Hi, I'm a 25 year old contractor originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania working overseas making $100,000 from the income I earn from my employer. I've used my earnings to pay off my car loan on my Dodge Challenger two years early (I know, a brand new sports car was a bad investment to begin with, I was a 22 yr old knucklehead lol). I've also paid off other debts, such as money that loved ones have lent me when I was in between jobs, and some older outstanding bills. I'm now debt free.

I realize that I'm in a unique position for someone in my age group with my income, and I want to capitalize on my current financial position and make my money work for me. With all my incomes including my Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, I have an anual income of about 120,000/yr. With all the debt that I've knocked out, I'll have about 90,000 to play with, and I've been thinking about getting into investments. I was wondering if you guys could give me any insight since I get the feeling that a mojority of posters on this site are older, wiser, and have had more experience in handling large amounts of money. So what are some things I could do that'll make my money multiply?

"save early, save often."

Greetings:
First, thank you for protecting Us all and serving the country. Good work!
I am one of those older snowballers, and I've been a saver all my life. I've gotten independent by many means, and that includes a career in which I can drop in and out when I want or need to work, finally, at age 49 ( started working seasonally at 47)
I've lost money ($65,000 in an investment that went south) and didn't let it deter me. So how do you do it when you are debt free at age 22? Here is how. REMEMBER there is no such thing as a large amount of money if you are spending it. Always have a mortgage, but never on the home you live in. Play Monopoly, only with real houses. Stay where you are, working and saving money, and pay cash for the smallest home in a great neighborhood. When you are living in that paid-for house, make your first mortgage be on another home you would live in yourself. Rent it out. When it is paid off, buy a third. Pay off the second house by making the mortgage payment with the rent and $1000 a month of your own money. Pay off the third house mortgage by a combination of the profit from the second house plus the $1000 of your own.

Buy a broad stock index ETF and hold it, and keep buying some more and some more and some more and some more until you are age 50. A broad index mutual fund tracks the whole stock market. But a mutual fund costs more in fees than an ETF, so the ETF is better. Completely utterly ignore the stock price, just buy at steady constant intervals (dollar cost averaging).

Maximize 401k, 403b, iRA, etc.

REMEMBER: the law of compound interest says what you do BEFORE age 30 can never be made up for after age 30. In essence, every dollar saved and invested now will be worth MORE THAN 3 dollars saved after age 45.

First off, good job. You are creating a great launch pad for a good future.

Now for the sage older advice (I'm about to turn 40).

The big thing you will need to consider is whether your current situation is sustainable. Where do you see yourself in 10-20 years. I suspect it is very unlikely you will be able to or want to continue the contracting work you currently do. At 25 it's not too bad to spend long periods of time away from home and loved ones. Most people meet someone and start a family, being away from home for extended periods of time usually isn't how someone would choose to live down the road.

Additionally, what are the chances the contracting work you are engaged in might dry up?

My suggestion. Make your 2012 and 2013 contributions to your roth IRA if your tax situation allows.

Keep saving, but keep that money easy to access and safe. Figure out what skill you want to develop that will be in demand over the long haul, this may involve college it may not. Use that money to go after your dream. When you are ready to settle down, find a partner that shares you common goals and values.

If your goal is to be a landlord, follow the other post. But it will be very hard to manage your investment from abroad effectively..

Hey jamesdiego,

Thank you for the insightful response to my post, your advice holds weight since you have the wisdom from experience that comes with your age. I see what you're saying about me taking the future into consideration, and I've thought about that alot, especially with congress implementing these budget cuts on contracts. This particular contract that I'm on is set in stone for the next 5 years ("knock on wood), and I've just completed my first year with my current company, but our parent company (Booze, Allen, & Hamilton), wants to hire me for my second year. BA&H will pay me an additional 25k (with added benefits) to do the exact same job I've been doing these past 12 months, which is a win win. So to get to the point, I would really consider doing that for the next 5 years until I'm 30, which means I would accumulate an additional 625k. I also realize there's no such thing as true stability in this current economy, so I'm using my G.I. Bill to get a degree in accounting, while using the VA to pay for my IT certification courses......and that way I'll have a chance of getting into another career field for when these jobs dry up. I'm also thinking about getting back into the Air Force Reserves, so that way I can earn more G.I. Bill money while not having to be obligated to serve full time. Basically, I have alot of options right now, but that seems like the most logical path to take at this time.

If I accumlate 625k within the next five years, how much of that should I have in savings? I'm going to look into putting money into an IRA, I've been hearing that alot recently.

Oh, and I'm not focusing on any serious relationships right now lol, at this point, I kind of see it as being a distraction from my goals. I don't really feel like I'm missing out on much rigt now, I don't see myself starting a family anytime soon, but that's me, to each is own lol.

But once again, thank you and everyone else who responded to this post.