Another thing to keep in mind...real estate. If you don't currently own your home, now is a good time to buy, as long as you have decent credit.

Next year will be a much better time to buy. This market has nowhere near bottomed out, and is continuing to plummet as I type this.

Plummet my a**. I've been stalking houses in Beverly for a long time now. The prices vary from ridiculously overpriced to outrageously overpriced.

That's interesting Matt, I was under the same impression as Crapowski at first. I'm renting now, but I hope to have a house within the next two years. Good stuff.

I smell a bit....

This investment advice is all well and good, but no one has told me how to actually get money to invest.

I smell a bit....

This investment advice is all well and good, but no one has told me how to actually get money to invest.

Another thing to keep in mind...real estate. If you don't currently own your home, now is a good time to buy, as long as you have decent credit. Interest rates are still low, and there is plenty of inventory on the market. You probably won't see home values appreciate much in the next 5 years, but longer term you will see the payoff from building equity and an increase in the value of your home. Word to the wise...don't be mislead by interest-only mortgages because they require a smaller monthly payment. Typically those payments increase substantially in a few years and/or have a large balloon payment that many homeowners don't plan for.

Also to stress...cars are not an asset. As stated above, let someone else take the depreciation and buy used. Some will argue that they don't want to buy a car that someone else has driven because of the big "how was the car cared for" unknown, but smart money drives their car for as long as they can, or until the annual maintenance costs more than half the annualized car payment. For example...average car payment is $450 x 12 months = $5,400. If your annual maintenance starts to approach $2,700 or you have a catastrophic repair (transmission, etc.) then it's time to think about a new car.

Finally, everyone who encouraged you to take advantage of your 401k was dead on. From the employer match to the pre-tax benefits, you cannot go wrong. Start contributing now, as much as you can up to the match amount, and remember that your take home pay will not be reduced by that same amount because you are decreasing your taxable income.

Plummet my a**. I've been stalking houses in Beverly for a long time now. The prices vary from ridiculously overpriced to outrageously overpriced.

I rarely troll.

My goal is to not be eating beans out of a can by 2012.

My goal is a condo in the S.Loop by End of 2009.

That's your problem, you are looking in Beverly.....

I rarely troll.

Matt I was thinking closer to 22nd than 12th.

What's wrong with it?

Matt I was thinking closer to 22nd than 12th. A few blocks mean a 200-300k difference.

Too Jewish

Yeah, I was mostly joking; unless you have a mildo to blow on a 2-bedroom, of course.

But you're stretching it to call 22nd the loop, south or otherwise.

I rarely troll.