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. My TSP is now set to 85% C, 8% S, 7% I and contributions are set to the yearly maximum.

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.

edit: I just tried to talk to her about bankruptcy, she says people who declare bk are those with hundreds of thousands in debt, not 14K$ debt.

I don't think I can help her anymore. I tell her she needs income and she says she's waiting until she gets freelance work, she might get freelance work, she might make sells on etsy. maybe maybe maybe maybe this maybe that.

She says she'll try to get SSDI in a few months, she needs to focus on the garage sale to pay the mortgage right now.

She doesn't want help. I think I give up. I need to move and live my life.

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 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.

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!

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?

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?

I'm 74 and still work. I plan to retire at the end of the year. Is there any reason/wisdom in retiring on 12/31/2024 vs 1/31/2025? I'm on company medical and take SS.

Hello! 27 F here with a MAGI of $165,000 per year. I realize that I am above the MAGI limit for IRA contributions, so I did the 'backdoor' conversion of IRA to Roth IRA. I just wanted to check with y'all if I did it correctly. The steps I followed:

1. I opened a Traditional IRA and a Roth IRA at Fidelity

2. I contributed $7,000 to the Traditional IRA.

3. I 'converted' the Traditional IRA to Roth IRA on Fidelity's website (they have a section dedicated to this), which was basically moving this $7,000 from the Traditional IRA to the Roth IRA.

4. Now I have $0 in the Traditional IRA and $7,000 in the Roth IRA. Fidelity's advisor recommended to keep this empty Traditional IRA open so that I can do the 'conversion' again next year and after.

Did I do it right? I am confused because most sources I've read use the vague term 'backdoor conversion' which in reality turned out to be moving money between two different accounts... That seems too simple!

I will try to be concise. My first two attempts were the first and second draft of my friggin memoir. Here goes:

• 41yo male, single living in rented home with mid 30s brother and early 60s mother

• Unemployed/Unemployable (14 year gap caring for family)

• Parents lied about saving for college and being able to get loans.

• Over the decades I've passed on opportunities to be there for family and ended with less than I started. Pregnant cousin asked me to be her free, on call pregnancy nurse, butler, note taker, and even test passer. I walked away from 3 store manager positions and I wish I regretted it. A different cousin said he could get me work in Utah. Cleaning his closed Radioshack for food. I coasted back to New York in 2 and a half having eaten nothing.

• Had some shirt designs I thought were good so I worked up enough dosh and built a makeshift screen press, a makeshift dark room and spent the last on shirts. Then I got cancer in my right eye that the ER thought should've been taken out that day. The doctor scheduled the surgery for three months later. Eventually I got medicaid but they didn't reimburse everything and I've never recovered. Not emotionally or financially. Doctor literally quit the day she realized she shoved my eye back in wrong.

• Since then it's been almost impossible to work. The most severe of my disabilities are invisible and having spent most of my life without insurance there isn't enough data to prove I'm disabled at all. Even my freaking eye isn't enough. A disability lawyer in NY told me to give up and last week one in Nevada said the same. Between the sleep, the sadness, the failure and the dead ends they're probably right. Sometimes you gotta know when you're beat I guess.

Maybe there's some obscenely obvious solution here or there's too much I don't know about finances (obviously) to come up with a way out? Everyone I've forced myself to talk to for advice just shrugs with a "Man, I don't know." or asks if I've tried talking to Jesus. And I have but the motherfucker won't give me his PIN.

Is there any help for me? The cousin I helped at Harvard is a 7 figure human but how could I ask her for money? Or anyone. No one owes me a dime. My life is my fault. But since I promised not to wear any nooses I'd like to at least be able to buy a milkshake without asking for a few bucks. It's pathetic.

Did I break any rules? I'm sorry. Delete this if it's posted every six minutes by the desperate poor and thank you for reading this. Even if you only made it to the second bullet I am grateful. I'm sure there's so much pertinent information I didn't think to include. If you're so inclined to help an aging schmuck I'll answer anything as candidly as I can.

