It seems as though some of the Seattle-ites are coming out of the woodwork.
I'm a 23 year old kid who is in the software industry and, at the moment, enjoying it immensely. I ran across ERE about a year and a half ago and have been hooked ever since.
At the time I had recently graduated from a private college with more debt than I had imagined. I was smart in my decisions, thanks to my parents, but didn't entirely understand their impact. I had shopped around a few schools and found that it was actually cheaper for me to go to a private school than one of my state schools because of scholarships. Also, to cut costs by 25%, I pushed myself hard and finished in three years.
Right out of college, I was excited to have a high paying job, so I got a swanky apartment, bought a bunch of new furniture, a big flat screen TV, etc. I started ahead of the curve in terms of personal finance habits and an understanding of basic mathematics, so I didn't have consumer debt and had a penchant for stashing cash in savings accounts. My dad gave me two entry level personal finance books, which whet my appetite for PF topics, which meant i had to consume the entire internets relating to PF, which eventually brought me to ERE.
Interestingly, I tend to be an INFP, though I can fall into the T category depending on my mood. Because of my dispositions, I tend to approach things very holistically, emotionally, relationally, etc. Being an engineer, I play well with numbers and logic, but I tend to focus on the relational aspect of my life more.
My goals for FI are not particularly rigorous. I've taken my time in reducing expenses and am now at the point where I am saving 50% after tax while maxing out my 401(k). My goals are not to short circuit my super-long-term goals for my long term goals (i.e., I don't want to kill my 65+ opportunity for my 35-65 possibilities).
My SO and I are talking about getting married and splitting a 2br with a friend to bring our combined savings rate to ~80%, which would be pretty kick-ass and allow us to pursue goals of international volunteer work.
Wow, what a long post...
Another Seattle Hello
Another young Seattle-ite on here is always a good thing. Sounds like you're on the right path.@il-besa:
They were both by Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth. One of them was titled "Yes, You Can Still Retire Comfortably!" and I don't remember the other one. They weren't particularly good or earth-shattering for me. What they did do was inspire me to ask more questions and discover the PF blog world, which lead me to JD Roth at GetRichSlowly.org which (i think) brought me to ERE.
@redsted1:
I'm looking forward to it as well. It's intriguing to realize that not everyone in the seattle area is focused on such consumer oriented life goals.
They were both by Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth. One of them was titled "Yes, You Can Still Retire Comfortably!" and I don't remember the other one. They weren't particularly good or earth-shattering for me. What they did do was inspire me to ask more questions and discover the PF blog world, which lead me to JD Roth at GetRichSlowly.org which (i think) brought me to ERE.
@redsted1:
I'm looking forward to it as well. It's intriguing to realize that not everyone in the seattle area is focused on such consumer oriented life goals.
@tlaloc: Good story and impressive how clear-minded you seemed to have been about your life now and in the future! Good stuff! Balance is good too, as you seem to have achieved or are achieving: (sensible) limitations give freedoms but those freedoms musn't become limitations themselves. Reminds me of an old fellow, about 85 or so, who lived in my neighbourhood and one day won a million dollars or so on his weekly lotto coupon. People were happy and excited on his behalf but he never claimed the money, perhaps being scared of changes or (I like to believe) liking his life as it was.
