I have been very fortunate to receive a union construction job through a relative, and I am very excited about the position. I have no debt of any kind and currently live at home with my parents. The job is 7 days a week, with double shifts during the summer, which gives me a lot of overtime pay. I’m in shape, down 120 lbs, and muscular. I’m also stress-free because my diet is already planned out on a spreadsheet, and I have no college debt (didn’t go) and no credit card debt.
According to my calculations, the job should provide take-home pay of $3,778/week, or $16,400/month during the summer. During the winter, it goes down to $1,430/week, or $6,200/month. The year-round average take-home pay is $8,800/month, which works out to about $2,020/week.
I currently have no money saved except for investments in XMR, and I want to invest around $10k–$12k into it. I also plan to contribute as much as possible to a 401(k). I do not plan on buying anything unnecessary, such as a new car, RV, computer, guitars, or anything else I do not really need.
My expenses are:
- $370/month for car insurance
- $50/month for my phone bill
- $150/week for groceries
- $15/month for Planet Fitness
Total: $1,085/month
I do not pay rent. My parents would not ask me to pay rent and are okay with me staying until I am able to move out and buy a house.
My plan is to build an emergency fund first, then set up automatic transfers into separate accounts for index funds, a house fund, a personal fund, a buffer fund, and a crypto fund so I can invest passively. I do not really want a credit card, but I need to start using one because my credit score dropped to 550 after not making a payment for a while.
Any advice is appreciated. Currently looking into HYSA and IRA, and will adjust this post later to show the amounts I want to transfer over to each account.
Sounds like a good plan. What I would suggest:
Max out your 401k and IRA as soon as possible each year. These accounts are tax advantaged, and time in the market is the most important thing. They are your most solid investment vehicles. Do this with your paycheck as soon as your emergency fund and monthly expenses are accounted for, and before you put money into a home fund or non-tax-advantaged index fund.
Then, plow money into index funds.
Then, build up your home fund.
The balance of these two depends on how soon you plan to buy a home. I would say that if you are planning on less than 5 years, your hysa account is a good idea. But if it is 5+ years, then I would slowly build up an hysa while largely expecting to withdrawl money from my index funds to pay for the home when the time came, since, again, time in the market.
It sounds like you are pursuing FI. So I would do some reading into that. At the very least, understand the 4% rule.
And finally, I would say, congrats! You got a good job - now make sure you still enjoy your life while you work it instead of just grinding yourself into the ground. Take time off, make new friends, try new things, and have adventures. Life is made for living - work a little longer in exchange for living a little more right now!