Do you feel financially secure?

Hellz to the no I do not feel financially secure. I had finally found a job which allowed me to save money three years ago, and I was TFP, I really was. I was saving gloriously, and I was even starting to dream about owning a car that wasn't missing paint on the exterior. All my hopes and dreams got sucked into the vortex of reality when I received an audit from the IRS demanding I return about $4,000; literally chipping about a forth of what I had saved.

The system these days (and for many years) makes it nearly impossible for a man to grow away from his current financial status. Everything is illegal, has fees, or is collected by the previous boomer generation; not to mention all the 'secret taxes' everyone always forgets to mention like surcharge fees, gas prices, etc. Hell, even the IRS is downright insidious in the way it handles its cases, and will start creeping out of its cave as soon as they detect the little amount of money you have saved because all your financial records are electronic, and these bank statements are entwined with gov't survaillence. You have no right to all of a sudden deposit $10,000 from your usual bi-weekly amount of $1,200, without some scrutiny involved from the IRS. That is completely frightening to me, and reeks of mob mentality. If you don't give us some of that money you just received, we will throw you in jail.

Not to mention how fearful I am of not knowing whatever value the dollar will amount to in the future. And, for people of my generation, there is no way to predict how much anything in our savings will be really worth in the next ten years.

Ah hell, well I went on quite a tangent. Smoke weed err'day.

 

Prior to moving abroad, we were treading water. Now we are doing well. I have no debt and I am saving money. It doesn't hurt that my new job pays me a lot better than my last one. It's weird I never thought I would ever be in this position.

 

I'm not earning much, but in any case not little (below average of the country where I live, above average of the country where I come from, and double of what I earned few months ago), I definitely didn't earned much few months ago (The earnings of a PhD are below the "poverty zone" of Italy) .
"Stable long term" I don't even know what that means (actually I have a 1 year contract), and benefits aren't really a perk of academia (I think I have even no previdence at all this year, I have veeery nasty clauses).

Nonetheless I managed to save something, and actually I'm saving a lot.
I never had car and since this new jobs few months ago I have a no-value one that comes from my father since he's too working abroad.
I live in a shared apartment on the fifth floor without elevator. So I don't have big expenses whatsoever and frankly I'm happy that way. I made the biggest expense of my life few days ago with a 1300 euros laptop.
I can afford a new car. I simply don't want one.
I can afford a more fancy apartment. I simply don't want to spend money on it.
When you get money out of the equation, even if modest, live is way way better.

The problem will arise when children and property house start coming into the equation, I hope to sum up enough buffer...

 

No.

 

Hell no...

 

I met with my financial guy today, and I'm ahead of where I wanted to be at this point in life when we met about it 10 years ago. I thought I was behind, so that's nice. I also have 3 very large checks that should be coming my way in the next 7 months.

 

*doctoral student in jazz performance stream waves*

 

I had a similar meeting a couple weeks ago. I am ahead in large part because when the channel I used to work for was sold, I had a few shares and managed to a get a decent payout. We have also been saving like crazy, because for so many years weren't saving at all.

Not owning a car, not having debt... this has helped.

Now... sending my son to University, that's going to put a dent in my savings.

 

I might be 'ahead', and even though I have never not had a job, I feel very little job security. And who knows if I have enough to semi-retire. I am better off than most Americans, but I wouldn't be able to have a normal house with the property taxes, HOA, insurance, and utility bills.

 

I work a crappy paying job, but it's supplemental to my wife's job (she makes about 8x more than I do).

That said, she spends too much on stupid shit. We're in our late 30's and have no long term retirement plan (outside of her 401k). No money saved for kids' college tuition.

It's extremely frustrating, but I'm not in a great position to coerce her to do the right thing with her money. WHile it technically should be "our" money (and it is, so far as it pays the mortgage and bills), breaking her out of her short-term mindset is very difficult

 

I live comfortably, and always keep enough liquid assets around for 2 years worth. All other assets I have are spent on doing business and advancing some of the things I am very passionate about.

Never aimed higher than that and I'm more than content with the current situation. Even if I were to miraculously lose all I had, I feel confident in our (SO and I) ability to utilize our networks and skills to get some good jobs.

 

Trust.

In my lifetime I have experienced several national financial crises. All seemingly due to national regulatory policy related to social engineering. I do not trust regulators are neutral when they know what they are doing and in other situations they simply do not know what they are doing or the the unintended consequences. At any given point in time an individual's wealth, savings, livelihood can disappear overnight. I doubt I will ever feel financially secure. It was easier to feel financially secure when I was younger. Currently I have seen and experience too much.

Also, I have known people a few years from retirement with millions in their company's stock, company pension, company health insurance, etc. All either go away or get tied up during liquidation litigation, embellishment and fraud. I also know people who have worked 30+ years for a company and be promised all types of things only to have new management, pretend those promises were not made. Again, I don;t trust big companies, they don't give a sh!t about people as individuals. It is every man for him (her) self. Understanding that makes life decisions much easier. Do what is in your best interest. If you don't no one else will. Yes, call be a cynic. Guilty as charged. I trust my wife and if she let's me down I will have to eliminate the word from my vocabulary, then I will know trust is a myth just like unicorns are myths.

 

And yet, it was during America's time of greatest financial regulation that the greatest stability and middle class growth was realized. It has only been during times of greater de-regulation that the boom/bust cycle has thrived and wealth inequity has expanded.

To suggest, as you appear to do here, that it is otherwise, is to ignore the facts.