Ask HN: What's the smartest financial decision you've ever made? - tehMonk
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baccheion
Save at least 20% of take-home in a high-yield account. Even if not making
that much. Get into the habit. Never touch it (even if it requires drafting
legal documents)! The DJIA (ie, stock market) averages 8% YoY above inflation.
50% is even better, though put the excess in another account. Further increase
the amount via 401k. Such an approach is the only real approach to (early)
retirement.

Think before buying a house. Given the need for a down payment (could be
accruing more interest in a high-yield account) and additional hidden costs,
it may be a poor investment. As long as returns are more than 2% above
inflation (average YoY increase in property value), a high-yield account is
likely a better place to park any savings.

Many jobs are a trap. Side hustles. Recurring revenue. Given APY, how long
would it take to have enough for retirement if you stopped adding money to an
investment account?

Choose friends and significant others well.

Healthcare and childcare costs rise the fastest compared to inflation.

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cimmanom
Finding an awesome apartment with relatively low rent and then staying there
even as my salary nearly tripled.

For most of us, housing is our biggest monthly cost. If you can avoid
“upgrading your lifestyle” as you upgrade your income, that’s the biggest area
for savings.

I’m now saving $2400/mo (~$29k/yr) just on rent compared to the max that’s
considered financially viable at my current income.

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Ayesh
Saving money with an automatic fund transfer. I setup an automatic fund
transfer from one account to the other (in the same bank), and that account is
not linked to any ATM. I often reward myself by making the same transfer more
than once in a month everytime I get a bonus or somethibg like that.

