I'm a fan of t-bills. Most of them are currently well over 4% and state tax exempt. I've been buying the 8 week ones for a while now. But the 27 week ones are pretty close to 5%. But the 8 week seem to be the sweet spot between being reasonably liquid and a decent rate. The downside is that when they start dropping they tend to drop much faster than the banks. But when that happens you just don't reinvest them.

https://www.treasurydirect.gov/auctions/announcements-data-results/

There's plenty of HYSA accounts as well. Sofi seems to be one of the highest currently but they have all been slowly going up over the last few months.

Yup!

Hard to do, but best advice is to not let your lifestyle “creep up” with your new pay. If you were doing fine prior, try to stay relatively close to that. The biggest mistake you can make is to grow into this new income.

Conceptually it sounds crazy not to spend what you make, but 3x’ing your income can get you to Financial Independence that much quicker. Again, easier said than done, but the more you can apply to FI with this new pay, the quicker you can eventually leave the rat race (assuming that is the goal).

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What certs do you have?

• the amount rolled over is subject to Roth IRA contribution limits

• lifetime limit of 35k

• beneficiary must be the same for at least 15 years. Changing the beneficiary resets the clock.

• cannot roll over contributions/earning from the last 5 years

Still a great option but worth noting the limitations. All the more reason to start contributing earlier!

Oh wow I didn’t realize that for 2023 that u can max to 6500 even if u only make 3000?!

I find it absolutely insane that some people will open up a CC (hard hit) because of something like $100. To me this isn't worth the hassle of spending an extra 5 minutes giving some random person my financial information (not to mention the risk associated with it). It would take something like $1000 minimum for me to even consider something like this.

$8,557.15 in overtime for 2022, 159 hours

Your job offers you an absolutely incredible amount of flexibility and PTO (compared to average Americans). If you like the work, you could use some of that free time and flexibility to find other ways to save/"make" money. Couponing, budgeting, deal hunting. Things like travel deals, maximizing your credit card points or loyalty points, etc. You could essentially be getting 5-10% return on every purchase you make in a year or buying the things you would be buying anyway but always at a discount.

If we are talking about a Health Savings Account mine was something our Union Hall collectively bargained for about 10 years ago. Every hour we worked we got like 2$ that went into an account along with the other pipefitters in my local and managed by a 3rd party health trust. I don’t believe we were getting interest on our money. That 2$ is now after 10 years of Health Cost skyrocketing is now 50 cents an hour. HSA’s are great to have and not sure of the rules when it comes to making money in a self funded HSA. I do know IRS are Nazi’s about showing exactly what you spent the money or who ever you choose will definitely want receipts. My new job has a before tax FSA which this year the government allows $3050 and we can only roll over $500 to the next year. My opinion is find a reputable company that does do personal HSA’s and you’ll want a company that gives you a Debit card. Purchases are easier to prove that the money was used for things on the IRS’s list of approved healthcare items.

Open a Roth IRA with a low-cost provider like Vanguard, Fidelity, etc. and put as much into it as you possibly can (yearly limit is the the lesser of your annual earned income or $6500 starting in 2023). Invest the money in a low-cost index fund (a Total Stock Market fund is perfect) and don't mess with it. Time is your best friend when it comes to retirement investing and you'll have a huge leg up by starting at 17.

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Regarding the minivan, #1, we have 12 months left on the loan.

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Check out the YNAB budget system. It's not about restrictions, but about truly planning out how you want to use your money.

I don't mind at all. I actually taught cybersecurity and networking for those 13 years. It's a very lucrative job. It can be stressful because attacks are only getting worse. The learning curve is quite substantial. Even with computer skills, it does take some time to learn the security side well enough to pass the relative certs. Feel free to let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Unfortunately it’s limited to a lifetime cap of 35k on rollovers, the money can only be rolled over to a Roth IRA in the name of the beneficiary and the rollover counts toward the annual contribution limit. Not chump change but unlikely to create generational wealth. It’s more like a 529 that offers a touch of extra flexibility.

You're making headway, doing the common sense things. If you want to get there faster, moonlight by waiting tables a couple of nights a week. That's what I did.

Thank you for this perspective! I too look at it that I have the flexible job and he has the higher earning job.

Yes, I need to make at least some of our donations monthly - especially things like the food pantry where the need is consistent and urgent throughout the year. Thanks for the reminder!

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Portland, Maine is not a med-high COL area. It below average COL. OP needs a budget and realistic life expectations. There's nothing in OP's post that says how much they are being paid compared to market value. Considering their absolutely huge perks, they've got total compensation close to $100,000 (they have 5 weeks PTO, so I'd estimate it's actually more than $100,000 total compensation).

Edit: I misread my source- Maine is overall lower than average. Portland is slightly above average. In 2018 when OP moved there, it was about average, maybe slightly above. Unless they bought their home in the last 12 months, they very likely made out like bandits buying a home using NYC salaries.

COL is not the problem for OP. They're making HCOL salaries and living in at WORST a medium cost of living area.

Your expenses look very reasonable to me, as do your investments and savings in proportion to your income. I'm 29 so about the same age as you guys.

How are your taxes so low?!?! I pay ~$15,000 more in taxes than both of you combined but I make significantly less than M. Hell, even federal income tax alone for me is about what you pay in overall taxes, let alone social security tax, state income tax, etc.

I'm very jealous of how low your rent is! I pay $2600 a month and I live alone...I'm also jealous of how little you guys pay for health insurance! I tried to look at premiums and they wanted $1600 a month and I noped out.

What is "Babstvo" and "Terapevt"? Is there any way you can cut down on those expenses?

Whatever the $3300 in debt is, I would just pay it off immediately. You can certainly afford it and with high interest rates these days I wouldn't want any debt no matter how minimal it is.

I have no idea how much houses cost where you live but it looks like you guys are on the right track. Kids are hella expensive and I'm not sure how much money it takes so hopefully someone with experience in that regard can chime in.

What app did you use to make this?

Funnily enough I’ve been looking into learning Cyber Security for a while here in the UK and really did wonder, if there’s so many high paying Cyber jobs why are there loads of Tutors/courses here when they could be in those jobs.. what’s your thought on going into Cyber Security? Apologies that this is off topic.