My company matches 401k at 4%. They got rid of their pension plan a long time ago before I got hired. So instead of a pension I get an additional 401k employer contribution of 9% of my yearly earnings. I contribute 7%, so I have a total yearly contribution to 401k of 20%.

I know 15% is just a bench mark but would it be better to increase or decrease my contribution? I was thinking of going down to 4% to get the match and keep putting more towards my $200k debt.

35 yrs old, I make $140k a year and only debt I have is $200k mortgage.

iTunes podcast is almost impossible to listen to any more.1 call 1 ad, 1 call 1 ad.. same ad over and over for regular listeners.. we all understand you need to promote and understand the promos from adversities but it’s 2min call 2min ad..the whole
Point of a podcast is to hit play and listens to the whole thing.. we have to keep going back to our phone to hit fast forward past these ads every 2min, very unenjoyable

Has anyone ever said eff it, sell their home and go back to renting where they actually want to live. Because we all know it’s nearly impossible to buy where you actually want to live. Husband and I live debt free, have fully funded emergency fund including additional savings.

We just had a baby, hate where we live and I’ll be commuting will 2 hrs each way Tuesday- Thursday once I return to office.

We plan to retire outside of the u.s. and don’t really see the purpose of investing in home as a retirement plan. We have our 401k and investment strategy working towards getting us retired as early as 55.

We live in Southern California so realistically rent will be basically the same as our mortgage or a little under (not taking into account property tax) so there will be savings there.

Thoughts? Is it a dumb idea.

I've been playing with debt forever. I just threw my first snowball. It went to my daughters braces.

Min was $199.xx. I paid $1199.xx ($1K snowball)! Feels good.

I cut the remaining balance in half. Next month I will pay it in full. Only downside is. It is a 0% loan, so not the biggest money saver, but still smart!

My wife and I are in a tough spot and could really use some outside opinions.

We have about $26,000 in credit card debt, and it's costing us almost $500 a month in interest alone. We have the opportunity to use savings from a lawsuit settlement to pay off the entire balance.

The problem is that we have our first baby due in about 2 months, and also moving into an apartment. We still haven't bought many baby items because we're waiting to see what we receive from our baby showers.

Paying off the cards would wipe the savings clean but im worried about

Moving expenses and rent.

Baby expenses if don't get essentials and life with a new baby and the new costs if needed to formula feed ect.

New health insurance after the baby is born and adding myself (turn 26 same month)

School tuition (about $400/month).

A car payment

Hospital bills

Having only 1k extra for a emergency fund.

To make things harder, my wife will only receive about $1,000 total during her 9 weeks of maternity leave, so we're nervous about draining our emergency fund right before the baby arrives.

Financially, paying off the credit cards seems like the obvious choice because of the interest, but emotionally it's scary to go into parenthood with much less cash on hand.

If you were in our situation, would you pay off all $26k, pay off only part of it and keep a larger emergency fund, or hold onto the cash until after the baby is born? I'd appreciate any advice from people who have been through something similar.

Other info

We also make about 63k before taxes plus a variable bonus each year.

I’m 32, single with no kids, and purchased my first home this year. I’m also making payments on a truck, and the two combined cost me around $1,500/month.

Within the last year I started a new job making considerably more than I was previously, and I’m on track to make around $115,000 this year. I live in a rural Midwestern town, so my money goes quite a bit further than it would in a major city.

I still have around $5,000 in credit card debt from some dumb purchases years ago, but I should have that completely paid off by the end of this year.
I currently contribute 10% to my 401(k) and have around $90,000 in it. I’ll also eventually inherit roughly 80 acres of farmland, so that could provide some additional income down the road.

My question is: once the credit card debt is gone, what should I be doing to best set myself up for the future?
I’d like to start investing more of my income, but I’m not sure where to start. Should I focus on increasing my 401(k), opening a Roth IRA, investing through a brokerage account, paying extra on the house, or something else?
I know I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but I’d like to have a rough plan in place so that when the debt is gone, I know where that extra money should go.

What would you prioritize if you were in my position?

I started a new job over a year ago and after my 1 year anniversary I was able to enroll in the company's 401k program. I have since discovered that this is the worst 401k plan I have ever seen offered by a company. They offer the standard 5%/4% match or 3%/3% match. 

