Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... _per_adult
According to the same list we also have a considerable amount of debt per capita. The culture of getting a big mortage to have your own house is pretty similar to the US, but our national finances are in much better shape with low unemployment, mainly because of our oil exports. Our welfare system is pretty good too, government spending is high and so are tax rates.
I was born in 1985 into a family who never had money problems and grew up as an only child. At the age of 13 I started working part time (delivering newspaper) and have worked ever since. This meant I always had money on me, and I could always afford to buy stuff I wanted, as opposed to my friends who had to manage $5-10 a week in allowance. If I couldn't afford it at the time I would ask my parents. I have been an alpha consumer throughout my childhood, teens and early adulthood! I graduated as a bookkeeper/accountant in 2009 with 0 in assets and total debt of about $25.000. At his point, asking my parents for financial aid felt embarrassing so I've atleast managed on my own since then! Some accountant uh
My starting income was $33.000 after taxes per year and not before 2012 did I start to seriously save. Well, what I thought was saving was nothing until I stumbled upon this site, my savings rate has been at about 10% from 2009-2013. Fact is I thought about early retirement a couple years ago and started saving for it. I aimed at partial retirement at 40. This year I made the decision to up my game and start spending less, saving more and retiring earlier. I was very lucky to inherit a substantial amount of money from my grandparents early this year, about $45.000, at which point I invested everything in an apartment that I'm renting out. Searching for a community of people doing the same thing I found this forum last week. I'm new to the ERE way of thinking, but it speaks alot to me.
I'm 29 yrs old. My aim is to quit being a work slave. Here is a quick overview on my savings and debt since I graduated:
2009
savings: 0
debt: $25.000
2013
savings: $15.000
debt: $18.000
2014
savings: $17.000
apartment value: $185.000
total debt: $153.000
My plan is to keep renting out the apartment and never sell it. Its a good investment, the rent pays for all running costs, interest and downpayments. The mortage interest is 3,3% and is expected to stay there for a while, so my savings will be invested at a (hopefully) higher yield than 3,3%. When savings exceed debt I will pay it all off.
My current budget has a savings rate of about 33%. I will increase this to 50% from November on and keep pushing it up but it gets abit harder from there. I picked up alot of good tips from this site though. Some costs take time to remove, for instance cable TV which expires in 5 months and Im not planning on renewing it. My nicotine addiction is another problem. I rent an apartment at $1.300/month and have a roommate who pays me $615. Its a big apartment and I put alot of value on having some space. We have winter here, I'm not planning on a gym membership and its just very convenient to have some indoor space for e.g. working out, especially if you consider that the rent I pay is about 40% below market value. I could cut my housing expenses from $685 (1300-615) to $620 a month but that would mean living in a house full of students and sharing bathroom/kitchen with them. I could cut it further but that would mean moving out of a town I love and probably taking a pay cut.
My total net income is $50.000 a year (overtime included) and my total net expenses currently $34.000 and I'm in the process of cutting it to $25.000.
Bear in mind my salary is pretty average for a full time worker with a Bachelors degree, and an 18-year old working full time at a grocery/clothing store here could easily net some $35.000 a year without overtime.
I'm saving $2.100/month from November on. In addition to that the rent from the apartment I own downpays debt with about $300/month. With those numbers I will be debt free in 2018, and in possession of a rental apartment that yields about $800 a month. $800 a month accounts for 20% of my net income, which means I could theoretically stop working on fridays and still make the same amount of money and savings every month.
Its hard to tell what the future holds though. I got married this year and my wife is on board with this ERE line of thinking, but we haven't finally decided on kids yet which is a major factor in all this, apart from agreeing that we want to wait atleast 5 years before having any. She's 25 and from a different continent. I'm tempted by the thought of retiring slowly, being in a long lasting transission from work slave to total freedom. I could work 80% in 2018, 60% in 2025, 40% in 2030 and so forth. We could also move to her home country where expenses are 1/10-2/10 compared to here.
I don't enjoy my job. I'm counting hours every day. My immediate plan is to cut expenditure and incorporate a cheaper life style, then focus on changing jobs.
Love being diversified and would like to hear your opinion... ADRs are fine as well btw so if they are Euro-centric not an issue.