So probably mostly for retirement. The problem is that I've been moving between counties and studying and doing stuff so I'm afraid it will be impossible to collect it from all the countries together so that I can get a normal pension, so I will have to work quite long and yeah if I'm lucky and get old then I'll be probably very poor.
Oh that's concerning indeed. I know that at least in some countries you are allowed to get back your pension contributions if you demonstrate you are emigrating from it. No such luck for you?
I haven't really looked into all the details yet because this seems like a very long procedure. But some day I have to do it. My dad worked in Poland in a coal mine until he was 34, then he moved to Germany. In his case they had some agreement between the countries and he is getting his money as if he had worked in Germany the whole time.
My grandpa worked in a couple diff countries in eurrope back in 1900's, he worked for 5 years in 2 diff countries and then came back to work in his home country for 30 years and ended up getting pension from 3 countries.
Atleast back then you had to work for 5 years in a country to get their pension.
I worked in Germany, started apprenticeship to become a heating engineer when I was 16 for 3.5 so that time I payed in but not much, then I worked 2 years in a factory but in between I was in military, but I guess this counts to some degree. Then I went back to school to be able to go to university.
But then I moved to Sweden, there I worked 1.5 years as a paperboy during the night while learning the language. Then I worked for 2 years as a web frontend developer and then I went to University. During University I worked half time as a iPhone app and web developer for about 5 years. Then I worked for 7 years as a embedded developer at a car supplier company.
And then I moved to Korea and worked here for 3 years with the same.
So at 46 I only have 14 years of 100% work and 5 years at 50% work and then those very low paying jobs 5 years and one year of military. And that between 3 countries and two continents.
There was a woman here that used to work at a national park for 20 years but only 5 - 7 months every year, and after 20 years they finally accepted her for full time, she is now 47 but needs to work a minimum another 30 years to get minimal pension.
She didn't have the means to leave the country to look for work, and no other job wanted to hire her even thiught she would send couple hundred job application each year.
Now she is stuck having to work till she is almost 80 for any kind of pension.
I'm not even sure anymore really. The only thing that comes to mind at the moment is crazy drugs and sex day before I blow my brains out. I've seen a couple stories about people realizing life really is worth living after a binge like that, and it has me wondering if that would really work for me haha
I also have that exact story. Got a bunch of drugs, hired a prostitute. After she left, took a crazy concoction I thought for sure would kill me. I'll never forget what I thought was my last breath. All I could feel was immense regret. My brain kept reminding me of all the little things I had to live for that for some reason I couldn't think of at any moment before. I woke up the next day feeling like death, but I've never felt better to be alive. 7 years later and I remember it all like it was yesterday. I would never recommend anyone to go to that length to feel something, but I understand why it happens. Unfortunately too many people take that final breath and don't wake back up. Find a good therapist to talk to. If that's not an option then a family member or friend. The people who share that story all got lucky to a degree. If you don't feel you have anyone if your life to reach out to, feel free to reach out to me or any trusted community you find on the internet. It may seem silly to talk to a complete stranger on the internet in that way, but there are an overwhelming number of real people here and not just bots lol.
Everything. New phone, new laptop, more clothes, more bling. Piercings. Despite always wanting I've made it through life without any tattoos so far (which I'm also kinda glad about because I'm pretty sure I would have something edgy and cringy if I'd done it when I was younger). So, tattoos. Decent healthcare, dental care, mental care.
Also, I lied. I'm not actually saving up money for anything right now. But if I had money that could be saved up, these are things that I would be saving up for right now lol.
Edit: actually real answer, enough money to do some sort of course or diploma and aim for something better in life.
Btw, sorry that I can never answer anything without waffling on lol. This is why I suck at Twitter and Bluesky. And I don't talk this much in real life. So feel free to not even read, clearly I'm on some sort of high right now.