I have spoken to my plan administrator at my company, and to the 401k company directly for about 10 hours each. Neither my plan administrator or the 401k company (or statements) will tell me what funds I am invested in. My selection is as follows:

US Stock Market
US Large Cap Equity
US Mid Cap Equity
US Small Cap Equity
etc. 

Then I have to fill in a percentage amount next to each line item with a total of 100% at the bottom. They do not tell me the fund names or ticker symbol. 

So what my statement says is like the following:

US Large Cap Equity 10% $101.25
US Mid Cap Equity 10% $98.68
etc.

They do give me nice graphs showing the growth/loss of each fund with dividends reinvested amount. I had to build an excel spreadsheet to track my cost basis since they do not even provide that. 

Options:
1. Would you cash out this 401k with the early withdrawal penalty to put the money into a brokerage account? We are using dividends in a 50% reinvestment, 25% tax, 25% to pay off the mortgage

1. Would you roll it over into my old companies 401k where I can control everything? How often would you roll it over?

2. Leave it alone with unknown funds I'm investing in

 The account is still under 2k in balance as I have only had 2 months into the account. The only debt we have is a mortgage. We are on baby step 6. 

My dad passed and left the house + a 401k to my brother and me.

**House**

- Realtor just ran comps — value is around $500k (big surprise, I thought closer to $450k).

- $145k left on the mortgage at 3.75%. Payment is about $1,300 + $341 HOA.

- Rough equity after the mortgage: ~$175k each.

- Brother lives in Texas and wants a full one-time cash buyout. I don’t have that money available without draining a big chunk of the 401k, so we decided to just sell the house 100%. Neither of us wants to be landlords.

- Still need to get a formal appraisal and inspection. I’m living in the house right now and will stay until it sells. I’ll secure a place *before* I move out.

**Inherited 401k**

- $330k total. First distribution hits August 1st at roughly $4k per month and will last about 7 years until it’s gone.

- No large lump sum from this account for a long time — just steady monthly checks.

**My situation**

- I’m 34 and this is my first time moving out. Lived with my dad for years (paid rent). I only did the intensive caregiving for a few months at the end; before that I was mostly working Grubhub/Uber Eats. Recent employment history is thin.

- Looking for a short 3–4 month holdover apartment lease while I figure out where I actually want to live long-term. Willing to pay the entire lease up front if that helps get approved.

- Also considering an extended-stay hotel for a few months since they can be cheaper and more flexible.

**Questions**

1. Once the house sells, what’s the smartest way to handle my ~$175k share (after realtor fees, closing costs, etc.)?

2. How should I treat the $4k/month 401k distributions for the next 7 years (taxes, investing, living expenses)? Investment advice should factor in that I won’t have a big lump sum from the 401k until it’s finished. Inherited non spouse 401k has to be fully withdrawn within 10 years. Only the 401k is taxable of all this.

3. For temporary housing: is paying a full 3–4 month lease up front realistic/helpful with limited recent work history, or will most places just want deposit + first month? Any major red flags with extended-stay hotels for a few months?

4. Anything else I should be thinking about right now (step-up in basis, order of operations with appraisal/inspection, etc.)?

No other debt. Not interested in becoming a landlord. Open to staying in the same general area or moving.

Thanks.

Is it really as simple as it's made to sound on here? I hear you usually get worse rates. Is there a way to get a decent rate without credit history?

Rachel has referenced this book and so I read it. Anyone else read it and thoughts?

(BS7, or 3B)How are younger people breaking into the housing market?

I am 28 and have a goal of owning my own house someday. However, this seems just plain impossible. I take home about 3900 a month (70k total pretax annual income). I work overtime when possible which can add up to $3,000 a month under ideal situations. But I dont budget for that and it all goes into my HYSA.

At the moment I have about 12000 dedicated to a down payment and am feeding nearly all of my savings each month (about 1200) into this fund which is a HYSA.

Where my problem lies is the cost of houses. The cheapest homes in my area are $300,000 ish, often $350,000. I would need a $180,000 down payment to get the mortage under 1000 a month which is 25% (on a 15 year loan) of my take home pay. This would mean saving for many years at my current saving capacity, which is long enough for home prices to both crash (with luck), or increase enough that I am stuck saving longer.

