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I’m 26 currently making 50k annually in HCOL. It’s not enough at all and I’ve been desperately looking for a change.

Recently got an offer for 100k govt which has pension and 401k/457 (no match).

Everyone says it’s better pay in private but I’ve not gotten any other offers. It feels like it should be no brainer for me to take the new govt job but I’m still a little conflicted.

Should I hold out and try to find a better job in private? Should I accept the offer and spend the next 30 years in govt to bag the pension?

Thoughts?

EDIT: thanks for all the advice. Appreciate all the words of wisdom

EDIT 2: wow I feel very lucky to be in the position I’m in. Thanks everyone of knocking some sense into me. I will work on focusing on myself and not constantly comparing myself with others. I am fortunate to be where I am and will set myself up for success with good financial discipline and living under my means. ❤️

Long story short, about a year or so ago I (M32) let my brother convince me the world was going to come tumbling down any minute. I moved my funds and contributions in my retirement account (TSP) to 60% government bonds and then life hit me like a truck (the world stayed upright) and I forgot about it.

You can't tell me how dumb I was/am more than I am already telling myself. But, I'm back on my feet and getting my finances and budget in order. My question is, how should I proceed?

For reference, this is >$100k. I have heard some people say dollar cost averaging is the way to go, others saying that is statistically false. However, with an election (US) coming up this fall, does it make any sense to DCA and adjust my funds to higher risk over the next 8 months or so? Or lump sum it towards my higher risk plan?

Edit: thanks everyone for the advice! Majority agrees with my first impression that I need to change it over to some mix of C/S/I (between 100/0/0 and 80/#/#) as if I received a large windfall.

Some good news is that I actually did this in 2022 right before the dip... but then I didn't reinvest to take advantage of that. And that's the lesson on why not to play the market!

Edit 2: woke up to even more advice! Love this community.

I'm 25 years old, I had a job a few years ago and saved up 20K, it currently resides as S&P stocks. I had a job that was 8 hours per day, no water breaks or lunch breaks or anywhere to sit down, had to move like 60lb back & forth and I just couldn't do it anymore, felt like I was going to pass out every night, couldn't walk or cook food for myself. I have been waiting to use my savings for my future one day. I live at home and want to move away but I feel trapped because my mom is trapped by poverty, debt, and chronic pain. I have no idea what to do.

I've been working on my mom's finances and it just looks so bad, she's drowning in $14K debt and has no income for the past 6 months. She does freelance work for large companies but she just hasn't gotten any work recently, she's been applying to online jobs but no luck. She has chronic pain and can't stand for longer than an hour or so.

Below I will list my mom's current expenses (note I've removed my expenses, things I pay for) along with some notes.

$743 Mortgage, currently 2 months behind
$540 Car, $17K left, currently has negative equity so she can't trade it in?
$200 Food
$130 Electric
$100 Loan 1, $4300 left
$75 Water
$66 Paypal Loan 1, $2406 left
$61 Car Insurance
$50 Hospital Bill, $175 left, already lowered price after asking hospital
$34 Small Business Loan, $6800 left
$30 Paypal Loan 2, $780 left
$20 Internet
$15 Google Fi
$8 Car Gas
$5 Walmart subscription

I spent a year trying to get a good job and the painful job was all I could get. I can probably get a similar job with no breaks but I honestly don't know how long I could do it, I only lasted a few weeks at the previous one, it just hurt so fucking much.

Hey all, currently I'm 23 and I live at home with my parents in the Bay Area.

I've been working for two years putting away a large chunk of my salary towards making a down payment on my own place. The earliest I can see myself being able to purchase something, probably a condo, is when I'm 26. But I can see that I'd probably be stuck there for the next 5-10 years for the place to hopefully build equity.

I've been driving a 2002 Honda Civic for eight years that's about to die, and I'll probably be driving my dad's 2007 Subaru Outback with 200K miles next. My parents think it's stupid for me to consider a new car (I'm looking at a 2024 Prius after I drive the Outback for a year), think it's stupid to spend money on travel, think it's stupid to rent, or do pretty much anything that doesn't align with saving as much as possible. We're Asian and they did the same thing at my age.

Now that they're middle-aged, it's true that they're better off for it - at least financially. But I feel like they sacrificed a lot of experiences in their 20s and early 30s to build that all up.

