I'm in my mid 20's and living alone.
No girlfriend, no friends, no going out, no car, no pet, and luckily no student debt.
I usually spend less than $5 per meal, and if it goes above $5, It's like once or twice a week and never goes above $15.
Rent is not cheap but since I can walk to my workplace, I think it evens out.
I'm saving a good amount on 401k and my savings account.
I'm putting in $500 in the stock market every month (ETF and tech unicorns, no crypto).
Whenever I saw people my age going out, eating out, buying cars they can't afford while having student debt, I felt good about my lifestyle.
But after looking at the stock market plunging and inflation growing, I started questioning it.
My savings account is losing value every day because of inflation and all stock gains I made last year got wiped out in days.
I skipped on pets and things I wanted to buy because they didn't seem essential.
I feel depressed but I don't see a therapist because my insurance doesn't cover it.
I briefly dated someone but it cost me too much and now I'm afraid of dating.
My life feels joyless and miserable but I know I must save as much as I can while I'm young because of "compound interest".
Yet whenever I hear about people losing all their money because of scams, hospitalization, or divorce, it makes me wonder what's the point of all this.
What if I get run over by a bus before retirement?
What if someone marries me just because of the money and divorces me?
Even if I retire as a millionaire, will I be happy then?
I honestly don't know.
Submitted May 16, 2021 at 12:02PM by SnooDonkeys6288 https://ift.tt/3tSurKg