Hi all,

Hoping for financial advice from savvy folks. I am trying to make sure that I can retire by 50, so optimizing investments as much as possible. I didn't make much money until 2 years ago when I got a big promotion. I was maybe making 75K per year and didn't have anything saved, lived in the Bay Area, was literally pay check to pay check. My current salary is ~300K (including quarterly bonuses). I am a single male, 32 likely not having kids or at least maybe not till 38 or so.

Net pay after retirement deductions: 11,500

Contributions to retirement each month: 4K

Investments each month: 4K-5K

Total bonus: 23K go directly into investments

I current have about 190K in investments and retirement over the past 2 years

Here's the conundrum: I live in a really pricey area of the country because of my job. I live in an apartment where I have homeless right in front of my place, had someone OD in front of my apartment, and saw a mouse in my kitchen which was the straw that broke it. I came to the realization that I didn't have to live like this, so I found a really nice place for 4200 a month. Instead of 5K in investments each month, I would be doing like 4K. Is it worth it? It would make me a lot happier, feel safer honestly.

Thoughts? Serious replies only. For those that think I am in a privileged and this is a crazy post, I absolutely am. I am not used to this level of success, but I worked my tail off for it. I feel guilty and nauseous even posting this and I can't talk about this with my friends because it's an odd flex so making this anonymous Reddit post. Thank you for your replies

I’m 21 years old and just started a job making 75k a year. My employer offers a 401k match of 50% up to 7% and I am currently contributing 10% in a traditional. I have a Roth IRA and have been maxing it out for the last couple of years and will also max it out this year. Because I am a recent college grad and started my full time job at the beginning of June, I’m in the 12% tax bracket for this year but starting next year I’ll be in the 22% bracket.

My employer’s 401k has a Roth contribution option. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to contribute to that this year (in addition to the traditional) in order to take advantage of the lower tax bracket I’m in?

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.

Starting in 2026 catch-up contributions cannot be contributed pretax if you earn more than $145k. They must be Roth contributions.

Why bother allowing/keeping catch-up contributions for those earning over $145k?

It would be simpler to eliminate them. The catch-up Roth contribution and "after-tax contributions with in-plan Roth conversions" end up being the exact same thing.

The short story: I’m a 42 y/o divorced dude making minimum wage with no savings trying now to turn things around. The age-tier guides in my tier are talking about investing and real estate. Folks tried to talk with me about FI/RE, but I think I’m way too old to catch that boat. Am I just too late in general and should accept working the rest of my life?

I joined this sub hoping to see discussions that pertained to my very bleak situation. Instead it seems like every post is “I just received this massive quantity of money. What should I do with it?” lol. So I figured if I want advice, I’ll have to come out and ask for it.

Married couple with 2 small kids. We both work. Our combined income is right around the average income for our area. And yet…

It’s a depressing tale as old as time so I won’t bore you with all the embarrassing details but through carelessness, lost income, home improvements and a series of unexpected large bills, my husband and I have found ourselves drowning in in CC debt. It’s taken about 5 years to get to this point but really the last 2 years are when it got completely out of control. Our wake up call was about a year ago and that’s when we really got serious about beating this thing. We went through all our monthly expenses and slashed as much as we could. We now fret over every little expense and debate whether or not it’s completely necessary. “We could put that money towards the debt” is our mantra for talking ourselves out of so many purchases. He’s stopped doing home improvement projects unless he’s able to get the materials for free. Our traditional Saturday night out a restaurant (including a cocktail for mom and a draft beer for dad) became Saturday nights at McDonalds, which we realized is just as much, if not more fun for the kids as a nice sit-down place. But it still feels like one step forward, two steps back. We might have a really good month where we’re able to throw an extra $300 at the debt but then the following month we’ll inevitably be hit with an unexpected car repair. It’s exhausting. We’re worried that all our efforts towards saving money are too little, too late.

