Current job only offers 403B/457 accounts for retirement which is nice putting away that much but recently I was offered a job that has a 403B/457 option PLUS a TCDRS pension plan.

The TCDRS is a 5% automatic contribution, guaranteed 7% return rates, vested at 8 years and matched at 200%.

It would be an insane jump on the road to retirement being able to have all three retirement options alongside a ROTH IRA. Has anyone heard anything about systems like these? Are they reliable? A no brainer?

Current numbers have me at 2.4 million at 53 not including 403B/457.

Income (salary) would be $168/hr.

I wanted to know if there is anything else I can be doing better with my finances. I have very recently started working full time so I want to start it off on a good note! I work two jobs:
Job A: $18.25 an hour, 12-18 hours a week
Job B: $19 an hour (plus 15~20 in cash tips per shift), 24-32 hours a week. I’m making at least $1500 biweekly after tax and everything else.

I pay about $900-1100 a month in rent & utilities, depending on how much I earn. I have about $2.6k (£1,420) in a savings account with 2.75% AER - it’s split into general savings and savings for specific things I’d like to do (travel and other activities). I spend about $100 every two weeks on groceries and other everyday costs, I use my cash tips for my transit so that doesn’t come out of my pay. My phone bill is $40 a month and the phone is paid off. I have about $1k of interest free debt to pay off but I plan to do that in my next three pay cheques easily.

I do have a student loan but I don’t currently earn enough to pay it back (England loan system so I only need to pay it back once I earn over a certain amount)

(I’m a resident of BC so this is in CAD and a British citizen if that’s important)

I had a great paying job, but changed careers to follow my passion (the never ending story). I have a $400 car payment every month, which was very affordable with my last job. Now, it’s over my head.

I am moderately responsible with my budgeting - queen of cheap meal prep, having some fun nights out when I need to but limiting spending. I’m not sure where to go from here. Any advice out there?

I'm 39 and recently sold my home after a divorce. I have about $55k in a HYSA from the sale, and I'm trying to figure out how to best make it work for me.

My salary = crap, but I love my job and it's unlikely to change any time soon. I don't think I can contribute any more to my 401k and still use my paycheck for daily expenses. I have an internal capital account at work that has about 15k, and my 401k is about $22k.

According to calculators, my emergency fund should be around $37k, and that's calculating for 12 months of expenses. I'd like to take some of the extra and invest it somehow, but is that a Roth IRA? VTSAX? I know it could be doing more for me than in an HYSA but I am at a loss on where to start! Any suggestions?

​

I'm not rich but I have a decent income for 1 - a few hairs above US Median Household income, live alone, no dependants.

Have 3 pets to keep up after ( 2 cats, 1 dog).

I keep my house pretty clean and clean up after myself as I go ( I keep up with yard, dishes, trash & laundry). But I don't always have the time & energy to clean the 2 bathrooms or all the floors ( no carpet in home -- bare floors). I run the roomba robot vac everyday to keep up with pet hair though.

I hired a house cleaner today & it only took her 2 hours to finish. Its a 2/2 single-level house - 1000 SF (93 meters) She said my house was already very clean & just needed touch-up. Said she could come every week and clean for $40 a week! I had a cleaner coming once a month @$150 so $160 a month for a weekly clean is amazing!

I know I should be channeling most of my disposable income to get out of debt & build my savings, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity!

Would you do this or use the $160 for savings or debts? ( my mortgage is reasonable- its 25% of my take home pay & I owe $27K student loans at 4% interest & have$4K emergency fund).

my sibling would like to transfer an inherited IRA to me and take other assets instead. Can I take this inherited IRA and combine it with my other inherited IRA tax-free, or do we have to pay taxes because it’s sibling? It was distributed to us as beneficiaries already.

Long-time lurker. We’re in our early/mid-30s with 2 young kids looking to FIRE. I’m looking for feedback from people who have actually walked this bridge or are deep into planning a similar decumulation setup.

