I’m 20, and I make 715 a week I live at home and pay no bills. Is it buying stocks really worth it. Like would buying stocks every week for 5 months get me real money at least 30k? Or it just waster money? Like should I just put my money in a HYSA?
Hi guys so I had a personal goal of having 6 figures in equity (whether it’s liquid or illiquid) by the time I hit 30.
I am happy to say I actually hit that goal way earlier than I thought—not saying that to brag or anything I just don’t have anyone I can tell in my real life, so I wanted to get this news off my chest somewhere.
I was curious though, what do most 25 year olds have in the bank? Whether it’s checking, saving, MMA, IRAs, etc. My friends and I don’t really talk about this at all so I have no idea what’s the normal.
The "$100k milestone" used to be the ultimate psychological finish line. If you hit six figures, you made it. You were upper-middle class. You bought the house with the yard, drove a nice car, went on vacations, and saved for retirement without sweating.
Today? $100,000 is the new $50,000. It’s the ultimate financial illusion.
If you live in any major US city or decent suburb, a $100k salary dissolves before it even hits your bank account. Let’s look at the cold, cynical math of where that money actually goes:
The Tax Hit: Out of the gate, Uncle Sam takes his cut. After federal, state, and FICA taxes, your $100k is instantly chopped down to around $70k–$73k depending on your state. You're taking home roughly $6,000 a month.
The Housing Trap: Average rent for a decent 1-bedroom in a metro area is easily $2,000–$2,500. If you want to buy? With current interest rates, a basic starter home mortgage is soaking up $3,000+ a month. Goodbye, half your paycheck.
The Cost of Existing: Throw in $400 for health insurance/deductibles, $400 for groceries (which cost double what they did five years ago), a modest car payment + insurance ($600), and utilities/internet ($300).
The Student Loan Ghost: If you earned that $100k via a degree, you’re likely paying $400–$600 a month just to service your education debt.
The Bottom Line:
Before you even buy a single cup of coffee, go to a movie, or put a single dollar into a savings account, you are left with maybe $500–$800 of "free money" a month. One major dental emergency or a car breakdown, and you are living paycheck to paycheck.
We aren't talking about luxury here. We aren't talking about yachts or designer clothes. We are talking about a basic, responsible, middle-class life.
The American Dream didn't just get more expensive—the goalposts were moved to a completely different stadium while we were sleeping. Earning six figures used to mean wealth. Now, it just buys you a front-row seat to watch inflation erode your hard work in real-time.
What’s the "new $100k" in your city just to feel genuinely comfortable?
I’m an immigrant from Ukraine, and I don’t understand how people in low-paying jobs—such as warehouse workers—manage to make ends meet without taking on extra shifts.
I been thinking about this recently and it's stuck in my head. I saw this one guy on TikTok making 65k a month, and that blew my mind. Most people dont care about billionaires and how rich they are, but I think that's weird. I think normal people can't think beyond a million-dollar salary. for example. they think in years, like how much a person earns a year, and if you make anywhere avove like 100k or more your rich and live comfortably. I think of myself as most people and also think the same. but to get back to the main point, there are people out there that are making a 100k a month, that means they make about million dollars a year.
And if you think about it, that means they could buy a car, go to expensive restaurants, and get a penthouse every month and still be rich. But the crazy thing is, they are considered dirt poor by the billionaires of the world, who make like tens of millions every month doing nothing. They could buy 10 times what a person making 100k could buy just by doing nothing.
And they expect the people in america to live under the minume wage, while everything is getting more and more expensive.
I genuinely don’t understand him anymore.
I’m posting this because I need outside perspectives.
My dad is a general contractor who built his business from nothing. He immigrated to the U.S. from Nigeria after growing up with a huge family and very little money. There were around seven brothers, and from everything I’ve heard, life wasn’t easy. I genuinely respect him for what he accomplished because coming to a new country and building a successful company takes a level of determination I can’t even imagine.
The problem is that despite making an incredible amount of money, he refuses to live like it in any meaningful way, and it’s affecting our family.
