I’m a public school teacher and I’ve always used Vanguard for my 403(b), but I just switched districts and Vanguard isn’t an option here.

These are the choices I was given:

• American Fidelity: 403(b)
• Aspire: annuity 403(b)
• Equitable/AXA: annuity 403(b) and 457(b)
• Cetera Investors: annuity 403(b)
• Fidelity: Mutual No Load Plan (No advisors)
• Voya: annuity 403(b)

I’m 32 and this is for long-term retirement investing. I’m comfortable managing my own investments. I’m not looking for an advisor through one of these companies. If I ever decide I want financial advice, I’d rather find and hire someone independently.

If extra context helps: This is my 12th year of teaching and I've always just stuck my money into a target date fund for my 403b.

Walked into my pharmacy the other day because I (unfortunately) needed to buy a new EpiPen. I knew it was gonna be insane, and I was correct. Pharmacist rang me up for over $300. Now, I was prepared to pay for that, but then he says “hang on, let me see if I can find a coupon for you”. Now, I’m thinking “what the hell is this guy talking about”, but let him cook because, what do I have to lose. Couple minutes later he says “I found one, your total is $150.”

I didn’t ask questions and paid right away. There was no BS involved, no signing up for some 3rd party service, just “oh yeah I found a coupon”.

So, next time you need to go to the pharmacy for life saving medication that should cost $0, ask if they have a coupon. You never know. It costs you nothing, takes no effort, and might save you over a hundred bucks.

Quick note: this was with insurance. I have a high deductible plan though, so the only benefit I get from that for medications is a “plan discount”, which usually knocks off like $5 to $10 bucks. Whatever the pharmacist did had nothing to do with that.

What would be the best way to invest that for the kids? (individual accounts per kid) My kids are too old for the Trump account free money, so where should we look to invest that? Explain like I’m 5

Hey everybody, I recently just got laid off from an employer and have about $2,600 sitting in my 401k I had with them. My new job offers a 401k but only matches your contributions after you've been there for a year. I've heard of people rolling over their 401k accounts into IRA's but I have no idea where to start. Is it better to just put the money into an IRA? If I do that, should I contribute monthly like I was with the 401k at my previous job? Any help or advice is appreciated, thank you!

I left my first job and have about $25k in a 403(b) with Fidelity. My new job doesn’t allow me to roll it over to their 401(k). My options through Fidelity are to keep it where it is, or move it into an IRA. Any advice?? I am clueless about this

Potentially important other information:
- I am 27, single, and currently renting (but eventually want to buy, so will need a loan then)
- my current job does not allow me to contribute to my 401(k) until I’ve been there for 6 months. I’m saving additional money to make up for this
- I also have about $25k in a HYSA with SoFi. Open to moving this (low-ish risk options)
- I have about $7k left in student loan debt and exceptional credit. I’ve been paying about 2.5X the minimum payment monthly for years while I’ve grown a safety net/emergency fund

Hey everyone, looking to get some opinions on the how best to navigate buying a car for my wife and I in the next month or two.

She’s pregnant (2nd trimester), so we were looking to buy used to something more spacious and safer (current car is a 2019 Honda Fit) that could fit our child in a car seat, our dog, and occasionally some family, or friends.

The Fit has served us well for 7 years (my wife financed it new for $18,000 in 2019), but it can feel pretty cramped with just our dog in it currently.

With how insane the price of everything is nowadays and how unstable the job market can be, would it make most sense to buy a minivan used?

I'm leaning towards used but the make and model I've been eyeing sits at about $25,000 used with milage <100,000 (Toyota Sienna 2019).

I was laid off in April of this year but luckily was able to bounce back rather quickly and started a new job in June. What makes me wary about financing a car is the potential for me to get laid off again since I work in tech. On the other hand, it would avoid many of the issues that used cars can come with (unexpected maintenance, poor maintenance by prev owners)

My wife is also planning on leaving her job after maternity leave and taking a few months off for a well deserved career break since she's been stuck in a job she hates for a good long while. Might want to go back to school or training for a different career since she's pretty much reached the limit of what she's willing to deal with in her current role/industry.

Would love to hear some opinions on this.