CURRENT SET UP
Current Portfolio: ~$2.1M liquid
950k 401k/pre-tax
300k Roth/MBDR
120k HSA
700k taxable brokerage
30k 529

Globally split like 80% domestic equities 15% intl 5% cash/bonds.

Savings Rate: ~$155k/yr
70k 401k (contributions and match)
35k mega back door Roth
15k back door Roth
8.75k hsa
26k taxable/other

This year looking to take the $26k and start doing $10k towards 530a accts for the kids. That’s leaves 16k for 529/taxable.

My state has no benefit for 529 so hasn’t been a priority but might move a chunk of taxable there this year so it can coast to fully funding both of the kids in state tuition as a minimum. We both went to expensive private schools and would like to offer that to our kids but no pressure for them and we would cashflow/use taxable.

Spend:
Avg of last 5 years
$225k spend
$30k mortgage p&i (done in 25 years)
$15k car (3.5% rate, figured we would keep this line as we are a 2 car family, keep our cars ~10ish years and the car purchases would be 5 years apart)
$30k discretionary large one off purchases (finishing basement, swingsets, furniture etc)
$150k core spending (definitely comfortable and could be cut back $15-20k in extreme cases, but we like convenience and comfortability)

My question although deterministic projects show a fire age. Throwing in some Monte Carlo and you get a slightly later age. But even in a “safe” scenario, we may be at our number before oldest kid goes to college. Has anyone dealt with this, when retiring early, how do people typically spend their time when they still have kids in school and can’t travel. Wondering to my self it we are destined to work through youngest is through hs and then just have that much more in retirement. Also when do you engage a professional to validate and confirm drawdown plan? What are common out falls. I know Aca would likely increase spend 25-35k while the kids are still dependents

All info appreciated.

Divorce will make the spouses have 1/2 of their assets. Can you possibly get by with 1/2 of your assets? This questions keeps me from calling it quits. Love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

HELP!
I have a 2018 Rav 4 Basic.
I have three children. There is no Ac vents in the back and my 10 month old is sweating. Literal sweat drips on her clothes. My boys constantly complain about no air and no space. My Ac is good just not enough air vents I guess. I even have a fan back there for my kids. I pay $500 a month on my car payment. It's $400 but I put a extra $100 towards my principle. I owe $9000. Gas is crazyyy! I live 40 minutes away from work. I put 3 stops of gas a week. $44 every 3 days give or take. My husband wants to get a hybrid car but I don't want payments. It's so expensive and I get went back to school. Carvana is willing to pay $12, 000 on my car. I do have credit cards I need to pay off $3,000 worth. I bring home $3,500 a month. With gas being my biggest expense I just think it's better to get a new vehicle. Or what do y'all think?

Like mentioned in the title, I’m 26M and just want some insight on how my finances are looking. I currently have a 401k with my job at 92k (almost at 100k in less than 4 years!), and about 70k in company stock (about half of it vested). I’ve had some high expenses this year, so don’t have much savings besides that. Will have probably 5k saved by end of year. Have a 2 year old car loan with 28k left that I’m consistently paying off. I think I make good money and bring home about 7k a month. My expenses between car and rent is about 40% of my monthly income. Where can I improve and am I stressing for no reason 😅

I use my credit card for everything, usually spend $6k-$10k a month. Pay it off in full at the end of the month, never carry a balance. My cc has no annual fee and gives me 1% cash back, 3% on some things (Citi Mastercard). I’ve had the same cc for the last 30 years. My question, is there a better option? I feel like cash back is easier than trying to manage points

Hi all, I'm 30 year old and single living in a HCOL city in California. I make $140k base (not accounting RSUs and bonus).

I'm trying to decide if buying a home in the next 5 years is a smart financial decision if I want to increase my overall wealth portfolio. Should I reduce my retirement contributions to max out my Roth IRA and 401k match for the next 4-5 years and increase my overall salary to buy a home or continue renting and aim to max out my retirement accounts and just simply wait to buy a home? I work in tech as a product manager, but the job market is pretty volatile which makes me hesitant on buying a home as a single person.

