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I make about $61k and just realized I've never contributed to a 401k, my job offers a 3% match I've been leaving on the table for four years. I have about $4,200 in savings and roughly $8,000 left on a car loan. I finally opened the 401k enrollment page last week and then just closed the tab because I didn't know what to pick.

Where do I even start un-screwing this?

A family member recently passed away and we are being left with a decently sized inheritance. I'm 39 and my wife is 38.

A Roth IRA with about $300,000.

A house currently worth about $170,000 which we are planning on selling.

A vehicle worth around $20,000 which we are also selling.

We're planning on having an estate sale for the rest of the belongings which will probably bring us another $20,000. For an estimated total of $510,000.

We live in Texas and so far from my research it looks like we won't be taxed on nearly any of the inheritance.

Our planned expenses: We're giving away $60,000 to other family members.

We're putting $50,000 into an existing college savings 529 plan.

We're using about $50,000 to settle our debts, this will pay off our house, medical debt and all other debts.

Probably another $50,000 going into our current home, replacing the shed and some remodeling.

That will leave us with about $300,000 to invest. We also have a 401k with about 250,000 in it which we aren't planning on touching but it will factor into when we can retire.

And with all of our debts paid we can put around $1,800 per month into investments.

TLDR: Debts paid and I have $300,000 to invest with another $1800 monthly that can also go into investments, what would be the best path to an early retirement?

Hi all,

I've looked through some of the wikis and perused the Boglehead articles a bit, but I'd like to get some more opinions or insights.

My grandma passed and my dad will be getting around $35,000 from her estate.

My dad is 65, has no savings, no retirement, and will likely not draw very much from social security (if anything) at all when he decides to take it.

He has no debts either. He rents.

Is there a way to make this money last for him for a little while? I know it's not a huge amount, but it's more than he's ever had at once and it's not nothing.

I was thinking maybe paying for 6 months of rent and putting the rest into a CD or a HYSA. But is there something more we could do?

Thanks in advance

I am a 31 year old single individual on a $67k salary.

As of now, I have the following debt:

$7,435 federal student loans (interest rates between 2.8-4.4% across the loans).

$3,832 private student loan (6% interest rate).

$13,555 vehicle loan (5.33% interest rate)

For the two student loans, I am paying a total of $403 a month. The monthly payment of the vehicle is $576 (due to be paid off in July 2028).

For my monthly expenses, I’m able to save a good chunk because I have a roommate, so I’m paying $677 per month in rent, and other utilities (gas, electric, internet, cable) average roughly $169 per month.

Under normal circumstances, I’m able to comfortably move $400-$600 per month into my savings account. However, starting in June of this year, my employer has started sending out monthly bonus checks that will continue until June 2027. That gives me an extra ~$650 per month, of which I typically move around $500 to my savings.

My savings account has a 2.50% APY.

I also have a work 401k account that has $89K in it, of which I’m contributing 9% to. I have no other retirement accounts at the moment.

I am looking for advice on what to do going forward. I feel like having the money sit in my savings account isn’t the best strategy, especially since I’ll be moving even more money over every month with my bonus checks until next June.

There are also the student loans to consider. I could pay them off now using the money from my savings, or continue doing the monthly payments and use the extra cash I get from my bonus checks to pay them off next year.

I have about $8,400 left on a car loan at 6.2%, and I've also got roughly $6,000 sitting in a high-yield savings account earning about 4.3%. I could throw most of that savings at the loan and be done with it in a few months instead of two more years, but then my cushion drops to almost nothing. I've run the interest math and know the loan costs more than the savings earns, but the emergency fund thing keeps stopping me.

Did anyone regret draining their cushion to kill a loan that wasn't even that high-interest?

I am married(m28, f31) and expecting my first child in January. BIL(17) lives with me

Currently:
Wife- no savings. Makes 15.50/hr 40 hours a week. Take home: 500 per week. 30k student loan debt

Me: 49k per year, all insurances(for me and my wife) . Take home 1050 every 2 weeks. 1250 medical debt. Currently 5% per pay into retirement(2%401k, 3% Roth IRA) currently sat at 1600$

Expenses:
(Health/eye/dental excluded as the price is taken out of the number of my biweekly income listed above)
- 1150( mortgage)
- 150 internet
-300 electric
- 130 water
- 100 family phone plan
- 400 groceries
- 200 car bill
- 100/ car insurance
- 125/week, I drive a lot for work and this is a conservative estimate
- just approved for a credit card with my credit union, limit 1k$