It definitely seems like getting tattoos is addictive. I still haven't got as far as the 'what' yet myself. I want it to have some sort of small meaning but not be pretentious either. So some object / animal / creature that looks cool but I can also have some reason for, even if only I know the reason. The only thing I know for sure is that I've always wanted henna style tattoos on my hands ever since I was a kid drawing on my hands with a pen in school lol. But that would probably make me even more unemployable, so education first.
But as for an education, either something writing related or programming related. My main goal is something without a dress code or someone breathing down my neck. Preferably WFH. I don't need to be rich, just more than surviving and happy. Writing would be the more 'laid back' route for me, my writing has become feral over the years but it was the thing in school that I could get As for with my eyes closed.
Programming would be the route with harder work and probably involve doing jobs that don't thrill me as much as writing. But it would also help for my art because I start making games in my spare time and exercise the writing, drawing (pixel art) and music making part of my soul at the same time.
Also, by all accounts, teaching English as a foreign language sounds like it nets a decent but humble little income too. And would also be fairly laid back and allow time for side projects.
Uh, basically the story of my life is being undecided about what I really want to do with myself.
Your tattoo idea is really sensible, really solid idea. Main thing I'll say is save the money to do it right 100% worth it.
Funnily enough my friends a programmer even though she's good at writing! She's wfh on a really good wage even though she only started it a few years ago
I didn't ask about yours but I did see lurking (and upvoting) in women's stuff that you got a unicorn! I think a mythical / fantasy creature is an awesome idea. And I'm assuming that's your start?
Also, to avoid another double reply, jokes about the USA aside, hope you have a great time there.
Yep a unicorn! I've got 5 now I think the unicorn might be my favourite. I'm not allowed another one for a year cos 5 in 2 years is excessive (making up for lost time)
I deeply and spiritually identify with this statement right now. Me too, or at least I aim to. I'm glad to hear that you're choosing to feed your soul and I hope that each one of those tatts makes you feel more like you.
I've got my rainy day fund which I only touch in true emergencies. I'm also saving to go to LA in November! Tickets are bought, but not paid for lodgings etc
A new saxophone. I have been playing the sax for 15 years and have kept my beginner horn ever since. A good sax starts at 5k though, so I‘ll probably need at least 5 more years at my current saving rate
No clue tbh, I've kinda reached all my savings goals. Can buy a house outright when the time comes to settle down (not so easy, not even sure about the country let alone cityat this point), and still got enough to live a relaxed life. Guess I'll just top up the retirement fund.
Used to save up for a house but prices are rising faster than I can save up and soon I'd be in debt for the rest of my life if I did buy one.
So now I'm just saving up so I won't have money troubles living a simpler life. Small rented apartment, don't have to worry about not having enough money to buy food or pay the bills. Can spend a certain amount on entertainment and other leisure each month and I have a sizable buffer in case I become unemployed.
Honestly I have no idea. Save as much as I can, invest spend, HYSA the rest. I suppose eventually a house in like 15 years? maybe retirement eventually?
not sure and honestly kind of falling in love with the idea of micro-retirements so maybe i'll spend it on that?
Hoping to get my driving license, London and public transport didn't give me a need to drive despite knowing how to (shh), and at my age it could be a great benefit moving forward so I figure a small refresher and the exam will do me good.
Also been saving up, separately, for an upcoming holiday to the Netherlands. My mother's health can take a turn any day, so I wanted to take her to my favourite part of the world while I still could. Got a few things planned.
A (likely secondhand) PS5 because a game I really want, Digimon Story Time Stranger, releases this year! That's my biggest goal right now, but aside from that there's also some albums and Tamagotchi I want to buy eventually haha
Gotta run PEX piping to replace the copper we've got so I can remove the oil water heater so we can also remove the oil furnace and convert to electric (not logic to replace the furnace if we need to keep the reservoir because of the water heater) then we can start fixing cracks in our foundation walls so we can insulate them, as long as we're done with that before next winter I'll be satisfied.
Yeah, growing up in a family where we would tear down walls the day after moving in certainly helps, but there's tons of things that are easy to learn when it comes to doing home maintenance and improvements!