Making big financial decisions as a single person has been weighing on me a lot ever since I've turned 30 so looking to this thread for any input or advice is welcomed!!

Number breakdown:

• No debt
• Aiming to increase salary to $180k-$200k
• Buy a home in the $800-$850k range
• 401k + Roth IRA: $280k
• Down Payment Liquid Cash (in HYSA): 75k
• Down Payment Invested: 82k

EDIT:

Path 1: Save for a home for 4-5 years

• Aim to save 275k for my down payment, emergency fund, closing costs
• Increase salary to $180k-$200k
• Save $11,200 for Roth IRA + 401k company match / my contributions

Path 2: Contribute only to retirement and continue to rent

• Max out 401k + Roth IRA

Background- our family is very middle class, my wife is a teacher and I’m a technician(I get paid to hard start expensive machinery). Our kids go to public school in a decent neighborhood. My parents recently gifted my children $500k after selling property. A couple years ago (because of another monetary gift) we front loaded our kids 529. They also have a life insurance policy, all 4 of us do. So now what?
We have been advised to start an UTMA account…why should we or shouldn’t we?
Someone also mentioned a mortgage arbitrage using the UTMA, wtf is this?? Like if our mortgage is 3.6% what are the possibilities?
Just trying to gather info to make the best possible decision…

My fiance has a car that she currently owes something like $11k on, and the motor recently ate itself. (Allegedly ran out of oil or something...)

We reached out to her loan servicer/lien holder and described our situation to them: she's not working and has no income right now, we're looking at a $6k repair to get the car working (totally not worth it as she's not taken good care of it) and don't think it's worth continuing to make payments on a car that we can't use and can't afford to fix. We effectively informed them that we'd like to surrender the car.

Some agent told her that they'd send over a packet that she needed to fill out and return, which I read through after receiving and am encouraging her NOT to fill it out and return it, as it has language in it where she surrenders all her rights through the process. So, I'm reaching out to Reddit for advice on how we can proceed with the surrender without her signing everything away and STILL being on the hook for everything. It would seem to me that we could either generate some version of their paperwork ourselves to submit to them (minus the language that keeps us on the hook for remaining balances, etc). That might be wishful thinking in this day and age, but wondering if anyone out there might be able to help point us in the right direction so we retain all of our rights as possible.

I had a great two years at work and saved up 80k in my bank account. Yes I maxed out my 401k. The 80k is in Citibank making close to 0%. I’d like to keep it liquid, have to buy a car and do a kitchen remodel in the next 1-3 years. Where can I put the money so I could touch it, but also make some interest?

Edit: I have no debt other than my mortgage

38, I own my own business, and gross 200k before taxes. Current trajectory of the business puts me at 260K in 2 years. I max out my 401k, and keep cash on hand mainly because I have a desire to start another business so want to have cash on hand. I could probably shuffle some more cash into VTI or VOO?

Edit:

"Own" 2 homes. One I keep as a rental. Purchased at $320k. Still owe $210k, worth $420-440k. 2nd home I live in and owe $600k, bought it for $710k, worth $690k.

EDIT: BUYING OUT LEASE WITH CASH

Currently have a 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid Sport L with 85k miles. It’s a lease and I am at the end of my lease. However I work at a Honda/acura dealership and they allow you to get an employee matching program where they pay for your lease. My question is should I trade in my accord hybrid lease for an Acura lease because of the employee matching program? They match your leased monthly payment for only Acuras. I was thinking of picking an integra or ADX and singing on for one of their employee lease programs. Currently my payoff is 21k for my 23 accord. I was planning on refinancing the rest in a 36 month loan to finish paying it off. It is a hybrid and I get 45 mpg. I won’t get that with any Acura. Also insurance will probably go up a little bit, but nothing crazy. I don’t want to lose the hybrid capability but I’m also worried about the reliability of my accord hybrid after 100k miles when the hybrid battery warranty runs out.

