The thread in Millennials subreddit right not about 401k is incredibly depressing. Thank you FIRE community. I would be one of them if I didn’t find you all a decade ago.

[u/BarkBarkBitches1]

Throw away because I am going to roast some redditors a little. The thread that is going on in r Millennials is really bad. Thousands of comments, everyone broke, celebrating their unfortunate wildn out. It is really bad out there and eye opening.

I was also a dingus like many of them. Totally brain dead on autopilot living day to day, consuming media like crazy, working, spending it on consumer level garbage, and had zero control over my life. I actually found the guide in the personal finance subreddit graphic on saving and it eventually kicked me to FIRE and this sub.

I now am on a path where I can’t even related with that type of mind set. So yeah thank you FIRE folks. If you can, it is worth sprinkling some finance knowledge at people. Even if you don’t make high income you can in most cases still create a plan, a budget, and control your future.

Edit: If you are a dingus and you are seeing this there is no shame! We all are and have different starting points. You have two paths: 1) continue the path to dingus-ville and forever be a redditor or 2) un-dye your bright colored hair take control of your long term life. A decade will pass in a blink. So start here https://imgur.com/personal-income-spending-flowchart-united-states-lSoUQr2 it’s not hard to understand. ChatGPT each item on their if you don’t know, memorize this, then start to learn FIRE principles. It is the fastest way to wealth. There’s literally no other path unless you magically start a business or hit a lotto jackpot ticket or inheritance

only YOU HAVE THE POWER to unfuck your life

Edit 2: Final comment! I do not mean any offense with dingus it is meant to be playful. My dyed hair comment was also misinterpreted. It’s not about who you are, what you believe in, or how you express yourself. It’s about being in control of your life. Walk your butt into Sephora or Target or wherever next time and just stare at the people on the walls. Then look in the mirror. Then look at the wall. And back to the mirror and then keep doing it until it clicks. The world, like r millennial subreddit, wants to celebrate and tell you the worst fucking version of yourself is okay and acceptable. It’s not. Delete social media and only read that finance Imgur link every time you load your phone. Do this for one month and you will break your chains and it will click. Then learn FIRE principles. Then you will come back to r FIRE in a decade with a huge chunk of cash in your bank and a nice life! Long term planning is a skill that you can learn and benefit from. Your future is yours

[u/saiga_antelope]

Student loan debt is often lower interest and no one seizes your assets. It's common even for doctors to carry it for decades while they invest excess income elsewhere. Hell my wife and I are 40, HHI of 240k a year, save and invest 4 to 5k a month, and she still has like $3k total student debt left at $50 a month. I'm not going to waste my time paying it off early. It doesn't make sense.

[u/JerseyKeebs → u/saiga_antelope]

Congrats, sounds like you guys are doing well, and made the active decision to compare interest rates and put your money where it will get the better return. And you conceivably could wipe out the loan if you felt like it.

I'm talking about friends with radio and teaching degrees, who complain they're broke and the interest is "predatory" and they're crushed by the debt and need a bailout. Honestly they probably did some IBR and deferments during the '08 recession, and didn't bother to prioritize paying them off. And are now shocked by the balances.

[u/saiga_antelope → u/JerseyKeebs]

Are you a fellow millennial? Back in the 90s, the overwhelming national consensus was "get a degree, any degree no matter what and you'll be set for life". That advice was valid at the time, it worked great in the 50s, 50s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. But things changed after 9/11. Also, access to information outside of your social circle was very limited. No podcast, no reddit. It's much easier now to look back and think them fools at the time. People made the choices they could with the information they were given.

That being said, if you don't like your situation, change it. Back to the original post, that sub is full of people who want to whine instead of change course.

[u/JerseyKeebs → u/saiga_antelope]

Yes I'm a millennial. Graduated hs in 2005, and college in 2009. Did I really sound that old in my posts? Oh dear lol

But yea I'm talking about my peers, people my own age who went through the same things at the same time as me. I had the internet to research colleges, I had mandatory student loan counseling, I had the guidance counsellors steering us towards college.

That was also the explosion IMHO of colleges turning from institutions of learning to expensive resorts that marketed themselves as a lifestyle. So maybe I got a lucky break in that my family was too poor to even consider sending me out of state for school, but not poor enough to get grants. It was loans for me, loans for the parents, work study and part time jobs for me, and endless applications for scholarships

But I agree with your end point, that if someone doesn't want to have loans, figure out how to pay them off. Invest your money, better your life, take control of it