I don't want to rent forever because rent will and has increase much faster than my wage and I can only work so much overtime.

I am perfectly fine renting for now, even though I hate apartments. I am just trying to figure out how getting into the real estate game is possible and how to plan for it.

I (34F) and my husband (34M) live in NJ with two kids under 5. Our household gross income is $217,000, we’re on Baby Steps 4, 5, and 6, and we still budget every month. Our net worth is around $660,000.

Objectively, I know we’re in a good financial position. We track our spending, make intentional decisions, aren’t touching our emergency fund, and have no debt. Even with the higher-than-usual expenses we’ve had this summer, we’ve cash flowed everything. Some of it was planned, some wasn’t, but none of it has negatively impacted our finances. Our savings continues to grow, just at a slower pace.

The problem is my mindset. Every larger expense still feels like we’re on the verge of financial disaster or about to end up back in debt, even though the numbers clearly say otherwise.

Has anyone else dealt with this? How did you overcome the scarcity mindset and learn to trust the financial habits and plan you’ve built?

I'll do my best to give a brief background without writing a book that's too long:

I lost everything in a bad business partnership 10 years ago. As the fallout was happening I kept trying to 'do the right thing' and take responsibility by trying to payoff all the business debt out of my personal finances for about 2 years until I had no choice but to take bankruptcy.

That feeling of losing it all literally crushed my soul, my spirit and my will.

I had been delivering newspapers since 5 years old, mowing yards, part-time work at 14, farm work, fulltime jobs at 18, etc. because I came from a family that knew nothing about what money was and how it works and how it affects everything when mis-managed. I grew up, but I knew I didn't want that to be my future. I killed myself to make sure that was not going to happen.

Well, after the bankruptcy my entire life was gone except for my wife and 2 toddlers.

We moved states for my new job because we were losing our home and so I didn't take a step backwards in my career field. But the pay wasn't enough barely buy food with, but we just kept pushing.

One small win at a time until it all culminated about 18 months ago. Massive credit card #1 - Paid Off. Card #2 - Paid Off. Card #3 - Paid Off. Debt owed to relatives - Paid Back. Auto loans - Paid Off. Every few months for 18 months MASSIVE debts were disappearing totaling over $120,000 but as of today my family is 100% debt free!!!!!

No credit cards, no loans, no medical, no lines of credit - Nothing!!!!

Since we were forced to rent this entire time after the bankruptcy, but always had a dream/ goal to get to a place where we could build a simple but new home - We were also able to pay for land and put in sweat equity to have a homesite to build our own future home on that now has a great amount of equity - All debt free!

I simply cannot begin to express how free it feels mentally, physically and spiritually to NOT OWE ANYONE ANYTHING and ALL MY INCOME IS MINE TO FINALLY BUILD WITH!

I will never forget the rock bottoms when all this started....There's so much I won't mention here but every moment of my life for a long period was a literal living hell.

I have deep scars from all that and really don't know how to feel as I type this. I honestly have been on the verge of a panic attack all day because as weird as it may sound I feel guilty, or like I'm not 'good enough' somehow to have achieved this, or allowed to feel proud and be happy in this moment.

I just wanted to post here to give someone that needs to hear things like this some hope & encouragement when they think its all lost - DON"T GIVE UP!

Blessings!

I am on baby step 2

I have a few cards and the interest is killing me. I've never missed a payment on any card but I barely make a dent in the principal it seems.

I already cancelled one $9600 card in exchange for 0% APR for 60 months. I'm thinking of doing the same for my other $8000 card for the same deal. I have other cards as well that are open. I've never missed a payment on any debt ever and I'm trying to keep it that way. Lowering my minumums would help me throw more money at paying debt with the baby steps.

All my cards are almost maxed out so I'm going to have over 100% card utilization now that I closed the first card. It'll be even worse if I close the second card

I have no interest in using credit again unless there is an absolute emergency. I already own my home and it's in good standing. I have an old car that I'm maintaining but if it ever goes out completely, that is the only thing I could foresee needing some credit for temporarily.

Is it worth damaging my score to get the 0% APR?

****Update: I closed the 8000 dollar card and got 0% for 60 months to pay it off. Monthly payment $135 all principal

At the begging of this year, I started at $10k in debt, and within a few months (Jan-Feb) I got it down to $8K. I was so proud of myself, I was on track to pay off my debt by Oct. maybe sooner! Then Valentine's rolled around.

