I like the idea of encouraging people to save, haven’t given much thought to specific numbers. I think good financial planning in general is a skill that a lot of EAs seem to lack.
For myself, I went from “no disposable income” to “way more disposable income than I know what to do with” after graduating and starting my first job (Google). I had the privilege of just *not thinking about money* for several years. Mostly I saved because I didn’t actually need/want that much, but I also did things like buying a 46″ TV without much thought—I had gotten used to a big TV at a group house, so when I moved out to a different house that didn’t have one, it seemed natural to just buy one. I didn’t budget, I didn’t look at my bank balance, I just bought it. That was fine at the time, but now that I no longer have a 6 figure salary (because I started an EA-related non-profit), I find that my default response to “it would be nice to have X” should NOT be “just buy X” anymore, and it’s been tricky to train myself out of it—though to some extent that mindset might’ve been crucial in me actually starting REACH, since I somewhat impulsively just rented out the space myself for the first few months because I saw the opportunity and thought it would be a good thing for the community. Shrug.
I like the idea of encouraging people to save, haven’t given much thought to specific numbers. I think good financial planning in general is a skill that a lot of EAs seem to lack.
For myself, I went from “no disposable income” to “way more disposable income than I know what to do with” after graduating and starting my first job (Google). I had the privilege of just *not thinking about money* for several years. Mostly I saved because I didn’t actually need/want that much, but I also did things like buying a 46″ TV without much thought—I had gotten used to a big TV at a group house, so when I moved out to a different house that didn’t have one, it seemed natural to just buy one. I didn’t budget, I didn’t look at my bank balance, I just bought it. That was fine at the time, but now that I no longer have a 6 figure salary (because I started an EA-related non-profit), I find that my default response to “it would be nice to have X” should NOT be “just buy X” anymore, and it’s been tricky to train myself out of it—though to some extent that mindset might’ve been crucial in me actually starting REACH, since I somewhat impulsively just rented out the space myself for the first few months because I saw the opportunity and thought it would be a good thing for the community. Shrug.