Typically you hear about how people have gotten in over their heads in debt: a few bad choices here and there, or maybe they were just trying to get by and had no other options.  Not in this case, though.  The other day as I was eating lunch at work with the usual crowd, one of my co-workers said just that - “I’ve got the house and the car… Now what do I save for?” 

Not exactly a common thing to hear, but it struck a chord with me.  Working for a fairly young company, many of us are right now caught up in some of the largest life changes we’ll ever experience: finishing school and getting out into the real world, starting our first job (or new job), getting married, etc., which also means we’re quite possibly handling the biggest financial transactions we’ll come across.  In addition to the low average age in the company, our business just happens to be billing and customer care - which means our work lives revolve around money and customer service related to that money.  Needless to say, we tend to be a bit obsessive.

The person who made the comment purchased a new home back in December, not long after she had purchased a new car for cash.  The home purchase was the first time she had ever taken on any debt.  She had been saving for the car, then once that was taken care of, focused on the down payment for her own place.  So now what?

Even though I’m essentially in her same position, I wasn’t quite sure how to answer.  The only options I could come up with were the obvious:

1. Retirement
2. Kids
3. Home improvements
4. Travel
5. Toys 

From my previous job, I had it beaten into me that you should save as much as humanly possibly - and as early as possible - for retirement.  As important as it is, it’s still hard for anyone in their twenties to get overly excited about saving for retirement, that magical time 30-40 years from now.  I personally enjoy saving simply because I enjoy math and games with numbers and odds.  But how do you impress upon someone has only just taken on debt (and good debt, at that) that saving has benefits?