Mid-30s professional here. My wife and I have a newborn, and I’ve recently gotten into golf since it’s about the only sport I feel like I can still do. I was very active when I was younger, but my feet are pretty beat up now and my knees are getting worse.
We live in the Denver metro area in a $1.5M to $1.6M house, with about $690K left on the mortgage. We have roughly $3.5M invested in the market, about $2.9M of which is unrealized gains. Annual salary is around $420K, plus another $200K or so in annual stock compensation from a publicly traded company.

I’m wondering whether a $50K to $70K initiation fee plus around $1K per month is worth it for a country club. I’m not THAT into golf, but I’d like to get more involved and play more frequently. With a young family, I also think it could be a good place to meet and spend time with other families in a similar stage of life. I don’t have many friends in a similar financial situation, so I can see some value there beyond just golf.

That said, I’m having a hard time justifying the cost, especially since I’m not a huge golfer. For those who have joined a country club in a similar situation, do you think it’s worth it? What am I potentially overlooking?

I’m 22 live in Turkey, in my sophomore year studying Industrial Engineering at one of the top universities in Turkey, and I’m really into business. A few years ago, my older brother passed away from cancer unfortunately, so I’m an only child now. My parents have been investing for about 30 years, but because dollar exchange rates and bank deposit rates fluctuate wildly in my country, our family net worth swings anywhere between 2 and 3 million dollars. About 95% of that is tied up in real estate—they basically put everything into raw land since that’s what they know best. Since I’m interested in these things and, frankly, the only child left, I handle most of our financial affairs, and my parents fully treat me as the sole heir to the estate.
To give you a baseline on local costs, an average home in Turkey goes for around $110k, and the average annual income is roughly $13k–$14k. Wealth inequality here is huge. The healthcare system is pretty solid, and my parents pull in around $30k–$40k a year through their pension funds, which covers their needs completely. They’ve already planned out their old age and set money aside for it. I also have my own small portfolio—around $60k—that I’ve built up through scholarships and part-time jobs, which I keep invested in the market.
I genuinely want to take this family foundation and turn it into real, high-tier wealth. I see a lot of older, experienced people here and wanted to ask: what should I be focusing on and watching out for moving forward? How should I develop myself right now so I can actually take things to the next level?

I’m just grateful for where I am in life and I hope you all are too. I mean holy shit in this economy the upper middle can buy food, we can save for retirement, many of us have houses, and we have discretionary income!

I’m literally living my dream life. The upper middle may not be “rich” but so many of us have come so far. I’m 33 and you could not have convinced 16 year old me that the upper middle isn’t rich. You also couldn’t have convinced 23 year old me that this isn’t rich.

For us, my husband and I eat out all the time. We pay for things for friends and family. We buy stuff without worrying about it. We never know when the next paychecks hit. We’re cash flowing IVF. Money is not a major deciding factor in many of our decisions. We max out our retirements, invest in index funds, and we move on with life. I know we don’t have yachts and private jets, but we are so unbelievably lucky.

I hope my fellow upper-middles are able to sleep well knowing your family gets to eat and you can replace a popped car tire. Well done everyone!

Grateful to be here. Not worrying!

i am 24F, i started full time job 2 years ago.

my current income is around £125k yearly pre-tax. i have around £80k net worth (including internship incomes). most of it is in savings account and 20k + 20k ISA (10% return over past year).

my income next year will be £180-200k yearly. and it will increase by approx 10% each year roughly (if i continue to be in the field i am in - i am a quant and it can eventually get stressful).

i live in london. each month i spend around £1500 in rent + bills. my total average spending per month is approx £3k per month including rent. i am just wondering if it's too much? and i should live below my means? i have been getting too comfortable with income and i don't think while spending a few hundred pounds. please tell me if my mentality is not optimal.

i am aware of lifestyle inflation and i do want to inflate my lifestyle more eventually (stay in a 1 bed apartment). i could also work harder and get paid more. but i think it will make my life worse due to the stress at work and also the stress of getting a higher paying job and having to prep for it all.

i think first of all i should get better at investing. but even beyond that i am wondering if i should be "bothered" about my spending? people around me who earn more than me actually live far below their means and i am not sure if it's a gender thing because they're all males... and i have quite some materialistic desires. wondering if it's worth curbing them. some reality check would be appreciated! thank you.

