Being an index fund isn't a consideration for tax and penalty. What type of account do you have it in? That's what matters.

An index fund is a type of investment, not an account. What type of account is it in?

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Yup, usually. Although, pension plans have healthcare that is greatly reduced in cost. So you just need to know what you are eligible for specifically.

Start here: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics

You have sufficient equity in your current home to cover the down payment on a larger/more expensive new one, most likely, but given that you are a sole breadwinner for a family of 7 I don't know that I would feel comfortable spending more than you are now. Given interest rates, you'll pay quite a bit more monthly for the same size loan you have now anyway. If you change locations, can you get a larger place for around the same price? How many years before your spouse intends to re-enter the work force (if ever)?

I have a question? Why should I invest/max into HSA. I am 26 but really don’t see the benefit to it. Is there something I’m missing.

It sounds like you value time and flexibility more than additional money. Overall there seems to be more to lose (flexibility and time) than gain (money) by switching jobs. You could always look but here’s my advice as someone who took more pay with less flexibility. Be extremely open and upfront about what you want, this is as much a part of interviewing and negotiation as the salary. Explain what’s important to you as far as flexibility, and if you take the job, hold them to it.

When recruiters contact me there’s two things that I find out before having a conversation, what’s the pay and what’s the flexibility/PTO like, they like to stretch the truth but it at least saves us both some trouble.

P.S. You hit on the marginal utility of money, it’s a good economic concept to be familiar with. Essentially, the 99th to 100th bite of dessert is minimally better, but that first bite is wonderful. The $20,000 more won’t make a big difference if you already make 250-300k, but if you only make $10,000, $20,000 more is a massive improvement in your life.

What exactly is is your pretax salary and are you confident your retirement effective tax rate on X needed income would be higher than your current marginal rate

How do you make theis type of graphs?

I think so 😂

So we use a PEO to mange all our payroll and benefits. We switched in October. I had contributed $15600 with the first vendor. And then today I saw my check and my year to date with the new one is $6357. That’s puts my total at $21947. This new company has been an absolute nightmare to get things done correctly and I think what happened was that they took a contribution from our end of year bonuses which the old vendor never did.

This is obviously over the IRS max contribution. What happens now?

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It doesn’t hurt to look around in my opinion.

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It comes down to a lifestyle choice. You have to decide if paying for daycare works best for you and understand the financial impact on the household. There are parent groups and homeschool resources for socialization if that is a priority for you. You could also research what homeschool parents do for preK to see if you can find a solution for your situation. Contact Early Intervention to see if there are any other options for speech therapy. Check with your health insurance to see if they will cover the therapy costs. The other option is tell your husband you are happy with the way things are and we can revisit this when the kids are full time in school.

Your goals look great. I would just do $300/month for the HSA to make sure you don't over contribute and get in trouble, especially if you're a lump sum and forget about it type.

I 100% agree with getting your Roth contribution done ASAP. The market is garbage right now. Might as well get in while the getting is good.

Does it really make sense to invest in the market now with all the questionable signs pointing to a not-so-great 2023?

I would think it would be smarter to invest in an ibond at 6.89%. Gold is even looking like a good hold if inflation continues which it seams like it will. Once Q4 numbers come out I’m not so sure they’ll be in the green.

Anyone have an opinion on how to tackle this uncertainty in the market and rising inflation?

For everyone else’s sake I hope you’re wrong. For my own sake I hope you’re right lol. I found news articles hinting that prices are going to be raised because the manufacturers don’t want to incur the additional costs of manufacturing in the US or providing proof that certifies where the parts were sourced.

401k is not limited by company match. If you put in the max, whatever your companies give you is free cheese over the max. Plans like 457b have a employer/employee combined max contribution. 401k does not.

Ohhh that’s why they didn’t publish numbers for 2021 and 2022, assumed to be zero. Dang. Well, thanks for your help interpreting. I wish this information had been published earlier but that’s on me for jumping the gun.

Ask him when he's going to replace your old position.

But sadly, the old adage comes back into play. "The reward for a job well done is more work"

I’ve never thought of it in this way specifically but this is exactly why our situation works. My husband makes 2x as much as I do but my job is way more flexible. I can always take time away to go pick up sick kiddo, run to doctors appointments, go to school activities etc. I can take last minute PTO. I can request off PTO and run into the negative if I don’t have enough saved up. I can definitely make more if I change companies but I would definitely lose this flexibility.

Ignore the question of the law. There are other moral dilemmas at play. Grandpa gave your husband that money to use for school. If he no longer wants to go to school he should call grandpa and tell him so and give the money back. If grandpa then refuses the money and says spend it on what you like then you are clear. If grandpa wants it back then you give it back because it was never really your to do whatever you want with.

That makes sense. Yes, the car was $6500 below MSRP plus I got a $2000 Drive Clean rebate from NY at the point of sale (still taxable though!). At least I am really happy with the make and model I chose lol.