See Jane Get Rich

Last year I made a big fat mistake by paying $310 for my tax preparation.  This year I did my taxes using H&R Block’s free tax prep software for my federal and then paid $10.55 for DC and home state.  It wasn’t worth it to pay $10.55 each for the home state one but it did save me a whole lot of time so I forked over the money.  It feels so good to be done.

Federal $6,834

DC: $921

Home State: $24

Cost: -$21.10

Total = $7,757.90

Destination:  Millionairehood

Departure: 2008 – Age 24 

Arrival: 2028 – Age 44

Speed: Aggressive.

 My blogging friend Don and I decided to buddy-up and join J. Money’s Millionaire’s Club.  It is an e-club for prospective millionaires.  The only requirement is that you make the committment and list the steps you will take to achieve your goal. Right now, since I haven’t landed a job yet I have no idea about my earning power but I am going to estimate conservatively and give myself 18 more years to achieve my goal.  I plan to become a millionaire by doing the following things:

1. Develop multiple income streams.
2. Diversify my career.   
3. Invest wisely for retirement.
4. Live below my means.
5. Give back to the community.  

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Financial Goals for Fall 2009 – Update

 I had several personal finance goals for this fall semester and here’s how I fared on them.

Goals:

• Goal #1: Correct my social security earnings statement
• Goal #2: Open a Health Savings Account
• Goal #3: Start a personal finance blog
• Goal #4: Get a holiday job for my winter break
• Goal #5: Set a budget

 Goal #1: Correct my social security earnings statement

 Issue: What I saw on my paystubs and income tax statements did not correlate with what I was seeing in my social security earnings statement.

 Status: Done but…   Read the rest of this entry »

 Today I got my first paycheck from my holiday job. I was starting to wonder when that first paycheck would show up and I kept checking my bank account to see if the direct deposit had come through. I finally went and asked my manager and it turns out the direct deposit paycheck hadn’t gone through.

I was so excited to see my paycheck that I immediately opened it up to see how much I had made working. It was a whopping $161.29. What! No way! I know I am working for peanuts but that’s even smaller than peanuts. So, I started scanning my paycheck to see why the heck my paycheck is the size of a mustard seed and that’s when I noticed my big fat 401(k) contribution. So, here’s how my first paycheck breaks down.

Total Earned Paycheck: $515.12

Now, subtract the following: Read the rest of this entry »

I occassionally like to head over to NetworthIQ to see the kind of money young lawyers are making.  After all, I am about to graduate in mere months.  My soon to be peers, it appears, have really nice incomes and a whole lot of student debt.   In fact, the average networth of a young lawyer between the age of 25-29 is rather low.    

I first focused on the legal sector, then narrowed it down to those with their doctorates so as to exclude paralegals.  Then I gathered all the data for the 25-29 age group.  I came up with 20 young lawyers between 25-29.  They all have decent to really good incomes.   Of the 20 young lawyers, 9 were making six figures.  The highest income was in the $250,000+ range while the lowest was in the $40,000-49,000 range.  And the average networth was…drum roll please…   -$22,651.  Yes, that is a negative netowrth.     Yikes.  Only 4 out of 16 or 20% of attorney’s actually had a positive networth. 

• Total young attorney’s with debts:  16 of the 20 or 80%
• Average Income:  Between $101,000 and $126,499
• Average debt: $84,942.93
• Average networth: -$22,651

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As of November 1, 2009, I earned close to $4k  in Amazon sales.  I have been selling my textbooks online through undergraduate, graduate and now law school.  I have been having a blockbuster year this year because one of my friends seeing how hard I was trying to sell my books online just gave me her books from last semester.  Which was super nice of her.  I have put most of the money that I made this year aside in an account I have designated my “fun account.”  I have $1,300 in it now. 

I can spend money from my fun account without guilt such as buying nonessentials or use it for travel.  One of my friends will be going to Senegal in March and I am thinking about joining him on the trip.  My fun account balance of $1,300  won’t be enough to cover the trip.  But, I won’t have to pay for lodging for one thing since we are going to visit my friend’s friend.  And I am pretty sure there won’t be another chance for me to go to Senegal.  I am really thinking about this. 

2009  1,406.92
2008   460.62
2007   320.35
2006   685.28
2005   384.91
2004   45.47
2003   461.13

Total: $3,764.68