To paint a picture:
He drives an ancient car that’s practically being held together by faith.
The handle has literally fallen off.
-He wears shoes until there are holes in the bottom.
-He shops on Temu constantly.
-He argues over every expense, no matter how necessary.
-we live in the hottest state and we don’t even have ac or at least outside it’s usually 85 my dad keeps the AC set to (you wouldn’t believe ) 85 on automatic ☺️😜🤪
-he’s got other law issued expenses that are collecting interest simply because he does not want to pay them
Now before anyone says, “He’s just frugal,” I want to be clear that this goes way beyond normal frugality.
For example, if someone in the family has a medical issue, his first reaction is usually to question whether they actually need treatment. Recently my sister had a serious medical problem that required surgery. The doctors were recommending imaging and treatment, and instead of focusing on helping her, my dad was arguing with the medical staff and insisting they were trying to make money off him.
The irony is that he can afford the treatment many times over.
My mom has honestly carried a huge amount of the burden FAMILY WISE when it comes to making sure her children have healthcare, insurance, educational opportunities, FAFSA paperwork, and everything else. If it were left entirely up to my dad, I genuinely don’t know where we’d be.
Another thing that drives me crazy is how he invests money.
For anyone familiar with Nigerian culture, you may know that many people who immigrate eventually build homes back in Nigeria. There’s nothing wrong with that.
But here’s the thing.
There are generally two routes:
-Build in a major city where the property has investment value, rental potential, and resale opportunities.
-Build in a rural village where the financial return is often much lower.
Guess which option my dad chose.
He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars building an enormous house in his village. (12 rooms, 13 baths, a gaming room, a theater and so on.)
I also wanna mention that our house here in America is falling apart(I remember my mom telling me to bring my friends over and I told her no she said why I said because we live like we’re poor and then she took offense to that but then she also realized that yes we do we don’t even have a. DID I MENTION WE DON’T HAVE AC IN THIS HEAT. did I mention that we don’t have AC enough so that my own sibling had to go buy an AC unit to put in his room.
The issue isn’t that he loves where he came from. I understand wanting to honor your roots.
The issue is that his children were born and raised in America. We barely speak the language. We have very limited connections there. We don’t regularly visit. He also has ongoing issues with much of his extended family.
Realistically, when he’s gone, I don’t know who is even going to use this massive house.
My mom tried explaining that his children, grandchildren, and future legacy are likely going to remain in America. She suggested investing in property here or creating something that directly benefits his family long-term.
His response?
“I’m the head of the household. I can do whatever I want with my money.”
And that’s basically the end of every discussion.
What makes it even more frustrating is that I don’t think he’s a bad person.
In fact, I think he genuinely wants to leave a legacy.
-He gives money to church.
-He helps people who ask for help.(not his fam btw except after a long interrogation of where his money is going and how necessary it is)
-He donates.
-He wants to be remembered as someone who gave back.
But it feels like he’s so focused on helping everyone else that he overlooks the people standing directly in front of him.
-I don’t care about luxury cars.
-I don’t care about designer clothes.
-I don’t care about living in a mansion.
What bothers me is seeing someone with significant financial resources constantly resisting necessary expenses for his own family while simultaneously pouring money into projects that don’t seem practical.
It’s like he’s trying to secure his place in history before securing the well-being of the people who will actually remember him.
At this point, I don’t even know what to say anymore because every conversation turns into an argument. He dismisses advice from family members, professionals, doctors, and pretty much anyone who disagrees with him.
So I guess my question is:
Has anyone else had a parent who grew up in poverty, became successful, and then developed a mindset where spending money on family feels impossible but spending it on symbolic projects or helping strangers feels easier?
If you were in my position, would you keep trying to reason with him, or would you just accept that this is who he is and focus on your own future?
I’m genuinely curious whether this is a cultural thing, a poverty mindset thing, an immigrant thing, a control thing, or some combination of all four.
