Today Kinda Sucks [LOCKED FOR POLITICS]

[North7]

It was money I am willing to pull out of investments to invest in a Bronco. But, when the market is down it does not make sense to pull out to buy a car.

I have a completely separate savings account.

A vehicle is not an investment nor is the stock market for short term savings or casino gambling. Any money in the market should be considered unusable for a minimum of two years. Any expenses within that two years should come from savings or income. Those of us who are old enough to have lived through multiple market downturns are not concerned, our investments are positioned to weather these storms.

Regardless, don't let the desire for a new shiny toy override your sound financial future, house fund, emergency fund, 401K, kids college fund, etc. You should ask yourself, do you want a couple of years of a cool ride or a stronger financial future?

The future quality of life for you, your family and your children is based on the choices you make early in life. Save vs Toys, the choice is yours, if you are able to afford both, excellent, enjoy. And don't tell me YOLO is the answer, "You only live once" to make smart financial decisions early in life that will affect the rest of your life.

What is the trajectory of your financial life? In this first example below, a 25 year old started saving $500 per month, by retirement age they will have $1.52M with an average stock market return of 7% (with the money sitting is a broad based market ETF, such as VTI, https://investor.vanguard.com/etf/profile/VTI).

The second person waited until age 35 to start saving for retirement with the same inflation reduced $500 per month. Due to this later start at serious, responsible, savings, the second person will only have half as much as the smart 25 year old, $714K, with an average stock market return of 7%, that is $807K less. Now how many cups of coffee is that?

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[indio22]

One other angle to consider though. A lot of folks act like they will live forever, but the average lifespan in the USA is 78 years (75 for a male). That's average, plenty of people will fall below that.

Not to mention what shape will a person be in, with health issues an all, during those later years. In my opinion, the idea of retirement late in life and the so called "golden years" is somewhat of a con.

You probably don't want to end up in some run down trailer park later in life. On the other hand, saving for "living it up" later in life, can be a fools errand. I've seen too many people get sick or die in the past several years around me (not from COVID), who thought they would be around. Some never even drew from their 401k.

One of the best things I've done with my family of four, is travel the world since my kids were of a young age. We did it on a budget, but it has cost some money. It's what we chose to spend on. I would not trade those experiences and fun, for any increase to my 401k, or some swank retirement community later in life.

In summary, definitely have some savings plan, but live life to the fullest, now when you are young and able.