vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
I second CrimsonX's advice to max out Roth then 401k. At your age in what sounds like a similar situation I did the same thing -- thankfully. It's easier to do when you're young and unencumbered. 10 years later with kids, house, changing from double to single income, job changes, etc, it's harder to max out retirement accounts. Not to mention that priorities change, e.g. saving for college.
I appreciate all the responses, but again, I have NO experience or education in the field.  I haven't started any major related college courses yet and do not have a job in the field. I am looking for beginner, introduction level reading material to start reading up on to start understanding the field before I even start school.
I recently made the switch to keeping track of my finance (Because I found an app that does almost everything for me). Before, my situation was fairly simple: I was unable to come up with a clear picture of how much I was spending vs saving (altho I had a rough idea). Now I here is what it changes: What I can do now: Is it useful ? Since I don't actually need to save more than I do (I am already saving 60-75% of my income), 1) isn't important. Since I don't have any visibility on my personal situation within a few years, 2) and 3) are not important. Conclusion: Since I don't actually spend any time building theses informations I am happy to use this app. It's kind of fun. If I did'nt had that tool... It would be a waste of time for me. Depends on your situation ? Nb: the app is Moneytree. Works only in Japan.
"I posted a comment in another answer and it seems to be approved by others, so I have converted this into an answer. If you're talking about young adults who just graduated college and worked through it. I would recommend you tell them to keep the same budget as what they were living on before they got a full-time job. This way, as far as their spending habits go, nothing changes since they only have a $500 budget (random figure) and everything else goes into savings and investments. If as a student you made $500/month and you suddenly get $2000/month, that's a lot of money you get to blow on drinks. Now, if you put $500 in savings (until 6-12 month of living expenses), $500 in investments for the long run and $500 in vacation funds or ""big expenses"" funds (Ideally with a cap and dump the extra in investments). That's $18,000/yr you are saving. At this stage in your life, you have not gotten used to spending that extra $18,000/yr. Don't touch the side money except for the vacation fund when you want to treat yourself. Your friends will call you cheap, but that's not your problem. Take that head start and build that down payment on your dream house. The way I set it up, is (in this case) I have automatics every day after my paychecks come in for the set amounts. I never see it, but I need to make sure I have the money in there. Note: Numbers are there for the sake of simplicity. Adjust accordingly. PS: This is anecdotal evidence that has worked for me. Parents taught me this philosophy and it has worked wonders for me. This is the extent of my financial wisdom."
Or, are there specific types of investments we can make that won't count against college financial aid? Yes - Start saving for college.  You seem to be very willing to save for your own retirement and other investments but are willing to let your kids suffer through college loans and subsidies for college.   Invest in your children's education.
&gt;But on the bright side, the most common decade for people to start saving is in their 20s. Twice as many 30 to 49 year olds said they started saving in their 20s instead of their 30s, while the 50 to 64 age group was “only slightly more likely” to have started saving in their 20s over their 30s, according to the report, which surveyed 1,003 adults living in the continental U.S.  So they are basing their analysis of how early people start saving purely by studying people in their 30s and 40s with those in their 50s and 60s. They don't compare either of those age groups with those in their 20s and 30s to see how things have changed?
The best thing to do right now is track your spending. You know you're saving 1k a month, and you know you're spending 1k a month on rent. That's 24k so far. I presume you'll have some income tax taken out, let's assume it's another 6k to round us neatly up to 30k. Since you earn 80k and you've spent 30k so far, you have another 50k unaccounted for. If you're in the USA I'd recommend using mint.com or a similar service to automatically track your transactions, or even just a spreadsheet if you don't like handing out your bank details (and you shouldn't). After that, I agree with SoulsOpenSource's answer. Write a budget and try to figure out where the fat can be trimmed. When I started tracking I saw I was spending almost a hundred bucks every week on fast food, due to poor planning and laziness. I decided to cook more and plan better and now I'm spending less than half that - in the last year I've saved almost three thousand dollars! If you want to save up for your future (and good on you if you do!) then there'll be some choices to make ahead. If you're spending a few hundred bucks on going out drinking every weekend, or you grab two coffees every day, or you buy fifty blurays a month (do people still buy blurays?), you'll have to ask yourself: Will I be happier spending money here than saving for my future?