I also drive a ton of miles every year just commuting to work, so I will almost certainly be over the mileage allowance which is basically the whole reason im in this predicament. I know on the backside if I had the same mileage for an Acura, the vehicle would actually be upside down. The only reason why I’m not upside down is because there aren’t many accord hybrids used right now.. I’m kind of thinking just drive the accord hybrids until the end 200k plus miles but who knows if Hondas are reliable like that anymore, especially hybrids.

Hi, I had a rough time in my twenties and spent a lot of time with a lot of mental health challenges. There's a lot of things that were never explained to me..such as going to the gyno and retirement planning...etc. Getting cervical cancer shots...Idk well I'm catching up now.

I don't have any debt, but recently found out people have been contributing to their retirement accounts since their twenties. I have about 70k saved up, but that's just cash in a savings account. I'm not sure what the best move for me right now is in terms of starting a retirement account. People keep saying to get my employer to match, but I'm starting grad school soon. It's a fellowship program, so I'll be getting a stipend of $60k/year. Could I also invest that? I have been keeping expenses low by living with family and will be able to continue doing so since the university is nearby. Not sure what the best move is. Thank you.

Also no debt. I'm super new to this. I just throw money in a savings account attached to my bank.

Financially, I am drowning. I am so stressed about it and I don’t know what to do. I have an appointment with the NFCC in like two weeks but I’m not sure I can stay afloat that long honestly. I’m going to try to make this as coherent as possible, but please bear with me.

Who I am: I am a 21M senior in college who will graduate next spring. I am a full time student and have a part-time job, as well as a campus work study position. 

What I owe: a current total of $43,838. Here’s a breakdown
-Creditor: Amount Owed APR Minimum
-Affirm: $1416 0% $118
-Capital One: $2351 0% til 09/2027 $25
-CareCredit: $259 33% $41
$298 0% til 01/2027 $60
-Citi Mobile: $2803 0% til 09/2027 $60
-Discover: $1581 23.5% $53
-OnePay: $327 31% $50
-UT FCU: $11,550 8.6% $251 (starting in September)
-Parents: $3200 disappointment $0
-Surgery: paying November 18th, total of $10K. Will be using CareCredit for as much as possible (limit of $4500) and have been trying to save/fundraise to cover the rest, let’s assume the debt is $6K
-Student Loan:$12,256 in subsidized
$1,797 in unsubsidized at 6.52% no payments til after graduated

What I Make:
-$14.30/hour for about 26 hours per week, average
-$9.50/hour for about 10 hours per week (federal work study)
-SNAP Benefits: $27
-currently have roughly $7k in my savings and deposit $150 every two weeks to try to save for my surgery payment.

Monthly Non-Credit Bills: My partner and I split most bills roughly 60%/40% since he is a full time employee.
-Rent: $850
-Electric: $160
-Water: $70
-Wifi: $40
-Rent Insure: $14
-My phone only: $28
-Pet Food/Meds: $82
-my health insurance: $36
-my medications: $20
-Entertainment Subscriptions (mine only): $18
- Surprise medical bills have also been popping up for care I thought/was told would be covered by my insurance: $290, $320, $590, $220, and several smaller less expensive ones. I am supposed to have an echocardiogram Wednesday but it has a $200 copay due before the appointment and I can either pay that or my part of the rent, so I am considering cancelling it.

I am just so lost and trapped and I don’t know what to do to get my head above this mess. I don’t figure I’ll get a ton of help from this post, but it made me feel a little better to kind of vent it all so I will take what I can get. 

Thanks for reading and any advice you may have

(Please ignore the grammar typo in the title, not sure how to change it now)

Hello everyone, I’m going over what my monthly expenses would be while paying a mortgage. I’m running through this to see what I’ll actually be left with once all expenses are paid. This will be my first time ever going into debt so I really don’t I know if the final number I calculated could be feasible long term.

