At what age did you become financially secure?

[elizabethann]

Everyone has a different idea of what financially secure means, but for the purpose of this poll vote based on the following basics:
You successfully make ends meet each month, you have an efund you're comfortable with, you have money to put towards financial goals each month.

Obviously we are never guaranteed complete financial security (loss of job/serious illness/economic issues/etc). But in general at what age did you begin to feel financially secure?

[Becca]

Based on your definition, I wavered between 18-20 and 21-25. I ultimately picked 21-25 because that is when I got my career job, and started paying back student loans.

In the 18-20 range, I was still taking out student loans to pay for school, but besides that, I had a full-time job before I was 18 and paid all my own bills, with some left over each month.

[elizabethann]

My definition is very basic but I guess I based it on what makes me personally feel secure. But I am 24 with no children and saving for a DP to buy a house in the near future. I think what makes you feel financially secure changes as you age and take on more responsibility.

It would be interesting to ask how everyone defines being financially secure.

[smiley]

I voted for 26-30. We are not where we want to be yet but we will be there during that age range. Hopefully, DH will get this promotion and we will be secure by the end of the next year. If he doesn't get the promotion then it will be 2014 before we are where we want to be.

[hamster]

Honestly, after marriage. With just my salary I wouldn't be able to contribute very much to retirement, and would probably have to live with roommates. So, to answer your question, 25.

[fuddyduddy]

18

My circumstances were unique, though. I joined the military right after high school and began saving nearly my entire paycheck immediately. I also had money in the bank from years of saving my birthday/Hanukkah/bat mitzvah gifts.

[whitepicketfence]

We were a financial mess in our early 20's. I don't think we really started to get our shit together until we were 25. We're 28 now and have made tremendous progress toward our financial goals even though we dropped to one income and addes 2 kids to the mix.

[Deleted]

It was only in the last 6 months or so. I'm 29 and H is 34. Ditto pp's who said it depends on changing circumstances. We seem to go 3 steps forward and 1 step back. 3 years ago we were rock stars, then we sold H's super-cheap-to-live-in condo and built a house. Recovered from that and paid for our wedding. Recovered from that and went to Europe. Recovered from that and got pregnant, which means huge shifts in our financial priorities.

[Deleted]

I would say about 25. Prior to age 23 I had and money in savings, however I was still in college and my parents were paying major expenses (rent, tuition, etc). After age 23 H and I got married and he had signficant debt that I helped pay off plus were saving for dp.

I would say I was about 25 by the time we had paid off debt, bought house, rebuilt e-fund and still had room to play.

[rosiedozie]

I have never lived month to month, I know that I'm really lucky in that aspect.

[WOT?*]

I'm going with 36-40. Technically, it could be 21-24 but at 24 we hit financial devastation that I didn't recover from for many years. I married young, had kids young. XH was in the military and was a financial sieve but we had money to pay the bills. Then he was disabled and there went his money. We had four kids, a tiny pension and my low wage jobs. I wasn't financially secure again until I met DH because I was supporting my household and in many respects XH's as well (paying for utilities and various bills, etc. so he had phone, water, electricity and gas and the septic pumped) on a fairly low salary. I met DH at 30 and only at 33 or so did I realize my credit was repaired enough that I could once again qualify for credit and/or loans because it had been so destroyed from the earlier years. I didn't feel *secure* until we had enough saved to buy our first house when I was in my later 30s; even then I felt we were always one crisis from annihiliation because of my earlier experiences until we had a good chunk of change in our savings. I've only just relaxed since he got his current job (and I was 41 at that point) and finally started feeling he wasn't going to lose it at any moment (even though he was ten years at his former firm) but instead was viewed as upwardly mobile (because he's darn good) within the firm instead.

[chessie]

I know some people would say for our situation it happened 25ish, but in my eyes and after MM has really kicked my ass more I don't feel comfortable enough yet. MM has really raised the bar. Hoping by mid 30's we are there.

[cajunmom]

I'll let you know when we get there. We were on our way when DH lost his job in February. He was only out of work for 4 months but his new job pays about 30% less than his previous one which makes it harder for us to save much if any at all each month.

[Deleted]

I feel secure with SO, but I'd be screwed on my own.

[Deleted]

Somewhere around 25-26 (my first year out of law school)?

I could make ends meet and meet financial goals as soon as I started my first post-graduate job. I have no idea when I had a comfortable e-fund because I didn't ever think of an e-fund as a thing until I started posting here. I just thought it would be nice to have lots of money saved. But I don't know at what point I had sufficient amounts to constitute a good e-fund saved. Somewhere during that year certainly.

[anna7602]

I felt secure when I realized that DH and I could both live off one salary if the other one was suddenly unemployed. We both lived from my salary his first year of law school. We were paying for law school out of savings and some loans, but could basically pay rent and all our monthly expenses plus put some money in my work 401k fund on my salary alone. When he worked for a firm during the summers, it was just bonus money we ended up putting into savings for a house DP and to have some frivolous extras like vacations. That felt pretty awesome.

[macmars45]

Sept 15, 2012 20:51:10 GMT -5 tacom said:

I feel secure with SO, but I'd be screwed on my own.

This. Without H's income I'd be living in a box on the street or with roommates.

[Deleted]

25, when I started working full time, after I graduated law school. I lived off loans and DH (who was bf/FI then) in law school. I worked during law school but I used that money to defray how much I took out in loans.

[Deleted]

H and I were secure as a couple when I was 27 and he was 28. That's when we started contributing to retirement. Before that, we only had an e-fund.

I am just now secure on my own (age 29). Until last month, I was making a $24K research stipend.

[heygrey]

about 4 weeks ago - age 25. up until then we were a one income family in a hcol. being dinks is fantastic for our finances. we've been slowly building our e-fund for 3 years and that will be complete with about 3 of my paycehques, then we'll be on to student loans and other savings.