Out of curiosity, at age 50, wondering why you wouldn't have a substantial savings by this age, enough to avoid losing housing? Or are you simply living with your mom to reduce the impact on that savings? Sorry if i'm making it sound like everyone at 50 should have a ton of money, I know thats not the case. Just curious.
Of course there are other good reasons for not being able to save. Medical debt, education debt, child support, parental support and so on.
Without guaranteed pensions, saving takes deliberate effort, deliberate avoidance of lifestyle creep, a lot of health luck, and a lot of luck in the market. Those savings vehicles you do manage to take advantage of, like 401(k)s and so on, are mostly inaccessible outside of the context of retiring. So anything you put into them is gone until you're elderly.
These kinds of questions frankly just lead to victim blaming and expose the asker as either (a) having grown up wealthy and staying that way their entire life, or (b) completely callous.
Those are just top of mind.
I spent my 20s going to college, working for a porn company (not as a performer), and then joining the Navy. I paid off student debts, alimony, and child support. I have one successful and one failed startup under my belt. I've always, always, always, lived paycheck to paycheck until recently.
At 40. I was finally able to save up enough for a house in a HCOL city. I have roughly 6 months of savings and not a whole lot for retirement.
At 50 - I'd love to still be in tech, but I don't see it happening. I already see the writing on the wall that I need to start going the management route or I really need to find my niche as an individual contributor to be retained. I'm the old dude on my team.
In retrospect, I had a blast in my 20s and would not change it for the corporate grind that I'm currently in.
All of us have different stories and paths. There is no "right" or "wrong" path, it's all a journey.
Sure, if I had done things a more responsible way I may be in a completely different situation in life. Who knows? I don't.
Note that one can save a 'decent' amount even if you have 'only' ten years before your planned/desired day. This book has a Canadian focus, but the principles are probably pretty general:
* https://www.cpacanada.ca/en/public-interest/financial-litera...
Interview with author:
* https://www.moneysense.ca/save/retirement/procrastinating-on...
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_MIMfd5emg
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh74xUdBITU
You may not need as much of a nest egg as you think:
* https://www.moneysense.ca/save/calculating-how-much-money-yo...
* https://www.macleans.ca/economy/money-economy/heres-the-real...
* https://findependencehub.com/qa-with-author-david-aston-abou...
I've only been working in tech for 9 years, much of that was paid pretty low. And I live in a very HCOL city. Unfortunately living with parents is not an option, but I live in a house with 9 other people and have been cooking rice and beans and saving as much as possible, so if I get laid off, between low rent (for my city) and my savings and RRSP I can get by for a little over a year if I absolutely have to. I'd have to start withdrawing from my RRSP (Canadian version of 401K) at around the 10 month mark.
I actually really want to quit my job and try starting my own business, but I feel like it's a terrible time for it. If I get laid off I at least get some benefits from the govt, which I think will extend my cushion by a month or 2.