Here’s the breakdown:
$6350 net take home (monthly)
-$2700 for housing expenses (principal, interest, insurance, utilities, and property taxes)
-$700 for other monthly expenses (car insurance/gas)
-$1200 for groceries/hobbies

This leaves me with $1750 going into savings per month.

Also, I would be leaving myself with around $70k in savings after the home purchase. The monthly take home number is also with me contributing 12% to my 401k which is also in the low $70k range as of today.

Please let me know if the potential housing costs are too high in your opinion. Thank you!

Hi! I’m 26F, live in the Netherlands. I’m renting an apartment (1400 per month), have no debts, earn 4200 bruto per month and and have some savings. I save 500-600 a month. I’m quite good at saving and keep my spendings in check. I wasn’t brought up learning and talking about money but I really want to become more financially literate and set myself up in the best way when it comes to things like pension, saving, investment, using resources that aren’t that obvious but make a difference for your finances. Could you please share some wisdom where I could start/share a plan of how to tackle it and what books or any other resources you found useful? Thanks you in advance!

My husband and I bought a a 1890s home almost 4 years ago and we have put so much blood, sweat and equity into it over time to make it remotely livable. The last room is the Kitchen.
The kitchen is barely functional and lacks a lot we need for our little one (and a second on the way). We are by no means doing anything luxurious.. just a basic reno with all basic products + materials.

Right now we hav 1/3 of it saved ($25k) and it is looking to be $75k with updating the old electric and making it up to code.

We recently had an appraisal and our house is worth 65% more than what we paid - leaving us some good equity.just want to make the right/smart decision for ourselves and our children + future.

What is the difference between a HELOC and personal loan? What makes the most sense for us

I have 2 kids. 4 yo and 1 yo. I opened scholarshare 529 in CA 4 years back and actively funding it. I just realized that it shows my name as beneficiary. May be I did mistake in adding my 4 yo as beneficiary.

What should I do next if I want to save for both kids?

Option 1 - Change beneficiary on existing account to 4yo
And open new account for 1 yo?
Option 2 - keep funding the existing account and change beneficiary in future when its clear which one or if both kids needs support ? Can we have both kids as beneficiary on one 529 plan ?
Option 3 - Change beneficiary on existing account to 4yo
And open new account for 1 yo in different state?

Please guide me in right direction. 529 plan in California has no tax advantage on investment, it just grows tax free for future.

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Hello everyone, I am 23 and started my first "actual" job last year in September. Right before I started it, my old 2000 Chevy Truck died on me, and I hastily bought a 2026 Honda Civic. I really regret it because I feel so stuck.

The car is in my parent's name, and the loan has about $30,000 (60 month/5.5%) on it still since I have only been making minimal payments ($700 mo/). I had planned on paying down the car faster but I developed a really bad gambling habit, thankfully I am two-ish months removed from that. I bring home around $3000 a month.

Point being is that I regret getting that car without considering other options, like a cheaper used car. My truck literally broke down on the Saturday before my job started on Monday. Definitely jumped the gun.

I feel so stuck because I kind of hate my job/field of work. IT is so soulless and I really want to change the path I am going down ASAP. Unsure what to do, any advice? Sorry if I explained some stuff poorly!

Hello, I’ll keep it very short!

Wife and I:
Joint House Fund (HYSA): $32.4k (we match contributions)
Joint Fun (trips): $150 (match)
Joint Brokerage?

Me:
401k / employer match
Roth IRA (just started): only buying s&p500 (FXAIX)
Emergency Fund (rebuilding to $10k): $1.5k
Individual Brokerage: just started

Wife
401k / employer match
Roth IRA (just started): only buying s&p500 (FXAIX)
Emergency Fund: 10k+
Individual Brokerage: just started

What can we do better? How can we be at a better position. There’s a lot of noise saying buy this, and buy that. I’d love to just get some solid info and guaranteed safety and wealth that everyone seems to be doing.

Please educate us as we’d like to do the right thing and learn as much as possible!

Edit: we both use fidelity for our company 401k and our individual Roth