At the age you stop buying Starbucks and avocado toast

If I got my first job at 18 making $15,000 per year do I save 100% of my salary for the year, or do I take out a low interest loan for $7,500 so I can sock half my paycheck into an emergency fund and live off the other other half?

When is it safe to contribute to a 401k? I worry about contributing because that cuts into my ability to access liquid cash in case of an emergency.

If I got my first job at 18 making $15,000 per year do I save 100% of my salary for the year, or do I take out a low interest loan for $7,500 so I can sock half my paycheck into an emergency fund and live off the other other half?

When is it safe to contribute to a 401k? I worry about contributing because that cuts into my ability to access liquid cash in case of an emergency.

At the age you stop buying Starbucks and avocado toast

Bad idea...both are delicious.

The best thing to do with a Starbucks coffee is to dump it down the drain, then go get a real cup of joe from Dunkin Donuts.

Large or XL of course

You need to get money into the 401k on the first day. Most plans allow you to tap into it penalty free for buying a house, paying for school, medical emergencies, and a few other hardships. If you put 10-15% in on day one you probably won’t even notice.

I don't like the idea of having to incur income tax liability to pay for emergency medical services. For example, if I have $10,000 in uncovered medical expenses I want to use my emergency fund to pay that off. I'd take $10,000 of the $15,000 in savings and use that to pay the medial debt. But now I need to replenish my emergency fund so that it matches 12 months salary. Problem is that now I make $30,000 per year. So instead of saving up $10,000 to get back to $15,000, I have to save up $25,000 to get to that $30,000 threshold. I have no idea when it is safe for me to contribute to the 401(k) because I feel like I'm constantly having to play catch up with my emergency fund.

I assume it's not real numbers but someone making $15k a year isn't going to have $15k in savings. Life is too expensive for that.

However, the thing you are missing is that it isn't that hard to do if you double your income($15k to $30k) but you keep your spending habits the same.

First off, it's a year's worth of expenses, not a year's worth of salary. If you are paying about 18% of your gross salary in taxes (assuming you are in the 12% federal bracket and Illinois), and you typically save 12% of your gross pay, then your year of expenses is 70%. 70/12 means 6 years to save up that much, assuming your pay and your tastes don't go up. There's also inflation, but for now let's ignore that as it's not uniform but really depends on how you spend your money (for example, Taco Bell prices have had massive inflation in the last 10 years)

The question is: what adjustments to your lifestyle would it take to save 24% instead of 12%? Less eating out? Smaller living space? An older car? Not that there's anything magic about 24, 12, or any other number. It's all about balancing the stress of future risk vs the stress of immediate frugality.

Go spend some time on r/financialindependence and r/Bogleheads on Reddit. Don't take it all as gospel, just consider how you feel about what people are espousing.

My goal was to retire at 55 because I don't know how my health will hold up after 70. At 30, I had barely any net worth, just 40k in a 401k and about $15k in debt. I'm not totally retired because I had obligations for my father which I didn't expect, but I'm awfully close and only work a couple of days a week. So even with a late start it can be done.

If I got my first job at 18 making $15,000 per year do I save 100% of my salary for the year, or do I take out a low interest loan for $7,500 so I can sock half my paycheck into an emergency fund and live off the other other half?

When is it safe to contribute to a 401k? I worry about contributing because that cuts into my ability to access liquid cash in case of an emergency.

you can borrow up to half of your 401k in two separate loans, typically over a 5 year term.

This seems irresponsible.

did anyone yet offer the advice to move?

If not: move

Methinks Spiral is trying to use his incredulity to make a point about livable wages and the precarious financial position MANY live in.

Methinks Spiral is trying to use his incredulity to make a point about livable wages and the precarious financial position MANY live in.

Really? I was taking his post at face value and figuring if I ever needed to divorce my wife I'd do it in Kane County since the attorneys out there charge so little.

Really? I was taking his post at face value and figuring if I ever needed to divorce my wife I'd do it in Kane County since the attorneys out there charge so little.