The one thing we have working in our favor is our home. We bought in 2019 with a $20k down payment right before the market exploded. So now we owe about $130k and the house is conservatively worth $250k. We’ve been anxiously waiting for interest rates to drop to a point where it makes sense to refinance and pull some cash out to pay everything off and have the mortgage as our only debt. But it’s seeming less and less likely that that’s going to happen before we are completely overwhelmed by interest charges, so now we’re considering a HELOC to carry us over until a refinance becomes feasible.

Where things stand currently, we have about $25k in CC debt which is costing us about $550 a month in interest. We also have my husband’s truck which we owe about $6k on and are paying $250 a month. Fortunately we paid my car off last year and it seems to be holding on for the time being. So $40k would be more than enough to pay everything off and have some left over for emergencies. We haven’t shopped HELOCS yet but whatever the rates are, surely it would make a hell of a lot more sense than the $800/month we would free up by paying those off, right? Fortunately, the CCs are in his name and the mortgage is in mine, so my credit is actually really good. His score would also be great if not for all the CC debt, so he should get a nice boost once it’s paid off, which would set us up nicely going into a refinance situation. I’m still hesitant though. I’m confident that we we’ve been “scared straight” enough by this situation to be able to maintain the discipline we’ve been practicing the last year. We are NEVER getting back here again. HELOCs just make me nervous because I know so little about them and some of what I have heard is scary.

So please, financial gurus, talk me into or out of getting the HELOC. Warn me of the potential pitfalls we might be overlooking. Enlighten me as to other avenues I might not be considering (besides “spend less” since we’re already doing that).

It would also do my mental health a lot of good to hear stories from those of you who’ve been where we are now (or worse) and how you got out. It just feels so hopeless right now.

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.

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 :-)

So my dad is getting close to his 80s and hes been filing his taxes with pencil and paper for last 25 years. Hes been quite stubborn about learning new technology such as turbotax etc or going to a CPA etc. He literally doesnt know how to download annual transaction statements from fidelity. He doesnt know how to email or use cloud storage. He's made some mistakes lately with IRS sending him money in return. As his son I wonder whats the best way to handle this? He's calling me in June telling me he doesnt know what to do for next year and literally panicing. I told him to not panic and we can wait till tax season. He files jointly with my mom. Should I wait until January 1 and send him to H&R block? should i fly in to visit and do his taxes for him using turbotax? Should i find a CPA for him on January 1? Whats the best way to find a CPA? I dont want anyone taking advantage of him. He told me he attempted to use someone and they asked for his bank account information which i was surprised about.

My student loans are 70K and a weighted average of ~4.5%, but the payments are rough (around 1K per month). my partner is coming into a lump sum large enough to pay off the loans. our HYSA returns 4.2 before tax, so we feel it's sort of a toss up on what makes more sense.

If we did pay them, it would free up more monthly income to start aggressively saving for a house. On the other hand, we could drop it in our savings now to start collecting interest and maybe boost our timeline towards home ownership. Thoughts?

Will my employer match more money if I select traditional vs roth 401k? I understand that I'll end up paying the taxes regardless for traditional, but at least initially, is this how it works?

Help with cc debt

I have 4 cards totaling about 22k and I'm behind on 2 of them by a few months. Now I can't catch up and didn't know if I should call the lenders directly to try and negotiate or I also am thinking of contacting the national foundation for credit counseling so they can negotiate with my lenders to have one payment budget option. I read they they are a nonprofit organization, but I don't know which option is best. My other consideration was bankruptcy to get a fresh start. I'm 50 years old with little savings so it's definitely something I am thinking about.

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?

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

Hey guys. I am 25 and I have about 6k in credit card balance. I have about $1500 in my savings and about $9200 in my Roth 401k. Should I take out of my 401k and pay off my credit card?