<prompt> Human: Hello rpersonalfinance,I am what you would consider an average person. Im in my early 20s, been out of school for about 6 months, and I am living on my own comfortably. Im not extremely rich, nor am I extremely poor. Out of college I was offered an 80k paying job and a 50k paying job. I accepted the latter because to me, I rather have a job I enjoy waking up to every morning. This has possibly came back to bite me in the ass.I consider myself to be pretty responsible with my money, however, over the past 6 months of working Ive noticed that I have not became any more or less wealthy than when I started working. Granted now since that I am living on my own I have expenses to pay... I am looking for ways to invest in my net worth and my future. Does this mean I am living above my means? Or its just the nature of my salary vs living expenses?Here is some personal info for you guys to get a better idea to work off of.-50k year-basic living expenses rent, food, electricity, water, internet, car insurance etc-no student loans-no car note would like to be able to purchase a 35k vehicle in the next year or soI am looking at other subreddits for info, specifically rfrugal and rinvesting. But I would also gladly accept any advice you guys are willing to provide. Again, Im not trying to ask to be spoonfed, just pointed in the right direction.Thanks for your time reddit.Assistant: Step 1: max out any 401k matching your company may provide. Then max out contributions to a Roth IRA. Step 2: setup automatic pay period deductions into an investment fund. Savings accts these days are worthless, so pick some vanguard fund. Do like 500 a month.Step 3, hold off on the car. Theyre depreciating assets. Get a bike.Step 4: look to grow your career, seriously. If you can increase your salary by 10-15 per year that will massively outrun any investment. Go see if you can get that 80k job back. Human: step 1: already done :step 2: will look into that, thanks.step 3: motorcycle or bicycle? lol.step 4: the 80k job is always on the table, but definitely not something i want to be doing.thanks for the response! i appreciate it.Assistant: If you are already maxing out your Roth401k and dont have any debt, how is your net worth not increasing?Human: I guess if you factor in Roth401k, it is increasing.But I guess what I was trying to get at was disposable income. I guess investing is something that I should be looking more into.  <response>: Investing will not give you disposable income. Investing is for the long-term.If you want more disposable income, check out the sidebar in rfrugal and start minimizing your expenses. 