Reader Profile: AW

The following is the latest post in my "Reader Profiles" series. Each post in this series details the financial situation and challenges of an FMF reader. The purpose of this series is to help us all identify with people like us (in similar situations -- not all will be, of course, but eventually I'm sure you will find someone like you here), get to know the frequent commenters on the site, and hear some financial wisdom/challenges from people other than me.

If you're interested in contributing to this series, then drop me an email. The series seems to be very popular with readers and I need a steady stream of new ones to keep it going.

Next in the series is FMF reader AW. He answered my questions (in red below) as follows:

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

I am 26 years old. I live in Florida. I am a full time student at the University of Florida. I am not employed. I recently became a fire fighter, last June. I have no wife, or any personal family obligations. Such as child support or estranged relationships.

Describe your financial situation (who works in your family, how your income is (general), how your expenses are, etc.).

My financial situation is quite interesting in my opinion. I have been blessed to have the family and mental support from God. I have a bank of America credit card of 400 limit, currently 1/4 of that is used. I have a Vystar Credit Union secured card of 500, 1/5 of that is used. I have  a personal signature loan of 2000, of which there is an 800 balance. I have another personal signature of 6900 which my mom co-signed for, which she also pays the interest. My parents contribute roughly 700-800/ mos. for my education related expenses. I also get grants from the University and student loans. That pays for my tuition and books, etc. I don't rent an apartment since the company I started pays for my lodging needs. The cars my mom bought me are a Nissan Xterra 2000, which is paid off. In March she's going to buy me another car. I sold the Nissan to my company. She pays for the car note.

What are the current financial issues you're facing (saving, paying off debt, etc.)?

My current financial issues are building my corporation. I'm not focused to much on savings since the company isn't making enough money for that yet. I will start saving when I can afford to do so. I'll start small by putting a few hundred dollars aside. I'm not a big spender on items. I'm a guy so I don't go shopping much. I actually hate shopping for clothes its such a waste of time. I eat out about 2-3 at most a week, usually about 10-15$$ per meal. I don't have much of life since I study or work on my computer (cmp relt'd). I really don't do much entertaining I go out every once in awhile to a bar or so and spend a few on beers. I work out during the week at the Univ. rec center. I play pool which isn't much money. I don't have much debt.

What are your plans for the future (retire early, build your career, etc.)?

My plans for the future is retiring early, but when I say retire I mean work continuously in my company's. God bless, I will have my investments work for me. I plan on building my career more and more, through persistence and patience. I plan on meeting a special someone to be with... and spend more of my money. I have no clue where but I'm leaving that up to the big man. I plan on starting some very lucrative innovation company's. The University of Florida is a hub for talented folks all over the world and I plan on tapping into that.

What's your best piece(s) of financial advice and/or your general philosophy on personal finances?

I'm not a philosopher or anything but I would say, be continuously seeking new and relevant information. Learning never stops when you graduates just gets more intense.

Comments

[DA]

What exactly does your "company" do?

You state you recently became a firefighter...Do you make any money doing this?

What is your major? Do you have plans to work after graduation or continue to work in this "company".

Are you planning on buying your own cars in the future or are your parents going to continue to support you and your corporation's transportation.

This post does not have enough information to give much feedback so any additional info may be helpful.

DA

[Luis]

Congrats on the grants and getting into UF, very prestigious school and should set you up nicely for jobs in your career field. Keep up the networking, the frugal lifestyle, and your God given direction in life. Life is truly great when you look at that way. Once you graduate and start working, make it a promise to yourself to pay down debts and start your retirement savings ASAP. Later in life you'll be in better position to "give back" to your loving parents.

With a positive outlook on life you will certainly find the right career and mate in life as your future keeps opening up its many opportunities.

[I Am 1 Percent]

More information needed.

Paying for a college degree "just to learn" because learning is fun is not a plan and will just put you more in debt.

Is your company generating any revenue?

Do you have any source of income?

What are the interest rates on the loans? Seems like you have a lot of debt with virtually no income.

You're young and should take advantage of compounding interest...start socking away money in a Roth IRA now...you won't have to save as much in the future.

