Money Snapshot: A Healthcare Management Professional Shares Her Thoughts on Debt, Saving, and Early Retirement
For today's Money Snapshot, we're talking salary, net worth, debt, and more with reader Kay in New York City, who works in healthcare management. She noted, “I have never had a student loan or any major debt of any sort,” and added that her money strategy is “save as much as possible.” (Note that we weren't able to reach Kay for an update on how the pandemic has affected her life and job.)
We got a few requests from readers to launch our own “money diary” series, so we've asked willing readers to fill out a form with lots of details about debt, spending, saving and more! If you’d like to fill out the form and be considered for a future personal money snapshot, please click here to submit your response! You can see a PDF of the questions if you want to review them ahead of time. See others in the Personal Money Snapshot series here.
Please remember that this is is a real person who has feelings and isn’t gaining anything from this, unlike your usual friendly (soul-deadened, thick-skinned, cold-hearted, money-grubbing) blogger — so please be kind with any comments. Thank you! — Kat
Name: Kay
Location: NYC
Age: 29
Occupation: Healthcare management
Income: $60,000
Net worth: $200,000
Net worth when started working: At 21, $170,000
Living situation: Rent is $1,160
Debt
What does your debt picture look like?
No debt
How did you pay for school?
School paid with mix of scholarships and working while studying. I have never had a student loan or any major debt of any sort.
Savings, Investments & Retirement
How much do you save for retirement?
10% of income to 401k; end of year contribution to Roth IRA
How much money do you allocate to other tax-savvy investments/accounts?
$1,000 to Health FSA, $2,500 to Transit FSA
How much do you save outside of retirement accounts?
Whatever is left over after expenses. When my checking account balance gets large, I move money to savings in $5,000 increments.
Talk to us about investments.
Target retirement funds — Vanguard
Do you have an end goal for saving or are you just saving for a rainy day?
Retirement at 60
What's the #1 thing you're doing to save money, limit spending, or live frugally?
Roommates!
How much do you have in cash that's available today?
$15,000
How much do you have in cash that's available in a week?
$180,000
How much is in your “emergency fund,” and did you include it in the previous question?
$10,000, yes
How much do you have in retirement savings?
$10,000
If property values (home, car) are included in your net worth, how much are those worth?
n/a — no significant property
Spending
How much do you spend on the following categories on a monthly basis?
Groceries: $100
Restaurants, bars, takeout, and delivery: $200
Clothing and accessories: $100
Transportation: $200
Rent/living expenses: $1,400
Entertainment: $50
Other major expenses: none
Health care — premiums and other costs: Premiums are entirely employer-paid.
What's your spending range for these things? What's your average?
Vacations – Range: $0–$3,000
Vacations – Average: $1,000
Individual items of clothing – Range: $5–$150
Individual items of clothing – Average: $50
Apartment or house – Current main residence: $1,160/month
Fill in the blank on this question: I could save _____ if I stopped ______, but I don't because _______.
I could save $200 a month if I stopped eating out for lunch, but I don't because it's so convenient!
Are there any other large expenses in your life, now or previously?
Large medical expenses in 2015
Money Strategy
Do you have a general money strategy?
Save as much as possible.
What are your favorite resources for personal finance?
Reddit
What advice would you give your younger self about personal finance?
Spend as little as possible on undergrad.
Icons via Stencil.
Thanks for sharing!
I wish more details were provided…like how a 21 year old has a net worth of 170k and how she has $180k available within a week! Trust fund? Inheritance?
Just curious how she has a 200k net worth but only 10k in retirement savings? Separate investment accounts I guess?
Wow this is impressive! I wonder how Kay had a net worth of 170k by 21 (not sure if she will reply since she couldn’t be reached).
I’m glad to see someone who follows /r/personal_finance here
Thanks for sharing this! I’m curious about your starting net worth, and whether it’s in cash savings or something else. Are you planning to invest some of that money, or hanging on to it for another reason?
Is there a typo in the net worth figures? There’s no explanation of how she started at age 21 with a six-figure net worth and why that net worth has grown less than 20% in 8 years.
This Money Snapshot was submitted anonymously so we couldn’t ask for clarification or follow-up; I hope she’ll be reading today and chime in! (Thank you for reading!)
Then why publish it? People have pointed out some oddities that probably warrant explanation, given the whole focus of this column. Seems weird to ignore them.
Yeah, I probably would not have published this one with the extremely limited responses and no ability to elicit more details. There’s nothing to read! Love this series in general though.
I’m trying not to be rude, but does anyone actually check the math in these before they are published?
$100 a month on groceries and $200 a month on restaurants/takeout – with a follow-up answer that the poster could save $200/month if she stopped eating lunches out, but won’t be convenient. So she’s spending $100/month, in NYC, on all groceries for breakfast and dinner and weekend lunches? No.
Also how is she saving 10% of her income into 401(k) plus year end Roth contributions and only has $10,000 in retirement?
I…feel like none of this makes sense.
Also net worth when started working was $170k? Not that it’s impossible, but I think it warrants an explanation.
Yes I as wondering this as well. It doesn’t make sense to publish without relevant details. How did she start off with 170k?
I know women in their early twenties who had similar net worth, but that’s because their parents paid for undergrad fully, perhaps bought them a car if needed, and they were able to save very generous gifts from grandparents or extended family members over the years (such as from bat mitzvahs, high school graduation cash gifts, etc.). But that doesn’t square with how she says she paid for school (unless, I suppose, she earned scholarships and her family gifted her the scholarship equivalent — kind of like how I know college students who were RAs obtaining free room and board and their parents gifted them the free room and board). Either way, this isn’t making sense to me as well.
She didn’t say when she started putting 10% in her 401(k) or that she maxed out her Roth. It’s a snapshot of what she’s currently doing.
Completely agree, how in the world is she eating for $100/month in groceries in NYC? $100/week, maybe.
I don’t know about this one either… I almost wondered if there was an eating disorder at 100$ of food per month, until I saw the restaurant/eating out section. Maybe she splits groceries with the roommates? Even then, at the price of her rent, how many roommates does she have? No clue… It’s hard to relate to this snapshot without more details.
I work in wealth management and the most likely explanation for having $170K as a minor (unless she was a child actor) is that she has a trust fund or numerous large cash gifts from her parents or grandparents. Generally children in those circumstances also have parents or grandparents who fully fund college for them, so I’m impressed that she paid her own way by working part-time jobs.