Thanks for the clarification.

What’s his views on investing. I’ve only seen his steps.

[removed]

Thanks pancake

No real advice for your current situation, other than best wishes.

However, you have an excellent opportunity to get real ahead in life if you’re smart and strategic with this situation. Do not concave to the peer pressure and other things that you will experience in college. Plus, with all that money post college. Sure, have fun - but make good choices all throughout. As I tell my 16 y/o, every choice has a consequence; good or bad. Watch out for peer pressure with drinking and drugs - particularly pills. It’s a nasty, nasty world out there, kid.

Best wishes!

[removed]

A "moderate aggressive mutual fund" isn't going to be 100% US stocks and US stocks have outperformed international stocks and bonds over the last 15 years. I think that number is going to be way too high for what OP is trying to estimate.

Correct. Other commenter doesn't understand taxes / tax planning very well

[deleted]

I would make min payments on the student loans and focus on saving. Student loan interest is deductible and interest from a HYSA would pretty much cover the loan interest today, and rates are going to continue going up.

Plus you have a lot more flexibility with $50k of student loans plus $50k of savings as opposed to just $0 everywhere.

Yes, you're correct. The taxes owed on the conversion will fall in the year of conversion - not sure how people aren't seeing this

👍👍👍👍👍👍Before you apply for your master's, get into the workforce first. During the interview process, ask your future employer if they can fund your education. Some companies have programs that will pay for your graduate education while still being employed. Or better yet ask during your internship.

A more tactful answer might be:

“Actually the snowball and avalanche methods only call for minimum payment on the other debts.”

If you want the best advice on here, list out your debts, income and other expenses. Some people will suggest some pretty extreme things, (bankruptcy, living in a box to save the mortgage payment, walking to work etc), but often it comes down to spending habits and not having a budget. Paying off debt with more debt isn't great, but occasionally you can get lower interest rates and save some money. Generally it's better to just suck it up and pay them off if you can. Also, would really recommend having some good conversations with your partner. Finances are a joint effort, and both people need to be on board

Short term options for things saving extra money... second jobs, selling things you don't need, filling for benefits like food stamps, unemployment, Food banks, thrift stores for essentials.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

It's hard to say without knowing the exact mutual fund because mutual funds vary significantly. A mutual fund investing almost entirely in US stocks would have a very high return over that period, but one investing more into international stocks or bonds would have a somewhat lower return.

• If you had invested in VSMGX (Vanguard LifeStrategy Moderate Growth Fund) which is about 40% bonds, the average total return each year over the last 15 years is 4.78%. A $70,000 investment would be worth about $141,018 now.

• If you had invested in VASGX (Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund) which is about 20% bonds, the average total return each year over the last 15 years is 5.34%. A $70,000 investment would be worth about $152,756 now.

I have questions about retirement plans and 401k

32/USA

In march my company will start matching for 401k 100% up to 4% of contributions so I plan on maxing that out to 4% as soon as it kicks in. I have a 401k from my previous job that I was contributing a high amount to but have not touched since I left the company. I also have a managed IRA that I inherited from my father when he passed that I also have not touched, pretty much ever, because I was young and had no idea what to do with it.

So I essentially have 3 separate retirement accounts right now. I also have a decent chunk of stock from my previous job that was a mix of EPP and RSUs in yet another account.

Outside of maximizing my company's match does it matter what I do with the other two retirement accounts? Should I be contributing to them as well does it not matter which one I end up putting money into?

Also since all 4 are market-based I'm wondering if maybe I should choose something else to invest into that might be more stable? I think maybe now is a good time to diversify.

​

*Edit* Ok so it looks like based on the flowchart I should be doing 15% towards retirement. I don't know if I would be considered behind on this - how would I figure that out? I just haven't made a lot of money (and still don't but hoping to change that). My guess is I can just utilize my current employer's plan and let the others do their thing. Are the maximum yearly contributions total or per account?

Do you plan on never eating and spending literally all of your time in your place? Sure. Do you want to move out + actually be able to afford groceries, going out and socializing, enjoy hobbies, etc? Then find a cheaper place.

Source: am 33, moved out when I was 20, kept rent (mortgage in my case) at less than 1/3rd of my NET income, thoroughly enjoyed life

Thanks. I have been over the links, but I can definitely use more study and research.

Thanks! For tax filing software, is that like TurboTax (or similar?) I’m already familiar with TT so that seems less daunting. And I do that in March, June, September, and December?

But call them and beg - this is just a journal entry, essentially. Schwab might do it (so vanguard might too)

Do you have a job that does 401k matching? I’d start there by investing at least as much as they match up to $50/month if that’s what you can afford.

I thought about doing that rolling schedule with CDs before too, but with a different set of funds. I like the way you explained it!

Please do not "censor" links here (i.e., break them up like "www dot example link dot com" or similar). Direct links are allowed as long as rule 2 is being followed. Sometimes, a link may be temporarily filtered for review, but breaking your link apart or censoring only makes filtering more likely, so please do not do this going forward. Thanks!

Thank you for your reply. That is what I have been doing so far, and perhaps what I will keep doing. I am pretty embarrassed by my abysmal knowledge about investing.