This phrase is usually said by people who are already comfortable
People sitting in warm homes with food health and safety and enough stability to think about meaning and life
For them money may not be the main issue anymore They solved survival and now they look for something beyond that That part makes sense
But when the same phrase is said to someone who does not know how they will get through the month it stops sounding wise
It starts sounding like mockery
Happiness is like a building with multiple floors
First floor is basic needs food shelter safety health
Second floor is stability no constant fear
Third floor is what people usually call real life relationships creativity meaning peace of mind
The problem is
the elevator does not skip floors
You cannot think about purpose when you have a toothache you cannot afford to fix
You cannot build relationships from constant fear and pressure
You cannot create when your mind is fully taken by one question how do I survive next week
In a system like this money becomes the key to the first floor
Yes there are exceptions
Some people live off grid and fully support themselves
Some are supported by communities
Some live in systems where basic needs are covered by the state
In those cases the chain breaks and survival is not tied directly to money
But for most people this is not reality
We live inside an economic system and most people cannot just opt out
So exceptions do not remove the rule they only show its edges
The rule is simple
If you are inside the system and you do not have money you are stuck
Money is not happiness Happiness is love meaning creativity and peace of mind
But in practice money is often what makes those things possible at all
Without it you are not just poor
You are stressed afraid tired and constantly under pressure
You are in a state where normal human happiness does not really have space to exist
So when someone without financial stability hears money doesnt buy happiness it is not wisdom
It is just disconnected from reality
It tells you to look for meaning while you are still stuck in survival mode
And the real truth is simple
First you get out Then everything else comes later
I am not writing this from a place where everything is solved I am still trying to get out myself
I have many years of experience in software development I tried building something that could help people who are stuck at that first floor people who are not there by choice
On paper it felt like something that should work
But then I hit a different problem
The people I am trying to reach do not know I exist And I cannot reliably reach them not because I am not trying but because most ways to reach an audience require money I do not have yet Ads communities integrations tools almost everything needs some kind of entry cost
So I ended up in the same kind of loop I described earlier just on a different level not survival but visibility
I am not trying to sell anything here
I am just curious
How did you break through that stage when nobody knew you and you did not have resources to pay for attention What actually worked when nothing obvious worked And when did things finally start moving
Right now it feels like I built a bridge for people but I cannot bring them to the start of it
And that might be the most ironic part of all this
If you have been through something like that I would really appreciate hearing your experience I am trying to understand what I might be missing
So I've always heard people around me say that if you work hard enough, work long enough hours, you'll be successful. But when I look around, especially in the area that I live in, I see a lot of people working incredibly hard... I see lots of construction workers, caregivers, warehouse workers, people working multiple jobs and more, and many of them still struggle financially. But I also notice some people seem to make much more money while working fewer hours or sometimes not at all. How?
I'm not asking this to start an argument or anything I'm genuinely curious how people explain the relationship between hard work, opportunity, education, luck, connections, and success. I would also love to know what you guys think without having to bring race or ethnicity into it.
Is hard work really the main factor, or is it only one piece of a much bigger puzzle???
After spending the last few weeks reading finance posts on Reddit, I've noticed a recurring pattern...
Most people don't have an investment problem.
They have a planning problem.
Someone asks:
"Which mutual fund should I invest in?"
But nobody asks:
I've seen people:
Before choosing a stock, ETF, mutual fund, or SIP, I think everyone should answer five questions:
The answers to those questions often matter more than the fund itself.
Curious: What financial decision are you currently struggling with?
Ok so one example that comes to mind is burnout. A lot of people are told they're bad at managing their time, not resilient enough, or need to work harder even when they're constantly exhausted. But when people are expected to be available 24/7, juggle work, school, family responsibilities, rising costs, and endless notifications, AND STILL bring 100%, it seems strange that we treat burnout as an individual problem instead of asking whether the expectations themselves are unrealistic.
I'm not trying to say personal responsibility doesn't matter, but it feels like society often puts all the blame on individuals while simultaneously ignoring the environments that practically manufacture and cause stress in the first place.
What are some other things people get blamed for that are actually caused more by the systems they're) were. living in?
I would love to hear you guys examples and reasonings, thank you.💡😊