I am 41 years old, single, no kids, I work full time and make $42k a year. I have $28k in student loan debt, $3k in credit card debt, $10k in my retirement account, $600 in emergency savings (no other savings account aside from retirement), and I pay $1,120 a month for rent. I do not own a house. I do not have a driver's license or a car. I have a BFA from art school (majored in painting). My mother owns 1/3 of the house my parents live in (ownership is split with my mother's siblings). Their house is currently valued around $225,000, so when she passes (I am not looking forward to this!) I assume my cousins will want to sell the house and claim their inheritance. I will not be able to move into it unless I buy them out, which right now would be impossible. Jobs are limited to work-from-home or something on the bus line or in walking distance. We don't have a subway or particularly good public transportation in my city. My work experience is mostly retail and low-level office work, such as a receptionist. I am afraid of reaching old age and not being able to work anymore do to sickness/infirmity, and then no longer being able to afford rent, and becoming homeless. I don't know how to get to a place where I could own a home. I have tried to learn to drive, but it gives me a lot of anxiety, and most used cars are around $25k right now, which I cannot afford. Any realistic suggestions would be helpful.
41 years old, behind, need suggestions
byu/Academic-Campaign578 inpersonalfinance
Posted by Academic-Campaign578
6 Comments
I can appreciate that you’d like to own a home but homes are freaking expensive to maintain. I think it’s a great goal but not your highest priority. I would focus on increasing your income and paying off your debt. Once you do that, you can start to save for retirement and save for a house.
Good luck! You can do this!
Read the following. Your income is questionable at this stage in age.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/)
How much are you saving per month? Do a budget and see what you spend and what you save. See if there are areas to make changes on.
First step is paying off the credit card and then paying it in full each month.
2nd would be to make your emergency fund larger, usually 1-6 months worth of expenses is good.
After this start seeing how you can invest more into retirement.
I dunno mate, maybe you should get into a trade with the next four years. As long as you can work then you can make more money.
But maybe look into comkunity college or a trade school.
If you can handle more stress then i would recommend the medical field
Homeownership is an admirable goal but in your current state, I’d focus on paying down your debt and increasing your income.
Based on what you shared, it might be best to look into taking on freelance jobs in your spare time as a side hustle. There are companies looking to hire people to train their AI models just by reviewing documents, videos, voice recordings, etc. and coaching the AI based on the content.
Join r/moneyfindermindset for tips like this!
You gave a great description of your situation but I don’t understand what you are looking for suggestions towards.
What goals do you have?
Why is home ownership a goal? What aspect of home ownership is something you desire?
Years ago I thought owning a beach house was a goal of mine. Then I really did some soul searching and realized it’s because of how great it is to have an outdoor shower. So I installed one where I currently live at about 0.5% the price of a beach house.