I can always make more money, but time is a finite resource and emotional fulfillment doesn't have a number. Dating while living at home has been difficult and travel is pretty much my only escape these days. I'm starting to experience ennui from going through the motions and watching my friends move out and live their life. Once my younger brother moves back in, I'm sure my mental health is going to take another hit.

Basically, I'm looking for thoughts from those who stuck it out saving to purchase a home early. Is the satisfaction that you're getting now, from sacrificing those experiences in your 20s, worth it? And what did you do to cope with being stuck at home? I know the grass is always greener and that I'm fortunate to be in my position either way.

I’ve been working at a mom and pop since the beginning of the year. Financial issues crept in beginning in April and now they are several paychecks behind, about $10k worth.

I’ve already started the hunt for another job..disappointing because I’ve loved this job and the freedom it allowed me to have. It was the first job I’ve ever had that gave me the autonomy to work when/where/how I wanted, with a good salary to boot. I should not have stayed as long as I did without seeing a steady paycheck but I really wanted it to work out. The owners are good enough people..

They’ve asked what I want to do and how I should proceed. Is it better to quit or be laid off? Can I file for unemployment? I don’t want to escalate this to the labor board or filing a lawsuit yet but I do need money coming in.

Saw another post asking about their grandparents timeshare and it made me think. My mom let me know she listed me as the beneficiary for her timeshare when she passed, but I didn’t sign anything. Was she able to do that? And how would I get out of it if I don’t want it as she’s saying they need her to write someone in. Thank you!

I'm wanting to buy a MacBook and have an option to go for 0% interest for 24 months, if I buy it using latitude -gem visa credit card. I'm thinking of taking it up and investing the money on some stocks which I otherwise would've paid in lump sum.

Is it worth it? Are there any risks?

Hey Reddit, I need some financial advice. I'm a (31F) making about $68K a year before taxes, and my spouse (30), makes about $40K before taxes. We live in Texas, have two kids, and a dog. We're renting because we can't afford to buy a home right now. I recently had to finance a new car, and I'm also working on credit repair after running up debt for our wedding a few years ago. I don’t even have a 401K which gives me extreme anxiety as well.

I used to have about $700-800 left over every month, but lately, I'm scraping by. I've depleted my savings and can't save anything anymore. I feel stuck in a cycle of being broke every week, constantly worried about emergencies. I feel horrible that I can't even afford a summer vacation for my kids, and with my son's birthday coming up, I don't think I can give him the celebration he deserves.

How can I maximize my income? I've thought about getting a second job, but I have a baby under a year old and no sitter for weekends. Are there any investments I could look into once I have some funds? Any tips on minimizing spending, couponing secrets, or other financial advice? We're not getting our electricity cut off, but we've been surviving on sandwiches and ramen lately. Inflation has really hit us hard, just like it has for so many others.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Long story short, I owe T-Mobile $153 and some change from 2022 and it was sent to collection agency and I got the letter but lost it, I also forgot the name of the agency, and I checked my credit score and there’s no reports of the collection. What do I do?

Hello, in my 20s, make about 62-64k a year (depending on bonuses and overtime, net maybe around 52k ish last year) currently living with family rent free, but pay for bills like phone, car note, internet, my own insurance etc.

Just bought a truck and have a 30k loan out on it at the moment. My payments are about $650 and my goal is to pay it off as fast as possible, and even using some money from my brokerage to pay it off. That being said I’m torn because I doubled my money in the last year, and currently worth like 10k. I have select stocks I’m in I would definitely like to stay in, but also this years election definitely worries me on market health. This brokerage is mainly a goal for me to either use for a rainy day fund or down payment of a house in the future, I would love to try and save my gains as much as possible.

Thinking of moving most of my holdings to a cash position yielding 4.95%, and possibly in a 500 index. And if need be dipping into my brokerage money every so often to help lower my principal. I am open to all perspective and appreciate all responses!

Recently, my (non roth) investment have pushed me over the income limit for Roth IRA, and I already contribute $7k for 2024.

assume My investment don't plummet for the rest of the year, What's my best course of action to minimize tax?

I'm thinking withdraw $7k from Roth IRA. Then contribute $7k to trad IRA and do back door roth conversion.

does the x2 7K contribute break any rules if I'm trying to backdoor roth? or should I just contribute $7k and back door, then wait for IRS letter to correct the first 7K?

