Money

Just wanted to express my concern about something here:

Is anyone saving money for retirement? I just blew $1,600 on an HDTV, PS3 and games...a few months ago I spent $1,500 on a really good gaming desktop PC, and about two years ago I spent $3,600 on a "gaming laptop" (learning lesson). Also, this past Summer I spent $400 on a DS Lite and games.

This doesn't include what I've spent on PC games and my internet subscription, which is for games.

Anyone who knows anything about finance will tell you that the earlier you can save, the better off you are.

I'm in my late 20's and am concerned with the spending by myself and my peers on entertainment, including games.

There seems to me to be two classes of people I know of: First, the people who get married in their 20's. These people suddenly are zapped into adulthood and generally recognize the importance of saving money and being financially disciplined.

The second category--and I'm talking about males, such as myself and excluding women--seem like we spend cash on basically depreciating personal property (cars, games, "collections" of some sort, such as guns, books, DVDs) as if we were Warren Buffet.

I know more than average about finance because I've worked in finance for 8 years; therefore I know deep down how much money I ought to be putting aside to reach my financial goals. However, I simply don't do it! I see guys with more or less similar incomes spending the same way.

Has it always been like this? What did single males between 18-34 (I think that's the demographic) blow their money on besides games/DVDs/etc in past generations? Were preceeding generations simply more financially sober?

I feel like much of my generation is on a ship that is flying towards the sun and financial destruction, fueled by marketers and impulse, with no hope.

Anyone else share these thoughts?

well wat goes for me is have have fun today and dotn worry about any other days so i dont care wat money i waste i just make good purchase i dont buy stuff i dont use or need games system are neededwael_rajab

Yea, that's a good attitude. I tend to worry way too much and was kind of stressed out when I wrote that post. The fact is that I will be receiving some money soon and will be ok; I just pushed my savings goals back a little while with the purchase and that's frustrating.

Basically, the television news seems to make the world sound doom and gloom and that affects me, although I'm in reality in ok shape. I need to worry less and just enjoy the good things in my life, including fun games and my friends.

I would say that it's good to look ahead and save, but don't let money control your life to the point where you get sick over purchases. That sounds like it's more of my problem than yours. Thanks for posting.

Kind of a strange question man! I almost stopped reading halfway through because I thought it was a spam post.

Anyway, I'm sure everyone spends money on different things, and I enjoy my games.

Some people spend $200 every weekend on bartabs, and what does ultimately get them?

It is possible to be a dedicated videogame player and be financially intelligent, and most mature players here would probably consider themselves so.

Im in my early twenties myself and I'm getting into investing. They say the first thing you need to do is stop being a consumer. I know that sounds easy but serious discipline needs to be taken.

All I can tell you is put your money where it will grow. Do a little research, watch business shows, read the business section of the newspaper/internet. My girlfriend puts her money in CDs and it is not possible to touch it for how ever many years you plan on holding it there. After lets say like 3 years, it's already gone up half of what ever she put in originally.

I'm reading a few investing books and they all give different numbers on things. But they say your money loses its value every year to about 5-10%. So if you miraculously won a million dollars today, 30 years from now that million is really only worth like $250,000 if it just sat around and not grow anywhere.

I'm sure you know all this since you said you've worked in finance for a good portion of your life. All I can tell you is put your money where it will grow. Mattering where you live, House value can go up by alot; Mattering on the year of your car, car value can go up rather than down like most new cars, etc.

I dont spend my money on games or stuff like that anymore. I keep my money for spending on going out, clothes, resteraunts etc. Last game I bought was Orange Box for 360 when it came out......

I dont like games that much....only game im interested in buying now is GTA....

I have $5000 saved right now, and It just feels like a waste of money spending it on games....so I dont anymore...and thats prob why im up to $5000

Well I myself am 25 years old, so I'm really not much younger than you. I just bought a house over the summer and got married in october. The house is ALREADY worth 8 thousand dollars more than I paid for it, so it turned out to be a good investment. And yeah, one of the first things we agreed to do when we got married is start a 401k. Right now I'm investing close to 300 bucks into an aggressive fund with a projected average annual return of 13%, which means I should have around a million dollars in my 401k by the time I'm 60.

A mistake that many people (including yourself) is forgetting to pay yourself before you start spending. My first piece of advice to you would be to buy property of some sort, whether it be a house or condo. By the time you retire in 30 years or so, you'll have property paid off and won't owe rent or have a monthly payment anymore. Second, you really should start a 401k. And since you're still young like me and don't have to worry about the dips in the stock mark it, put it in an aggressive high-yield fund. Try to invest at least 250 a month if not more. I know it's frustrating having less money to throw around on new gadgets and electronics, but you'll be thanking yourself when you're an old man.

Saving is NOT hard to learn to do - if you just take the steps to do it.

Keep a budget, find out where your money goes. Know where it goes, and you will know where to make changes. If you spend all your money on games...cut back, buy them used or just get another hobby.

Find the motivation to save. If gaming is your money sink, then make it a rule that for every dollar you spend on gaming - another dollar goes into your savings.

Retirement saving sucks and seems pointless, but every penny now is huge later. Just start slow. Put 1% of your pay in your 401k or an IRA. Raise it 1% every 6 months.....you won't notice it.

Seriously your still in your late 20's, dont worry about it.. Act your age and spend your money on video games.. Because obviously they bring you joy.. And hopefully by the time you reach retirement you'll have a good enough job to pay for it, or a rich wife ;)

But seriously, i've spent close to 1k on games alone just since 08 turned around.. And im buying a HDTV and WII this weekend and have no regrets.. Then again i was a ex-oxycontin junky and spent $90 a day on drugs.. So spending money on video games is like a blessing for me... Just look at the way i do, you can be blowing your money on ALOT of other things that are way worse then video games.

I don't think gaming is a waste of money, because it brings a lot more pleasure (short and long term) then spending more money on clothes, eating out, and many other things that eat up your money faster, and you don't get nearly the pay off as with gaming. I have spent so much money eating out at restaurants that charge way too much for below average food that I feel i just wasted a $100 on crap. I have seen women buy a single pair of pants for $300 and she wore them one time. A friend of mine put a lot of money into his street racing car just to get in a wreck and have the other guy's insurance cover only half of what it was worth. Stuff like this happens all the time, but gaming in moderation has always been fun and worth the decent amount I put into it.

But saving money is important and I would go the 401K route. Savings accounts are nice too.

Thanks for posting everyone. Whoever said that you can both be a gamer and financially intelligent made a good point. Also, "moderation" was mentioned in several posts and I think that's important.

I have a lot of respect for the person who has $5,000 in savings; I'm sure people here have different amounts in savings, the dollar amount is not so important as is the fact that it sounds like you made some good decisions and now feel confident about your financial situation.

To whoever said that the gaming laptop was a bad idea, you were right! It was an expensive mistake.

Some people made the point that there are worse places for money than games. Good point.

I would say that it is never too early to think about and put aside some money for retirement, no matter how small it may seem. $1 saved at age 20 is worth, well, even at 4% compound interest, nearly 6 times that amount at retirement. Inflation will erode some of that purchasing power in real terms but it still grows.