UK Recent Grad - 23

[supersteve]

Hello there,

I've been a lurker for a while so I thought it was worth introducing myself and finding out if there is anyone in a similar boat to me. I'm from the UK recently graduated and will be starting work in August. I read ERE earlier this year and enjoyed it a lot, but at the moment I've having a bit of difficulty with putting things into practice. Re-listening to Jacob's interview with Joshua from Radical Personal Finance was helpful as I'd forgotten the emphasis on developing skills to drastically reduce costs. I was more focused on the whole side of simply saving a lot and living frugally. I've also been wanting to get into investing, I've put most of my savings and some student loans into a few funds recommended by a friend but I'd like to be able to make my own informed decisions in the future in order to be more independent and make early retirement a realistic feat.

My plan moving forward is living at home for now to save money on rent, so I should be able to save around 80% of my taxed income. I'm curious for those from the UK if you've ever invested your student loans, I think it's a reasonable move. My thinking is that I'm highly unlikely to pay off my student loans (they get written off after 30 years and have an interest rate of 3% + RPI), so if I work for about 10 years or so then stop or reduce my work so that it's below the threshold for the loans, I'll save a lot of money. Curious what your thoughts are, I'm still very much in early days of ERE. The philosophy spoke to me a lot, now I want to learn more about how to apply and in general increase my financial literacy.

I'll try and come back here to post relatively frequently to update on my progress and reflect on my journey to ER.

Nice to meet you all:)

[avalok]

Hi supersteve, and welcome

I too have been a long time lurker, am a relatively recent graduate (2019), and UK based. Your plan to avoid rent sounds wise. I lived with my parents post-uni for a short while, but found my ability to take on projects difficult when sharing space; this is more a limitation of my personality. I'm unsure what exactly you mean by investing your student loan, but I agree that for us in the UK it makes no sense to try and pay back your loan. I see it as more of a graduate tax.

Looking forward to hearing more about your journey,
avalok

[MeloTheMelon]

Welcome

I'm also a UK graduate (2020) although I moved back to Germany after my studies. Living at home after graduation is a good idea, also try to not increase your lifestyle too much once you get your salary. Keep living like a student, but earning like an employee and your savings will grow rapidly.

Learning about investing (at least the basics) can be really helpful, you can also check out the UKPersonalFinance reddit, there are loads of information for the UK in particular. For me the amount of work I would have to put into investing to do better than an index fund seemed too large to be worth it, especially while my savings are still somewhat small. I rather focus on other skills that will help me earn some money on the side and increase my savings. On the other hand, if you are interested in it, it won't hurt.

I can't say much on the student loan situation, I only studied in the UK for a year and paid that myself, so no loans for me. I guess it depends how high it is right now and how much you value having it off your chest.

Good luck on your first steps towards ERE!