Recently I have been feeling a sense of insecurty and anxiety stemming from my financial situation and the financial situation of the United States. A little background on me: I am 26 years old making ~67k in a MCOL area. I graduated with highest honors receiving a STEM degree but I feel like I am being "priced out" of everything. After contributing 20% to my 401k, I receive biweekly checks of $1300. My following breakdown are as follows:
Spending
Rent: $1000 (After KOZ Tax Abatement/No State or Local Taxes) $1300 normally Utilities: $100 Car Payment $225 (almost paid off) Car Insurance $100 Phone/Internet/Gym $150 Gas $100 Food $300 Household Goods $100 Medical/Dental $100
Total: ~$2200.00
Savings
20% Roth 401k ~50k so far Roth IRA ~2k Emergency Fund ~10k
Usually I will have around $200-400 at the end of the month but sometimes this is completely diminshed due to other expenses such as car maintence/yearly bills/medical expenses/eating out (not often ~$100 monthly). Just the other day my phone broke and I had to dish out $300 for a new one. I feel as if I can stretch possibly one vacation per year if it is around $1000.
My net worth is around $80k and I know I am near a higher percentile for my age but I can't but help feeling broke and anxious. I feel like I am one situation away from being completely broke. The cost of housing is way higher than 3-4x my salary in my area, childcare is off the charts, medical coverages can be extremely expensive if I lose my job, prices are flying up yet my salary only rises 3% per year just keeping up with inflation so I can never feel like I am advancing. I hear about PhDs/Lawyers/ect making the same amount as me which blows my mind because I feel underpaid based on the cost around me. In addition, most jobs in my field pay around ~10-20k less than what I am making now. Are most Americans truly living paycheck to paycheck with no savings/pensions offered by companies? Is this the actualy reality? How are people actually able to survive?
My biggest stem from anxiety is I feel like there are no individuals out there in which I can get authentic financial advice for this generation. I feel like alot of modern financial advice is outdate when companies had pensions, money to actually invest in a 401k, and houses weren't this expensive. 3x my salary would be ~200k, houses start at ~300k in my area. How I am supposed to feel "comfortable" when I could easily lose my job or get injured preventing a paycheck?
TDLR: If I make a decent amount and feel broke, how is any other person making 20% less than me able to survive?
Submitted October 27, 2021 at 10:04AM by Guitarplaynscientist https://ift.tt/3EinQi7