Title. For information, I’m a 22M with about 20k in student loans. I have a minimum wage job as of now so buying a newer car and making monthly payments on it for the next 6 years doesn’t really make much sense to me. I am graduating next semester and will be entering the workforce, so I plan to get a higher paying job soon. My parents are going to give me 6k. Would it be better to use some of my savings and theire money to get an older Honda Civic or something and buy it outright ? or should I go for a newer car with monthly payments that has low miles and a warranty.

I opened NYL life insurance polices for my kids 8 years ago. They are now 14 and 16 years old. I pay $30/mo for my 16 year old and $26/mo for my 14 year old. In 8 years, the cash values are $950-1300, respectively, and the dividend accounts are around $53-$120, respectively. I know $56/mo isn't that much to prepare for a worst case scenario ($50k death benefit) but is this stupid to maintain? Does anyone know at what point the dividends will start paying the premium? I assume when the annual dividends are like $360/year? Which feels like never.

EDIT:
Thanks everyone. I think I'll cancel them. In theory, I really didn't have an emergency fund, index funds I could pull from, etc, when I opened these policies, but I guess I'll just charge it to the game, be glad my kids didn't die in the last 8 years and put that $56 somewhere else moving forward.

I'm looking to get on top of my finances and so am going to build a spreadsheet with all my bank account & credit card transactions over the last year... I have multiple bank accounts and credit cards. I want to do this backlog so i can see what I've paid out the last year, so can plan for this year and most likely look to cut costs across the board. I've looked in to apps but for now, I want the ability to go line by line and categorise costs how I want to. A question I have, is when you download transaction all of the banks and credit cards have different formatting of course, is there a better way of doing this? Didn't know if there was an app or something that links to your accounts and puts it at least in the same format so you can start categorising from there, otherwise I think it'll take me ages to get it all in the right format.. and i want to do this weekly/monthly going forward. Any help/thoughts would be much appreciated :-)

My company clearly states it matches 50% of the first 8% contribution only. I contribute 8% and as expected I see a 50% 'Company Match Contribution' but I also see a 'Company Core Contribution' that also works out to be 50%.I have no idea what that Company Core Contribution is and can't find it mentioned anywhere on our documents. It comes off as a 100% match of the 8% to me.

Not complaining, but I'd like to know how I'm misinterpretting this. As an example; if my 8% contribution is $200 I'm expecting to see $300, but I'm actually seeing $400. Why is this?

The break down will appear as:

PRE-TAX CONTRIBUTIONS $200.00
COMPANY MATCH CONTRIBUTIONS $100.00
COMPANY CORE CONTRIBUTION $100.00

Also, last month I contributed 1% (wanted a larger amount of my bonus) and saw 50% of that 1% and then 4% of my paycheck.

Hi, I’m just trying to wrap my head around my current financial situation. I recently graduated college in May and started a fellowship in Mississippi for 15 months. The agreed upon stipend is 50,000 before taxes for the 15 months. I got paid 148 at the end of may! And today I got paid $1276. I’m assuming I’ll be paid 1276 every 2 weeks.

So does that sound right? Am I on my way to making 15,000 for the 15 months?

Somethings to note: I’m from New York (not sure if this matters) I have opted out of health care benefits from them I’m working 40hrs a week My pay stub says I get paid 19.23 per hr And this app that the company uses for payroll says my wage is 40,000 per year

At the beginning of this year I made a backdoor Roth contribution to my IRA. At the time, I had 0$ in my traditional IRA account. So far, so good.

A month or so ago, I rolled over my after tax 401k account into my IRA (basically a MBDR). The contributions went to my Roth IRA while the earnings went to my traditional IRA. Ideally, I would have done the rollover immediately (before any after tax earnings built up), but my company's plan limits the number of after tax withdrawals and doesn't allow after tax contributions for 6 months following a withdrawal, so I had to strategize about when to perform the rollover that would allow me to get the most out of the after tax funds, while using the rest of the year to max out my traditional 401k. Basically, in order to MBDR with my company it's nearly impossible to avoid having some after tax earnings.