Traditionally, financial engineers are people who create financial instruments, like contracts. Say you want to get a mortgage but instead of just paying interest you want to make it spicier somehow, something like "if the value of a home in this part of town is so and so, I'll pay this, if not then that", or something to that effect. A bank would come in with pricing, risk analysis, etc. for such a contract, done by people with knowledge in financial engineering. Nowadays the degree is chased mostly by people who want to get into investing, though, and they get an advantage in that due to the heavy quantitative focus of the program.
Econometrics is an area of statistics that is concerned with studying causality, particularly in economical and financial data. Say you think tariffs cause inflation (very topical lol), you would not only want to have theoretical basis for that, but an empirical foundation too, which is established by an econometric study.
I'm targetting financial engineering because it's harder to get into, thus salaries are better, but would settle for econometrics because I can get similar opportunities if I play my cards right
Nothing in particular. Mostly, it’s for early retirement and partly just for “fuck-you money.” I pretty much own everything I’ve ever wanted, and anything I don’t have, I could buy if I really wanted to. I make a decent living and live below my means. I invest a good portion of my income into ETF index funds every month, and I’m at a point where my passive income matches - or even exceeds - what I’m able to save from wages.
I’m self-employed nowadays, and whenever business is slow, I don’t have to stress about it because of my savings. Time is my most valuable asset, and anytime I get to do something other than work counts as a positive in my book. That said, I don’t really mind working anymore either, because what I do for a living is pretty much what I’d be doing anyway.
I guess you could say I save so that I don’t have to stress about finances.
My recent bigger purchase was a video game, so probably a different video game somewhere down the line. I'm trying not to spend too much money right now unless it's money I've gotten from donating plasma. Kind of like pocket money for small stuff.
Other than that, I've got all I need right now, pretty much
Been saving for the wedding since the beginning of the year. It is going better than we thought, but at the same time, everything is so much more expensive than we imagined. But as for the saving itself, I'm positively surprised how small (and I mean really small) things add up. Okay, we are two people, and it's been four months. Just, we got excited when we checked where we were yesterday, but almost immediately after that, we looked into some of the things from the wedding list, and now the amount we saved suddenly doesn't seem that great. Anyway, I drifted. Saving for the wedding, and I choose to say it's going well.
My next meal
I feel you, brother
Car tires. Literally.
Also funds to fix my car if it breaks down.
I'm fucking owned by my car I need to go to work in this god forsaken country with no public transport.
Let me know if you want any self-repair advice.
Np on that front, my pops is a mechanic so got that covered.
For the passers-by in a similar spot without a family mechanic, then.
Also at [email protected]
I'm not the biggest fan of l.w for a few reasons but it's the best/only auto repair comm that I know of.
Good point
So probably mostly for retirement. The problem is that I've been moving between counties and studying and doing stuff so I'm afraid it will be impossible to collect it from all the countries together so that I can get a normal pension, so I will have to work quite long and yeah if I'm lucky and get old then I'll be probably very poor.
Yep that's a tricky one. How long till you retire?
I'm only 46, but let's see when I can retire :D
You're never to young to start
Oh that's concerning indeed. I know that at least in some countries you are allowed to get back your pension contributions if you demonstrate you are emigrating from it. No such luck for you?
I haven't really looked into all the details yet because this seems like a very long procedure. But some day I have to do it. My dad worked in Poland in a coal mine until he was 34, then he moved to Germany. In his case they had some agreement between the countries and he is getting his money as if he had worked in Germany the whole time.
My grandpa worked in a couple diff countries in eurrope back in 1900's, he worked for 5 years in 2 diff countries and then came back to work in his home country for 30 years and ended up getting pension from 3 countries.
Atleast back then you had to work for 5 years in a country to get their pension.
I worked in Germany, started apprenticeship to become a heating engineer when I was 16 for 3.5 so that time I payed in but not much, then I worked 2 years in a factory but in between I was in military, but I guess this counts to some degree. Then I went back to school to be able to go to university.
