Long story short, I came from a very dysfunctional family and only got out of the homeless status 7 years ago. I was never taught about money and lived most of my life being anxious and emotionally/mentally paralyzed about losing my home again.. Life has gotten a lot better but I see that I have a lot of work ahead of me to build a stable, secure life for myself.
- I was able to finish up college but because I chose a very shitty career, I am currently stuck at a low paying job, making $35K a year.. I am working hard to get a better paying job right now. I don't have health insurance and I contribute the least amount possible in retirement, I believe I have around $2500 in there.
- I currently have around $8000 in student loans. It's in default status right now because of covid and I am not sure what's happening so I have saving money instead of making payments.
- I will be relocating to NYC soon because my wife got a job there. She will be making $50K a year. We have to rent and it is estimated to be around $2300 a month. We won't be getting a car to save money.
- I have around $5000 in savings. I want to start a mutual funds but from what I am reading, I am not suppose to start any savings unless I have at least enough cash to last me 6 months without working..
I am not the most intelligent person but I am self aware enough to realize how much my life has been ruled by fear. I live a very frugal lifestyle and I have just been holding enough to cash because in the back of my mind, I am always afraid of losing everything. But I know that I need to start investing, I need to get a better job, and I am already late to preparing for retirement.. Being financial illiterate is not an excuse for me to live like this and I want to start taking tangible steps to achieve a peace of mind.
Any experiences or advices would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.
Submitted April 29, 2021 at 07:27PM by kevsheart https://ift.tt/2RcBH6o