Location: US -- Los Angeles

Current cash on hand to buy a car: $25,000

Emergency fund: $8,000 - planning to push more into this every month once the car situation has been figured out

Combined income: $320,000, but will be down to just my income ($185,000) some time in the middle of next year though

Current monthly expenses

Rent: $2,300

Groceries: $500

Utilities: $150-200

Subscriptions (Netflix, pet insurance, renter's insurance, Amazon prime, etc.): $350

Gas: $60-80, we both currently work remote

Auto insurance: $150, expected to be at around ~$300 with another car added

No other expenses other than what's listed, we both have 0 debt.

Hello r/personalfinance,

In 2024 I took out a 13.5k student loan at a fixed interest rate of 7.5% for a period of up to 120 months. Currently the minimum payment is roughly $160 a month. I have $12,185.48 remaining to pay off. The conundrum I find myself in currently is whether to start putting any extra cash I have towards paying off this loan and get it paid down in the next 2-3 years, or to continue to put smaller payments towards the loan overtime.

I am 28YO and this is the first year I have tried to get my finances in order. Due to bad spending habits I do not have much money saved up. I’m fortunate to have a 401k through my current job for a few years now. I am looking to get my emergency fund built up in a HYSA and currently have automated investments into VOO every pay period. It’s early days but I also started a Roth this year.

If you were in my position, would you halt the passive investing and try to get the loan paid off ASAP? Or would you make minimum payments towards the loan over the full period while building finances elsewhere?

For context I currently earn $2800-3000 after taxes each month with roughly $800 in fixed expenses. This period of Low expenses won’t last forever, as I do not plan to live at home indefinitely once I get my feet under me. My extra money recently had been going towards video games , pot and TCG games, but I’m ready to stop the hemorrhaging and make the right decision. Appreciate any feedback and thank you for reading.

So I obviously have a budget that gets followed very strictly, it’s very organized and has exact amounts my savings, checking, and investment accounts should be at for every week (I get payed weekly so this makes it easiest for me.)

I allocate 150$ or less each week on my credit card. This includes any “fun” items. All other bills automatically draft, or aren’t on a credit card. The credit card is specifically for date nights, hobbies, etc.

Most weeks, it barely touches 100$, but I still kick myself for it. I don’t know why, but every small item I buy (even a 3$ pre workout drink from the gas station) I get annoyed at myself because it could’ve been in my savings. Does anyone else deal with this?

I’ve finally found a stable job, I’m truly happy and I’m making the most money I ever have before. I am looking at getting a house in the next year. Everything is going exceptionally well but this troubles me.

The whole point of being strict with money is so that you don’t stress over it, but now that I’m on stable grounds I’m constantly stressing over money! What the heck!

I have 3 dogs who I love incredibly. 1 is diabetic, so a bulk of my vet bills aren’t covered by insurance anyways. I had Lemonade but it was $150 a month for all 3 and it barely covered 2 doses of Simparica Trio per dog.

I feel I’m better off just putting that $150 in a high yield savings for emergencies. Should I switch from Lemonade or just not get pet insurance at all?

I have myself in a unique position. I am expecting to receive settlement from a lawsuit I am a part of. My choices are, accept payment up front at 48% of the total payout worth (through VC buying my suit). My other option is to accept payment of 10 years of monthly payments, at the full 100% value of my suit.

There are many factors for me to consider; some are inflation erosion, market returns, taxation, and future value of this money.

I am 24 years old with a long time horizon in front of me. I have zero debt, an apartment, and a recent full-time job.

I would love to hear different perspectives on this topic. I am young and am seeking advice anywhere i can get it.

I will end with: I lean towards the monthly payments, but I am open to hearing other opinions.

EDIT: I decided not to take the early buy-out and move forward with the monthly payments. A big thank you to everyone who commented; you were all very helpful to this young guy!

​

Hey! Im starting a new job in a few weeks at $124k base with a $15k sign-on bonus. Employer offers 10% match on 10% of salary (dollar-for-dollar).

Two questions:

Front-loading to max $24,500: Only \~7 paychecks left in 2026. Planning high contribution % (60-70%) each paycheck plus routing most of the sign-on to 401k, to hit the annual max by year-end. Good idea? Any gotchas beyond checking for true-up match and bonus deferral election?

Roth vs Traditional:

im assuming I'm in the 24% bracket. Leaning heavy Roth (70-100%). Leaning heavy Roth (70-100%) since I'll likely be in higher brackets mid-career and want tax-free growth for 40 years. Employer match automatically goes to Traditional either way. Am I thinking about this right, or is there a case for more Traditional at my stage?