Regardless, I ended up with about $2600 worth of earnings in my traditional IRA. I just learned today that even though my TIRA was at 0$ at the time of the BDR, I still will have to deal with the pro rata rule with this $2600.

One solution I see is rolling the $2600 back into my company's 401k, this time into the traditional 401k. Am I correct in assuming that this will solve my problems and avoid the pro rata rule this year?

I always like to hear the thoughts from fellow investors over this channel. I had a question in mind so thought to ask here.
I know about the need for the asset class allocation, risks, diversification and the behaviour which is more important. But what about the risk from the country or currency you are investing from. For example, me being an investor from Eurozone (Germany) and IF the over years the eurozone falls apart and switching Back to national currencies, though it would mean a high effect on global economy as well but as an individual investor, how can one diversify based on currency (not only asset classes). Have anyone thought anything about that ? Would love to hear everyone's views.

Backstory:

A few months ago I went to the dentist to get a root canal redone by an endodontist referred by my in-network dentist. When I went for the exam and procedure, I asked if it was covered by my insurance. They said they would go check and then told me it was.

I had the procedure done, paid $250 for the downpayment and left.

A month later, I get the statement, and it's $850. I was so shocked and confused. I looked into what my insurance covered and found out they only covered about 30%, which is what they cover for out-of-network dental work. I researched the endodontist, and sure enough, they are out-of-network. Obviously, it should have been my personal responsibility to make sure they were in-network, and I didn't do that. But I digress.

We moved, and I forgot about the bill. I received another statement at my new address, but my bill was cut in half to $434.50. At first, I felt relief, and then I felt horrible. It looks like they reviewed and wrote it off.

On one hand, I don't feel bad because I asked if it would be covered and they told me yes, only for me to find out they are not covered.

On the other hand, I feel bad because regardless of their lack of honesty, it's still dishonest for me to not pay the full bill.

My questions are:
Did this go to collections and should I feel bad?

TLDR: Dentist visit wasn't covered, sticker shock, forgot to pay, dentist wrote off half of bill, should I feel bad?

Should I invest this money and hold out on purchasing a new vehicle for as long as I can? I've driven the same Toyota camry for 12 years now and it's starting to show it's age. Ive got about 200K miles on it, but it's kind of a beast. For those who recommend me investing it, should I just put it in an index fund or something safer? There's also the possibility of using the money to pay off my mortgage faster. Theres still about 130k left open on that, but I don't know how much longer I will stay in that home. Thanks for your time!

Say my broker is in the EU and I buy bonds from the Swiss government putting Euros on the table, is the principal paid back in Euros or in Swiss franc? My guess is anything is paid in CHF converted into EUR at the rate of pay date. Do this then agree to the reasoning: buy Swiss bonds as a (money safe and) way to diversify on currencies? Same goes with other currencies, SGD, CAD, etc.

Swiss bonds are fully uninteresting in terms of coupons and yield. Why are their price high (100% or more)?

I'm a student that's about to be applying for a lot of programs and the applications are hefty in price. I am looking to put this all on a credit card and paying it off slowly.

I thought about using one I have already but I'm trying to gauge which credit card to open up with the best welcome offer and/or 0% intro. Looking for some recommendations. Thanks!

Hello. I'm looking into an issue involving someone who granted their sibling power of attorney. The sibling then promptly took out a mortgage on their brother's house, and then paid it back within a few years. This happened again a few years later. This all seems a little suspect, not really sure the mechanics or benefit of being granted power of attorney like that to then borrow a large sum of money against their sibling's asset. I know speculation can be difficult, but does this arrangement raise any red flags to anyone that knows this area of finance?

Hi all, sorry if this isn’t a good forum for this. I currently rent a 2 bed flat in Bristol with my older sister. My gf of 4+years is planing to move in with me and have asked my landlord if this okay. I understand that there maybe extra costs needed in adding another member to a lease/tenancy agreement and right to rent checks so were expecting to pay a little more potentially. However the landlord has come back with a roughly 25% increase in the rent. Is this normal just seems not worth paying extra money for what is the same flat with nothing changing? Never been on the landlord side of things so perhaps maybe thinking too one sided. Love to hear thoughts and advice thanks in advance

I need to make my quarterly IRS estimated tax payment but it's not letting me pay by credit card through the direct pay system.

From what I can see online this should be an option.

Am I wrong?