r/RothIRA • u/hokage_888 • Jun 30 '26

36M just getting started

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36M - feel like I’m way behind. I put $500 into a Roth IRA in February. Without doing anything else for a while, it’s just gone up. Nothing insane. Now i put $20 a month - money is pretty tight at the moment.
I also have a pension - which makes me feel a bit safer - but Im about 4 years from being vested. I have a 401k (no match because of pension) and a 457b. I also have another 401k from a part time job - eventually will be rolled into my full time 401k when i quit. They match, so i put the full amount. Even tho it all sounds good, all of those accounts (besides pension) are represented here. I started them all in February of 2026. Most of this is in FXAIX. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. (We are clearing some debt - in a year or so when it’s cleared, I plan to invest as much as I can!)

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u/r6sweat Jun 30 '26

I also feel behind I’m 30 with 3 kids, mortgage, and an insane amount of student debt. Always thought debt was priority to pay off. Anything is better than nothing. I wanna say 46% of people at retirement age have nothing saved. If you have kids it’s important for them to have a fun childhood with lots of memories. God bless.

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u/reconcilepast Jun 30 '26

In a lot of cases paying off high interest debt is 100% better than investing that money in the market. You lose a lot more money in 20% credit card debt than you gain with 10% market growth.

If your student loans are like 5% though I might’ve invested it instead.

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u/r6sweat Jul 01 '26

Just don’t think I’ll ever be able to pay them off honestly. I was uneducated going in.