quote:

Originally posted by ::TranceVanDyk:: upon my 18th birthday, i applied for a bank account with savings and checking. currently, i put about 20% of everything i make or recieve into my savings account and the rest in my checking account. i just got my debit card which is a little exciting, but i dont want to rush into it and become a debtor. its pretty nice making your own money and not mootching off parents anymore. i now know what its like to work for the stuff i buy. much more careful with my spending habits and taking care of my stuff. otherwise, losing just a 30$ jacket is like working for 5 hours and not getting paid anything. from the experienced TA's, how should i save, invest, and spend my money??

haha, i thot someone was asking specifically about '1stBank', my current bank.

as for saving and spending and all that jazz, it depends on what you are comfortable with. you can be a hermit and use your matress or freak out on the stock market. both of those options can pay off if you do your homework and are careful. (neither are all that wise at your age)

savings accounts are decent if you can hold on to cash for a bit, as they provide some measure of interest so your money isnt just losing value to inflation over the year. nowadays most choose a checking account and you can usually get a free ATM/VISA backed debit card. this is prolly the best solution as you dont have to lug around checks (this sucks) and you cant blow imaginary money on shit. if you dont have the cash, you cant buy it.

i am not an expert on investing and finances, but i do know that avoiding a credit card has saved me a world of headaches being only a year out of college.

oh, and make sure you check out any internet banking options you have, its brilliantly convenient when you dont want to check balances and whatnot at the bank|

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'That's like telling a Kodiak bear to stop fcking older men.'

quote:

Originally posted by ::TranceVanDyk:: ...i just got my debit card which is a little exciting, but i dont want to rush into it and become a debtor....

You cant get into debt using a debit card, as when you use it to pay for a meal in a restaurant for example, it just takes the money straight out of your bank account. If you don't have the money in your account, it wont let the shop assistants process the payment. It's just handy to have so that you dont need to carry around a wad of cash.

Credit cards on the other hand, steer well clear of.

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spend all ur mula on heroin and intarweb p0rn

good invstement

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quote:

Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On OOKA-OOKA ME NACHOS ME PRESS KEYS ON COMPUTER GOOD

I tried to get a bank account, but I am too young

ok, good, im pretty much on par with all your responses. 20-25% into savings, other % into checking for anything i want to buy. thanks.

quote:

I tried to get a bank account, but I am too young

dont even try, unless you want your parents to be in control of it. basically, your name would be on it, but the only power u would have would be to deposit. to withdraw, youde need parental permission. on your own account.

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You're young and will undoubtly earn more income and have more investment opportunities spring up in the future. I do financial advising and one of the most important things I feel individuals should own is a personal Roth IRA, especially if your job doesn't provide 401K plans. This is meant to meet your long-term investment needs, so even though you earn a nice return on the life of your Roth IRA, you can't pull out anything until you reach 59 1/2 without suffering penalties.

Beautiful thing about Roth IRAs are that you purchase shares of mutual funds (since you're young only buy aggressive funds) with after tax dollars and any gains you make cannot be taxed when you reach the maturation date, and also, instead of taking dividends as income, hence a taxable event, you can roll the dividends back into the funds without suffering losses plus adding more money in your Roth IRA.

Check out American Funds, they offer some healthy funds. I currently invest in two different types of funds; both prone to high growth over their lives and suspectible to significant losses in the short term.



This is a graph of one of the funds I currently invest in - the American Balanced Fund. As you can see had you invested in this fund back when it was first offerred in 1985 and initial invested $10,000, reinvesting your dividends, it would be worth over $100,000 today. Amazing growth.

i will definatly look into these investments and methods proposed by you two. matter of fact, tomorrow ill head to the bank to talk with somebody about these things.

good idea for myself is to write out a plan. with your suggestions in mind.

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quote:

Originally posted by ::TranceVanDyk:: upon my 18th birthday, i applied for a bank account with savings and checking. currently, i put about 20% of everything i make or recieve into my savings account and the rest in my checking account. i just got my debit card which is a little exciting, but i dont want to rush into it and become a debtor. its pretty nice making your own money and not mootching off parents anymore. i now know what its like to work for the stuff i buy. much more careful with my spending habits and taking care of my stuff. otherwise, losing just a 30$ jacket is like working for 5 hours and not getting paid anything. from the experienced TA's, how should i save, invest, and spend my money??

well chances are you aren't going to really have much to invest properly...as people said...i would perhaps concern yourself with sticking money aside for the things that you would like and then just plumping the rest into your savings. once you get a real job then you can start worrying about different instruments for saving...

don't buy candy

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.·´¯`·»jessa messa«´¯`·.

quote:

Originally posted by josh4 First hes jerking off at work, then hes giving you financial advice. I love teh COR.

Oh man that made me laugh. Behold the powers of masturbation.

i always spend in the summer and save in the winter, but i didn't start doing that until i had some nice money saved up to back on. So I recomend you take the advice of the people who tell you to make the money now and spend it later in life, itl be more fun that way

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the more you dance, the more you romance