But then I moved to Sweden, there I worked 1.5 years as a paperboy during the night while learning the language. Then I worked for 2 years as a web frontend developer and then I went to University. During University I worked half time as a iPhone app and web developer for about 5 years. Then I worked for 7 years as a embedded developer at a car supplier company.
And then I moved to Korea and worked here for 3 years with the same.
So at 46 I only have 14 years of 100% work and 5 years at 50% work and then those very low paying jobs 5 years and one year of military. And that between 3 countries and two continents.
There was a woman here that used to work at a national park for 20 years but only 5 - 7 months every year, and after 20 years they finally accepted her for full time, she is now 47 but needs to work a minimum another 30 years to get minimal pension.
She didn't have the means to leave the country to look for work, and no other job wanted to hire her even thiught she would send couple hundred job application each year.
Now she is stuck having to work till she is almost 80 for any kind of pension.
Saving up for a down payment on a house. It feels so daunting!
A house. Kinda feel like I cannot buy anything I don't strictly need because of this.
The coming recession.
Prudent
Too little spare money to save much. After clearing my current debt the next item will be a chair, new curtains, then a refrigerator. Ideally.
I hear you.
I'm not even sure anymore really. The only thing that comes to mind at the moment is crazy drugs and sex day before I blow my brains out. I've seen a couple stories about people realizing life really is worth living after a binge like that, and it has me wondering if that would really work for me haha
I also have that exact story. Got a bunch of drugs, hired a prostitute. After she left, took a crazy concoction I thought for sure would kill me. I'll never forget what I thought was my last breath. All I could feel was immense regret. My brain kept reminding me of all the little things I had to live for that for some reason I couldn't think of at any moment before. I woke up the next day feeling like death, but I've never felt better to be alive. 7 years later and I remember it all like it was yesterday. I would never recommend anyone to go to that length to feel something, but I understand why it happens. Unfortunately too many people take that final breath and don't wake back up. Find a good therapist to talk to. If that's not an option then a family member or friend. The people who share that story all got lucky to a degree. If you don't feel you have anyone if your life to reach out to, feel free to reach out to me or any trusted community you find on the internet. It may seem silly to talk to a complete stranger on the internet in that way, but there are an overwhelming number of real people here and not just bots lol.
Thanks for sharing.
Are you ok mate?
I too choose his/her retirement plan!
Everything. New phone, new laptop, more clothes, more bling. Piercings. Despite always wanting I've made it through life without any tattoos so far (which I'm also kinda glad about because I'm pretty sure I would have something edgy and cringy if I'd done it when I was younger). So, tattoos. Decent healthcare, dental care, mental care.
Also, I lied. I'm not actually saving up money for anything right now. But if I had money that could be saved up, these are things that I would be saving up for right now lol.
Edit: actually real answer, enough money to do some sort of course or diploma and aim for something better in life.
I'm in my 40s only just started getting tattoos now I'm obsessed. What would you get done? And what diploma would you do?
Btw, sorry that I can never answer anything without waffling on lol. This is why I suck at Twitter and Bluesky. And I don't talk this much in real life. So feel free to not even read, clearly I'm on some sort of high right now.
It definitely seems like getting tattoos is addictive. I still haven't got as far as the 'what' yet myself. I want it to have some sort of small meaning but not be pretentious either. So some object / animal / creature that looks cool but I can also have some reason for, even if only I know the reason. The only thing I know for sure is that I've always wanted henna style tattoos on my hands ever since I was a kid drawing on my hands with a pen in school lol. But that would probably make me even more unemployable, so education first.
But as for an education, either something writing related or programming related. My main goal is something without a dress code or someone breathing down my neck. Preferably WFH. I don't need to be rich, just more than surviving and happy. Writing would be the more 'laid back' route for me, my writing has become feral over the years but it was the thing in school that I could get As for with my eyes closed.
