Well first, skilled labor is very much in demand, and licensed trades conducted by licensed professionals are always needed everywhere. HVAC techs, plumbers, and electricians, for example, will always have work as long as people want to stay warm/cool and have access to water, and electricity. Job security, in my opinion, is a fallacy. Anybody can lose their job. Granted, some positions are more "secure" than others. To answer your question directly, my work will be in demand once I become a fully licensed tradesman, but it is not necessarily guaranteed. No job really is.

I have been working in and around the trades for 5-6 years already and can say with confidence that most trades are hurting badly for help, both apprentices and journeyman-level or above professionals.

Second, you are absolutely correct. My wage will start at a percentage of the JW rate as you described. Set pay increases are scheduled to occur every 6 months until you reach the full JW rate. You can still make more though, say if you get your master's license or take on a supervisor-type role.

​

Lastly, I understand and agree with your point about lifestyle creep. I have a few friends and family that are "victims" of that, unfortunately. I can assure you, though, that I pay a lot of attention to my spending and do my best to avoid being wasteful/impulsive and generally make my money go further.

I know spending more on rent than I need to reduces my savings ability and opens the door to other increases in spending, but I guess what I am saying is I don't mind paying some more and saving in other areas to do so. Thinking it through, perhaps I will rent something cheap and then buy a home with 20% down and more.

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In your 401k online account, do you have a tab/menu option that shows sources of contribution? This should be able to tell you if that is a post-tax contribution or you really have contributed too much to pre-tax bucket.

It's an inherently hard question to answer because we don't know what future tax brackets are going to look like. Future tax rates are a key variable and is one of the most important factors, but without a crystal ball we have no way to make that determination.

I can give you my personal take: I'm in the 32% tax bracket and max out my Traditional 401k to lower my taxable income each year because I don't think I will be paying more than that in retirement. If I do, oh well, I'll pay some taxes in retirement. It's a personal calculated risk that I'm willing to take.

From there I put everything else that I can into Roth and after-tax investments to get me to a ~25% savings rate. My after-tax account will be my bridge account for early retirement (hopefully) and sinking fund for large purchases like house down payments and cars.

What I would personally do in your situation to help guide my decision is this: Take your salary and investment rate and run it out until the age you expect to retire. Assume an 8% rate of return, and a 3% average annual pay increase. It'll be less than that some years and more in others (promotions, etc.). Once you have that number, take 4% of it (the safe withdrawal rate) and compare that to what you'll be earning before you retire.

In that scenario, is 4% of your nest egg more or less than your annual earnings before retirement? If it's more, assuming tax brackets stay the same, you'd be better off going the Roth route because you'll get a pay raise by retiring and it will be completely tax free. If tax rates increase between now and then (likely), even better. If 4% is less than your annual earnings, then Traditional would be the best route (again, assuming tax rates stay the same). If tax rates increase between now and then, it gets kind of fuzzy.

Ultimately there's not a definitive, clear answer. What is clear, though, is that if you consistently contribute 15-25%+ of your income from now until retirement, you're going to better off than 90% of the population. Getting hung up on minimizing your tax liability in 30+ years is a bit of a fool's errand because there's no possible way to know the data you'd need to make the right decision: your income, your rate of return, and future tax rates. You can make educated predictions based on the past, but this is a true example of a situation where hindsight will be 20/20.

IRAs are individual retirement account. You can’t have a joint account. You only go with your own balances

The CC debt is old debt, a lot of it from a layoff years ago, supporting myself thru college, and 1-2 bad choices. It's down a lot from 13-15k. I'm not adding any new debt. At most, I might would use my Best Buy card for like a 18 months no interest type purchase on refrigerator, but I've sworn off carrying high interest debt. In fact, paying down the debt caused me to miss pre-2022 prices and interest rates. I started a job making 60k in Oct 2020, houses were there for 150k with 2-3% interest, but I was like "I'll pay off my truck and cards first" and I did, just in time for everything to go insane.

I could pay it off before I moved in easily, but I'm just trying to keep all my cash liquid for now until I have a clear picture.

Other than that, I have about $90/mo truck insurance, I have a few streaming services, yearly amazon prime, and a cellphone bill for my daughter and I. All could be cut back if necessary, except the insurance. Well technically even it could be cut back but I like carrying full coverage.

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You'd likely be setting up an estate that will handle the sale and transfer of funds to the humane society. You wouldn't directly give the house to them, your estate will sell it and then donate the profit from the sale.

That’s bi weekly.

If you got paid twice a month, you’d get paid on the 15th and 30th, which Could be any day of the week.