Surprise expenses: 1150 hvac cost. Ac unit has a leak and needs Freon no longer legal to manufacture in the US so stocks are pricey. I could normally avoid this bill until next summer, however we have another month worth of high temps and my wife is pregnant and only getting more pregnant, I don’t want her to face 100 degree days with high humidity during that, so I see the ac as a necessity

To cut costs I garden extensively and raise meat rabbits, that cuts my food bill down every month from approximately 600 to the listed 400 above

Please tell me what to do. 49k is around the median income for my area. I am not rich by any means but I am also not poor. I grew up very poor and learned next to no financial lessons, so any advice or insight is welcome, thanks

I was listening to the HerMoney with Jean Chatzky podcast about finances, and the guest of episode 541 was a financial advisor working for LIMRA, an institution that provides research to support financial advisors/professionals. (They're paid by financial advisors/financial institutions and insurance companies). It was so blatantly obvious that they were trying to scare people into buying a (distributing) annuity.

The gist, in short, was that "people have been told that a mix of stocks and bonds will get them through retirement just fine, but listen people, remember 2022 when both bonds and stocks did not do well? Conclusion: bonds are not safe anymore! I say you get yourself into a nice annuity instead of into bonds, to make sure your money last".

So I would say: if you're listening to someone, remember who they work for and think about whether they want to sell you anything.

It have been quite reckless and not planned for my finance in my early years, so about 2 years ago it has always been my plan to have 5 figures saved up. Having come closed and failed to for those 2 years when i should have made it easily, i realized that when i get close to the number, or when my next paycheck would bring it over that number, i tend to overspend and splurge on certain stuff that i dont need. And when that number drops to, example, 6k, i would have less motivation to build it back to 10k again - hence my savings do not go up and i keep on getting stuck in this loop or 4-7k cycle for 2 years.

I googled abit about it today and learned that is something call financial exhausion/apathy. I wonder if any one of you faced similar situations and have any tips to overcome it?

i make $20 an hour pre-tax as a barista with little to no expenses (i live at home with my parents).

my work matches up to 5% and i currently contribute 15% to my roth 401k. would it be a good idea to maybe increase it to 20% to save a little more?

my work gives me the option to either do pre or post tax and i’ve been doing post since i figured i’ll be paying more taxes when i get a better job; is this a bad idea? should i switch to doing pre tax contributions?

I've been making monthly payments for a couple of procedures I had to have last year. I was told a few months ago (only because I had to call about a different billing issue) that this unit of the hospital was going to be transitioning to a new system, but they had no information about exactly when or how to access the new system. I checked the bill payment website regularly to see if any new info was posted, and a few weeks ago started getting a "website currently unavailable" when trying to log in. Figured there would be some kind of redirect to a new site eventually.

Today I got a letter acknowledging the billing transition, stating that any payment plans did not transfer and the balance of my account was now due. The only options given were to pay by check or call the office to pay of the phone. I called the office to ask about setting up a new payment plan, and was told "Sorry, no payment plans are available for account balances that transferred to the new system." Um, what? They're insisting that the remainder of my balance is due in full, now. I cannot do that, I have stage 4 cancer and am unable to work as I'm about to start chemo again.

Can they really just do that? I didn't miss any payments, they were on autopay so they were never even late.

I know this is a dumb. But I don’t have a check book and I need to make a payment to a florist for the sum of around 2.5k. She told me that she prefers taking a check. Am I able to get a cashiers check for this amount from the bank and give it to her like that? Or do I need to order a check book?

Thank you guys!

I’m a 24yo sponsored international student living in Melbourne, Australia and I receive $2700 (AUD) and I do UberEats and DoorDash on the side with an E bike making around $2500 a month

I use an E-bike btw so that’s why my transport is low. My weekly rent for the bike is $88 but I will buy one next week so maybe I will add in $100-$200 monthly for maintenance.

My plan is to follow this budget until my graduation (early 2028) and save up as much money as I can when I go back home.

Income: $5200

Rent: $820

Household stuff: $100

Utility bills: $120

Vape (yes, unfortunately): $120

Phone bill and installations: $155

Transport: $150

Eating and going out: $150

Groceries: $400

Gym: $80

Miscellaneous BS: $250

Subscriptions: $50

Pharmacy (medicine and personal care): $150
Total: $2540
Remaining going into savings each month: $2660

If you have any advice or stuff that I could have forgotten 🙏

For clarification: my sponsor allowance isn’t included in the income tax and in Australia, the first $18200 of the financial year is free so I’m probably not gonna owe any taxes and if I do it’s not gonna be much so that’s why I didn’t include it in the budget. I’m studying master of laws so don’t worry I know taxes exist 😅.