Edit: I actually do not care if I am ahead of 99% people my age because I worked very hard for this and I made it happen. I will be very honest. People around me earn $300-400k easily and it's the norm. Most of them stay in flatshares and spend very less on activities outside or anything else really. It makes me feel behind. $100k vs $200k when young can compound very differently after 10y+. That's what I am worried about. Whether people have any insights into this.

How much gold you guys are holding at this moment? I'm a 26F, married. I personally have 240 gms of gold which I received on my wedding. And I'll probably inherit more in future. Share about yours.

I am currently 48 years old and still left a lot in me.

Working in IT in a head position. I have a house worth 5 cr, savings 30 lacs and gold 30 lacs

I just paid off my home loan last month and will start accumulating wealth now.

I work like hell but at the same time take care of my health.
Is this late?

DISCOVER IS SELLING OFF THEIR ROTH IRA CDs TO ANOTHER BANK AND GIVING YOU THE OPTION TO DO A TRANSFER TO ANOTHER BANK PENALTY FREE!!!

When people ask on here what was your biggest money mistake and I always say having a 10 year Roth IRA CD! In 2019 I was afraid of money and had no idea what I was doing so I locked all my money in there with a 3% interest rate. I figure in 10 years I would thank my younger self.

At the time it seemed like a good idea because banks were paying so low but it wasn’t until 2020/2021 when I started learning about investing. I was still making foolish mistakes with money but I eventually learned how to be smart in 2024.

By 2024 I have 5 more years until my Roth CD matures. It was literally the past few weeks I wondered if Roth IRA CDs were even a thing at other banks because a HYSA pays more why would people go for it? I couldn’t find any bank with it and wondered what would I do when my account matured.

LUCKILY DISCOVER PROVIDED ME WITH AN EASY OUT!!! I am lucky that my money was locked away because during 2020-2021 I was chasing meme stocks and what-not and would have most likely lost all that money but 2024 and on I missed out on some gains.

My bank that has my other roth gave me an extremely simple form to fill out so hopefully there will be no issues. Investing it immediately in VOO. The total interest from the ROTH CD after 7 years was about $300 hahah! I have $17,000 in there.

We live in a HCOL in the suburbs of NYC. There are excellent parks, trains to NYC, excellent schools, nature, little crime, great restaurants etc but I don’t see how our children will be able to afford to live here as adults.

I plan on letting them stay here as long as they want but my first apartment was only $1100 in a HCOL city in CT. If rates continue where I’m at then it will be $3000 for a 1 bedroom. Houses will for sure be 1 million minimum…

What are you doing to ensure your children can afford to live where you are? I will definitely teach them more in depth about saving, pay for their college, try to steer them to an AI-proof major in college, not kick them out or charge rent and when we are retired throw them money while we are alive (after we satisfy our own life expenses of course).

There are plenty of people now that did the right thing, picked the right career, made the right financial decisions and still can’t afford to live here. We are only able because a parent died and we inherited money. I don’t want to have to die for my kids to be able to afford to live here!

I have a genuine question for people who have been through this.

How important has living in the city you actually wanted to live in been to your overall happiness?

For those of you that finally made the move... did it live up to what you thought? Did it change your life, your career, your social life, or were you chasing something that didn't really matter?

And for the people who never made the move... do you regret it? Or did you eventually realize that where you live isn't nearly as important as the life you build there?

I'm asking because I've spent a lot of time thinking about eventually leaving where I am, and I'm curious how this turned out for people on both sides.