reason Relating to your Debts: Scizor & mommy's milk
#4. Posted:
Wren
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Scizor wrote Age: 27

Country: United States

Qualifications: Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering, eternally online loser

Source(s) of Income: Employment, as well as investments if we're just counting total value and not actual taxable income yet.

Current Position: Project Management for Medical Device Development at a Pharma company

Net Asset Value: Low-Mid 6 Figures in low expense ratio Index funds, enough cash on hand to feed myself. A car worth maybe $2,500, I rent an apartment so I'm just lighting money on fire there.

Net Debt Value: I float $1.5-3k monthly on Credit for living expenses, otherwise none after managing to pay off my student loans early via ramen and self loathing

A Main Reason Relating to your Wealth: Lucky and immoral enough to work in a field that pays well from profiting off of human misery (half joking). I'm pretty basic and don't do a lot of fancy things other than liking to experience nice restaurants. Monthly rent is $1250 and other expenses/bills come out to about $600 on top of that. Was able to attend college on a lot of scholarships.

A Main Reason Relating to your Debts: I mostly use my CC's for day to day costs including rent and bills, I pay in full around statement time to avoid carrying that over though. I drive a car from 2003 so no monthly loan payment, but I'm probably going to get something new in the spring-summer so I'll be bringing on some debt there.

I was going to respond with a shitpost about having all my money tied up in ape jpg nft's but it seems like an honest neat thread, thank you friend


Thank you for the contribution, easy to be tempted to shitpost understandably.

It's surprising that the first response is related to educational success, I thought for sure it would be investments as the main factor. I have a few questions on the topic of your employment as I'm not yet entirely qualified myself yet.

1. How old were you when you graduated?
2. Did you apply for jobs immediately after you graduated (if so, how old were you when you got your degree-related position), or did you already have a job secured during your studies?

Scholarships definitely seem to be a benefit to the US education system. I think the availability for ours are quite limited in the UK. Our current system is that we do not begin paying off student loans until we earn over a certain income threshold (£27,000) and then it is only 9% repayment from earnings over that threshold anyway, with an entire removal of outstanding debt after 30 years. So the debt system is somewhat reasonable. I'm assuming you had to begin repaying yours (whatever remaining payments you had to make that the scholarships did not cover) immediately after University?
#5. Posted:
Scizor
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Wren wrote
Scizor wrote Age: 27

Country: United States

Qualifications: Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering, eternally online loser

Source(s) of Income: Employment, as well as investments if we're just counting total value and not actual taxable income yet.

Current Position: Project Management for Medical Device Development at a Pharma company

Net Asset Value: Low-Mid 6 Figures in low expense ratio Index funds, enough cash on hand to feed myself. A car worth maybe $2,500, I rent an apartment so I'm just lighting money on fire there.

Net Debt Value: I float $1.5-3k monthly on Credit for living expenses, otherwise none after managing to pay off my student loans early via ramen and self loathing

A Main Reason Relating to your Wealth: Lucky and immoral enough to work in a field that pays well from profiting off of human misery (half joking). I'm pretty basic and don't do a lot of fancy things other than liking to experience nice restaurants. Monthly rent is $1250 and other expenses/bills come out to about $600 on top of that. Was able to attend college on a lot of scholarships.

A Main Reason Relating to your Debts: I mostly use my CC's for day to day costs including rent and bills, I pay in full around statement time to avoid carrying that over though. I drive a car from 2003 so no monthly loan payment, but I'm probably going to get something new in the spring-summer so I'll be bringing on some debt there.

I was going to respond with a shitpost about having all my money tied up in ape jpg nft's but it seems like an honest neat thread, thank you friend


Thank you for the contribution, easy to be tempted to shitpost understandably.

It's surprising that the first response is related to educational success, I thought for sure it would be investments as the main factor. I have a few questions on the topic of your employment as I'm not yet entirely qualified myself yet.

1. How old were you when you graduated?
2. Did you apply for jobs immediately after you graduated (if so, how old were you when you got your degree-related position), or did you already have a job secured during your studies?

Scholarships definitely seem to be a benefit to the US education system. I think the availability for ours are quite limited in the UK. Our current system is that we do not begin paying off student loans until we earn over a certain income threshold (£27,000) and then it is only 9% repayment from earnings over that threshold anyway, with an entire removal of outstanding debt after 30 years. So the debt system is somewhat reasonable. I'm assuming you had to begin repaying yours (whatever remaining payments you had to make that the scholarships did not cover) immediately after University?


1. How old were you when you graduated?: I graduated with my Bachelors degree when I was 21, typically in the US our university (called college here) is 4 years for a bachelors degree after high school, so from age 18-22. With my scholarships I was able to take summer courses for much cheaper, so I took advantage of those and was able to graduate a little early.

2. After graduating with my Bachelors I attended Medical school, which is an additional 4 years on top of a 4 year Bachelors program. I ended up leaving early (without the degree rip) to go into my current field. After leaving there I worked an odd job for a few months trying to aggressively pay off the debt I accrued. Sorry for the ramble, but after working odd jobs and paying off some of my school debt for about 4 months after leaving medical school, I got a job at my current company as a Biomedical Engineer in a contract position. After about 2 years my current position became available, now I direct a team of Engineers/Data Scientists/Researchers/Business analysts with Device development cycles.