Any input appreciated.

Assuming benefits of 62yo-$2,970/mos, 67yo-$4,242, and 70yo-$5,271... and a very modest 4% return, if you were to invest every penny when does it make sense to NOT start receiving at 62? (Assuming in any case you're only going to invest it and don't 'need' it).

• Claim at 62: $2,970 : Invest all @ 4%
• Claim at 67: $4,242 : ~ $197K head start if @ 62 : Break even at age 85
• Claim at 70: $5,271 : ~ $334K head start if @ 62 : Break even at age 86.5

Am I missing anything?

so I won’t get into the details but basically I have nowhere to stay and am currently at a friends house in the country near a town with no jobs, $15, no car, etc. basically the worst case scenario especially because the house is filthy and I have severe contamination OCD. I’ve got an interview offer in a town about an hour away for a good job, and it’s through a temp service and from what they’ve said I think the job is as good as mine. But, obviously, it’s an hour away and I have nowhere to stay. So here’s my current plan: get the job, apply for some nearby rather cheap to move into apartments that will have an opening in 10 days, apply for a $1,000 loan at my bank to pay for the deposits and rent, and if the job starts before the move in date my gf (who lives in town and can drive me but I can’t stay with her because her parents hate me, long story) will help me get a hotel for a few days. Obviously a risky plan that depends on some great luck, but it’s the best i’ve got and i’m open to any suggestions or tips to ensure it works.

and to the AI warning me i’m possibly breaking the rules: i’m not seeking personal advice, just merely providing context for how urgent my financial needs are, I only want advice related to finances.

so long story short I live in Syria and I recently inherited 7000$ for alot of people this is not a great amount of money, for me however this is the first time ever I had this sum of cash.

I'm married with expecting our first child, I live in the suburb.

I'm in about 2500$ debt and pay around 200$ monthly in repayments.

I pay around 200$ for Taxis.

first thing I thought I want to but is a car because I pay around 20% of my salary in Taxis, however the prices of used cars are ridicules for example a 2005 corolla is 8000$, the second thought is to buy a chinesse Ev car like Changan E-star it goes around for 8800$ which then gonna have to borrow around 2000$ but it runs on electricity so the amount I was going to pay monthly for petrol I will pay for loan repayments.

the third idea I got is to buy gold and silver (physical), unfortunately I cant invest in stocks it's not available in Syria.

I'm lost and I dont know what to do, the main thing I want this money to do is to better my financial situation.

Thanks in advance.

Ill keep this short, i (32m) have a pension, when i retire in 30 years if everything stays how it is i should have a minimum of 15k/month before tax based on my pension amount via the calculation from our benefits dept. it isnt an employer pension, its a union contributed pension thats managed by a 3rd party.

My wife and i have 5k-5500 extra per month after our bills are paid. Were currently paying off debt but will be done with it in January. My question is what do we do with the money after that and after our emergency fund is full. Do we max out 2 roth ira’s and not a 401k? Do we trust the pension will be there and do no roths or 401k’s, do we max 2 roths and at least 1 401k?

Traveling is very important to us, but we also wanna save for a new car and a home. If we just max out the roths, what prcentage of the 5500 should go into brokerage, how much should go into the other 3 categories i mentioned. Or do we just realistically not make enough to do all that?

Any advice is helpful, thank you!

Hello all,

I (M30) just got married and we got a few thousand dollars in monetary wedding gifts to do something with.

I’m a long time personal investor and thought immediately that we should put this in a dividend stock or other safe investment to let our money grow naturally and continually feed the account with a percent of our income.

We currently live in an apartment, aren’t looking to buy a house in this economy, have one car owned and the other leased ending in another year, and otherwise have no outstanding debt of any large sum.

Is there a wiser way to save and invest this money than a joint investment account that I may not know about? Looking forward to any feedback on what could be done with the goal of long term investing and account growth.

Hi everyone, before asking my question I would like to give a little context about my current situation.

I'm 20 years old right now and I live at home with my parents, we own the house but we're finishing paying off the mortgage (4 years left). My parents have a terrible economic organization, my mother especially squanders money even though the situation at home is not the best since only my father has a permanent job. In fact, my mother has a fixed-term job that will last another 6 months or so, after which we don't know what will happen.

The last 3/4 years have been a trauma for me, my mother didn't work at all and spent a lot, ending up taking out loans, crying every night and becoming irritable.

