How much do you guys pay for health insurance

around 70 bucks pretax / month

$82.22 pretax per month for a PPO plus plan

what's a good % to put into your 401k every month, and should you increase it or decrease it?

401k are so overrated!. You will be making well over a million dollars in a few years, so that paltry contribution of a few hundred or thousands of dollars a year can be better spend having a blast on vacations/clubs/bars. Contributing to a 401k is essentially a bet that you will not accomplish your goals in life. Have some confidence in your abilities man!

Models and bottles over prudent financial investments SCREAMS self-confidence.

401k are so overrated!. You will be making well over a million dollars in a few years, so that paltry contribution of a few hundred or thousands of dollars a year can be better spend having a blast on vacations/clubs/bars. Contributing to a 401k is essentially a bet that you will not accomplish your goals in life. Have some confidence in your abilities man!

The Smith Brothers get a job on wallstreet after college. Mr. Smith-the-frat-boy-loon runs around pouring dom perignon at clubs from soho to madrid for an assortment of skanks. Mr. Smith-the-businessman meticulously invests his savings and maybe even uses it to become an entrepernuer. Maybe he buys a fledging bronx metals scrapyard or apartment buildings near outer-borough hospitals and schools.

Fast forward 20 years and the Frat boy loon is the huge financial success of the family. Does that sound right?

A teacher making 40k/ yr can retire with 7 figure savings if she saves and invests prudently. Think about what you can retire with. Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else.

Il never forget in senior year of high school a Raymond James financial advisor came to speak to our economics class. He told us the path to getting wealthy was saving. I asked him "what happens if you die tomorrow?". He said "I don't pan on dying tomorrow." about 3 months later I read in the paper that nice old man passed away from an apparent heart attack

Moral of the story. You will end up saving up for something, when once you get to that age, you wont be able to enjoy. Enjoy it now while you are young, because you most likely will not live that long l fact,

@Whoop I so love your story.... Saving and planning is good, but if all you are doing is saving for retirement what if death comes before retirement or a Madoff comes along the way and wipes your retirement savings out. I will rather enjoy the days of my youth and would just be sluightly prudent.

Between income tax withholding and benefits (after opting out of as many optional politics as possible), 49% of my paycheck disappears before it hits my account. I didn't realize this when I was in college and making financial plans for my first job (e.g., how much rent could I afford, what savings targets were appropriate).

Healthcare is expensive.