If you get paid every other Friday, that’s biweekly

Ten months out of the year you’re paid twice a month. Two months, you’re paid thrice a month.

You can set the beneficiary of your deed to whoever/whatever you want.

You can also set beneficiaries on your bank/brokerage accounts.

• https://legacy.humanesociety.org/beneficiary-designations

Well this is super helpful! Thank you for all that info. I was not aware of self employment tax, I will definitely look into it!

For my 2022 taxes, I had 2 different W4 jobs, the one W9 job, and I got two pension payments. Is that going to be difficult for me to figure out on my tax return, or do you think it will make sense once I get started? Up to this point my tax returns have been super simple - one job, no surprises.

Yep. Serious; it’s good advice.

You're paid biweekly. My calculations can confirm this based on the withholding calculations.

^1 Assuming

• Federal: Disable "standard deduction"
• Georgia personal allowance = 1

Since you are "nonresident alien", you do not have the $12,950 standard deduction (See Form 1040NR line 12). Instead, you must itemize. Therefore, payroll computer assumes your deduction is $0 instead of $12,950.

Have you already hit the max or on track to hit the max on all of your available tax advantaged space?

Have you read the Prime Directive? Have you seen the Flow Chart?

• https://www.reddit.com//r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics

Once you've done all that...

u/billthecatt has arguably the best answer to this question linked and pasted below:

• https://reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/ub71n3/how_to_set_up_an_investment_account_for_my_kid/i629d25

Typical kid options:

529 - Great for college/education, but not all kids go to college/private schools, etc. More Details here: https://old.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/mq0rjb/information_about_college_529_savings_plans/

UTMA (Custodial) - Invest on behalf of the child, Pros - lower taxes (assuming amounts don't get too high, see below), fewer restrictions on usage than 529. Cons - Is the child's money, so no takebacks. Minor takes full control at the age of termination (varies by state, typically 18 to 21). Also, will reduce/impact financial aid for college. You should tax gain harvest this type of account (realize gains periodically, while in the 0% tax bracket).

IRA (Roth/Traditional-Custodial) - Cons: Requires earned income, which most minors don't have or have much of.

Normal investment account in your name - Cons: Probably higher taxes than UTMA, Pros - you keep control

HYSA - Pros: Won't "lose" nominal value, low risk Cons: May lose out to inflation.

CD - Pros: Like HYSA, but with guaranteed returns over investment period. Cons: May lose out to inflation.

I-Bonds: Currently high-yielding bonds that can be purchased in accounts for minors: (up to $10k/year; interest changes every 6 months) /r/personalfinance/comments/qprqpy/ibond_questions_answered/

The first 4 options (529, UTMA, IRA, investment account) are account types that allow for investing based on your time horizon. If your child is young, a more aggressive investment mix may make sense for you (Stock ETFs/funds), and you may want to shift to a more conservative mix over time, depending on your goals for your child(ren).

More information:

UTMA Kiddie Tax Info: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-kiddie-tax-is-getting-easier-and-maybe-cheaper-under-the-new-tax-law-2018-05-24

UTMA Taxes: In general, in 2020 the first $1,100 worth of a child's unearned income is tax-free. The next $1,100 is taxed at the child's income tax rate for 2020. Anything above $2,200, however, is taxed at the marginal tax rate of the parent(s), which usually is higher than the child's rate.

Overfunding a 529 isn't so bad: /r/financialindependence/comments/hqexle/oversaving_in_a_529_is_a_much_smaller_problem/

I'm counting down to my 9th move since I turned 18, 5 of which were international moves. I feel you on this.

For most people, like my family still for some reason, moving constantly is either incredibly abstract as an idea, or a terribly traumatizing event. My dad moved a ton when he was a kid, and blames that for anything and everything. Meanwhile, I get sick of living somewhere too long.

Anyway, you do you. If you feel like you have things under control and enjoy what you're doing, then living minimally is also another advantage for you.

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How does the snowball vs avalanche work?

You cannot work legally on a tourist visa. I’m on F1 OPT right now

Plenty of good options are FDIC insured. Ally is I believe up to $250,000.

Generating a will is easy. You need to find an executor to carry out your will. That person will help oversee the sale of your property and allocation of your estate. A lawyer can do this but shop fees before you decide.

Debt snowball. Slash spending, get a temporary job until a career job is had. Don't take out more debt!!

Are you on a tourist visa? 180 days?

https://legacy.humanesociety.org/wills-and-living-trusts

I would speak to an attorney and set up a trust, it'll be easier to transfer everything and you can avoid probate.

Here's a link to the PF Wiki for helpful guides and information.

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I love the flowchart! Here's the wiki page with more context and information.

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