"The way I approach ""afford to lose"", is that you need to sit down and figure out the amount of money you need at different stages of your life. I can look at my current expenses and figure out what I will always roughly be paying - bills, groceries, rent/mortgage.  I can figure out when I want to retire and how much I want to live on - I generally group 401k and other retirement separately to what I want to invest. With these numbers I can figure out how much I need to save to achieve this goal. Maybe you want to purchase a house in 5 years - figure out the rough down payment and include that in your savings plan. Continue for all capital purchases that you can think you would aim for. Subtract your income from this and you have the amount of money you have greater discretion over. Subtracting current liabilities (4th of July holiday... christmas presents) and you have the amount you could ""afford to lose"". As to the asset allocation you should look at, as others have mentioned that the younger you the greater your opportunity is to recoup losses. Personally I would disagree - you should have some plan for the investment and use that goal to drive your diversification."
When it's time to rebalance (i.e. a couple of times a year when I realize that I haven't done it in several months), I update quotes, look at the percentages assigned to each category, and if anything is off the target by more than 1% point I will buy/sell to adjust. (I.e. if US-LC is 23%, I sell enough to get back to 20%, then use the cash to buy more of something else that is under the target. But if US-MC is 7.2% I don't worry about it.) The 1% threshold prevents unnecessary trading costs; sometimes if everything is just over 1% off I'll let it slide. I generally try to stay away from timing, but I do use some of that extra cash when there's a panic (after Jan-Feb '09 I had very little cash in the retirement accounts). I don't have the source for this allocation any more, but it is the result of combining a half dozen or so sample allocations that I saw and tailoring it for my goals."
What's missing in your question, so Kate couldn't address, is the rest of your financial picture.  If you have a fully funded emergency account, are saving for retirement, and have saved up the $15K for the car, buy in cash.  If you tell me that if the day after you buy the car in cash, your furnace/AC system dies, that you'd need to pay for it with an $8K charge to a credit card, that's another story.  You see, there's more than one rate at play. You get close to zero on you savings today. You have a 1.5% loan rate available. But what is your marginal cost of borrowing? The next $10K, $20K? If it's 18% on a credit card, I personally would find value in borrowing at sub-2.5% and not depleting my savings.  On the other side, the saving side, does your company offer a 401(k) with company match? I find too many people obsessing over their 6% debt, while ignoring a 100% match of 4-6% of their gross income.  For what it's worth, trying to place labels on debt is a bit pointless. Any use of debt should be discussed 100% based on the finances of the borrower.
"LOL!!! Once elderly can live off social security alone, we can then talk about ""Universal basic income"".  Just a reminder: Social Security was originally tax free and reasonable. Today, it's taxed, it varies depending on the age you claim it, it's gone if you have too much income, does not increase according to inflation, and this year they removed the ""claim and suspend"" option.  P/S: by the time I retire, I doubt I will get anything form SS... so I don't even count on SS when saving for retirement."
Keep 3-6 months (or more if you need to, for me the number is 9 months) worth of expenses in an emergency fund.  Put the rest against the student loan.   The length of time depends on your situation.  I have family, and work in IT.  Changing jobs takes me longer, because ... reasons.  Having less than 6-9 months of buffer means that I have to rush and possibly take a position that is not a good fit, or get behind on payments. So, set aside your emergency fund, add to it if you need to.  Once it is fully funded, take the money you were using to fund the emergency fund and budget that to clearing student loans.  Also, don't start new credit cards, and be sure to never carry a balance on them. I know it seems like a lot, but keep in mind that yours is small, and you'll likely be able to knock it out in a very short time. Edit (after OP listed expenses): Taking into account the expenses you listed, it looks like you have about 2000 per month in expenses (if you're in emergency fund mode, luxuries can wait, and you can tighten the belt on food, so go with the lower end of your estimate.)  Lets say you have 600 a month to work with.  My suggestion would be bring savings up to $6000.  That will take you two months.  Then pay 850 a month to student loans.  You'll be paid off in a year, and still have 6000 for emergencies. Once you're done, you will have 850 a month to save and invest.  With patience, persistence and care, you can start a nest egg that will allow you to remain financially independent.  Search around for FIRE (financial independence, retire early) and other strategies for retirement savings and investing.  Be sure to save for retirement.  The worst inheritance to leave your loved ones would be to become financially dependent upon them in your later years.  And watch out for credit, it's a trap.
You have to call Interactive Brokers for this. This is what you should do, they might even have a web chat. These are very broker specific idiosyncrasies, because although margin rules are standardized to an extent, when they start charging you for interest and giving you margin until settlement may not be standardized. I mean, I can call them and tell you what they said for the 100 rep.
