Quote:
Originally Posted by michika
^^ This is pretty much exactly what I was getting at.
I don't play keeping up with the Joneses I learned a long long time ago that its not worth it. I found out a couple months before leaving for post-secondary that my parents weren't going to help me out and without the option of student loans my only recourse was to work AND go to school at the same time. I'm a very money conscious person now, kind of the result of being poverty level or below for much of my post-secondary career. I was lucky enough though to discover reefing after I'd gotten a little more settled financially. I've also learned you can only downsize so much and give up so much before you've crossed some arbitrary line that society will think you "weird".
I watch my peers literally run out the day their bonuses or stock options come available to spend it on new cars and fancy tech. Then again I also watch the entry level people struggle with their much smaller (if any) bonuses and I see the same thing happening on a smaller scale - the rush to spend.
This commentary has been popping up more and more often within my circle of friends and it was pretty interesting to see the commentary this generated.
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I've been to this party, too. I had the bad luck of being on the tail end of the boomers demographic. So when I got out of school, they beat me to it, and got all the good jobs first. Same with housing, prices all went up before I could buy. And then finally when I did, got hit with high interest rates, and falling house prices. So, I would like to be sympathetic, but...
Having said that, economies go through cycles, for sure, with jobs, wage growth, and housing booms/busts. Most of these are beyond our control, and best we can do is be lucky with our timing.
But what is within our control, are the jobs/business we choose and what we do with whatever opportunities are presented to us. If you really want to get ahead then choose a business or job where your personal efforts and merits are rewarded. Don't get caught up in politics or peer envy. In the end, you will be assessed and rewarded based on your own performance. And always, always, always, try to help others around you, and not yourself. If you try to get ahead on the backs of others, that will always backfire, and just ruin your reputation and future (and you will be miserable anyway).
I was very "lucky" in my career, and managed to retire early, and now can fully enjoy life with family, hobbies (like reefing), travel, etc. Having said that, I never had to sacrifice anything or deprive myself or my family along the way.