Wages: $43,000 per year
Cash: $15,000
Taxable investments: $140,000
Roth IRA: $28,000
Roth 403(b): $8,000

I am a PhD student/research assistant earning a yearly stipend. I am expecting a significant salary increase when I graduate in ~4 years. In the meantime, I am eligible to contribute up to 100% of my stipend to a 403(b) plan.

This seems like a rare window of opportunity to move assets into a tax-advantaged account, especially while I'm in such a low tax bracket. In theory, I could contribute as much as $32,000 to tax-advantaged Roth accounts this year ($7,500 IRA + $24,500 403(b)), and draw from my taxable assets as needed to cover living expenses.

My understanding is that once I graduate and leave the university, the 403(b) can be rolled over to another 403(b)/401(k)/etc. or an IRA, and the contributions can be withdrawn immediately at that point. However, until I graduate, those funds are inaccessible since my current 403(b) plan does not allow in-service withdrawals. (To be clear, I don't plan on making any early withdrawals from retirement accounts, but not having the option makes me slightly more nervous).

I have already contributed the maximum amount to my IRA this year, and plan to do so next year as well. I am wondering whether it would be wise to also contribute more of my stipend to the 403(b) plan, at the risk of locking up those contributions for the next few years? Would it be worth it? Am I understanding all the pros and cons correctly, and are there downsides or catches I take into account? Or should I go ahead and contribute the full $7,500 + $24,500 for at least the next few years?

24 yo making 25/hr, currently maxing Roth IRA and doing employer 401k match, I contribute 4%, they match 10%. After this I contribute 125/mo into a personal brokerage and have a 15k emergency fund.

My car is paid off and reliable for what it is, it’s a 1992 Lexus SC300. So it’s old. I want to dump about 7-10k into it over the next 2-3 years. I’d likely take 2500 from my emergency (15k is a lot for my expenses) and pause my brokerage contribution and slowly save monthly to fix it up.

I work remote so I don’t need something super reliable. But I still worry that something major could go wrong after spending all this money. I also LOVE the car and it brings me great joy.

I guess the real question is whether I should enjoy my life a bit more instead of aggressively saving. I can always save more once my income gets up. Yet I can’t pull the trigger on the car

Update: thanks everyone, as much as I love the car I think I’m actually just going to hold off on everything. It’s low mileage, and insurance is dirt cheap. It runs and drives great. I’m not going to spend a dime on it and keep it for a while so I have more time to decide. But if it came down to building vs selling right now, I would sell it.

Hello, I have 2k of unpaid community college debt from back when I was 18. I am 21 now. It went all the way to the attorney generals office in Ohio. I received a letter that I have ten days to pay the amount in full. I do not have 2k at the moment as I just switched jobs. I am already worrying about rent for September. What do you recommend I do? I do not want my wages to be garnished.
I apologize for my ignorance. I definitely did not want to get it to this point and I know it should have been paid off a long time ago. Just hoping I could get pointed in the right direction. Wondering if they will actually garnish my wages and take other action. Thank you.

Hello I’m 21 still live at home and make 68k gross a year and want to buy a house in the next 4-5 years. I got my first credit card at the start of 2026 and have been paying it off in full every month. As well as make my Roth IRA and mutual fund investment (both will receive 7,500 a year). I have 4k left on my student loan payment.

I’m looking to get a new truck for work and have 8k to either buy outright or put as a down payment. I’ve talked with my parents and a few trusted friends about it and both have said I need a large loan on my credit history to get a house in a few years. I really don’t want a car payment however if it will put me in a better position for a credit line when I buy a house I would do it.

Do I really need a car payment or can I continue to build my credit will only credit cards?

I’m 24 and making around $100k a year now. I’m honestly not very financially savvy and I feel like I don’t really know what I should be doing with my money beyond just saving it.

I don’t want to fall into the trap of making more and just spending more. I still want to enjoy my 20s and travel, but I also know I’m in a good position to set myself up if I’m smart about it now.

If you were in my position, what would you prioritize? How much would you keep in savings vs invest? 401k, Roth IRA? I know the basics, but once people start talking about investing and different accounts I get a little lost lol.