You are mistaken about a Roth IRA. You can take out your contributions at any time with no penalty as long as you don't touch the gains. Also, if the money has been in for 5 years you can withdraw for a first time home purchase. Your concerns about locking up the money are troublesome. You need discipline to save for retirement. That is a known massive expense you will have and it takes a LONG time of saving up to prepare. Be sure to account for the taxes you may owe on the winnings before you start spending the money. Before you sink the money into a down payment on a house, make sure you have several (preferrably) six months of living expenses in savings. If you don't have investment experience, steer away from individual stocks. Invest in index funds with low expense ratios and don't actively trade.
"Ok, since you asked, I'll explain. If you are middle class in the US, that means you make more money than 90% of the world's population (maybe even more than 90%). You just have to save more than what you spend and invest instead of spending on credit. In 30 years you will have enough money to live very comfortably. You just have to have the commitment and the focus to do it. When you reach 50 you'll have enough money to be considered rich, ie. your house paid for, a nice savings account, investments, retirement accounts and no debt. I've been ""preaching"" this for a long time and none of my friends/family wanted to listen. Read ""[The Wealthy Barber](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealthy_Barber)"" for more if you are curious.  ***Edit, provided a link."
"&gt; Bernie: I could probably live with a percent increase also. Right now, it falls under capital gains, which is 15% for most people, and I think slides up to 20% at the highest brackets. I could live with a couple more percent points added onto it. I am a civilian now, and left the military with no retirement pension. As an owner of a company, I have to build my own retirement just like most civilians nowadays. I am counting on some portion of that retirement to be funded by stock/mutual fund/dividends interest growth. While I would alter my plans slightly if it went from 15% to 20%, I wouldn't have to change my plans. &gt; You are right, there does need to be an enforcement agency, however, I do not believe it has to be government. You are right, it doesn't *have* to be government... Call it whatever you want, but guess what those people who have to *deal* with that enforcement agency are going to call it.... *government*... (or ""big brother"" or the ""cops"" or whatever). The point being, at the end of a day doesn't it equate to the same thing? How will this enforcement agency get paid? Are they going to sell tickets? Are they going to make a product or service *outside of enforcement*? Probably not, otherwise they are going to gain a reputation for having a conflict of interest and always have the suspicion of corruption hanging over them. So, then we are back to some form of ""tax"" on the market in order to pay for enforcement.... (And what do we call that ladies and gentlemen?.... A *government*!) &gt; Kansas You dug down into the specifics, which I appreciate. Most people just go: he didn't reduce taxes and spending *enough* and *that* is why it failed. And that is why they are now raising taxes to pay for gaping deficits. Okay, so lets say you are correct about Kansas. Lets do some apples to apples comparisons.
Contrary to most other advise given here, I'd recommend (in your situation) not to invest in stock (yet). There are some 'hidden' cost to investing that will eat your profit and in the end, that's why you are investing. Banks will charge for buying, selling and maintaining stock as well as for cashing dividends. Depending on which bank or intermediary these costs will rise. So, my advise is to start playing with stock creating a virtual portfolio and track that. Just as duffbeer says, start saving. Also look at my answer here.
Certainly reading the recommended answers about initial investing is a great place to start and I highly recommend reading though that page for sure, but I also believe your situation is a little different than the one described as that person has already started their long-term career while you are still a couple years away.  Now, tax-advantaged accounts like IRAs are amazingly good places to start building up retirement funds, but they also lock up the money and have a number of rules about withdrawals. You have fifteen thousand which is a great starting pot of money but college is likely to be done soon and there will likely be a number of expenses with the transition to full-time employment.  Moving expenses, first month's rent, nursing exams, job search costs, maybe a car...  all of this can be quite a lot especially if you are in a larger city.  It sounds like your parents are very helpful though which is great. Make sure you have enough money for that transition and emergency expenses first and if there is a significant pool beyond that then start looking at investments.  If you determine now is the best time to start than then above question is has great advice, but even if not it is still well worth taking some time to understand investing through that question, my favorite introduction book on the subject and maybe even a college course.  So when you land that first solid nursing job and get situated you can start taking full advantage of the 401K and IRAs.
I'll subscribe for a while just to see what it's like.   Still holding onto my OLD windows phone for now. I'd hate to have to go back to Android, but I know when this device finally dies, my choices will be really limited.
"Agreed on all points.  You're still not saving a TON of money, given that you have to have a reasonable balance of salary/distributions, but an S-corp is the way to go if you're making substantial profit in order to save tax money.  I'll reiterate (my wife is a CPA and she guides me on my business) - you can't legally save ""untaxed earnings"" for next year."
