Advice on Where to Next

[ENP]

I'd rather have an additional source of income growing every day than to see some foreign country filled with people living in poverty just so that I can come back and tell all my friends how 'changed' a person I am.

You make a good point about the "have to travel NOW" mentality. My brother is travelling and living over in the UK. He's 25, has no real job, has a 40k odd student loan and no savings. When he comes back to NZ will have no career really to make decent money. By then he will be 27 ish.

I'm 22, if I stay in NZ and work on my career, I should have a few decent assets under my belt, be earning a decent wage and will be light years ahead of him and most of the other people I know.

Really opens my eyes to how going against the crowd generally works in your favour in the finance world.

I work in a bank here in NZ and it amazes me how much debt young people are carrying with little or no regular savings at all. Then they complain that they will never be able to afford a house deposit (yet they can afford overseas trips, concert tickets, new cars, etc)

 

[6figures]

I agree with the above and what KurwaJegoMac said, I thikn there are 2 sides to the story I suppose and many ways in managing how you head down either path.

I think u can build a career, save hard and manage your investments sufficently and still be able to travel and enjoy life if you do it right.. and by doing it right I mean cutting back on some things in order to enjoy others.

for example I have 20k in my bank, 10k in share portfolio and about $10k in other assets - if the past yr I have been to Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Queensland/Melbourne.

However I drive a $1000.00 car - when in most cases many of the younger/gen Y's would have a 20k load or saved up 20k to buy a depreciating assest.

It just depends.. some people have the mentaility "I need to do it all before I get old" while im still in my "prime" but I guess everyone defines their "prime" deifferently.

At this stage of my life i'll be heading down the same direct as KurwaJegoMac .. as I agree that when you travel somewhere and you spend $5000 - $10,000.00, 99% of the time you come back home with minus $5000 - $10,000.00.

Buld up your wealth while your young, use your assets to attain more assets and then travel and do what you want when your more established.

 

[ENP]

"I need to do it all before I get old"

Buld up your wealth while your young, use your assets to attain more assets and then travel and do what you want when your more established.

Yea I think I'll head more down building wealth route rather than the live young, spend, etc.

I don't want to be 30 years old with no savings and all to show for it is some memories and travel pictures. It doesn't mean I won't do any travel at all, just means I'll budget and save for it rather than blow all my investment savings on it.

 

[tothemax6]

I'm 24 and I seriously do not understand this 'i have to see the entire world right now' mentality that everyone in their 20s seems to have.

Yes I understand that having kids, a mortgage, etc makes it harder to travel - but doesn't it make more sense to save as much as you can while you're young so that you can juggle kids, mortgage, travel, new cars, etc when you're older? I mean, while your young, your living expenses are generally quite low - you're not supporting a family, you can happily squeeze into a house with roommates (something you would probably not want to do in your 30s). There should be a lot of room to save - even more if you're lucky to be still living with your parents.

I feel so strongly about this because I look around at my friends who have spent the last few years traveling and they are flat broke, or are in debt as a result of loans for their trips. Yes I haven't traveled as much, but I am at a stage now where the investment returns I make every year is enough for several overseas trips. That being said, I have gone on a lot of interstate trips, ski trips every year and a holiday in Fiji for a week - all while saving up the capital base I have now.

My advice is look at how much you've saved up and how long it took you to save it. Then look at what you can get as a reasonable rate of return and ask yourself if it's worth forgoing that extra return for the sake of going on a trip now. I'd rather have an additional source of income growing every day than to see some foreign country filled with people living in poverty just so that I can come back and tell all my friends how 'changed' a person I am. Or to hit up some Asian beach with other westerners, getting smashed on buckets of alcohol.

Pfft... maybe i'm just cynical because I haven't had a 'rebirth' from an amazing overseas experience that opened my eyes and changed the way I live forever

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tl;dr

Delay Gratification to earn extra income vs holiday?

You obviously haven't been to Japan yet .

But yeah, your friends behaviors are pretty foolish, time preferences too high and all that. Using debt for consumption is the hallmark of financial irresponsibility. However,
some people adhere to the other extreme, accumulating money for the sake of it. What can Buffet possibly do with his money now? Give it away, no doubt. What a waste, spending your whole life earning money which you never actually use.

A balance there is, always.