Programming would be the route with harder work and probably involve doing jobs that don't thrill me as much as writing. But it would also help for my art because I start making games in my spare time and exercise the writing, drawing (pixel art) and music making part of my soul at the same time.
Also, by all accounts, teaching English as a foreign language sounds like it nets a decent but humble little income too. And would also be fairly laid back and allow time for side projects.
Uh, basically the story of my life is being undecided about what I really want to do with myself.
Your tattoo idea is really sensible, really solid idea. Main thing I'll say is save the money to do it right 100% worth it.
Funnily enough my friends a programmer even though she's good at writing! She's wfh on a really good wage even though she only started it a few years ago
I didn't ask about yours but I did see lurking (and upvoting) in women's stuff that you got a unicorn! I think a mythical / fantasy creature is an awesome idea. And I'm assuming that's your start?
Also, to avoid another double reply, jokes about the USA aside, hope you have a great time there.
Yep a unicorn! I've got 5 now I think the unicorn might be my favourite. I'm not allowed another one for a year cos 5 in 2 years is excessive (making up for lost time)
And thanks mate sure I will
I deeply and spiritually identify with this statement right now. Me too, or at least I aim to. I'm glad to hear that you're choosing to feed your soul and I hope that each one of those tatts makes you feel more like you.
Thank you so much for that, a few people have been weird about how many I've got in such a short time. They really do make me feel more like me
To finish med school. Got about a year left, and i'm sort of broke. I'm getting by. Everyone talks how i'll have cash later on but damn i'm broke now.
I'm dreaming about a new tent for camping, a car, and to buy more expensive food.
Generational wealth, so that our kid has financial independence
I've got my rainy day fund which I only touch in true emergencies. I'm also saving to go to LA in November! Tickets are bought, but not paid for lodgings etc
I hope you don't get deported lol. I've always wanted to visit the US, parts of it at least. Seems pretty scary right now though.
It is. I'm kinda worried they'll turn me into a handmaid
Heading there just for a general holiday?
Yep my friend lives there
A new saxophone. I have been playing the sax for 15 years and have kept my beginner horn ever since. A good sax starts at 5k though, so I‘ll probably need at least 5 more years at my current saving rate
The many rainy days that are likely to come.
Groceries.
No clue tbh, I've kinda reached all my savings goals. Can buy a house outright when the time comes to settle down (not so easy, not even sure about the country let alone cityat this point), and still got enough to live a relaxed life. Guess I'll just top up the retirement fund.
I'm going on my first trip with my girlfriend and I'm saving up for a stay in the mountains. We both love hiking, so I think everything will work out.
Just to make number go up at the moment. One day I'll want a new laptop but mines new now so maybe in like 5 years.
Just put down the closing costs for a house. So saving to replenish savings for a bit.
Used to save up for a house but prices are rising faster than I can save up and soon I'd be in debt for the rest of my life if I did buy one.
So now I'm just saving up so I won't have money troubles living a simpler life. Small rented apartment, don't have to worry about not having enough money to buy food or pay the bills. Can spend a certain amount on entertainment and other leisure each month and I have a sizable buffer in case I become unemployed.
I know mate. Times are hard right now
The new neverending fuckery that most of my shithead neighbors voted for.
Honestly I have no idea. Save as much as I can, invest spend, HYSA the rest. I suppose eventually a house in like 15 years? maybe retirement eventually?
not sure and honestly kind of falling in love with the idea of micro-retirements so maybe i'll spend it on that?
Windows for my house. I'll be saving for a while..
Have you thought about moving to a house with Linux?
It's funny you say that. I have a home lab that runs Linux already.
This is the way
Hoping to get my driving license, London and public transport didn't give me a need to drive despite knowing how to (shh), and at my age it could be a great benefit moving forward so I figure a small refresher and the exam will do me good.
Also been saving up, separately, for an upcoming holiday to the Netherlands. My mother's health can take a turn any day, so I wanted to take her to my favourite part of the world while I still could. Got a few things planned.