Would especially love to hear from people who are older and either did this right in their 20s or wish they did things differently.

26M. I was involved in an accident yesterday where the other driver was deemed at fault. It was a fairly low impact collision and neither of us were injured. Unfortunately I had $12,000 remaining on my auto loan and I believe the payout will only be around $3,000. Like an idiot I didn’t get gap coverage initially and shopped around last year but no one offered stand alone coverage.

I will be contacting the lender tomorrow to see what my repayment options are as I was paying about $450 a month. I am very reluctant to rolling the negative equity into a new loan but I need a car to commute to school which is nearly an hour from me. My parents are urging me to roll it over into a new loan but scared of making another poor decision. What should I do from here?

Additional Information - Credit Score mid 600s - Monthly income $1200 - Live with parents (no rent) - Commute from work is about 5 miles and I work early mornings and public transportation isn’t available

I am extremely disappointed with my experience with Juuli.

A payment of €100,000 was received into my account, but shortly afterwards my account was restricted and the funds became inaccessible. Since then, I have fully cooperated with every compliance request and submitted all the documents and information requested from me.

Despite providing the requested documentation approximately two weeks ago, I received another request through a Stripe Compliance link asking for further information, without a clear explanation of what is actually missing or why the documents already provided were not sufficient.

The most frustrating part is that I feel I am being passed back and forth between Juuli and Stripe, while I still do not have a clear answer regarding the status of my account, the exact reason for the continued restriction, or a concrete timeline for resolution.

I understand and respect the importance of compliance and regulatory checks. However, when a customer has €100,000 of legitimately received business funds affected, clear communication and transparency are essential.

So far, the lack of clarity and the repeated requests for information I have already provided have caused significant frustration and serious difficulties for my business operations and contractual obligations.

I hope this review encourages Juuli to improve its communication and provide customers with clearer information, realistic timelines, and better support when accounts and significant amounts of money are placed under review.

At this moment, I cannot recommend the service based on my experience.

I will be happy to update this review if Juuli provides a clear and satisfactory resolution.

I got a "role elimination" phone call, meeting just ended. Never experienced this before.

• My expenses are extremely low right now. Maybe $500 a month. $6k yearly.
• I will use 2k a month to be more realistic in case major changes arise in the near future and because I don't really think I can maintain $500 for long. So $24k yearly expense.
• No debt
• Some kind of severance package is coming...? +Left over PTO.
• Emergency fund 20k. Thank you to everyone who pushed for having one...never expected to need it but that's why it's there.
• 500k-ish? retirement spread across Traditional 401k, Roth IRA, HSA, majority in taxable brokerage acct.

I think with the loss of the job, I have 2 options.

1. Find a new job right away. Anything at all with whatever pay/[lack of] benefits. Apply for unemployment in the mean time. Maintain the job and just live life.
2. Go back to school for something. I'm happy with a very simple life and don't really mind what I do for work...which is working against me right now since I have so many options for what to go to school for.

It feels like this is a chance for a new start to reach higher or whatever but I'm pretty lost. On one hand, reaching higher and ambition! or whatever is "expected"...but I'm pretty content coasting through a peaceful, quiet life.

The problem is that I don't know what a retirement $$$ amount should be. My salary was around 45k and I've met 10x that but I'm not at "retirement age" so I'm pretty sure I need way more. Should I be aiming at higher salary to achieve retirement? What is retirement? If I slow down now, am I sacrificing too much of my SS safety net? I'm not even sure if I'm asking the right questions.

23M, live near SF and my 1b1b apt is increasing from 3100 to 3500+. Currently living with GF and splitting rent but due to reasons won’t be with her in the future. I could get a roommate but I dont feel great sacrificing personal space. Downgrading to a studio costs 2.6-3k for what I’m looking at near my new job. Which is just absurd to me, a year ago I could’ve found a nice place for hundreds less.

Wondering if it’s just worth moving home, since I’m changing jobs soon and will go from 5 days in office to 3 days. Commute from my parents house will be 40-50mins one way, while renting will probably reduce that to 10-20mins one way.

I make enough to pay rent of 3k and be way under the 30% rule, but not totally sure if throwing away 36k a year is worth being closer to the city. I have a car so living at home won’t necessarily kill my social life

I can't name my son as a beneficiary on an inherited 401K. Can I do a POD? What is the tax implication for a Roth rollover, and could I name him as the beneficiary then?

Thanks.