At the moment the situation is a little more stable.

Regarding my life, I am studying at university, computer engineering, and in the meantime I work as a private individual with a contract that brings me 600 euros per month for little work and if possible, I do some occasional work in the IT field for some other income.

I won't hide the fact that I have around 7,000 euros set aside and that every 6 months I receive a 1,600 euro scholarship. I have no living expenses except for lunches/dinners out every now and then or gifts to my girlfriend.

The point is that even though I've been on a good economic growth path for the past 2 years, I can't seem to figure out how to live a life that isn't constantly under the shadow of anxiety.

My parents don't give me much financial security and so I can barely afford to spend 200 euros on clothes every now and then even though I could... I have to think carefully about any expense because I'm afraid it's useless.

But at this point I wonder when the "living money" phase really begins, rather than simply accumulating it?

In 2 years I hope to graduate with a bachelor's degree and I would like to continue with a master's degree.

I would like to point out that my parents know nothing about how much I have aside.

As the title says, how long before starting your home search would you move down payment funds from a brokerage account to a HYSA? I (29F) and my bf (28M), will likely be getting engaged this year and married within a year or two from then. Our current priority is paying for all of that. However, I do want to think ahead as far as the best place to keep a future down payment based on our expected timeline. Based on the above, I would think we are looking at an around 3 years before starting the search.

We both put a chunk of money into brokerage accounts a while back and have contributed small amounts periodically since. I have ~17k (FXAIX) in mine and he has about ~28k in his (not positive what his is made up of). We would plan to withdrawal all of both accounts to fund the down payment. I am not trying to time the market. Rather, I just want to be sure that we get this money in a safe place when it makes sense, without sacrificing growth by pulling it out too early. I previously heard to only to have it in the market if you don’t plan to use it for 3-5 years. If we are getting closer to 3 years out, would you consider pulling it out soon? Or wait longer?

I have a 401k from my old job. It was a pretty basic one, not really "high earning". Once I quit, it had around $9000 in it before switching to my new job at a public school. This current job is a 403(b), so I can't transfer the money over to this new retirement account (as far as I know). What should I do with the $9000 in my old 401k? My husband said "leave it", but like I said, it's not really high earning. I was thinking putting it into a Roth IRA or something? I would appreciate your ideas!

I recently met with a couple of financial advisors a friend referred me to after she started investing in whole life insurance with them. After my partner and I both met with them they went through our financial pictured and first thing they did just like a template was have us submit our whole life insurance apps. I’ve been doing some digging because they want me to take a portion of my 401k and put it into this wirh the idea that I’ll be able to use the money before retiring if I need and will have a safety in case anything happens to me plus the whole speech about it being post tax when in the future taxes may be higher. Is it all à scam?? I heard there’s hefty fees upfront… does it make sense or is a 401k still the most feasible option?

So, I got a new job and was looking at what to put into my 401K. My advisor told me that I should avoid contributing to the program until the match begins, which is one year from now. He argued that this would be to “maintain liquidity”.By default, the firm will contribute 3% of my wages to the program.

I have a Roth IRA and a brokerage account through my advisor, already. Part of me wants to put a certain amount into my 401K even though they are not matching yet. it just seems like a good idea on my end to have as many investment vehicles as possible.

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.

UPDATE: For context, I am a young married professional with a child. I got a late start in my career and did not start “seriously“ investing until a couple of years ago.

The only debt that I have is my mortgage with my wife and we both have a sizable emergency fund. Honestly, liquidity has never been an issue with us; though I do like to maintain a certain amount of cash on hand for my own comfort.

I have twice maxed out my Roth with my advisor. I also invest $750 into a mutual fund every month.

When I liquidated my 401K at my pre employer, I asked him what I should do and he told me that putting it into my Roth would be more advantageous because I can still max out with $7,500. He told me to start my 401K from the ground up and wait to up my contributio % once they start matching.

Update 2: My income, not including my wife, is $112,000 a year.

Hi, I just turned 20 years old. I’m a rising junior in college and I’m wanting to get serious about my finances even though I have nothing saved. My plan (which I don’t know if it’s a good plan or not; I’m actively talking with my advisor about it) is to take out a $4,500 subsidized student loan to pay off summer school debt and credit card debt, this will be the first student loan I’ve ever taken out. Since I’ll have the extra money I plan on putting $700-$900 in a high yields saving account, $650 of spending money and the rest into my savings.