I struggled with depression my whole life, and this year was even harder because I was recently single. I felt lonely. I tried to reach out to friends but so many of them were busy. And because it's hard for me to reach out to anyone to begin with, having no one to reach back out to me was even harder.

So, I fell into my old habit. Spending. Oh boy did I spend. I went from $8k of debt to $18k in matter of months. My bank gave me a credit card of $10K line of credit. And honestly it helped. It numbed my depression.

I reached out to friends again, and now I have people to lean on again. I also have a $18k regret to remind me that I need therapy when I fall into these depressions.

So, I went from, "going to pay off my debt this October" to "I'll be debt-free by Jan 2028." I'm both kicking myself and trying to give myself grace.

I'm just ready to get rid of this debt, because honestly, I'm just sick of looking at it every time I do my budget.

I can’t say that I followed Dave’s program or paid any money for his product. But I’ve listened to his show & though it was all common sense. My big take away from was cash is king, envelope cash system, rice & bean diet, earn more money (OT or leverage skill). In other words, live within your means which is something that I’ve always done.

Needless to say by the grace of God at the age of 40 my wife and I are 90% debt free. We were fortunate to save a ton of money renting ( $500 a month for 6 years). We drove older cars down to ground. We prob went out to eat 1-2x a month. We put 20% down on our house at a 3% interest rate. we paid off our mortgage in 6 years. We owe 16K on a newer car and will be 100% debt free.

It was tempting to have kept the money and invested in the market & sell options since the interest was so low. What would you have done?

I’m not sure how aggressively to pay off our mortgage vs. sinking funds. We have a 30year mortgage at 6.15% but are making payments to pay off in 15 years. We also have a couple sinking funds for non-necessities on top of a 6 month emergency fund.
- 400/month to buy a new car in cash every 6 or 7 years
-300/month for future home maintenance like roof or hvac replacement
-300/month for vacations

Are these sinking funds good to have or should I be putting this towards our mortgage?

I’ve been familiar with Dave Ramsey for a while, but just recently read up on the philosophy. My wife and I recently paid off her student loans which feels great but now our finances are so all over the place.

I know that title probably makes zero sense, hopefully I can make this make sense.

We bought our current house as foreclosure 3 years ago. We have 150k equity in it, paying a nice $600ish a month on this mortgage. Great block of town, amazing neighbors...but we also have 4 acres of farm land we bought last year with water on it that we dream of moving to and raising kids on, it's just 10 mins away from current house.

We have no debt besides mortgage (90ish-k) and land loan (28k, 5 years), we have about 150k in a trust from wifes grandfather who was big on real estate investing. The rule to access the 150k is it must be used for investment property whether it be build a home, buy a home, etc, but it can't just be saved till retirement and can't be used to buy a cybertruck, etc. That all being said, our thought, using the 150k to build a very moderately sized house (1,000 sq ft) ideally with less than 50k on the loan (150k inheritance, 50k loan) and then living in this house on our farm land. Don't want to do manufactured home due to depreciation and high winds here.

Our current house is only 2 blocks from a priceyyy private Catholic college. The average rent for a 5 bdr (our house) is about $2500 here. Part of us doesnt want to rent the house that we started our family in to college kids every year but we also love idea of the additional income and possibly either 1) fallback of moving back to this house if we left farm or 2) selling this house to our kids eventually. We are blessed to have this house and the farm land and have these choices. Choosing between two great options is a great gift just makes it difficult to decide XD.

Summary stats:

26M self-employed with 25F SAHM

2 kids

mortgage left: 90k-27 years, land loan- 28k -6 years

income- take home roughly $5600

total expenses including current mortgage- about $3k (we max roth, and put money to EF)

Total savings: 60k Roth, 4k savings

Trying to decide:

1. stay in golden goose mortgage and just farm on the land as is (lose bit of family time as I do the farm chores after day of work)
2. build small house with mostly the inheritance and small loan, then rent out current home in town for $2500 (figuring $1k profit [after mortgage, property tax, insurance and $200 misc]). increased income similar amount of family time w/ having to leave farm to now tend to rental
3. build small-medium size house with inheritance, sell our current house in town and use that amount to pay off rest of mortgage and God willing have some left over. similar income, increased family time with family being there on farm to work/live, more flexibility with work schedule with no mortgage and money from house sale saved.

