26M feel like I’m not really making the progress I expected
Hi all, just read a post about people constantly bragging in this subreddit so I’ll share my humble situation.
I’ll start with some details for context
Salary: £50k
Expected to raise to £66k next year and £85k 2 years after that ( very safe job, high probability of achieving those salaries as per development plan)
I have:
£10k in S&S ISA
£1000 savings
£3.5k pension
£4000 in Sharesave (SAYE)
£3.5k in CC debt (0% interest till 2027, paying off £500 a month so I finish it off before 0% interest promotional offer ends).
At the moment I’m putting in monthly £500 into the S&S ISA, £500 into CC debt and £250 into Sharesave. The rest goes on living expenses. My £1000 emergency fund is low but I’m happy to be risk taking due to my age and having less responsibilities, as well as I have a few safety nets I wouldn’t want to personally disclose here.
I just always thought i’d be further ahead (financially) by this age than I actually am. I only started working 2 years ago as I spent more time than expected in academia, during which I worked jobs and paid off student loans so I have 0 student loan debt.
Everyone around me is buying a house, has more in savings / investments and goes on holidays every few months (I’m not doing any of these). I don’t want to compare so this isn’t a plea in terms of “why is everyone doing better than me” but more “I feel so left behind, I thought I’d be ahead by now, by my own standards”.
Can someone help ground me and let me know how I’m doing?
Thanks