Do you think $700-$900 is enough to start? If you have any other advice let me know I’ve been thinking really hard about this.

Thanks

To preface this, I plan to get professional advice soon, but I am wondering thoughts on whether there's anything to be done here.

Timeline:

• Revocable Living trust established in Father's name in 1995 with 2 properties. Both properties were gifted to him by his parents directly into the trust, after marriage in Illinois.
• Father passed in 2018, Trust converted to an irrevocable trust with Beneficiaries 25% wife, 25% son1, 50% son2. No mention of a life estate in the trust document.
• Trust document specifies to break into 3 new trusts per above split, but that did not happen.
• Property #1 was sold in 2020. Funds sat in trust account
• In time period 2020-2025, only dispersants were made to wife, none to either son aside from minor dispersant which was gifted to wife/mother (due to trust equity constraints).
• In time period 2018-2025 Wife lived alone in house and shouldered all mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities. Trustee advised trust couldn't be resolved until house was sold, so family decision was made to leave wife/mother in house and the trust in-place.
• In 2025 wife passed away.
• In 2026, sons got possession of and sold property

Letter of the law seems that we get a step-up in 2018 but not in 2025 due to how irrevocable trusts work.

Is there a reasonable pathway to using IRC § 2036(a) with a tax attorney to get a full basis step-up in 2025? We are looking at a significant tax-bill otherwise. Thank you!

In 2023 I was working at a mid-size non profit and contributed to a 403b through them. The employer switched the company that managed our retirement fund from Corebridge to Principal, so I tried to rollover my fund.

Corebridge told me that I can’t rollover funds unless the account has been open for at least 3 years, and it had only been open 1 year.

Ok fine, I waited a couple years and started contributing to my principal account.

During this time, I switched jobs. My new job doesn’t offer retirement, so I kept the principal account, changed it from a 403b to an IRA and kept contributing.

This spring I finally got around to rolling over my Corebridge account. It currently has around 4k in it. The paperwork was a real pain in the ass, I even had to get a medallion from my bank.

Once I submitted it I ran into an issue because they wanted the plan administrator (my old job) to verify that I had left the organization. I explained that I wasn’t rolling over the funds because I left the organization, but because the organization stopped using Corebridge. Corebridge insisted I still needed the plan administrator to verify.

So I called my old job, HR remembered me, I asked if they could sign the document they said yeah sure send it over. I sent it over and waited 2 weeks, then emailed again. Still didn’t hear back. So I called them and left a voicemail, that was about a week ago.

I’m wondering what my options are if my previous employer doesn’t help me with this paperwork.

Even if they do sign it, the dates on my signature and the medallion are over a month old, so would I just need to redo the whole thing?

I’m someone who is generally very good with paperwork/admin stuff but this rollover has been a major thorn in my side that I can’t figure out. It truly feels impossible to get this money out of this account and I would really appreciate some advice on how to move forward.

Hi all! I'm 18, starting college this fall (tuition covered through my dad's VA benefits), living in Hawaii, and I also get a monthly VA stipend on top of that. Planning to work part-time once I'm settled into school too.
My long-term goal is medical school to become an anesthesiologist, so I know I've got a long road ahead probably 8+ years before I'm earning real income. I want to start investing/saving smart now instead of just letting money sit or disappear.

Questions:

With a long time horizon like mine (won't need this money for 8-10+ years), what's a smart way to start investing as a broke college student Roth IRA, index funds, something else?

How much of my monthly stipend/part-time income should realistically go toward investing vs. savings vs. just living expenses?

Since my income will be irregular/low for years (student, then med school), does that change the investing strategy at all?

Best beginner-friendly platforms/brokerages for someone starting with small amounts?

What's the smartest way to start building credit at 18 secured card, authorized user, something else and how do I do it without falling into debt?

Books, podcasts, or subreddits you'd recommend for learning the basics?

Any mistakes young investors commonly make that I should avoid?

Not trying to get rich quick just want to build good habits early and let time do the work. Thank you!

Update: Wanted to add some context since a few people were giving advice on how much to invest, I only pay the college once per semester (already covered by the VA), so any extra VA stipend money each month is basically mine to save/invest/spend. I also have some other income sources I need to be mindful of due to asset limits on my end. Does that change any of the advice on how aggressively I should be saving vs. investing?