"My suggestion would be that you're looking at this the wrong way, though for good reasons. Once you are a family, you should - and, in most cases I've seen, will - think of things differently than you do now. Right now, your post above is written from a selfish perspective. Not to be insulting, and not implying selfish is a bad thing - I don't mean it negatively. But it is how you're defining this problem: from a self-interested, selfish point of view. ""Fair"" and ""unfair"" only have meaning from this point of view; something can only be unfair to you if you come from a self-centered viewpoint. Try to think of this from a family-centric viewpoint, and from your significant other's point of view. You're absolutely right to want both of you to be independent financially as far as is possible; but think about what that means from all three points of view (your family's, yours, and hers)? Exactly what it means will depend on the two of you separately and together, but I would encourage you to start with a few basics that make it likely you'll find a common ground: First of all, ensure your significant other has a retirement account of her own that is funded as well as yours is. This will both make life easier if you split up, and give her a safety net if something happens to you than if you have all of the retirement savings. I don't know how your country manages pensions or retirement accounts, but figure out how to get her into something that is as close to equal to yours as possible. Make sure both of you have similar quality credit histories. You should both have credit cards in your own names (or be true joint owners of the accounts, not just authorized users, where that is possible), and both be on the mortgage/etc. when possible. This is a common issue for women whose spouse dies young and who have no credit history. (Thanks @KateGregory for reminding me on this one) Beyond that, work out how much your budget allows for in spending money for the two of you, and split that equally.
"If you press ""PrintScreen"" it connects to your closest printer and prints your screen. Blows my mind.  More seriously I think it is great at what it does. However at 20-30k yearly I'm sure if you have to pay for it yourself you could start looking really hard for other options"
The concept I described here is best implemented by the single or couple who is still at 15%, but soon pushing higher than the 15/25 line. This enables them to start by saving in the Roth, and slowly shifting towards pre-tax. The final mix at retirement depends on that timing as well as their opportunities for conversions along the way. Part of my focus on that line is that the differential is greatest in bracket shifts between 15 and 25%. Much of the benefit in the whole IRA/401 discussion is in that shift, depositing at 25%, yet withdrawing at 15%. The 28% couple might wish to avoid the 33% bracket at retirement, but that level of income impacts far fewer people, and fewer still that are either reading these boards or my other writing."
True... Though if the USPS can survive these payments (I think it will) it will look very good when people start to retire in the future and it won't have to worry about retirement costs.   BUT... they do need to address their fundamental problems. They do lose billions every year without factoring in pension costs.
Can I still use the old EIN from partnership times for the new sole proprietorship? Or should I apply for a new EIN? You cannot use the same EIN. Unless you have employees, you should use your SSN for the sole proprietorship. If you have employees - you should get a new EIN (if you don't have one already for yourself as a sole proprietor - you can only have one). Can I actually start to use my SSN in this situation for the sole proprietorship? In this particular case, not only you can - you should.
How is everyone doing in their day to day lives?  What is affordable and what is not?  Often I find myself reading news that I find is disconnected from my reality.  Unemployment numbers are good. I am employed,  yet I can't help the feeling that many are getting the squeeze, especially amongst my peers; the new reality of employment being less livable than previously.  Perhaps too much zerohedge?  Housing is expensive,  saving for retirement seems futile?  Stocks are seemingly very expensive?
Hi..I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this post. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to start my own blog now.
Yes. Here's the answer to this question from oregon.gov: 3. I am moving into Oregon. What income will be taxed by Oregon? As an Oregon resident, you are taxed on ALL income regardless of the   source of the income. This includes, but is not limited to: You may need to pay estimated taxes if you don't have Oregon   withholding on your income.
Tax-wise, they basically work the same: you get a deduction in the year you contribute, and are taxed when you withdraw. The big difference is that there are rules on when you are allowed to withdraw: only in retirement [barring specific circumstances]. Typically your employer's matching program (if you have one) will be inside of an RPP. Note that RPP's and RRSP's reduce your taxes on your employment paycheques immediately, if you contribute through a work program. That means you get the tax savings during the year, instead of all at once a year later on April 30th. *Note that I have attempted at all times to keep my advice current with applicable tax legislation, but I do not guarantee accuracy. Research these things yourself because I may have missed something relevant to your situation, I may be just plain wrong, and tax law may have changed since I wrote this to when you read it.
"And people want ""Guaranteed Basic Living Income"" for the poor.  LOL!!!!!!  Once elderly can live off social security alone, we can then talk about ""basic income"".  P/S: by the time I retire, I doubt I will get anything form SS... so I don't even count on SS when saving for retirement."