Aj: I've already been re-thinking the silver idea. I may throw a tiny chunk of money at it, but definitely not a huge amount - just for a tiny bit of diversification. The magic stock is silly, yes... so I think I will end up transferring those funds to a Vanguard Roth - and good idea mentioning to have Vanguard do it for me. I will be waiting for a bit, however as most of my funds are currently in AGNC. It's been highly volatile as of late, spiraling downwards, but it's starting to rally back and I'd hate to be the guy selling at the 3 year low after buying at the high. Not a fan of locking in my losses just yet. Not when there is potential for it to turn into a decent gain.... or at LEAST even money. After it comes back up significantly and I'm satisfied, I'll sell it off and transfer the funds.
For the 401k, yes, I started my job early spring 2012 and after a year became eligible to start contributing. I began at 15% as soon as I became eligible and plan to keep it there. Nothing more I can do than that.
For my Roth and additional investments in taxable accounts, I agree with the index funds idea and all the MMM has to say about compounding. It will be my primary investment vehicle. The silver bug and miracle stock were ideas from my very early investing days when I had no money to really invest (but wanted to) and knew nothing at all about investing. All of my future assets (and Roth funds once AGNC bounces back) will be allocated to Vanguard Index's. I disagree on the Total Market index, however. While it's a great index for a core holding in your portfolio, it is not quite such a good holding when you already have an S&P 500 fund as a core holding (and I can't change that... it's one of the only good index funds they have and the lowest cost index fund for my 401k. I want S&P in my portfolio anyway and all the other options sucked so I have to deal with that and build around it) and this is why I am going to most likely go with VEXAX. It is a great index fund by Vanguard built specifically FOR situations like this where you are stuck with an S&P fund and really want the total market fund. It essentially IS the total market fund minus the S&P 500. A great complimenting index that won't unbalance my portfolio.
I've already maxed my Roth (this year and last year) and have opted to contribute the max 15% to my 401k, along with buying a house. Next step is taxable accounts and as I said, I've planned on that already. I'm pumping money into my accounts as fast as I get it. Many are broke on payday or shortly after from partying, I'm broke on payday because I've already allocated the money to an investment or bill.
As for renter, yes, another thing that was planned once I find a suitable tennant. I'd love to charge them the full utility bill, but the city in which I live, I'm lucky just to get the $500 plus half the utilities. I'd love to charge $1,000/mo. for use of the coat closet. That would ramp up my savings too! Unfortunately, if you can't find anyone who wants to pay that, at the end of the day, it's still $0 in your account. I WILL, however, charge them more if they use more than their fair share.
As for the 'fun money' savings, if you look, it shows the account at just under $71. Not nearly 60% of my net worth. I borrowed nearly all of it from the account (to be paid back) for the down payment to my house. I really only spend $2,000-$3,000 for all of last year in that category - a cruise and a few trips too. Obviously this allocation is a bit on the high end and needs to be adjusted. I originally picked that number because I wanted a goal and $500 was a nice even number. Now that I've had a little while to test it out, I can see that it is a bit on the high side and needs adjustment. Easy fix. Keep saving the $500, just put all of the savings beyond a certain number, or cap, into investments instead. Say $5,000 is the max I should ever have in the account. If my monthly deposit comes up and I'm at $5,000... save the $500 but put it into my taxable account instead. That $5,000 vacation fund also doubles as a soft padded emergency fund and thirds as my cash portion of my portfolio. Efficient.
Motorcycle - Selling it aint gonna happen, to be frank. Yes, it is two vehicles for one person, but they are paid off and one is more of an enjoyment factor for me. Just as Khanjar mentioned, riding is an enjoyment factor for me. I could be killed or maimed doing many things... I'm not going to live life in fear of that. To me, that's simply existing, not living. The bike is also very good on mpg. It is my main transport during the spring-summer-fall while my truck is my transport during winter and when it is raining. It also has its use for road trips (which I take a few times a year) and any time I need to transport large cargo. I am not financing a brand new F250 for $30,000.00. It's a 1998 Ford Explorer worth less than the TV (connected to my computer) that I'm typing to you on in my living room. To sell it and buy a car would be MORE expensive for less benefit. My daily commute is already efficient on gas with my paid off bike, which I'll mention is also technically worth less that most of those small cars even combined with my truck. I've also kept up with the maintenance on both and are in great condition for their age and mileage. I don't know how much more money I'll have to put into another vehicle of equal (or even greater initial cost). Sorry, I just can't agree with you at all on this one. Most cases, you would be right, but this one, not so much.