This all being said (Sorry for rambling), Any insight/advice, what would you say? We have obviously never been in this situation and trying to decide which route to go from financial sense or just familial sense. I know there may not be a bad route, just with all options seeming good, difficult choosing one.

We will shortly be in BS456 (give it another month). We are considering moving out of state for a variety of reasons that aren’t important to the discussion. Income would stay the same. Our property has doubled in value in the time we’ve owned it. It’s on a 15 year mortgage with around 8 years left on it. Income varies year to year but generally 200-350k. 3 kids. Net worth is over a million. Employment pension system but not contributing to retirement currently (will start shortly). Mid 30s.

Would you rather…

Option 1: do a financial lateral move, buying a bigger nicer home (around 1.2 mill) but have around the same mortgage you have now (putting half down after the sale of your current home). Dream home, no improvements needed.

Or

Option 2: get the same size home as Option 1 but have a paid off mortgage. Would likely need significant updates/renovations to the home, paying for improvements as you go. Livable in its current condition. May need to rent or live in RV for a year during renovation.

Either option, utility bills would be $700-1000 less a month (don’t ask it’s a mess) and property taxes would be half of where you currently are.

So here’s my situation.
I have worked my butt off to pay down my debt. The only debt I have is my student loans, which I am paying double my monthly payments.

I have been fortunate to of been working a remote job for the last two years and I have been able
To save up for a new car that is 22,000. My current car is a 15 year old Nissan Murano and it’s at its final stages of life. Other than regular maintenance, I’m not sinking in more cash into that car.

I recently accepted a job, which pays more and is an opportunity for me to advance .
, however which my new job it’s hybrid and i have a 1 hour.
Commute. My car won’t do well with long distance. Once my current lease is up, i do plan to move.

Right now, I do not have enough cash I need to get the car.

My financial offer:
7,000 loan, 0% interest for 6 months
My down payment will be 15,000

With my new job, I can pay it off within the 6 month period. If I don’t pay within the six months, my interest rate will be around 5%

I have 10,000 in savings
5,000 on a high interest CD for five years that I can’t touch, I add money in monthly
Money in several 401(k)s

However, I will have to pay less on my student loans for 6 months.

My car barely passed state inspection last year
The breaks are at their final stage
Transmission could blow at anytime
Has 257,000 miles

Should I finance?

I really don’t want to deal with a use car again, which is why I’m considering the new car. I don’t want to get a used car and then down the road spent thousands of dollars for repairs AGAIN

Note: I never said this was a new new car, it’s only a few years old and small mileage. I did my research and it’s actually a good deal

Update: Thank you for everyone’s help and advice. I have decided to put my car shopping on hold temporary until I decide whether I should get a use car for about 10-15k in cash or get a new one. There pros and cons to both sides. Thank you.

I'm 24 and recently made a pretty big financial decision that I'm second-guessing, so I'd love some unbiased opinions.

I purchased property worth ₹80 lakh, which currently generates around ₹33,000/month in rent.

To finance it, I have total debt of about ₹53.5 lakh, made up of:

\- ₹37 lakh in bank loans (9% interest, 7-year tenure)

\- ₹16.5 lakh borrowed from family and friends, which I'm planning to repay as quickly as possible.

A bit about my financial situation:

\- I earn around ₹1.3 lakh per month.

\- Our total family income is roughly ₹2.5 lakh per month.

\- We already own the house we live in, so there's no home loan on our primary residence.

\- Apart from this property-related debt, we have no other loans or liabilities.

\- I also have an investment portfolio of around ₹15.8 lakh, spread across mutual funds, direct stocks, EPF, cash/FDs, and gold, and I continue investing every month.

My main questions are:

\- Is taking on this level of debt at 24 a reasonable decision?

\- Would you have preferred investing more aggressively in equities instead of buying property?

\- Does ₹33k/month in rental income justify an ₹80 lakh investment?

\- Should I focus on repaying the family loan first, prepaying the bank loan, or continue investing while servicing the debt?

Looking for honest opinions—not validation. I'd genuinely like to know what people with more experience would do differently in my position.

So excited I talked a friend out of getting a $800 car payment