Welcome and Wow!
First, you need to learn about hedonic adaptation. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/22/what-is-hedonic-adaptation-and-how-can-it-turn-you-into-a-sukka/
If you want to become FI, then try and save most of your paycheck for a few years, say 60% or more. Yes, I am serious! Max out your 401k, do a Roth IRA, if your company has a HSA, max that out too. So that is $23k. Build up an emergency fund, even though you are covered now by your family, and then start a taxable account with Vanguard, say putting your monthly contributions into the total stock market index and total international index. Go for it for a few years and then you can taper off later or not. You are probably used to living on just enough from college so keep it going. The advantages of speedloading your investment accounts are awesome. Let compound interest do some real hard work for yourself.
Good luck!
Again, this community will say to max out your 401k, IRA, HSA, and run it through some very very age restricted loopholes for a possible withdraw without a 10% penalty before age 59.5, and then taxes at "retired" %. It's a very complex IRA pipeline, with at least a 5 year wait period for only withdrawing your first initial contribution investments, and subsequent contributions (the ones by then that are earning you the most!) per year. Any "Big Earnings" in the stocks markets, no matter how skilled you are, will have to wait until you are age 59.5 to use to retire "extremely early". This approach locks in a minimum of working for at least a decade if not longer, based on your cost of living, unless you can get it down to $17.5k. ($17.5k 401k investment would have to be rolled over into an IRA every year after "third party" fees of hundreds of dollars. Then 5 years later after the "grace period" which may change at anytime by them, you may withdraw that 17.5k contribution to use for FI. However you may not withdraw the earnings made from that 17.5k until age 59.5. And to keep this going you would have to work 10 years, to withdraw $17.5k/year for ten years. But you may not withdraw ANY EARNINGS until age 59.5.)
Yeah, you save a lot on taxes initially, but you are "locking up" all your investment earnings for 30-40 years to the will of the fund managers and future Federal Government's Agenda to most likely be taxed over your lifetime, once the Government's spending starts defaulting America (because US Government has become very very Anti-mustacian).
Why do you think the Government wants your investment money too? It's like luring you in with a $1,000 bill to save on taxes that they control the tax rate of anyway, to then lock up your lifetime savings and any investment earnings until you are at their determined retirement age, and one day tax it as well once they have you waiting in their "grace period". The government survives off of income tax and consumer tax. They want you to work till your dead. If you do save and invest, they want to control that huge treasury of money, and be able to lock it up for your lifetime so they can tax it at will if they need too.
I prefer Dividend Mantra's Mantra as one way to diversify and invest. (
www.dividendmantra.com He uses Dividend Growth Investing After Tax. This keeps your after tax cash available to you at all times and under your control for life. It also allows the middle class earners to invest in their own startup-businesses AT ANY AGE, real estate properties, etc. that you couldn't do otherwise in IRA's/401ks, because your money and especially any earnings is locked up behind penalty bars until their determined age, and or withdraw and tax rules.
I still recommend getting any employer match, but I just want to note, there are other ways to reach FI. Like making $1,000,000 from a successful startup company after a few years.
By maxing your 401k/IRA/HSA, you would have to borrow money for a startup or real estate property, which really hampers your ability to make it profitable and successful. Anyone making $100k, can of course max out their 401k/IRA/HSA and still have taxed money left over to easily invest in a business or real estate property to make them wealthier.
However, people that make less then that...won't ever be given the chance for other investment options if they max out their 401k's/IRAs. Until they Earn $80k-$100k/ year in a normal job. (normal job where it's up to the bosses and how greedy they may be to determine if your and your co-workers get a raise that year, and also up to them to see who is victorious at the office politics and backstabbing for that "rare" promotional opportunity. You could be VP, and still be asked to do something that is against your beliefs. Then it's "recommended" you start your own business, though all your money was spend on living costs and is locked up in maxing out your 401ks/IRAs. All bosses care about is making them more profits and being able to pay you the minimum they can to max their profits, while you do the most labor you can. It's a very grey matter of morality indeed. CEO's especially need to learn how to profit share.)
401k to IRA savings, prevents businesses from being created, and keeps you working normal day to day grind jobs for years.
Warning, My Political Opinion Ahead:
Not to frighten you but Obama is willing to negotiate "grid locks" with Republicans right now with things like this, "He will lower the corporate taxes from 35% down to 28%, if he is allowed to close all corporate tax loopholes."
After he raised Corporate taxes in his first term to 35%.
If need be after Trillions and Trillions more spent frivolously, the Government can create a tax on 401k/IRA earnings. Then negotiate things like, "We will lower the Earnings tax on 401k/IRA's down to zero again, if we can close all the withdraw loopholes for both contributions and earnings." And with the min 5 year "grace periods" for withdrawing rolled over contributions only, you are at whim to any of these changes in the future.
But all citizens are at the whim to any and all Government taxes, as we don't get a say anymore into what the tax money is being spent on. It's Corruption at it's finest.