[MonkeyMonk]

So, let me get this straight: You're a full-time student who isn't employed but you're also a fire fighter and in the process of starting your own company that pays for your lodging and owns your car (why would your mom pay the note on a paid off car?).

This is all so vague without any solid financial information I'm not sure where to even begin. Stay in school and work hard?

[Kay]

This post is so lacking on details and clarity that I'm wondering why FMF posted it in the first place. And judging from the previous comments, I'm not the only one!

[minimalist]

This may be the strangest FMF reader profile yet. AW is in college at age 26 with $7900 in debt; he not employed but is also a firefighter with a vague company that doesn't make enough money to provide him with any savings but it pays for his lodging and personal vehicle that his mom bought for him; his parents pay for education related expenses even though he has grants and student loans to pay for tuition and books (dollar amount of student loan debt wasn't mentioned); his mom will be buying him another car this month.

Here’s some advice: get a paid part-time job, save some money, and learn to be independent from your parents.

[Easychange]

I see what people are saying. Maybe the point of this series is not to solicit feedback. FMF will know. I do think that it is inherent on an interactive site that you want posts that make people, well, interact. There's nothing here to interact with. Rather than a negtive comment, I would ask the reader how he thinks his parents (mom) is financially and how/if he wants to emulate that.

[Ben E.]

I tend to agree with much of the other posters. I had to scratch my head and re-read this post a couple times. I didn't really get the point of this...

Student? with debt? but has a company? is a firefighter?

Everything is quite vague. I'm trying not to be overly critical here, but I am trying to understand this.

Selling the car to your company? Mom is paying the note? The entire first paragraph is awkward. Great to know there aren't child support obligations or estranged relationships???

I'll reiterate MoneyMonk - stay in school and work hard (?)

[DT]

It seems like either AW is a troll (in which case, these should be read more closely before being posted), or FMF is trying to provoke a reaction from readers by posting something made-up and ridiculous.

If not, then AW sounds like a creepy basement dweller. Not that there's anything wrong with that. If he is successful (even if just by his standards) then who cares if his life is a little weird.

[FMF]

All --

These posts are not meant to give every little bit of someone's financial status. Different people are comfortable sharing different things, so there's no set criteria for what a story should or shouldn't be.

I also do not edit these posts. I feel it's best to hear from someone in their own words.

In short, I ask the questions, they provide the answers. There's no "right" or "wrong" way to answer the questions -- only the reader's own personal way. If that isn't to your liking, then you simply don't like it. But to call someone a troll/ridiculous/etc. because their post doesn't meet some undetermined criteria is not in the spirit of this series IMO.

[HJN]

I agree with DT, this post seems too "out of the ordinary" to be taken seriously. Come-on, So does he have business cards that say CEO of such corporation he runs? It's almost like he is bragging about having rich parents? yes? no? who knows... more details please.

I look forward to reading real life situations on this forum. But this one? just weird and incomplete.

[jim]

AW may be a volunteer firefighter.

3/4 of the firefighters in the US are volunteers.

That could explain him being both unemployed and recently becoming a firefighter.

[DA]

No offense AW, but his "corporation" seems to me like a band I joined in elementary school.

None of us could play an instrument or even had one, but we made up a band name and decided who would play what and who was the lead singer, drummer, etc. Needless to say we never played a song or even had a plan to write one.

Delusions of grandeur of an elementary school student I guess.

DA

[jim]

"I don't rent an apartment since the company I started pays for my lodging needs."
"I sold the Nissan to my company"

This kind of maneuvering *may* be related to tax avoidance schemes. You need to be careful that you deduct business expenses that are really required for the business. Otherwise the IRS will disallow them. Maybe your business has a legitimate reason to pay your lodging and buy used Nissans from you, but more often I'd say this kind of thing is a tax avoidance tactic. A lot of people think they can get themselves free cars and stuff by claiming its a business expense, but that doesn't stand up to an IRS audit and its not really allowed.

[HJN]

"My plans for the future is retiring early, but when I say retire I mean work continuously in my company's"

Looks like you need to hire a manager to oversee your "company's" when retirement time comes. Delegate your responsibilities.

Just a thought..

[BD]

I simply got the feeling that English is not AW's first language, hence, some of the confusion. I'm surprised no one else felt the same way.