Defining Your Dream Life

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Thanks so much for those great ideas, Johanna. Saving for a home is a big one for a lot of people -- that's where my savings are going at the moment.

Kimberly Palmer of 10:20AM May 01, 2008

I would say that getting a jump on saving for a down payment on a home is a good idea, even if you have no particular plans to buy a home in the near future and aren't 100% sure that you want to buy one ever. I think it's only a matter of time before a 20% down payment becomes the norm again, and 20% of the cost of a home is an awful lot of money - several years' worth of savings, at least. If you wait until you're sure you want to buy before you start saving, you'll then have to endure several years of wanting to buy but not being able to because you don't have the down payment ready. Then, in the future, if you decide you don't want to buy a home after all (which is a perfectly legitimate option, despite what the realtors tell you), you can use the money for something else.
This is what I'm doing, anyway. I guess you could make the same argument for saving for a big wedding, too. But in my case, I'm 100% sure that I *don't* want a big wedding (and maybe not even any kind of wedding). So that simplifies things a bit for me.
Also, make sure you're contributing enough to your 401(k) and other retirement accounts. 10% of your salary is a good amount, but if you can afford to contribute more, do it. The more you save when you're young, the less you have to save when you're older.

Johanna of MD 9:02AM May 01, 2008

That's great, Veronica! Your loan repayment program sounds ideal, and I love the idea of saving for a "hypothetical" wedding and house - it's great to know what you want, and knowing definitely makes it easier to get there.

Kimberly Palmer of 9:26PM April 30, 2008

My own dream life involves getting out of educational debt. I did find a loan repayment program, which is different than loan forgiveness, if I get licensed and agree to work in a defined area of need for at least 2 years they repay up to 25,000 a year in student loans. The National Health Service Corps keeps a list of eligible locations and licenses that are in high demand in certain areas, most of them look to be rural but there are a few urban ones. I am keeping it as an option. I will also be exploring the military as an option, if the federal government changes the rules so that Licensed Mental Health Counselors/Licensed Professional Counselors are allowed to work at federal job sites.
After I get my debt under control (as I will be pushing the 100k by the time I graduate next year), I will probably start saving for a hypothetical wedding and house. As that is the life I want. I mainly travel in the United States, and that can be pretty affordable depending on the location, so it's not critical for me to save up for that.

Veronica of NY 9:22PM April 30, 2008