My food cost is a bit higher than it could be and that is an area where I could grow as an individual as well. Learning to cook. As mentioned in a previous post though, I greatly dislike eating the same thing for an entire week. It's worth the extra cost if it means variety. It's not THAT much over budget.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by having 'too many accounts'. These accounts are things that all people living in the US have, I just have it organized and detailed. I split up my checking, savings, and money market into different accounts so that not all the money would be in the same 'pot' yes, so that I could tell at a glance what money belonged where, but they are all with the same Credit Union and all just as easy to access as one account. House? 401k? Roth? I'd hope you have at least a couple of those if you are on these forums. I also have two dormant accounts that are used rarely and then paid of immediately to help credit availability, longevity, etc. and two new accounts that helped purchase my furniture and washer/dryer at zero interest. These too will become dormant accounts used rarely when they are paid off. They are also at 0% interest. The last is a daily use credit card paid off every month. I can see how you may think the two store accounts (Haverty's and Home Depot) are in excess, but this money was going to be spent either way for things I needed... furniture and washer/dryer, I just chose to build my credit along with it and allocate the extra money into investment accounts while I pay them down... for free. The accounts are also very well organized. Just as it is posted here, it is in even more detail, more organized on a spreadsheet I customized for myself and my accounts. Graphs, numbers, automatic calculations, I built the spreadsheet from the ground up. Better than any budget software, it is perfectly tailored so that everything is easily viewable. I've not once missed or even been late on a payment for any of my accounts in my entire life.
Haverty's was a bit of a splurge, I'll give you that. However, I bought two and a half full rooms of stuff for under $7,000 with the $1,000 discount I was given for the anniversary sale purchase. I got a great deal on a ton of furniture that will last a long time because it is good quality. It was a splurge, but I'm very happy with my decision still. With that said, I don't need another furniture shop. I don't need more furniture. This furniture will last me a really, really long time.
The claustrophobia isn't because saving isn't fun... I gain much pleasure from saving... my reward is in my updates of my Net Worth every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and seeing my graphs move. The claustrophobia comes from the extreme saving for a long period of time. I work my ass off and save every chunk I can. I'm trying to learn new, cheap hobbies, but it's not quite as easy as I'd like it to be. I'm sprinting that 1,000,000 adventure... and it can be quite tiring. That's probably where I need the most advice.
While your advice in the above topics was well-intended, and I do appreciate the effort and time you put into it, a lot of it I just couldn't quite stand behind. Stock answers are not always right in different situations. While they may be good ideas for most, it's not quite the best idea for all.
Madage: I haven't gotten around to looking at those links yet, but I'm on it soon enough! Thank you for your input!
nktokyo: Well first I'd be allocating WAY too much of my portfolio to real estate. While I am keen on rental properties/second properties, I don't want to put all of my eggs into housing. I am still new to housing in general with my first one that I'm living in now (that I bought just a couple months ago!) and I've yet to rent out the two ROOMS I have. I don't want to buy a house and let that sit empty as well while pumping more money into maintenance while it sits there. I like the stock market and the compounding it offers and I'd just rather put a chunk of money there instead. If I had unlimited funds, I'd do both, but I need to make my funds work as efficiently as possible, especially this early in the game. I don't want to over-extend myself either. With little start-up, that could end disasterously. Something happens to my job, I can fall back on selling off small portions of stock as needed and only as much as needed. I lose my job with two houses, I lose both houses if I can't miraculously sell one overnight, go bankrupt, and lose everything. I have zero buffer... no to mention the additional mortgage payment for however many years...
AJ: If it comes to it, I'm happy to be a donor. I've got it on my drivers license should anything happen to me. It's obviously not a situation I would choose to take if given the option, but I am not going to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death.
Villanelle: The thing about motorcycles is... if you're in an accident, the likelyhood of you getting killed is MUCH greater than killing someone else. You run a car into a bike or a bike into a car... generally doesn't matter... car wins. People inside it are fine, bike is done. I don't hear too many stories that the headline reads 'motorcyclist kills three in collision'. Motorcyclist fine, those in the car, all dead. Just saying...