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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Marko34 on April 28, 2013, 07:52:45 PM

Title: Where should i begin???
Post by: Marko34 on April 28, 2013, 07:52:45 PM
Hey all, this is my first post, i just recently read about MMM and found this online community.  I am 25 years old and thanks to meeting a buddy of mine a couple years back i have saved up a decent chunk of change which is something im proud of since i still have yet to really get a career started. So i guess i will just give you some of the basics.  I would love to know from those experienced out there what should i do first in attacking certain debts and working my way towards FI down the road.

So again im 25.
I went to college but my degree didn't interest me so since college ive been working on political campaigns, which are spotty when you are first starting out. I am on one currently but out legislative bill is about to pass so i will be unemployed and looking for the next gig, so as far as income right now its pretty spotty, and i may have to take a crappy pay the bills job here soon until i land my next campaign job.  So as far as income at the moment i don't have a ton to count on but that could change any day or week as I'm applying to jobs all over.

My assets if you can call them that:
The money i have in a investment fund with my friend who manages a fund with money from investors who are mostly friends and family.  I have about 21k in that.  He's a hard core value investor, last year we netted 13% for the year.  Im fully confident he will gain 7-15 % most years for me and my plan as of now is to leave that money there as long as possible.

I have like 2k in my checking account give or take a bit, but with bills and unemployment coming right up that is being saved to pay the bills.

I have a 2009 ford fusion that i still owe 14k on (i have a history of making dumb vehicle purchases) my monthly payment is $311

My rent is currently $525 a month.

My iphone through verizon is currently 85$ a month

My student loans which total about 25k cost me about $185 a month, but with getting laid off soon i may try to put those on hold.

Credit Cards

I have about 5k in debt in credit cards.


This is a bad time i guess to start up on here asking for advice since i don't know what ill be doing for work right away.  But i guess i am just looking for advice on what to target first. Should i focus on credit debt, then move on to pounding away car debt. And worry least about my federal student loans since you can get away with taking your time on those.

Also i want to state my two overall problems with spending had been i had a good paying but not rewarding job at a restaurant where i was making after taxes between 700-1000 a week for a while and when i left to become an intern on a campaign last year making barely anything i continued to spend like i had that income and that led to credit card debt, so now im trying to reign that in.  Also i have a dumb history of taking out huge car loans like an idiot, and previously had owned motorcycles i had on loan, so i had to roll over some of a motorcycle payment into the car i have now when my previous crappy truck finally stopped working.  so thats why i owe so much on my ford.

Anyway i guess the silver lining is i do have 21k saved up in liquid that is sitting in a fund account which i think puts me ahead of the curve of most 25 year olds.

My plan before reading MMM articles and this site was basically slowly pay off the debt and hopefully move towards a non car payment lifestyle and invest as much in my fund as possible, i still think thats a good idea, i just want some advice on how to attack the debt and should i be thinking about other investment opportunities.

For those of you who took the time to read all this thank you so much, and any advice would be awesome.
Title: Re: Where should i begin???
Post by: Joet on April 28, 2013, 08:34:34 PM
I think normally the first step in life/FI/ER is to find a rewarding/lucrative career. It appears you are still on that step. Perhaps you can figure out how to parlay your campaign experience into a 'normal' salary/career type position, or if specific experience or education is required to do so go after that instead.

Still on the first rung of the ladder, IMO

also your friend that can beat the market/return 7-15% YoY scares the beejesus out of me. I know everybody 'has a guy' and all that, and 'knows things', and 'is super awesome', but since the #'s show that ~80% of all professional money managers [active mutual funds] fail to beat their respective indexes in a given year that most likely 'your guy' fails to meet the market index as well. Did you know the S&P is up over 10% YTD already? anyways my advice is to index/vanguard as you'll see recommended by Vanguard. Most likely you will need this $$ for education in the very near future and I'd hate to see you lose it speculatively. This $$ should be in cash/MM/CDs or Ibonds at most because you will need to return to some kind of education to secure your future. But perhaps that is just my close-minded thinking. Perhaps you are an entrepreneur and will have great success starting a small business. But I'm guessing you'd need this $$$ for that , too.