The US does seem to be pretty lenient with handing out money for school, either through government loans or grants/scholarships. Most states have somewhat generous aid programs that give, essentially, "free" money for lower income or high performing students. But with our costs of school (Tuition for public colleges tends to run about $10-12k a year, private schools are more like $25k-70k yearly), a large amount of students have to take out loans. For reference, most medical school programs range from $30k-60k a year for 4 years in tuition alone. You can get loans from the federal government that are typically more generous in repayment and interest rates, but they have pretty low caps on how much you can borrow that don't typically cover the full cost of school. "Private loans", from for-profit companies, tend to be pretty aggressive in their repayment and interest structures. I have some friends that owe $100-200k to Private Loan lenders, and they'll like never actually pay off the principal balance with how much they have to pay monthly in interest on these loans. I think one issue with this, specifically in the US but probably in other places as well, is that many jobs are now requiring a higher level of education for entry, but the wages of these jobs aren't increasing or in line with the cost of the education. The average teacher here makes $35-45k a year, but it now requires at minimum a bachelors degree (and in some cases a masters, 2 years on top of a 4 year bachelors) that costs approximately $40-120k to attain. There are lots of aid programs available for these people, but if you're starting your career off with a $1,200 monthly loan payment for the next 10 years, it's a hard hole to dig yourself out of.
#6. Posted:
Monethrax
  • Christmas!
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Joined: Aug 16, 20212Year Member
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Age: 22
Country: US
Qualifications: High School Diploma
Source(s) of Income: Full-time Job & Owned Land
Current Position: Lowe's Home Improvement + Overseer
Net Asset Value: $36.8k - Land + Job
Net Debt Value: $2.8k [1.8 for taxes and 1 for maintenance - have good renters + sturdy property unless something crazy happens])
A Main Reason Relating to your Wealth: Father passed, grown up and inherited land - have the responsibility of maintaining renters, etc
A Main Reason Relating to your Debts: Land taxes (plus title tax yearly etc)

Sorta living easy as I figure out the next move in life - would like to go into running my own business.
#7. Posted:
Adam
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Spoiler for those lurking on the interwebs and not joining the site

I wish more people spoke out about their finances not in specifics but more about tips and what they're doing to stay on top of it.


Age: 26
Country: UK
Qualifications: Higher tier NVQ in IT (Didn't go Uni, not about that life)
Source(s) of Income: Full-time Job
Current Position: IT Network Manager (for the next 10 days) then back down to IT Support engineer
Net Asset Value: Sub £10k
Net Debt Value: £15k
A Main Reason Relating to your Wealth: ?? Yea about that. Turns out that if you spend money on going out most weekends and not saving, you're not doing yourself any favours
A Main Reason Relating to your Debts: I'll keep it short and simple, my car was my biggest asset but since then, I no longer own said car which is the majority of the debts. This wasn't on a credit agreement for those interested but was a bank loan over 5 years. Rebuilding in progress hence the job change
#8. Posted:
r00t
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Age: Under 30
Country: US
Qualifications: None
Sources of income: Salary and various "hustles"
Current position: IT Admin
Net Asset Value: Enough
Net Debt Value: $30k margin loan, $20k credit card float at 0% interest

Main Reasons Relating to your Wealth: I live to work while others work to live. I'm good at my job, so my employer pays what I'm worth. I save about 75% of my income. I am more useful to my employer because I act without fear of losing my job. I invest only in the total US stock market index. My hobbies/hustles make money.

A Main Reason Relating to your Debts: I use a margin loan at 1.5% interest to increase equity risk and eliminate cash drag. I carry large credit balances for resale inventory with no interest.

Notes: I quit college because I didn't like it. My parents paid some tuition and were reimbursed double. I had expensive private schooling since age 3 and good upbringing.
#9. Posted:
002
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Age: 23
Country: USA
Qualifications: Highschool diploma
Source(s) of Income: Work and mutual funds
Current Position: Carpenter
Net Asset Value: Cash = $30k, vehicles = $30k, House = $480k (estimates between Zillow and Redfin)
Net Debt Value: $400k
A Main Reason Relating to your Wealth: Been working and saving since I was 13, stayed at my parents house until I was 21 and the current housing market is insane
A Main Reason Relating to your Debts: House is my only debt.
#10. Posted:
Wren
  • Blind Luck
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Adam wrote Spoiler for those lurking on the interwebs and not joining the site

I wish more people spoke out about their finances not in specifics but more about tips and what they're doing to stay on top of it.


Age: 26
Country: UK
Qualifications: Higher tier NVQ in IT (Didn't go Uni, not about that life)
Source(s) of Income: Full-time Job
Current Position: IT Network Manager (for the next 10 days) then back down to IT Support engineer
Net Asset Value: Sub £10k
Net Debt Value: £15k
A Main Reason Relating to your Wealth: ?? Yea about that. Turns out that if you spend money on going out most weekends and not saving, you're not doing yourself any favours
A Main Reason Relating to your Debts: I'll keep it short and simple, my car was my biggest asset but since then, I no longer own said car which is the majority of the debts. This wasn't on a credit agreement for those interested but was a bank loan over 5 years. Rebuilding in progress hence the job change


Yeah, going out on nights out tended to be my highest expense. Are you making any changes to your outgoings, and do you find that you're maintaining a constant in terms of balancing your incomings with your outgoings, or are you at a point where you're accumulating wealth now?
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