Good luck with your exam!
I plan to move abroad, so that.
A (likely secondhand) PS5 because a game I really want, Digimon Story Time Stranger, releases this year! That's my biggest goal right now, but aside from that there's also some albums and Tamagotchi I want to buy eventually haha
Travel. I love to travel.
Where do you wanna go?
Torn between Guatemala, D.R., Nicaragua, and Cuba.
Good choices! My friend went to Cuba 20 years ago and liked but didn't love it if that helps haha
Yeah, I was there about 20 years ago also. I liked the people. Not a big fan of the food.
Gotta run PEX piping to replace the copper we've got so I can remove the oil water heater so we can also remove the oil furnace and convert to electric (not logic to replace the furnace if we need to keep the reservoir because of the water heater) then we can start fixing cracks in our foundation walls so we can insulate them, as long as we're done with that before next winter I'll be satisfied.
So yeah, anyone's got 15k?
Fucking hell nightmare being an adult socks sometimes
At least I'm doing some of it myself to save on labor 🤷
I'm genuinely impressed mate I had to post in ![email protected] asking how to put pictures up haha
Yeah, growing up in a family where we would tear down walls the day after moving in certainly helps, but there's tons of things that are easy to learn when it comes to doing home maintenance and improvements!
Marriage and master's degree. The latter probably will end up not happening due to impending burnout
What masters do you want to do?
Financial Engineering, but I would settle for Econometrics or even Applied Statistics
I don't even really know what they are so I'm impressed
Traditionally, financial engineers are people who create financial instruments, like contracts. Say you want to get a mortgage but instead of just paying interest you want to make it spicier somehow, something like "if the value of a home in this part of town is so and so, I'll pay this, if not then that", or something to that effect. A bank would come in with pricing, risk analysis, etc. for such a contract, done by people with knowledge in financial engineering. Nowadays the degree is chased mostly by people who want to get into investing, though, and they get an advantage in that due to the heavy quantitative focus of the program.
Econometrics is an area of statistics that is concerned with studying causality, particularly in economical and financial data. Say you think tariffs cause inflation (very topical lol), you would not only want to have theoretical basis for that, but an empirical foundation too, which is established by an econometric study.
I'm targetting financial engineering because it's harder to get into, thus salaries are better, but would settle for econometrics because I can get similar opportunities if I play my cards right
Great ideas! Hope it goes well
Saving for a new car. My ex wrecked mine, and it still drives but it brings too many bad memories.
saving money is its own reward
Nothing in particular. Mostly, it’s for early retirement and partly just for “fuck-you money.” I pretty much own everything I’ve ever wanted, and anything I don’t have, I could buy if I really wanted to. I make a decent living and live below my means. I invest a good portion of my income into ETF index funds every month, and I’m at a point where my passive income matches - or even exceeds - what I’m able to save from wages.
I’m self-employed nowadays, and whenever business is slow, I don’t have to stress about it because of my savings. Time is my most valuable asset, and anytime I get to do something other than work counts as a positive in my book. That said, I don’t really mind working anymore either, because what I do for a living is pretty much what I’d be doing anyway.
I guess you could say I save so that I don’t have to stress about finances.
Immigration, hope it falls through...
New ubiquiti Router and switches
My recent bigger purchase was a video game, so probably a different video game somewhere down the line. I'm trying not to spend too much money right now unless it's money I've gotten from donating plasma. Kind of like pocket money for small stuff.
Other than that, I've got all I need right now, pretty much
Been saving for the wedding since the beginning of the year. It is going better than we thought, but at the same time, everything is so much more expensive than we imagined. But as for the saving itself, I'm positively surprised how small (and I mean really small) things add up. Okay, we are two people, and it's been four months. Just, we got excited when we checked where we were yesterday, but almost immediately after that, we looked into some of the things from the wedding list, and now the amount we saved suddenly doesn't seem that great. Anyway, I drifted. Saving for the wedding, and I choose to say it's going well.